When I think of Research.....

This picture reminds me of how I feel about my journey through the research process.  At the start of the course I found myself feeling completely under the dark clouds and kind of worried that it might be a storm I would have to weather through.  But after a few weeks I begin to see how  the design of the research process comes together and I found myself feeling the dark clouds clearing, and eventually the past few two weeks let me see how the process can become a reality and I felt the rays of sun starting to come through the clouds.

I want to first take this opportunity to thank all of you for your input into my learning process about research, I truly felt supported by many of you.  I started this journey feeling completely out of my element and my perspective of research was that “this is for someone else” mostly because I could not see myself as a competent researcher.  Thanks to this course and many of you, I feel I am better equipped to at least consider an attempt at conducting research.   

                During this process I have learned how important it is to create a research question that is researchable.  Learning how to create the question or hypothesis to meet the needs of the design and how to adjust the question depending on what design you choose was something I had no idea was necessary.  There are so many things to consider when designing a study.  I found myself realizing why research requires so much time and knowledge of the subject. 

                I think my greatest challenge was grasping the qualitative method and how to create a design that would meet the requirements of this method.  Once a got the main focus of this method it was easier to apply. I read the chapter in the book over and over and the case studies that used this method to help me understand how the qualitative method could work in my study. 

                As an early childhood professional I have used evidence based research to increase my own personal knowledge and I also shared it with colleagues.  I now look at the research through a refined lens that sees more than I did before, not just the results of the research, but I can pick up on the design and methods used. 

               I wish all of you the best on your Masters journey, and hope you all have great learning experiences, maybe we shall meet again.

Research Around The World

I went into the Early Childhood Australia website and went into resource themes and found The Early Years learning Framework (EYLF) it is the first early years framework endorsed by the Council of Australia Governments.  I found myself drawn into finding out more about it so I went to the table of contents where you can find  5 principles  each focusing on  what we consider effective and quality programming.  It also lists Practice and discusses topics such as responsiveness to children, learning through play, Holistic approaches, cultural competency, continuity of learning and transitions, and assessment for learning.  The third section focuses on the learning outcomes which are sectioned into five outcomes for children.  I have become completely absorb in this area and find myself going through the practice section to learn more about how they feel practices should be reflected in the classrooms. The Holistic  approaches discusses effective practice through play and pedagogy , and a section called swings and rounabouts with an emphasis on giving children a voice and listening to parents to learn about them and their children.  The responsiveness to children focuses on scaffolding instruction and the research on how children learn to talk and the importance of talking to babies and the direct link to children’s speech.  Learning through play reports on the importance of play for children to develop in all the areas of development. The practice of intentional teaching has links to how to provide high-quality teaching through sustained shared thinking and persistence to help children learn and explore. The learning environment discusses how to create environments that promote quality.

Each practice offers articles related to the topic and a list of books that can be purchased that also relate to the topic.  I clicked on nurturing persistence in young children and the link took me to an article on the Zero to Three web site.   I also clicked on How do we support children’s sustained shared thinking? and the article gave great strategies for staff to use when they are engaging in conversation. The article gives open ended question starters which are called positive questioning.  It also connects to the High/Scope curriculum.

I find this information useful for me currently because as a mentor/coach I am always looking for information to help teachers become effective within their classrooms.  One of the hardest things I have found is helping teachers find ways to maintain conversations with children instead of asking questions that close the conversations.  I plan on passing this information on to a few teachers who struggle with asking questions to learn what children are doing and learning. As for my research this information would be useful for mentors when working with mentees, it is great literature to add as a tool in my research simulation.