When I Think of Research…

When I think of research, I think of scholarly and well-educated people who have expertise in their field of studies. I thought of Rousseau, Piaget, Erickson, Pestalozzi, Froebel and other influential people in the field of early childhood education.

Building research competencies course has changed the way I look at research. Taking the advice of our instructor about’ taking one step at a time’ and seeing how everyone work so hard for these course has helped me a lot in building my research simulation. The process of research, determining the design and methods to use, ethical issues, and methods of gathering data or information were just some of the lessons that I learned from this course.

 Now that I have the tools I needed in conducting a research, I have changed the way I looked at research. I am more confident to know that I can make a research in the future that will help benefit the families and children in our military communities.

 Reflecting way back the first week of this course, I was scared to death on how am I going to survive and finish this course. Being a Second English Language learner myself, makes it more difficult for me to imagine how people like me able to formulate or even write a research. I even thought that this course would be one of the major hindrances that will prevent me from finishing my graduate studies but with all of your support and our instructor’s guidance and patience gave me the courage to move on and face the challenges of this course. Knowing that we are all in these journey together makes a lot of difference. Your postings in our discussion board and comments on our blogs reminded me that I am not alone. Everyone’s contribution made me more confident and competent on the subject matter.

 It has been an incredible journey knowing that everyone had overcome our fear and faced the challenges of doing research. I am really thankful to all of you who had made this course interesting and worthwhile. I believe that anyone can learn and accomplish things, if we take time and put our hearts in it.

Thank you everyone and good luck to all of us. See you on our next journey!

Research that Benefits Children and Families – Option 1

The NICHD Study of Early Child Care (SECC) is an ambitious longitudinal study initiated by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). A team of 32 researchers has provided different perspectives on the topic of child care. They studied about the relationship between child care and children’s development. They follow a diverse group of more than one thousand children and families, in ten cities across the country, from children’s birth in 1991 through their adolescence.

Children’s development and their experiences in home and in child care settings have been measured through a wide range of tests at frequent intervals throughout the study. Factors such as child’s age at entry into care, quantity of care, stability of care, such as provider’s education and training, adult-to-child ratio, group size, safety and health issues, have also been included.

The large number of children and the sophisticated method use in the study has confirmed the importance of quality in child care. In particular, it has validated the findings of many other studies that quality of child care is important, both in that high quality can enhance development and poor quality can be harmful to young children. Higher quality of care, especially positive care giving, is related to higher developmental scores (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000b). Quality of child care continues to exert influence. The quality of care is related to children’s functioning later in school (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network & Duncan, 2003b). Positive care giving was more likely to occur when child-to-adult ratios and group sizes were smaller, caregivers were more educated , held more child-centered beliefs about child rearing, and had more experience in child care, and environments were safer and more stimulating (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000a). Such findings reaffirm many other studies.

On the other hand, they also found that the more time children spend in child care, the more problem behaviors, for instance, aggression, disobedience and conflict with adults, occur (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2003a). NICHD continues to collect and analyze information about the relationship of young children’s development and their experiences today. With this study, we gain greater understanding the importance of our role as caregivers and teachers and the importance of those early experiences (http://www.nichd.nih.gov).

Reference:

NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2000a). Characteristics and quality of child care for toddlers and preschoolers. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 116-135.   

NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2000b). The relation of child care to cognitive and language development. Child Development, 71, 960-980.

NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2003a). Does amount of time spent in child care predict socioemotional adjustment during the transition to kindergarten? Child Development, 74, 976-1005.

My Personal Research Journey - Building Research Competencies- 6163-6

Economic necessity forces many families to rely on two pay checks because one simply does not for all their financial needs. In other families, both parents work because of the desire for personal and professional development rather than from economic need. Whatever their reasons maybe, many families are facing innumerable struggles and stress leaving their children in the care of relatives, friends and caregivers.

The increasing demand for U.S. Military presence in our country and abroad, many military families and children have to face the challenges of being separated-some temporarily and the others permanently. The numbers of children having challenging behaviors after their parent or parents were deployed have increased.  I chose this topic because I would like to know the effects of deployment on children’s social and emotional development. By understanding their situation hopefully, I will be able to help our families and children in creating programs which will support their child’s growth and development while they were deployed.

This week, we were able to build on our research simulation and learn about identifying websites that adhere to guidelines and or standard of quality research. Although I am fearful for the next weeks to come, I am also hopeful to finish my journey with all of you.

“Doing anything for the first time is a challenge, and starting off in research can be a daunting prospect. But along the uncertainty and some trepidation, there are often feelings of curiosity     and exciting and excitement about the journey of discoveries that lies ahead. Once underway, experience, knowledge and confidence build” (Rolfe & Macnaughton, 2010).

Reference:

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

My Final Blog Post for Current Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Course

First of all I would like to say SALAMAT PO! (Thank you), to all of you who have made this past few weeks very educational and interesting. It has been difficult for me to keep on this course because of lot stressors in my life. Being a Second Language English learner myself, has been difficult and challenging because I have to spend countless hours just to put my thoughts together. I almost gave up but (believe it or not) your first response to my first week’s blog and comments from our instructor has made it possible for me to finish this course. Your positive response had made a lot of difference. 

 I learned a lot from all of you and I hope I was able to give back what you have given me. I hope we will continue to support each other until we finish our journey towards earning our masters degree in early childhood education.

During the past weeks, I have learned that countries all over the world have the same issues and concerns about the field of early childhood. Concerns about the quality, compensation, and affordability of child care programs.  The lack of sufficient funding to support early childhood programs have put the provision of high-quality programs in jeopardy. Due to this issue also that only a small percentage of early childhood programs meet standards of excellence and that majority are mediocre or in less quality. Poor quality program has place children at risk in all areas of development. The issue of poor compensation to early childhood educators has led to high turn-over rate of teachers. This factor compromises the well-being of children who needs consistency and stability in their lives. The issue of affordability of child care, particularly for low income families, has kept many low-income mothers from workforce or from educational pursuits, making it more difficult for families to survive this current economy.  

Continuing awareness on the issue and current trend in early childhood education, not just in America but all over the world, will be my main goal in working towards finding solutions to the current concerns of early childhood field. Being equipped with knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting families and children, I will be able to support and continue to advocate for the increase funding on research programs -on the benefit of early childhood program and accessibility and affordability of early childhoo

My International Contact Part 3

The current issue that my contact talked about is the same issue that we have here in America. Teachers are getting paid less for the work that they are doing. Aside from this issue, the lack of funding for schools to provide basic things for the classroom. Children share seats and tables, books and textbooks due to high-adult child ratio.  Basic things such as papers and pencils, and other art materials are also lacking.

For teachers who are dedicated and committed to giving their children the best education and understand the importance of encouraging children to express themselves and their creativity, they take the expenses out of their own pockets. Some teachers can afford to do it but others have their own family to take care too and this situation frustrates them because they know that they can do more to improve the quality of education for these children but there is nothing they can do about it. Professional wise, they do not see bigger opportunities for their career, but given the opportunity to build their own center is one of their ultimate dreams.

She also mentions to me that those teachers tend to shift their profession to housekeeper or nanny in another country because they get paid more than being a professional teacher. It is disheartening to hear to hear this story but this is reality. We have lots of good teachers in the Philippines but were not given the opportunity to practice their profession. Some of them tried to apply for a visitor or tourist visa in America and use this as a stepping stone to look for employment but very few gets the opportunity. She was fortunate ones to get the visa but not fortunate enough to be hired right away. There were private school here in America who wants to hire her but the law requires employer to give priority to our citizens first before importing teachers or employees abroad. They said they will process her papers (visa) and wait for them to contact her again.

I totally support America’s effort to take care of its citizens first, then seek professionals abroad, but only a number of people want to take our work as teachers. Our current situation tends to make our profession the last resort for those people who cannot or do not qualify for another kind of job. The idea of being a teacher or caregiver, because it will definitely land you into employment and the qualification is very minimal is really sad.

My friend told me , if they will be given a chance to fill in the lack of teachers in other parts of the world such as America, she believes that they can expect “ the high-quality of care and education for their children, because we are passionate, hardworking and committed to giving our children a better future.”   

It is unfortunate that they have to seek opportunities abroad but if there are no opportunities in their own country, what choice do they have? It is also saddening to hear that they give up their profession to become a housekeeper or nanny abroad but what can they do to support their families? If there are anything that we can do to advocate for them, get them employment as teachers, let us help them.  

Sharing Web Resources 2

I am very excited to share with you the latest news I gathered from the Early Child Care in New Zealand. I find it very interesting use it focuses on equity and excellence in early childhood field. It gave me high hopes on the future of early childhood education. In spite of the current downfall of the global economy, the New Zealand Government has invested an extra $550.3 million in early childhood education (ECE) over the next four years. It will allow as many families as possible to access quality ECE services where they needed most (http://www.ecc.org.nz/).

  The Government’s priorities for ECE will increase participation for Maori, Pasifika and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds that will benefit the most from ECE, while also controlling the Government expenditure.

Budget 2011 includes:

• $416.7 million over four years to meet increased demand from more children staying in ECE for longer periods of time and population growth.
• $61 million over four years for a Universal Cost Adjustment to Early Childhood Education Funding Rates. The non-salary component of ECE funding rates will be increased by 2.92 per cent. $21.5 million over four years for extending Equity Funding.
• $12.8 million operating and $18 million capital expenditure over four years for an early learning information system to improve information about participation and system performance.
• $20.3 million over four years to extend early childhood education for children in State care and to expand the Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) for families in most need.

Eligibility for Equity Funding has been extended to all ECE services that provide ECE to children from high-need communities. 

I have learned that Equity Funding is being introduced to reduce educational disparities between different groups, reduce barriers to participation faced by those groups under-represented in ECE services. It also supports ECE services to raise the level of children’s educational achievement. It also provides additional resources to ECE services that enrol children from high-need communities, and will be available to all eligible ECE services from 1 July 2011.

Extending Equity Funding supports Government’s priority for ECE, which is to ensure those families who are not currently taking part and who would benefit the most participate in quality ECE(http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz/ManagementInformation/RecentAnnouncements/Budget2011.aspx).

Author Heckman writes, “The logic is quite clear from an economic standpoint. We can invest early to close disparities and prevent achievement gaps, or we can pay to remediate disparities when they are harder and more expensive to close. Either way we are going to pay. And we'll have to do both for a while. But, there is an important difference between the two approaches. Investing early allows us to shape the future; investing later chains us to fixing the missed opportunities of the past. Controlling our destiny is more in keeping with the American spirit.”   

The outside links that I have explored supports the importance of having access to early childhood education. It explains the special attachment between adult and child which forms relationship and enables children to reach their full potential. It also creates a template for how they will get on with others and the type of relationship they will form in the future. It also tackled the issue on how brain connections are formed in response to everyday experiences (http://www.brainwave.org.nz/).  The negative implications on children’s IQ, greater risk of developing emotional disorders, learning disabilities and behavioural problems brought about poor environment and relationship on children were also explained on this site.

The three experts on the importance of the first three years: Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, Dr. Simon Rowley and Lauren Porter share the important role of parent in the first three years of their children’s lives. They encourage parents to give their children plenty of love and attention that will benefit their cognitive capacity, their intellectual performance, and the range of neurological and behavioural outcomes that will influence their how they will do well in life. They also tells parent to enjoy and have fun with their children (www.brainwave.org.nz).

References:

http://www.brainwave.org.nz

http://www.ecc.org.nz

http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz/ManagementInformation/RecentAnnouncements/Budget2011.aspx

Equity and Excellence

Aloha my colleagues!

 My friends from the Philippines were very excited to hear about our blog exchange. They were very curious to know if the information they have given me were very helpful in our course. I told them that I am thankful and very fortunate to have them as resource persons. They gave the website where I can find additional information and updates on the Philippines’ educational system because they will be very busy in the coming weeks because their schools have lots of program for the fall.

Last time, I have mentioned the implementation of the universal kindergarten in the Philippines and the dilemma that they are facing due to the lack of classroom and teachers in early childhood. The intention is positive because they want equity and excellence in education no matter what the status of the people. They want early childhood curriculum be accessible not just for the wealthy and middle class family but even to the poorest community. The concerns are the following: need to build schools and educate and train teachers in the field of early childhood field. The main goal of this program is to improve the quality of education for young children which will help them in the future. They also believed that education is the key to solve the problems of poverty in the country by helping children prepare for primary grade school and compete in the global market.

 This week I saw some positive news about some communities helping out to build classroom and or use of their facilities to accommodate these children. One of the non-governmental organizations that offer help to the program is the Gawad Kalinga.  Gawad Kalinga’s foundation was laid on December 26, 1995 the Catholic community Couples for Christ gave birth to GK which was held for Youth Camp for gang members and juvenile delinquents in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, the largest slum area in the Philippines. The said program was organized by CFC – Youth for Christ.

In 1999, the first GK house was built for the Adduru family, also from Bagong Silang.^[2] The name "Gawad Kalinga", which translates in the Filipino language either as "to give care" or "to award care", was coined in 2000. The GK Child and Youth Development program aims to develop the skills and talents of the children and youth in the GK communities by inculcating values that bring out their full potential. SIBOL, which means “to grow,” provides value-based education to pre-school children, aged 3 to 6 years old. SAGIP, which means “to save a life”, is a support program for children aged 7 to 13 years old, which consists of free academic tutorials, sports and creative workshops and values formation classes. SIGA, which means “to light”, empowers teens to become productive citizens through sports, creative activities and mentoring sessions.

As part of their commitment to help families and children of poor communities to have access to quality life and education, they offer to build schools and use 300 of their facilities to use as school for children ages 3 to 5 year old. This is in support of the universal kindergarten program of the government. These facilities may not be enough but at least it will be able to cater to children in these communities. It will take time for the Philippines to meet equity and excellence in education in the Philippines but a small step will make a lot of difference. I just hope that they will continue to support the field of early childhood education and make laws that will help families and children have access to quality education in order to make their life better in the future.

Other countries look up to America on programs that promote equity and achieve overall quality yet these answers are found in other countries. We have the answers but it will be up to us to continue to advocate and let our legislature know the importance of early childhood programs in the lives of our children and their future.

                                                                                                                

Unless we reconceptualize American early childhood education research and policy and unless we counter centuries of history to create an early childhood system for all children, our strategies, as promising as they appear, will perpetuate, not prevent, inequity and inequality. America owes its children, and the world, far better (Kagan, 2009).

Reference:

http://www.deped.gov.ph/updates/default.asp

Kagan, S. L. (2009). American early childhood education: Preventing or perpetuating inequity? (Equity Matters: Research Review No. 3). Retrieved from Campaign for Educational Equity website: http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pdf
"American Early Childhood Education: Preventing or Perpetuating Inequity?" by S.L. Kagan. Copyright 2009 by Campaign for Educational Equity. Equity Matters: Research Review No.3, Victoria University of Technology, Equity and Social Justice Branch. Reprinted by permission of CAL, COPYRIGHT AGENCY LIMITED via the Copyright Clearance Center. http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawad_Kalinga