When I think of research ...

Research is hard work. There are so many things to consider and to decide before the data gathering even starts. It is vitally important that the question your study asks is specific enough to be researchable. A very broad topic will means that time and resources needed will become unmanageable.

I was very interested to read and learn about qualitative methods of research. Before this course I usually equated research with statistics and quantitative data. I've learned that research takes a lot of planning. Hayes writes about "[t]he 'what' and 'how' of research" (2010, p 105) as the first steps in research design. After these points have been addressed the researcher must decide on when, where and who. All these aspects need to be decided before the study begins so that the findings reflect a 'true' answer to the question or questions being asked.

I found it very difficult to complete the tasks for the research simulation. The theoretical nature of the assignments challenged me to think in a different way. To meet this challenge I tried to incorporate the feedback I received into the next task.

Thank you to everyone who came on this journey with me. I appreciate your comments and your thoughts on the different topics we've discussed. Good luck with your future studies.

References

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.

Research around the world

The website that I chose to check out was the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA). In the current journal from the organisation,  The European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, there are several different research topics that are explored. The role of play in early education is examined in a cross-cultural study involving Chinese and German teachers and a look at play through a Vygotskian lens. There is an article involving identifying gifted and talented children in early childhood. A study looks at interactions between children and teachers and how the teachers encourage communication. An article that caught my interest is about bilingual education preferences of Russian-speaking parents in both Germany and Israel. There are also articles about parental involvement of minority parents and school readiness. Most of these topics are universal. Many countries are trying to include bilingual children and minority families. Many programs are looking at the role of play. School readiness is also a hot topic these days as more pressure is put on early childhood programs to teach academics. 

It was interesting to read about some of the cultural differences surrounding play. Having worked in Germany, I recognised the attitude that  free play is an important aspect of learning. Having been trained in Canada, I also related to the idea that teacher guidance is vital with play activities.  Two sayings from the different cultures seem to sum up the attitude towards play. In Chinese society the saying is "industry becomes fine because of hard work and is deserted because of play" (Wu & Rao, 2011). Learning and play are seen as opposites. Recently in Hong Kong, where the researchers focused their attention, there has been a push to include more play. In German society and many other European cultures the saying is "By that we could conceive of play and learning as being inseparable and also associated to children's life-world and how they experience their surrounding world" (Wu & Rao, 2011). Play is essential to learning in this view. In recent years, though, pressure has been mounting to include more academics in early learning. This pressure comes as a result of poor showings in international testing. I found this article relevant to my situation. The Netherlands, where I live and work, has similar attitudes towards play as Germany. There has been a lot of debate recently about this topic.

References

Wu, Shu-Chen & Rao, Nirmala. (2011) Chinese and German teachers' conceptions of play and learning and children's play behaviour. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 19(4). Retrieved from website http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350293X.2011.623511 #tabModule.

Research that benefits children and families

I like to listen to podcasts of radio programs while I walk. Recently I was listening to an episode of Quirks and Quarks. This is a science show that is broadcast on CBC radio in Canada. They were talking about the state of cancer research and were interviewing some notable scientists in the field. One of the treatments they discussed was cancer immunotherapy and is in the testing phase. The story they told was of a child, Emily, who was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukaemia. She received chemotherapy for 16 months but it wasn't working. Her parents were told they could take her home for the last months or weeks of her life. Then she was enrolled in an experimental treatment program using genetically modified T-cells from her own body. She is now in remission. During the treatment she had to be placed on a ventilator for over a week. This is an extreme case where the benefits to a research participant can outweigh the risks. The long term benefits are also invaluable. The results of this study could help create a less risky treatment that could help hundreds of people.

References

Waging your own war on cancer [Audio podcast]. (2014, January 11). [With Bob McDonald]. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2014/01/11/january-11-2014/.

My personal research journey

         The questions that interest me revolve around language learning in young children. My own background contributes to this as does my current situation. I'm from Canada which has 2 official languages, Engish and French. When I started school at age 4 my parents decided that I should learn in French even though we are an English-speaking family. So I did my schooling until grade 9 mostly in French. In university I chose to continue and majored in French immersion elementary education. Although I now rarely use my French, I know it has helped me to pick up enough Spanish to live for 2 years in the Dominican Republic. Having a second language also made it easier for me to become proficient in a third when I settled in the Netherlands. I now work in an international school where 9 out of 10 children don't speak any Engish or Dutch when they come to us. I am interested in how they learn so that I can better help them when they arrive. I want to find out what strategies work best. I also want to know what long term benefits can come from learning a second language early in life. I want to know why some children seem to have a much easier time than others. I know I won't be able to answer all these questions at once. The scope is too broad and must be narrowed to a manageable research question (Mac Naughton & Rolfe, 2010).

          One tip that I got from the chapter on the research process this week was the recommendation to keep a detailed record of what articles and other resources you've used both for the literature review and other reasons (Mac Naughton & Rolfe, 2010). This seemed obvious once I'd read it but it is not something that I think of doing as I'm reading or listening to something.

References

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.

International links

One personal consequence of learning about my international contacts' experiences is to realize that many issues such as underfunding are international. This gives me hope that if we work together there is the possibility for change. One professional consequence is that I have gained a different perspective on issues like poverty. I am much more grateful for what I have here. Small problems seem to pale in comparison to what some people face. Another consequence that is professional and personal is that my passion has been reignited. I will advocate for quality education for all.

I think a goal should be to be aware of the situations in other places. I tend to focus all my attention on my classroom and my school. As a profession we need to broaden our focus and share good practice everywhere.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - part 3

Both of my contacts were able to respond to this week's questions. My sister in Canada has many opportunities for professional development available to her. The district and the school run between 6 and 8 pd days per year. There are workshops after school hosted by the district. Each teacher completes a growth plan every year that is reviewed with the admin staff. There are limited funds available for out of city/province pd opportunities. My colleague in Hong Kong notes that the richer private schools have many quality professional development opportunities. Smaller schools have less resources to work with.

In Hong Kong an issue that my colleague brings up is the push for student learning to be self-directed, for learning to be authentic and truly inquiry based. She works in the environment of the IB Primary Years Program both as a teacher and a member of the school evaluation visit team. The program strongly encourages this type of learning. She relates that to achieve this there must be an environment that "creates a safe space for teachers to innovate and test out new ideas" and that this takes time and effort from everyone involved.

My sister's professional goals are to improve in areas like guided reading, digital files and portfolios, use of the interactive whiteboard and communication with parents. She dreams of smaller class sizes, less paperwork and more support. She is challenged like many of us by a vast array of needs and not enough resources. The professional goals of my colleague in Hong Kong are quite different. She would like to focus on inquiry based learning and do some research into the development and fostering of basic skills using this approach. She wants to find a way to balance 'toolbox' lessons with inquiries, so that children will be able to use the new 'tools' of learning in their inquiry. Her hope is to understand the inquiry learning method in depth and be able to share that knowledge with others. Her biggest challenge is exhaustion. Working with young children requires a ton of energy. You need to model excitement for learning and motivate them to want to learn. She then goes home to her own children, one of whom is currently the same age as the children in her class. Her professional dream is to be a published author and retire from everyday teaching. She would like to share her enthusiasm and knowledge in other ways like as a story-teller or running writing workshops. She, like many of us, is tired of the constant paperwork and bureaucracy involved with teaching.

Sharing Web Resources - part 3

 The website that I chose was the ACEI site. I've only received one newsletter to date. One of the outside links that I found was to the site www.education-transforms.org. This site shows with clear graphics and concrete examples the ways that universal education affects economies, health, population and the environment. It was updated and relaunched to coincide with the UN general assembly in September that was looking at new developmental goals for post-2015. It ties in well with this week's topic as it shows that education impacts many areas of development.

       The section of the website that I chose to explore is called "Global Gateway: International Comparisons and Scenarios". It highlights the different international assessment tools that are currently in use such a PISA, PIRLS and TIMMS and gives current updates on the results of these assessments. It also spotlights different countries that show excellence in education and countries that are moving towards excellence. There are links to all the different assessment websites. One that I found interesting was the PIRLS report. PIRLS stands for Progress in International Reading Study. The report has many sections and one is devoted to looking at the effect an early start in literacy can have on the results. The report states "[a] supportive home environment and an early start are crucial in shaping children’s reading literacy." (Mullis, Martin, Foy & Drucker, 2012, p 10). This confirms what I've read in other articles that argue the importance of early education.

      Being an international site, there are many stories and links to international projects to provide education to all children as well as national projects in different countries. This has shown me that the push for excellence and equity is a worldwide fight. Education is a cornerstone to development. As such, developing countries are working hard to achieve an educated population. In countries that are already developed, equity and excellence are also ways to fight poverty and ignorance. True democracy relies on an educated and informed voter to make a choice.

References

Association for Childhood Education International, (2011). Global gateway: International comparisons and scenarios. Retrieved from http://acei.org/global-gateway/international-comparisons-and-scenarios

Mullis, I., Martin, M., Foy, P., & Drucker, K., (2012). PIRLS 2011 International Results in Reading. Retrieved from http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2011/downloads/P11_IR_FullBook.pdf

UNESCO, (2013). Education for all global monitoring report. Retrieved from http://www.education-transforms.org/en/