“Research Around the World”-Week 5

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Current International Topics....

·         Assessing the Influence of Different Early Childhood Development Models on

Pre-School Children’s School Readiness in Kenya.

·         Assessment of Interaction and Stimulation in Single-Mother Low-Income Families.

·         Assessment of the Caring Practices in Two Motherless Babies’ Homes in Abia State, Nigeria and the Development and Delivery of a Nutrition Training Program to the Staff of These Homes to Improve Nutrition of Children in Their Care.

Insights.....

As I was exploring the international website, I’ve learned the well-being of children and family is the focus. Also, some of the concerns and issues are the same one we have in the U.S. For example, in Nigeria, there is a project, which looked at people’s understanding of “effective collaboration,” is the development of a guide on effective parent-school collaboration (ECDVU, 2005).  In the US, you can find several studies on how to build partnership with parents and the school.

Noteworthy....

What was a great add to the website was the different publication on early childhood in Africa. I was able to find an article dealing with, strengthening Africa’s contributions to child development research. With the variety of dated publication, it gives a good understand of child development. 

ECDVU. (2005). Early childhood development virtual university (ecdvu) sub-saharan africa (ssa). Retrieved from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Research that Benefits Children and Families (Week 3)

        Currently I work under a school readiness program, and a research study was conducted to evaluate the program.  The readiness program was designed to help prepare children for school by providing funding support for early childhood services through community/county collaborations that address the unmet needs of young children and family (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2006). The research study examined the quality of services provided to the children and families through home visitation programs, child care initiative programs, and 4K programs. The outcome was to continue identity the neediest families to help. Also, participants in all programs showed significant increases in their pre- and post-assessments.

        I believe the study was able show children and families in quality care programs, can lead to stronger developmental skills for the child to enter 1^st grade ready. With more pressure for children to succeed, it is imperative for program initiatives for our children’s future.

High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.  (2006). From implementation to impact: An evaluation of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness program: Executive summary. Columbia: South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www.scfirststeps.org/docs/2006HSEvalExecRpt.pdf.

My Personal Research Journey (Week 2)

RESEARCH JOURNEY

Starting on this journey, I didn’t know what to expect. My experience working on the simulation research process was intriguing because I learn how to select a topic look through a different lens. There were questions I learn I had to ask myself to narrow down a topic such as, “How can we best use this knowledge to optimise children’s learning, growth and development?”   Through the research chart, I realize how important it is to know terms used in the research process. For instance, I was unaware triangulation is the format that can be used to compare and combine different form or different source. Now that I understand this term, I will be able to understand a study that uses it. Also, I realize data and analyzing is a part of the research process I will enjoy. Having the opportunity to analyzing data that will show real information can lead to outcomes to the early childhood field. What advice do you have a new researcher in the research process?

Colleagues, please check out this resource to help with the research process:

Google Scholar

Naughton, G., Sharne, R., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research international perspectives on theory & practice. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.

 

Doris Cheng, P. (2010). Exploring the tactfulness of implementing play in the classroom: a Hong Kong experience. Asia-Pacific Journal Of Teacher Education, 38(1), 69-82

Gaffan, E. A., Martins, C., Healy, S., & Murray, L. (2010). Early Social Experience and Individual Differences in Infants' Joint Attention. Social Development, 19(2), 369-393.

Greenhoot, A. F., Tsethlikai, M., & Wagoner, B. J. (2006). The Relations between Children's Past Experiences, Social Knowledge, and Memories for Social Situations. Journal Of Cognition And Development, 7(3), 313-340.

International Early Childhood… (Week 8)

Consequences of Learning

Ø  I’ve learned many of the issues in the US, such as poverty are in other counties. For example, in India the cycle of disadvantage starts at birth and continues through childhood to motherhood and the next generation.

Ø  I’ve learned you can partner with other counties to learn how to improve our early childhood field. For instance, In Chile, the UBC (Un Buen Comienzo) is working toward a push for quality to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development.

Ø  I’ve learned anyone can be an advocate for early childhood.  A health economist, Günther Fink focused on early childhood development issues in Zambia.

MY GOAL….

 My goal would be open-minded aware what going on in other parts of the world. As a professional, I will keep current on issues and trends not only in the US but abroad.

Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative

The Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP). (2007) Country Overviews Retrieved   from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo



Professional Goals……(Week 7)

(Alternative Assignment)

v     Knowledgeable….

   Early Childhood Development in the Asia-Pacific region -----I’ve learned a Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD) was held to discuss the importance of early childhood learning experiences for children under age of 3 years; an age group often neglected in a region where the focus tends to be on pre-school and primary school years. 

I would have loved to attend this conference to learn new techniques to use in an Early Head Start program (0-3).

v     Advocate…..

 Regional Seminar on Early Childhood Policy Review: “Sharing and Learning from the Policy Review Process-Big gap between public/private provisions (mostly, better quality in private programs with trained teachers, teacher-learning materials, and better facilities).

It was interesting to learn that other countries have the same problem we have in  the US. This has encouraged me to advocate even more for equally quality programs.

v     Leadership….

The Participation Programme functions as a vital complement to UNESCO’s regular activities by analyzing, evaluating and facilitating the implementation of national, sub-regional, inter-regional and regional projects directly related to the activities of the organization.

 

I could be an active member of the organization where I could make a different in a leadership role.

UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

Sharing Web Resources- (Week 6)

 

Cost of Child Care

 

Improving access to affordable, quality child care is one of NACCRRA’s top goals (NACCRRA, 2012).

Insights

Ø   The high price of child care in every community strains household budgets and forces parents to make compromises about the quality and safety of the care they choose for their children.

Ø  The average annual cost of full-time child care for an infant in a center in 2010 ranged from $4,650 in Mississippi to more than $18,200 in the District of Columbia.

Ø  NACCRRA recommends that Congress-Reduce barriers that prevent families from easily accessing child care assistance.

Office of Child Care…



As I was searching through the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, I notice Health and Human Service Office of Child Care part of the resource section.  The Office of Child Care supports low-income working families through child care financial assistance and promotes children's learning by improving the quality of early care and education and afterschool programs (Dept. of HHS, 2012).   On the website, I found information on section for child care research. This section has the list of child care consists of grantees and contractors who have worked on research projects and partnerships funded by ACF, and Research Connections which is a web-based, interactive database of research documents and public use data sets for conducting secondary analyses on topics related to early care and education.

Cost of Child Care | NACCRRA.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.naccrra.org/public-policy/cost-of-child-care

Naccrra, the national association of child care resource & referral agencies. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.naccrra.org

Office of Child Care - Administration for Children and Families. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ/

Department of Health & Human Services: Office of Child Care. (2012). Retrieved from  http://www. acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/ 

Global Children’s Initiative……. (Week 5)

ü  In Chile, the UBC (Un Buen Comienzo) is working toward a push for quality to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The UBC is focusing on language development for children who are 4-6 years-old. Also, to focus on getting children to attend school, socioemotional development, and partnering with parents to be involved in their child’s education.

ü  A health economist, Günther Fink is focusing on early childhood development issues in Zambia. Fink and his colleagues realized that, in order to assess the true impact of the initiative on the country’s human capital development, they needed to assess the physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development of children at age 6 ( Harvard, 2012). Flink found developing a measuring tool for comparisons within Zambia, others for comparisons within sub-Saharan Africa, and still other sections of the survey will permit broader global comparisons.

ü  In Zambia it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, with nearly 4.3 million cases and 50,000 deaths per year. Malaria is responsible for one quarter of childhood deaths

 

“Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)