Final Thoughts about Building Research Competency in ECE

Throughout the Building Competencies in Research course, I feel as if I have had an immense amount of exposure and guidance through research techniques, methods, considerations, preparations, ethics, conduct, and more. My previous exposure to any type of research had really only revolved around the scientific community and the structure used in science to develop and implement experimental studies. I was surprised by the qualities of educational research that are utilized in studies on young participants, such as child and parental consent, ethics of conducting study, methods and options for collecting data, etc.
My thoughts about conducting research were really confined by a different way of setting up an experiment. Although the structure of many of the articles we read throughout the course had similar structure, including an introduction, methods description, results, discussion, and conclusion, I was introduced to new concepts in research in the education field. For instance, the methods of collecting data, whether quantitative or qualitative, as well as the use of sources through triangulation were new concepts. I also found that the term interpretivist can play a significant role in studies, as it can become a challenge for researchers to divide their opinions, projections, and initial thoughts when collecting information through observation and, particularly, personal interviews. It is often difficult to divide our human nature to hold to personal opinions, speculations, predictions, and viewpoints when hypothesizing about a topic, however it is an important factor to maintain knowledge and regulation of throughout a study in order to obtain accurate results.
Over these 8 weeks, one of my first challenges was determining a topic that would make sense and theoretically work for this simulation study. As the course moved on however I felt as if the information, readings, and articles we were assigned provided a tremendous amount of background information regarding how studies are properly planned and executed when it comes to working with children in an educational, social, etc. environment. On a more personal note, unfortunately this semester also challenged me on time, but I feel like I was able to maintain management of assignments to the best of my ability.
I think that after taking this particular course, my exposure to early childhood has really opened to a new light of childhood studies through formal research. Their are definitely many factors to keep in mind when studying children that are vital, not only to the research aspect, but more importantly, to the children, parents, and families that are participating. The study examples that I have read about these last 8 weeks are much different than my previous experiences studying plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, etc. They deal with something much more fragile - real lives that are easily influenced and affected by outside sources. However, through the benefits I've already witnessed, research on early childhood education has an immense amount of benefits to the field that will continue to create positive environments, programs, and learning for young children.
Thank you to everyone who read and posted on my blog. I appreciate all your comments, thoughts, and suggestions for my future research in ECE!
Caitlin   

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

The website for Early Childhood Australia (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) provides many links to early childhood research, including Early Childhood news, Every Child magazine, and Everyday Learning Services. One particular resource of early childhood research, the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC), is Australasia's foremost scholarly journal and the world's longest-running major journal within the early childhood field (Early Childhood Australia, 2010).  Some of the recent topics discussed in research articles include early childhood curriculum and the consideration of Aboriginal books in literacy, curriculum guidelines through comparison of New Zealand and England, and children’s transition to school in Sydney, Australia from Bangladeshi parents. It was refreshing to see the variety of research topics being completed in Australia’s early childhood field. One article I came across discussed the impact of children choosing free literature typically promotes positive family and social interactions between story characters and that family members took an active part in the family’s literacy through reading at home.  It was also insightful that there are many topics and areas of early childhood that play a big role in the formation and development of curriculum, such as popular culture, child play, literacy, school readiness, and culture.

References

Early Childhood Australia. (2010). http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/about_ajec.html