Research around the world

     I chose to research the Australia website.  What I was most surprised about when I got to the site was how the issues Australia is currently dealing with and talking about in regards to early childhood education is very similar to what the US is discussing too.  I saw a lot of headlines about quality childcare and early childhood education and also how to have affordable care and education for all families.  When I clicked on the What's New icon under July 2012, I read the article entitled "Children Deserve Bipartisian Support for Quality Early Education and Care".  The article was written in response to a proposed change by a government member that would limit support for ECE and care reforms that Australia is currently working towards.  Through the article, I found out that the Australian government has already issued changes that need to take place in ECE and presented timelines for these.  The changes that this government member is proposing could affect the programs and reforms that have already been made to date and the article was trying to point out that that experts in EC should be part of the discussion before anything is changed.  It also mentioned that Australia is working towards a "nationally consistent standard" in their ECE programs.
     Another thing that I found interesting on this website was the Research in Practice Series.  This tab linked me up with a variety of topics in booklet/magazine form, that is available for a fee, that helps educators deal with different issues they may come across.  Each topic is laid out very clearly and educators can order the booklets if they are dealing with the issue listed.  A few of the ones that I found interesting were about:  working to create partnerships with other teachers, a variety of material on diversity, assessments, bullying, young gifted children and aggression in young children.  I think there is so much that occurs in teaching that educators are not necessarily trainined for and have questions about and these are great resources that are available to them.
      One thing that suprised me was when I clicked on the positions statements tab, it said that "Australian Early Childhood Education position statements are being developed".  This surprised me because I really thought they would have position statements complete and ready for individuals to view.  If you look on the NAEYC website, there is a lot of position statements that NAEYC has produced and I just expected that Australia would have similiar statements complete.  It sounds like they may be in a transitional phase right now with early childhood education in their country, so maybe they are either re-evaluting old position statements or creating entirely new ones.


Reference:  http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Military families

       This week I chose to focus on research studies currently being doing on military families, specifically children in military families and the impact multiple deployments and reintegrations have on these families.    Right now, 42% of people in military families are from birth to five years of age (Williams & Mulrooney, 2012) and it is an important group to do studies on.  The two articles that I included below I got from one of the newsletters I signed up for in my last course from the Zero to Three website:  Coming Together Around Military Families.

     The reason that I chose this group of people for my focus this week is because my boyfriend has been in the Army National Guard for almost 12 years and we have been through two deployments together:  The first was six months in Iraq and six months in Afghanistan followed by the second, which came about 15 months later, to Egpyt for a year.  Through his service in the military, I have become involved in the Family Readiness Group for his unit, which is a volunteer group that meets to essentially take care of soldiers and their families.  I love being a part of this group and I have met so many wonderful people and families through my involement over the last four years.  America is facing new issues with so many Guard and Reserve soldiers having to face multiple deployments and not being attached to a base like active duty soliders are.  Deployments are hard, but intergrations are just as hard and it is a great stressor on families and children when these events are happening.  I was so happy to find these two articles because I think we are taking the right steps in learning how to help these families and the unique issues they are faced with.

Spotlight on: Innovations in Resources for Veteran Families

A recent study in Chicago, Illinois has focused on understanding the current services available for Veteran families with very young children, as well as identifying any gaps in services. Several key issues have emerged from this effort. To start, providers note that it is critical to ask all families, “Are you or is any member of your family military connected? Have you or a family member experienced a combat deployment?” Lack of awareness of families’ Veteran status impacts their engagement in needed services. Secondly, a “system of care” approach is critical to support the needs of both Veterans and their families with young children. As part of this, a method to assess services as “Veteran friendly” would be helpful. Third, civilian human service agencies may benefit from additional training and support on the needs of Veterans and their families, as these agencies will be the primary source of care for Service members transitioning out of the military. This study was funded by the Prince Charitable Trusts of Chicago. Further work is planned to help build a city-wide strategy for supporting young children from Veteran families.

-I chose this study because it was based in my home state of Illinois and it is filled with important information.  A lot of times, schools and daycares may not know children are a part of a military family because there are Reserve and Guard soldiers that work out in the community each day.  It is nice to see their sacrifices being recognized and studies being done to  find ways to assist these families.

News You Can Use: Increasing Our Understanding of Young Children in Military Families

In March, 2012 the University of Southern California’s Center for Innovation and Research (USC-CIR), housed in the USC School of Social Work, published a policy brief titledIncreasing Understanding of Infants and Young Children in Military Families through Focused Research. This brief, written by ZERO TO THREE Military Family Projects Director Dorinda Williams and Assistant Director Kathy Mulrooney, highlights the current research on military family issues, particularly around deployment and reintegration, and their impact on young children. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for researchers and policy makers so that they may better understand and support the needs of military families, especially on issues that profoundly impact young children and their development. To read the full CIR Policy Brief, click here.

-I love this policy brief because it really talks about so many issues that military famlies face, especially those that have gone through multiple deployments.  PTSD is a known thing that happens to soliders, but all soldiers come back and need to be reintegrated into families and their families need to be reintegrated back to them and it is hard process.  I love that these two ladies are leading the way in creating a research study about these issues and hopefully more studies will happen because of this.

Reference

zerotothree.org

July 2012 enewsletter-Coming Together Around Military Families

MY PERSONAL RESEARCH JOURNEY

       Hello classmates!!!  As I move on in my 5th course at Walden, I am reflecting on the research process that I have gone through so far in the first week and a half of this course and I already feel like I have learned a lot of new terms and new ideas about research.  I have narrowed down my chosen research simulation topic to Autism, although I am still struggling to figure out how I am going to do this exactly.  I mis-interpreted the overall research assignment and took it to mean that we would be picking topics and then completing research (looking up facts and figures) to gain a better understanding of our topic and answering any questions we have about the topic.  With help from Dr. Davis, she  helped me understand we are actually setting up a research simulation, where we get to conduct the research.   It almost reminds of psychology courses that I had back in undergrad where for extra credit we could participate in research studies for those seeking their Master's and Doctorate degrees.  Sometimes it was filling out a simple survey, sometimes it was an interview and other times it was actually having to go into the Psych. dept. and do something related to the study.  Outside of participating in other individuals simulation, I have no experience conducting my own research simulation, so this is completely new to me.
         The reason that I have chosen Autism as my research topic is because of a boy that I had in my classroom last year.  He was very challenging:  very impulsive, at times crying or laughing for no reason, limited social skills and would hit kids at times for no reason, throwing chairs when he was angry and overall not being able to properly express his emotions.  Through all of my work with him, I strongly believe that his behavior falls somewhere on the Autism spectrum, but we are not allowed to suggest this to parents at our center and his parents have refused to get him observed by any outside professionals, even after numerous meetings and staffings.  It was a long and stressful year, but I really grew to love him and miss him sometimes and the struggles we had some days.  I truly feel like he made me a better teacher and showed me how to really have patience with a difficult child.  Through trial and error, I was able to learn ways to help him cope with situations and also how to handle his behavior.  At times I felt very lost when dealing with him and there is no at my center currently who has any knowledge of working with children with Autism.  After my year with him, I really feel like my center needs that and I am striving to be that person, so others won't feel as lost as I did when a child displays these behaviors.  It is through the above reasons that I have decided to learn more about Autism.
         For my research simulation, I would like to possibly observe children in a classroom with Autism to learn their behaviors, observe teachers who work with these children to observe the methods they use in action and then possibly interview these same teachers to gain a better insight into why they do what they do.  I say possibly for all of these things because I am not sure if these are the right steps to take to complete this simulation.  What do all of you think?  Are there any insights that any of you could give me on how to make this simulation better?  Is it to broad and I am not going deep enough?
           My greatest insights and resources this course so far have come from Dr. Davis.  We had a lot of great discussion during week 1 and I took a lot of notes on the information she shared because the way she presented it really made sense to me.  She has also given me great and quick feedback  on all of my questions and I encourage all of you to use her as a resource if you have not already.
           I'll end this blog by asking all of you for your insights and ideas about my topic, resources I should be looking at or just anything in general that has helped all of you get to where you are in your research process.  I really hope I can provide insights for all of you on your topics as well and we can continue to work together as we complete this course.  Thank you to all of you in advance for your feedback!!