Research Around the World ~Australia

I chose to explore Early Childhood Australia website which is consider the Australian equivalent to the U.S. based NAEYC. I chose this website because of their mission statement which reads, “Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years”.

Some current research international research topics that were highlighted on this website are: school readiness, babies and toddlers sleeping, child health and childhood obesity, early years learning framework, children’s cultural and heritage, and building family partnership.

This website was easy to navigate and had current and relevant ECE topics.  One topic I found surprising is Australia takes in refugee children and have established Principles, Goals, and recommendations for the country in order to support the refugee children.  Early Childhood Australia conclusion, “In order to achieve successful outcomes for children it is necessary to secure the cooperation of all departments and agencies involved in the support of children and their families. In relation to refugee children and children of asylum seekers, solutions need to be put in place that are appropriate to their immediate and long-term developmental needs. Early Childhood Australia is unequivocal in its call that these solutions do not include the incarceration of children, or their separation from their families”.

This organization is advocates for young children and their education. They have an establish set of code of ethics, philosophy, and values that involves a vision of how young children need to be treated.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

I have recently read an article called South African study highlights importance of research involving children the talks about a clinical trial entailing a group infants that have been diagnosed with HIV. After receiving informed consent form their mothers the infants were place on a drug called early antiretroviral (ARV).

The article explains, “Initial results from the Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral Therapy (CHER) study found a significant increase in survival among infants who received immediate ARV treatment. The trial started in July 2005 and is designed to continue through 201” (Keeton 2011). Furthermore, after a  “routine review by the trial’s data and safety monitoring board in June this year, found that of the 377 babies enrolled, 96% were alive in the early treatment group compared to 84% in the delayed treatment group. The results were so striking that the board recommended that no additional infants be placed in the delayed treatment group and all babies be evaluated for initiation of ARV treatment” (Keeton 2011).

The mother of this child, Zama, said: “I did it for the sake of my child after she tested [HIV] positive. I gave informed consent when she was six weeks old. She has had no complications on treatment and is doing fine.” (Keeton 2011).

Finally, “The World Health Organization (WHO) recently finalized the first list of essential medicines for children, which will be released in November. Dr Sue Hill, WHO’s technical expert on the list, said the limited availability of appropriate children’s medicines contributes to childhood mortality” (Keeton 2011).

This article is an example of a positive example of the effects of research on children and/or families. The benefits outweighed the risks to the child.

Keeton, Claire ()2011). World Health Organization. South African study highlights importance of research involving children. Bull World Health Organ. 2007 October; 85(10): 738–740. doi:  10.2471/BLT.07.021007 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636499/

Personal Research Journey

This class has helped me look a research criterion in different ways. I remember some of this information from undergraduate school, but this is the most recent information. Especially for electronic sources, this information is food know when taking an online class.  

When asked in the discussion assignment to t5hink about a topic that I want to learn more about, I knew instantly what the topic would be. The topic I would like to learn more about brain research and development. This topic has peaked my interest for some time. Brain development research has recently played an important part in the early childhood education field.

The reason I chose brain research is because I support a classroom rich in literacy, creative arts, and children work being displayed all over the classroom. I support these things because in supports brain development. The more neurons that are connected in a young child’s brain, the more successful the child is in school and life. For these reason I choose the topic of brain development and ways to support it in the classroom.

The subtopics I want to learn about include how play-based learning supports brain development in the classroom, how creative arts supports brain development among children, and ways to articulate the importance of play-based learning and how it affects brain development to parents.

A few quality resources on brain development include:

Starting Smart How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development retrieved from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/startingsmart.pdf?docID=2422

Children and Brain Development: What We Know About How Children Learn retrieved from http://umaine.edu/publications/4356e/

Why play-based learning? Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/every_child_magazine/every_child_index/why_play-based_learning.html

Final Blog Assignment

First, I would like to thank everyone for reading and complementing on my blog. Your comments have been insightful and professional.

Secondly, I have learned that internationally and domestically, we are facing, researching, analyzing and strategizing some of the same issues and concerns impacting our young children. Because of this fact, I feel partnering with international professionals and resources are essential to combating issues and trends of the early childhood field.

Thirdly, the early childhood education field needs to partner with international resources to promote advocacy and awareness. For example, the partners can create a collaboration of a website, write articles to publish in journals collaborate with colleges and universities and hold benefits are some ways to bring awareness of issues and trend that are affecting the early childhood education field.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I reviewed the website http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/), and focused on the link named Access. Some main points of this website include:                                 

·         The 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. A decade later, the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early childhood by including the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

·         Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favor of the poor.

·         Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality.

·         Lastly, Privileged children of the target age group benefit from state investment, while poor children of non-target ages receive scant government attention. A policy of universalisation with targeting can minimize inequity where governments aim for universal access among the target age group, but simultaneously prioritize the poor.

Sharing Web Resources # 2

I have been studying the Office of Head Start website. This website has a lot of useful information that I am able to apply to my current position. As I explored the website I found an Article called Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Call To Action that talks about the effort made to establish a network of services for grandparents raising grandchildren. The article also highlights when the parents are not able to raise their children, it is often the grandparents who step in to assume this responsibility. This article also offers statistical data for example, on average, 28% of grandparent caregivers are over age 60, as many as 30% live in poverty, and at least 32% have cared for their grandchildren 5 or more years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006).

I research a part of the website called Reports. This section of the website contains statistical data. The Office of Head Start shows:

• 11.5 percent of the Head Start enrollment consisted of children with disabilities, (mental retardation, health impairments, visual handicaps, hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, speech and language impairments, orthopedic handicaps and learning disabilities).
• 44,109 children participated in home-based Head Start program services.
• 77 percent of Head Start teachers have at least an AA degree in Early Childhood Education.
• 26 percent of Head Start program staff members were parents of current or former Head Start children. More than 850,000 parents volunteered in their local Head Start program.
• 94 percent of Head Start children had health insurance. 82 percent of those with health insurance were enrolled in the Medicaid/Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program or a state sponsored child health insurance program.
• The 1994 reauthorization of the Head Start Act established the Early Head Start program for low-income families with infants and toddlers. In Fiscal Year 2009, $709 million was used to support more than 650 programs which provided Early Head Start child development and family support services in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These programs served more than 66,000 children under the age of three.
• More than 228,000 Head Start fathers participated in organized regularly scheduled activities designed to involve them in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

I do not receive newsletters however the office of head start has provided an alternative website called ECLKC that contains newsletters and article that pertains to early childhood education.  The office of Head Start revised Child Development and Early Learning Framework . Three additional domains have been added: Logic & Reasoning; Social Studies knowledge & Skills; English language Development

I think the Office of Head Start has a huge focus on equity and excellence.  The statistical data provides a glance into what head start offers children and families.  

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website

After exploring the Harvard website, I discovered that “The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship” (website).   The Center on the Developing Child’s main focus is to improve early childhood education and car they have form four goal: Building a multidisciplinary science of health, learning, and behavior, advancing our understanding of how to reduce preventable disparities in well-being, catalyzing the formulation and implementation of effective, science-based policies, and preparing future and current leaders to make science-based policy decisions.

In addition, I learned the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University looks at children holistically. The article mentions, “Mental health concerns constitute a massively under addressed issue that has significant implications for the broader health and development of children and societies. There is an urgent need to identify the scope of the problem within and across countries and to develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts” (website).

Website:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/