During the course, "Building Research Competencies", I have learned a great deal. Perhaps the most compelling information involved the potential ethical issues that are inherent in research. The power relations that can occur between researcher and participants make me feel wary of conducting research. Issues of informed consent relating to children and parents and the potential unknown and unforeseen risks to children who participate in research, later in life send my head spinning. However, I do feel more informed about these issues. I have a new appreciation for the amount of pre-work that goes into the planning of a research study. Additionally, I have learned about the massive amount of analysis that is necessary after the data has been collected. I now understand what is meant by quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research design. I feel that mixed methods research, although it requires versatility on the part of the researcher, encompasses the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative research methods and therefore, yields the most comprehensive results.

Among the challenges that I encountered, the greatest was formulating a research question. I had difficulty narrowing my interests and questions about my interests into a suitable research question. Also, I found it challenging to write a hypothesis from my research question. I overcame this challenge by consulting as many sources as possible, in addition to the course readings, to increase my understanding of the qualities of research questions versus the qualities of hypotheses.

Truthfully, this course did not change my impressions of early childhood professionals as I already work in the field. I understand that early childhood professionals must be knowledgeable, insightful, intentional and ethical in their practice, their research and their lives.

Many thanks to all of my colleagues for your thoughtful feedback, friendly words, the work that you do and are preparing to do for children and their families as well as for taking this educational journey with me.

International Early Childhood Research Website

I chose to explore the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (http://www.eecera.org/).

The article, “Introducing Children’s Perspectives and Participation in Research”, contains the work of seven authors from 6 different countries. The authors offer abstracts of their studies in which their attempts to understand some aspect of children’s learning and social interactions also shed light on the importance of obtaining children’s views and input into decisions regarding the best methods for maximizing their learning experiences (Harcourt & Einersdottir, 2011).

 In “The dynamics  of early childhood spaces: opportunities for outdoor play?”, the authors delve into the recent trend of diminished opportunities for outdoor play for children, its causes and results. The authors point to unsafe urban neighborhoods, more advanced and available recreational techonology, social and educational factors as the causes for this new definition of childhood. The article also discusses the ways in which different cultures have varying attitudes regarding outdoor play. For example, in Australia, a common concern among teachers is legal action resulting from a child’s injury incurred during outdoor play. In order to lessen the likelihood of this, outdoor play has been watered down. This results in the compromise of the children’s outdoor play experiences. On the other hand, Scandinavian preschool teachers, who mirror their cultural values of weather-hardiness and risk taking, are more likely to be less apprehensive about children’s outdoor adventures (Waller, et al., 2010).

I found a great deal  of interesting perspectives about early childhood education in European countries on the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal’s website. I found it especially interesting that the articles indicated the researcher’s country of origin. This was helpful in understanding the variation in paradigms across Europe.

References

http://eecra.org/

Harcourt,D.,  Einarsdottir, J. (2011). Introducing Children’s Perspectives and Participation in Research. European Education and Research Journal. 19(3), pp 301-7.

Waller,T., Beate, E., Sandseter,H., Wyver,S., Ärlemalm‐Hagsér, S.,  Maynard, T. (2010): The dynamics of early childhood spaces: opportunities for outdoor play?, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18:4, 437-443