A note of gratitude...

This week I am pondering how fortunate I have been to engage with a group of bright and talented women. I feel empowered in my own journey, in adult education, when I have the opportunity to have reflective and engaging conversations with folks like you. All the best in your continued journey!

Wendy

Adjourning... Goodbyes are Necessary

I have had very little experience with adjourning as it is described by Abudi (2010). Most of the groups or teams I have been involved in continued on after I left. Or I continued on after another member left. I have served on governing boards; I worked at the same preschool for 12 years; and I gathered a cohort of directors from a school district to create a community of learners. In each of these cases when I left the greater part of the entity continued on without me. However, in each of these cases it was difficult for me to leave the few members of the group I had become close with, those who I worked well with, those whose passion and drive mirrored my own for the mission of the group.

This week I shared with you, in the discussion board, about a group I was involved in for a class during my bachelor's degree program. There was dysfunction and a lack of direction. This group was not hard to leave. Without meaning any offense to the individuals in the group I have to say it was a relief to be on my own again in my schoolwork. I think this is often true- when a group or team is dysfunctional and lacks cohesion leaving is a liberation.

As I have navigated through this degree program I have often wished that we had been a true cohort, a community of learners, which stayed together throughout the journey. I feel as though I have had a chance to get to know some of you along the way. However, with others this is our first class together and the journey is almost over. There have been students who have come in and out of classes with me throughout the past year or so. Many of them were also just passing through, so to speak. Because of this fractured group dynamic I feel that it is hard to know how I will feel when we disperse from this program. On the one hand, I will miss the chance for professional conversations with all of you. On the other hand, I will be so excited to be done and mastered (is that a thing?) that I feel the relief will come even without the dysfunction.

So, whether there is a big ceremony, as in the case of graduation, or there is little fanfare- such as when I left the directors' cohort group- adjourning is essential in almost all cases. I did not walk for my graduation when I earned my bachelor's degree and I am not sure if I will for this master's program either. However, just as with my previous graduation, there will be a HUGE party and many of you will be there with me in spirit.

References
Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Managing Conflict

It has been a very long time since I truly experienced a conflict in my personal or professional life. Of course there are times that I do not see eye to eye with someone about a specific idea but rarely do these devolve into conflicts. Or, perhaps they are more like productive conflicts which I manage effectively (O'Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, & Teven, 2015). However, I will do my best to describe a concern I am currently having in my work life and apply the strategies we have been learning about to help me process through a better approach to communicating about it.

I think one reason I rarely have conflict at work is because I tend to let things go if they bother me and seldom does that affect my day to day work. Partly this is because I regularly work on my own, in the field, and so my colleagues and I see each other infrequently. However, avoiding conflict is not always what is best for me.

Each year our team organizes a group meeting for directors in the month of December in order to help meet the hours we are required to provide each month. In December, this can be difficult because some sites close for a week or more and coaches schedule vacation time during the December holidays. However, when I say "our team" organizes this meeting what I mean is that I organize this meeting and it is like pulling teeth to get most of the other coaches to help, even though everyone benefits from it. So, rather than making a fuss about it I simply take on the extra work and show extreme appreciation for the couple of coaches who do help in the planning and implementation.

However, I never mention that it irritates me that others are unwilling to help and seem to take advantage of the work of the few. In my personal life I appreciate a good debate and will assert my point. However, in this particular work situation I use avoidance when I "do not express [my] own needs and goals" (O'Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, & Teven, 2015, p. 228). Their refusal to help triggers me. One strategy I think I will look into is to view all conflict as an opportunity for relationship building and will think about how I can turn this trigger into an opportunity for productive conflict.

A second strategy that I could use would be to "Shift from Either-Or to Both-And" (The Third Side, n.d., para. 5). When I begin asking the team about developing the meeting plan I often put out an idea that I think is going to be a successful topic for the meeting discussion or professional development. When others come up with additional ideas I often try to get the group to choose one of the topic. I do not care if it is my original idea but I want one focus for the meeting. Perhaps I need to think about how to incorporate all of the ideas so that other coaches have more "buy in." Maybe I am marginalizing them and creating an uncertain climate. By looking and speaking from the thirdside perhaps there will be more collaboration and I will feel less frustrated.

Thinking through my approach to this situation has helped me to consider how I can stop avoiding the conflict around it but to circumvent unproductive conflict, as well.

References

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

The Third Side. (n.d.). 3S skills- Speak from the thirdside. Retrieved from http://thirdside.williamury.com/skills-speak/

Communication Assessment Reflection

At first, I only planned to ask two people from my personal life to do the communication assessments for me this week. I was thinking that asking a colleague to do something like this on a holiday week was just, well... rude. However, in the end I did ask my supervisor to complete the assessments and she agreed. In the chart below you can see how I "rated" according to myself, Dean (my boyfriend), Jenn (my sister), and Andrea (my supervisor/colleague).

I think the one outcome that was the most surprising was how low the others believe my communication anxiety is. In fact, Andrea rated me the lowest and she sees me in my most anxiety provoking situations when it comes to communication. She has observed me in meetings and presenting professional development opportunities to groups. This is when, internally, I feel the most nervous and anxious. However, she apparently sees me as more cool, calm, and collected than I feel.

One thing that I learned about my communication this week is that I possibly morph myself into different listening styles based on whether it is a business situation (action oriented according to Andrea) or personal situation (people oriented according to my family). I think this is okay, but I also feel like I need to work more on focusing on a people oriented listening style in my coaching work. Being action oriented in my professional life is also something that is necessary if progress toward quality is going to be made. So, while I want to continue to be more sensitive/people oriented in my work I also know that this is not always the best approach to getting things done.

The second insight I gained this week is that I, and everyone who helped me this week, see me as moderate in the verbal aggressiveness scale. My sister was somewhat surprised about this saying "On the verbal one I was actually surprised you fell into the moderate range. Thought for sure you'd be more in the low. I mean, not that moderate was bad or anything but I just don't see you as a verbally aggressive person AT ALL." I went on to explain to her that I really wasn't surprised that I fell into the moderate range for verbal aggressiveness when I read the description. I do like to make my point and won't just agree with others because I don't want to get into a debate about something. I feel this is a good balance for me- not a person who insults others but also not a wallflower. I think this is exactly how I want to communicate with others in most situations.

I also feel that my continually reflective nature allowed me to understand most  of my communication styles in the same way that others see me. It felt good to know that how I view myself is mostly aligned with how others see me- both family and colleagues alike. This was a really fun and informative assignment. I hope you all enjoyed it too! 

Altering Communication

So many things affect the way we communicate with different people. Many aspects of culture have an influence on how I alter my communication efforts. Communication should be individualized between the parties who are engaged with each other. This is not to say that I intend to treat people from different cultural backgrounds differently. More so, that I try to be aware that every individual has different expectations and levels of comfort with different aspects of communication. Additionally, I have my own nuances of communication which I prefer. It is important to remember that when communicating with others our own culture and communication preferences come into play.

For example, when communicating with people with certain political beliefs I tend to shy away from mentioning certain topics because it makes me uncomfortable to discuss politics when another person might become angry or offended; in our country, today, this is all too common. Also, I will change my speech pattern to match that of the person with whom I am communicating. Perhaps I will slow down when speaking to a person whose first language is not English or I will monitor my use of certain slang when talking with an elderly or young person. I do not think that race and sexual orientation have any influence on my method of communication- at least none that are obvious to me.

A few strategies to communicate more effectively:

• Consciously identify and recognize the nonverbal behaviors of varying people to match my own nonverbal communication to theirs. I am thinking about things like amount of personal space and whether touch or eye contact are a part of the communication patterns.
• View the communication scenario through the eyes of my communication partner and if there seems to be discomfort, alter the next communication attempt.
• Build relationships with communication partners over time and by being aware of the other person's comfort level in the way the relationship is unfolding. Sometimes building a relationship involves finding commonalities and other times it is simply a matter of being aware of the other person.

References

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Communication of Characters

This week I was tasked with the assignment of watching a television show that I do not normally watch to investigate the communication of its characters. First, I was to watch it with the sound off

and then again with the sound on. I chose a show that I had considered watching but had not gotten around to yet, The Good Place with Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. I chose a random episode on Netflix and completed the assigned task.

There was a lot that I could tell by observing without sound. Facial expressions and body language often connected to the feelings and intentions of the characters. I identified annoyance and bewilderment based on facial expressions, excitement by the use of hand gestures while speaking, frustration through hands placed on hips and eye rolling, and confusion through raised eyebrows and widening of the eyes. These impressions tended to be correct when watching the show again with volume.

However, a few of the assumptions I made about the relationships among the characters turned out to be severely flawed. For example, when I saw one female character braiding another's hair it seemed to indicate that they had a level of intimacy in their friendship. However, it turned out that they did not like each other as much as it would have seemed and were trying to force themselves to bond via this exercise. Just prior to this they had both, separately, told a male character that they were in love with him. Due to the show being a comedy, instead of say a drama, this was not at all apparent during their exchanges. He sat with his body drawn closed in on itself and the women both stood and spoke to him animatedly. The non-verbal communication did not match what I would have expected while professing one's love.

I think the biggest lesson I learned is that context and personal communication styles have everything to do with how we perceive communication from others. Context, for example matters when you consider whether the moment is meant to bring laughter or tears; in a television show this will affect every interaction among the characters. I also feel that my own schemas about communication played a large part in how I viewed these characters and their interactions. I made an assumption that the character played by Ted Danson was an authority or boss of some kind because when the show opened he sat at a desk with a small group of other characters on the other side of it. In general, when I have had interactions with someone sitting on the opposite side of a desk from me they have been an authority figure of some kind.

If this had been a show I knew well I might have had a better understanding of some of the contexts that skewed my perceptions. For example, while I do think that Ted Danson's character is some sort of authority he seems to be flailing in this position. If I had known his character better prior to watching the episode without the sound I might have known his nuanced behaviors which indicate his personality and feelings while communicating.

This is also true in real life. Effective communication often takes time to build through relationships. Sure,

we can have brief exchanges with people we do not know but in order to begin to understand underlying meanings it is crucial to know that person well and to listen with both your ears and eyes.

Communication: Lessons From a Friend

This week I was asked to share with you all about a person whom I know that demonstrates competent communication in certain contexts. I chose to write about my good, long time friend Shayna.

Shayna has always engaged in philanthropic careers and ventures. She has an advanced degree in anthropology and has, hence, studied human behavior for many years. One of her strengths is communicating with other professionals in her field. However, she also has a way with people who are suffering and in need of support. She worked for several years as a patient navigator for the American Cancer Society. In this capacity, as well as in her personal life, she is an active listener and often asks reflective questions to help a person think through their problem or concern.

Not only would I want to model my communication style after Shayna but I often do just that. I try to draw from some of the conversations we have had when helping a friend in need. I often think about how she might react or what question she might ask if I came to her with the same problem. Her way of supporting while still probing is lovely.

She is a genuine person and also very direct. I respect that in communication because I never want to feel, or make someone else feel, like I am not saying what I really think.

Shayna can sometimes be quite blunt in her attempt to be direct. I do use caution not to be too blunt in my own communication with others, especially in professional settings.

I adore my friend and value her conversational style and intellect tremendously. I also have a great fondness for her fun, spunky spirit!

Professional Hopes, Goals, and Thanks

As we wrap up another class in our MS of Early Childhood Studies program I wish to share some of the inspiring ideas that are brewing because of my renewed thinking about anti-bias, diversity rich education.

One hope...

I hope that when working with adults from diverse backgrounds that I will hear all of their voices. Everyone

has something to bring to the table and I want to create a space where it is safe to share each perspective.

One goal...

My goal is to help professionalize the field of early childhood education so that the adults and children in the environments are respected and valued regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, status, age, or other social identity or cultural component.

Buy this book here

Buy me here

Buy this excellent resource here

A note of thanks...

I want to thank each of my colleagues who took the time to interact with and support me throughout this course. I wish the best for all of you in the pursuit of anti-bias and culturally competent education. As I work with the other adults in the field I often bring to mind an interaction that I had with one of you through our discussions and blogs. You have all helped me to continue to expand my reflective practices so that I can contribute to the vision of an education system without oppression or privilege.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

In order to complete this assignment, first choose a country you know nothing about as this family’s country of origin.

The name of “your” family’s country of origin 

I have chosen to imagine that this family is from Tanzania, a country on the continent of Africa.

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family 

1. Have in place a cultural competency plan which supports all newly enrolled children, regardless of their country of origin. This might include a family survey about their home culture and/or plans of how to incorporate each child's home culture into the classroom.

2. Discover if the family and I will need an interpreter in order to support two-way communication.

3. Use the internet, books, and other print sources to study the culture and traditions of Tanzania.

4. Make an attempt to contact an international organization to gather more information about the educational structure and practices in Tanzania.

5. Strive to contact an actual early childhood professional from Tanzania and form a professional relationship with that person. 

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

Any attempt to provide culturally competent, anti-bias education will benefit all children in the classroom or other setting. By understanding more about the individual child, the family, and the culture of their country of origin I hope that I would be able to provide a more inclusive environment for this child and family. The aim would be to show this family that they and their child are important to me and that I understand that their family culture is significant to their ways of thinking about parenting and education (as well as many other aspects of their lives). Of course, I would also benefit because I would have a better foundation for forming a trusting partnership with the family and relationship with the child.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

This week we have been challenged to describe a time we encountered bias, prejudice, and/or oppression. This encounter could be in our own lives or something we have witnessed (in real life or in a fictional setting). Then we were instructed to discuss some specific aspects of our reaction to this bias and what will have to change to turn the incident into an opportunity for equity.

I know this is a platform where I usually discuss early childhood education but this post is going to be a little different. I am going to address wrongful convictions. I am a huge fan of true crime shows and especially podcasts about the injustices that are inherent in our criminal justice system. Some of my favorites include Truth and Justice, Undisclosed, and Actual Innocence. You can click the links I have provided here or below to access these podcasts.

The system is full of biases and prejudices and many times I have listened to stories of wrongful conviction based on what is called confirmation bias. The police, prosecutors, and the like focus on one person and will take any alleged evidence they find which does not support their theory and make it disappear or change their story to fit it. Many times the prejudices that are carried out are based on race, lack of wealth or other minority factors.

There is already a lack of equity because the accused hold no power while the state holds this person's life, often literally, in their hands. The prejudices that exist based on race are particularly difficult to overcome because the oppressed already have a disadvantage due to not being members of the dominant culture. Institutionalized oppression is at work in the most egregious way when a member of a targeted social group is accused of a crime they did not commit.

The feelings that have stirred up for me as I have become more familiar with these cases are varied and strong. I feel angry, confused, hurt, and powerless. I have recently wished that I could go to law school so that I could change some of these injustices from within the system. This is the only way that greater equity can be reached.

We have to stand up as a society and refuse to accept the injustices that exist based on institutionalized oppression. When we serve on juries we have to pay close attention and make decisions based on actual evidence, not on personal biases and prejudices. We have to become informed about who we are voting into public offices, particularly those who make decisions about how to prosecute the accused. We must pay attention to the laws and bills that are being considered and advocate for social change that will bring about equity for all, especially those who have been historically oppressed.

   Truth and Justice Podcast

    Undisclosed Podcast

    Actual Innocence Podcast

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I used to have a friend who is a gay man. I haven't seen him in years but we used to spend a lot of time together. This week I saw a scenario play out that reminded me of something that used to happen to him all the time. I was in a store this week and I overheard a conversation between a man and a woman. He was telling her about someone he knew that he wanted to fix her up with. I heard him say "He's single, you're single, why wouldn't it work?" I was doing my shopping so I moved on without hearing the rest of the conversation.

However, this reminded me of a number of times when I would be with my friend and someone, often someone he barely knew, would tell him they had the perfect guy for him. It was like because he was gay they thought any other gay man was "his type" or "the perfect guy" for him. He and I talked about it a couple of times and although he was a very strong person he said it kind of hurt that people who barely knew him thought they could fix him up just because they knew another gay guy (to use his words). This example of microaggression was one I had forgotten all about until I read the discussion prompts this week and then I overheard the conversation in the grocery store.

If I'm being honest, I never could understand the hurt that my friend experienced because I am not a gay man and I don't know what it feels like to be discriminated against in that way. However, I was once a single woman and I have experienced the situation I saw unfold this week. As I thought about it in the context of microaggression I realized that when this happened to me I did feel insulted. I can only imagine how it must feel to be marginalized and discounted as a human who wants specific things in a mate when you are already a person who experiences outward and intentionally hurtful discrimination because of your sexual orientation.

As I observed those around me this week with a focus on trying to pick out microaggressions it helped me to be more aware of discrimination and prejudice especially as it has to do with power incongruence. When power is in a person's corner, so to speak, they can engage in microaggressions. Often, these microaggressions are not meant to be hurtful or to perpetuate stereotypes but they do. However, we also have to be careful not to make assumptions about our view of what is happening to others. Perhaps the microaggressions I think I see do not cause any harm to the person they are directed toward. If this is the case then are they microaggressions at all? Only the person who receives the message can truly know if they feel that there is a hidden, unintended message that causes them harm.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture: The Viewpoint of Family and Friends

I asked 3 of my friends/family, who prefer to remain unnamed, their definition of culture and diversity. Here, I want to give you a sense of their answers and the impression I got while they answered. One of my interviewees was fairly stumped and said that it was hard to put into words. Another said they had never been asked that question before. I purposely chose people who do not work in any kind of social service or humanity fields. I guess I expected a lot of answers about race, religion, or ethnicity. However, I was pleasantly surprised when each of them gave me an answer that was far from what I expected.

Here are some of the key words they used to explain culture:

• background, upbringing, surroundings, family, extended family, community, the things that influence you

And diversity:

• wide range of differences, many variables, not the same pattern

As I said, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the friends and family I spoke to included many of the aspects of culture that go beyond what we see on the surface. In this course, we have discussed deep vs. surface culture and the aspects of deep culture that were mentioned during my conversations with my friends and family impressed me. Particularly when I heard "the things that influence you" it made a connection to what I have studied throughout my formal and informal educational journey.

Strangely to answer the portion of this assignment that asks about what has been omitted from the definitions it brings me back to the surface culture aspects. No one mentioned race, or dress, or holidays/traditions. I was truly shocked by this! I wonder if they have been listening in on my own thoughts.


As I reflected on what each of the interviewees shared with me it caused me to reaffirm what my own beliefs are about culture. However, it also helped me realize that the surface culture is important too. Those surface aspects of culture are important because they symbolize the outward representation of what is lurking below the surface. The below graphic is one of many that I have found and used this week but this one does not point to the exact things that fit into each level. I found that important because what is surface and what is deep could vary from person to person. I also really like how it shows 3 layers of culture, not just 2. It shows that the deeper you go the more ingrained and instinctual the cultural aspects of a person become.

My Family Culture

The following blog is in response to this scenario:


A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.



What I would bring with me if I had to evacuate...

Photographs: The first item I would choose would be a thumb drive with all of my photographs. Especially those of family and friends.

Music: I would want to have all of my favorite music with me.

Kindle: Books, books, and more books!

To explain to someone else what these items mean to me seems simple. Photographs and music are connected to memories of the time I have spent with loved ones. This is why they are both so important to me. I could use them to escape into my memories; they evoke feelings of love and connectedness.

Books are also sometimes about making connections between my own life and the characters. But I think the reason I love books most is that I was taught to enjoy and appreciate them from a very young age. My mom was always taking us to the library and bookstores. She read to us often and encouraged us to read on our own, as well. She modeled that reading is important and enjoyable. Whenever I talk with my mom we always discuss what we are currently reading. Reading has always been an engrained part of my life. In fact, my sister is an author, taking her love of books to the next level to pursue it as a profession.

The most important realization that I had while working through what I wanted to take with me on this imaginary journey was that all of the things I would take are important because they hold memories of important times in my life. I came to realize that my family culture is immersed in making memories together. We cherish the experiences that bond us together much more than any material possessions.

So, if I found upon arriving that I could keep only one item it would be hard but the memories could not be erased. I would still be able to remember the times I spent with my family and friends that those material items would remind me of. Those memories are the most important thing I could take along with me.

When I Think of Research...

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
The biggest insight I gained about conducting research is that it takes a lot of planning and preparation to format a worthy research study. I had no idea that so much time and attention needed to be paid to determining the design alone. Learning about the different aspects of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches was sometimes overwhelming but also intriguing.

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

I could not say that my ideas about the nature of doing research have changed. I had no preconceived notions about conducting research prior to this course. However, what I can admit is that I thought I had a strong grasp on how to read and use research prior to this course. I now realized that while I had a reasonable understanding of research I now have a much stronger understanding of what I am reading and I can determine if the research meets my needs more quickly.

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

Much like I mentioned in my section above about the insights I have gained, I learned a valuable lesson about the amount of time and effort that goes into conducting research. Each of the steps of planning, designing, proposing, and conducting research must be considered thoroughly before any one of them can be carried out. I also learned that there is a lot of research available about conducting research. Simply typing a prompt (about how to conduct research) into the search bar reveals many published research articles on the topic. So, while the task might be daunting there is also a world of information available about how to go about each of the steps of the research process.

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

One challenge I encountered was of my own creation. I am a bit of a perfectionist and, some would say, an over-achiever when it comes to my own academics. I was continually trying to perfect my ability to conduct actual research even though I am not nearly ready to take on a study of my own.

One example was in developing the research question for each of the weeks in which we were required to develop one. I did a lot of additional research on how to format questions for different types of research. I fumbled, I typed, I deleted, and typed again. One article I found finally helped me to align my efforts with my actual experience. "Good questions can grow out of initial curiosity or ideas for a qualitative study, but at the early stages most questions are rough drafts" (Agee, 2009, p. 433). This helped me to put into perspective my experience with developing research questions- it started in week 1 of this course. I was able to let go of needing to develop the perfect research question and instead to focus on learning more about how to develop one. I had to cut myself some slack!

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I don't think my perception of early childhood professionals has changed. Rather, I have grown a deeper respect for those who take on the task of doing the research so that I can use it in my own work. So that we all can use it in our daily work with children, families, and other professionals in the field.

I want to thank each of you who wrote thoughtful blog and discussion posts. Those who challenged me to think about research in new and different ways. Those who helped me to consider how to conduct my own research and encouraged me through your comments on previous posts in this blog. I wish each of you the best in your continued journey to becoming master of the early childhood field. I hope we will meet again in future courses.

References

Agee, J. (2009) Developing qualitative research questions: A reflective process. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22, 431-447. DOI: 10.1080/09518390902736512

Research Around the World

Any of you who have read my blog regularly over the past several months (or courses) know that I am interested in knowing more about the ECE field in Australia and New Zealand. So when one of the options to write about this week was the website of Early Childhood Australia (ECA) I was excited. What I found there was a place for advocacy efforts, professional development, publications for professionals, and resources for parents.


When I delved deeper into the research into international topics of early childhood I found a resource that I was particularly interested in. It is a book titled Practitioner Research in Early Childhood: International Issues and Perspectives. Who knew? A whole book

dedicated to precisely the topic I was trying to find more information about. Although I have not ordered the book, and therefore have not read it, I was able to discover some of the international research topics of importance that the book addresses:

• the contribution of practitioner research to curriculum and social change. Professional development and strengthening learning communities

– how practitioners can be supported in documenting and articulating their work
– the relationships between the research community and field of practice through practitioner research projects
– contemporary problems and issues that frame the practices of early childhood educators
– case studies from Australia, South Africa, Sweden and Chile

• A diverse range of case studies that use a range of internationally recognised (sp) research methods are presented. The book offers guidance, support and inspiration to practitioners on how to research their implementation of meaningful and sustainable changes in early childhood contexts (ECA Shop, 2017, para. 2).

Additionally, I was able to identify a Research Symposium that takes place every year in association with both Early Childhood Australia and the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. The 2018 symposium theme is Politics, power, and agency in early childhood education. This would lead me to believe that, much like in the United States, the political and social climate surrounding ECE is an important topic to consider in research.

Something else I discovered on the website was very interesting to me. ECA has an entire Leadership Program that is offered to current and aspiring leaders in the field. 

" Founded on solid expert research and five years of sector consultation, this essential leadership framework has been designed by early childhood experts and quality assured by early childhood practising (sp) leaders. Our Leadership Program was specifically created as a strengths-based, self-directed, short-term program for both current and aspiring early childhood leaders in diverse settings." 

I found this to be very interesting since a passion and focus for me is in developing strong leadership in the early childhood field. Unfortunately, there is a fairly steep price tag of $599. In a field where income is always a concern that seems like a high price. However, if the program is of extremely high quality then it could be worth it!

Websites referenced:

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/shop/product/practitioner-research-early-childhood-international-issues-perspectives/

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/events/ajecsymposium/

http://leadership.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Benefits Children and Families- An Imaginary Research Topic

The scenario posed this week... Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

I think that if the reality of the present was not an obstacle I would choose to research collective leadership in the early childhood field. The reason I did not choose this topic for my research simulation in our course, Building Research Competencies, is that there is very little information out there about the topic. Also, I am passionate about professionalizing our field and decided that developing a research study about that topic would be beneficial to the providers I currently work with. Not all of them would be interested in collective leadership.

I have a strong belief in practices such as reflective supervision and collective leadership. I live in both of them in my job as a coach and am continually grateful for the fact that my supervisors have set up our team in this way. Even within a system that we cannot control or change (the funders of our program) we still work in a collective leadership model within our team.

I imagine the positive contributions of researching collective leadership in the early childhood field to be far reaching and extensive. I can imagine a world where teachers are respected and trusted to take a role in leading programs. When that happens they become empowered to view themselves as valuable; their work as important. That would trickle down to the families who would have confidence in the care and education their children are receiving. They would view teachers as professionals and it would begin to change the perception of the field. Of course, when teachers, families, and the field see positive impacts children naturally benefit. Programs that adopt a collective leadership approach would be able to trust that they were doing so based on

research about the benefits and value of the model.

My Personal Research Journey

           The topic I have chosen for my research simulation is professionalizing the field of early childhood education. I chose to focus on the subtopic of the influence of professionalizing the field on program quality. I chose this subtopic for a few reasons. First, my work centers around increasing quality in early childhood programs. As a coach I feel that the more research and information I can gather about the way that professionalism influences quality the more able I will be to help providers to see the connection. The second reason is that I have found very little research about this subtopic- or the more general topic of professionalizing the field of early childhood. I am approaching the research simulation as if I am actually going to conduct the research and data gathering. I expect that data collection would support the idea (or dispel it) that when those working with children focus on their work as professionals quality will increase and, of course, children, families, providers, and communities will benefit.

        As I completed the reading and research chart this week I realized that I still have a lot to learn about compiling a research design. I also have a lot to do before I can design my own simulation. I am still unsure what type of methodology will best fit my topic- inductive or deductive. Inductive is focused on qualitative research and deductive is focused on quantitative. Also, inductive methodology is more fluid in design as it can be adjusted along the way; deductive is rigid in the design and process and cannot be changed "midstream" if the data is to be reliable (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

        So, I pose the question to all of you. Do you have suggestions about what type of methodology I should follow? Have you determined what method you will follow and have you had a chance to determine if there are pros or cons to either? Do you have any other advice or insights to share that have occurred to you during these first weeks of the course? Finally, I ask for any reliable resources you may have come across about what influences quality or the effects of professionalism on quality.

        At this point I am not sure how many resources I can share with you. I did find a helpful website from the University of Minnesota which describes several different types of research designs. You can access it here- https://hsl.lib.umn.edu/biomed/help/understanding-research-study-designs.

The design possibilities seem endless when I see graphics like this:

Although I am willing to support all of my colleagues in their search for information and resources I find it difficult to share additional resources without knowing your topics, hypotheses, and designs.

References


Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

University of Minnesota. (2017). Understanding research study designs. Retrieved from https://hsl.lib.umn.edu/biomed/help/understanding-research-study-designs

Impact and Goals Based on International Research

4 Consequences of Learning About International Early Childhood Education

• Increased compassion for the impoverished...

• Increased awareness of the costs of child poverty...

• The consequences of inequity of opportunity (even in industrialized countries)...

• All non-profit organizations are not created equally...
  

One Goal

The one goal I would suggest is a united front against poverty as an international collaboration of early childhood professionals. If we can created a worldwide voice that speaks out against the inequities and consequences of childhood poverty we can begin to make the shift to high-quality care and education opportunities for all children around the globe. By supporting each other we can support the world's most disenfranchised citizens- young children living in poverty.