Option 2

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? The topic that I would chose would be the affects of early childhood programs on young children’s future success. What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be? The positive contributions would be an higher rate of high school graduates and college graduates, successful/positive participants in society, low crime rates and minimal amount of individuals in prison.

Personal Research Journey

I am not to familiar with the research process.  The information from the articles this week gave great insight on how to determine the quality of electronic resources and the text gave insightful information on how to refine your topic.  After reading Chapters one and two of the text Doing Early Childhood Research I have narrowed down my topic and will focus the research simulation on how children develop social/emotional skills through early learning environments.  My reasons for studying this topic stems from my experience in the classroom, as a director of a nonprofit child care center for at-risk children and my desire to advocate for young children.  During the course of my career I have experienced children raising children, children that have been pushed through the school system without having the proper education, which indicates that they have been set up to fail, and lastly, seeing young children that lack in social/emotional development that I believe is gained through the early childhood experience.

Having the chart is a great tool.  While undertaking research the chart will keep me focused.  The simulation process took a little longer than I anticipated.  After finding information on my topic there were several articles with research that supported social emotional development but some of the research focused on the adult interaction, others on the environment and one focused on that development in the classroom environment.  The insight from our first week’s resources on how to read research articles was a tremendous help.

While learning about the research process and conducting research during this course I welcome all advice from you all that will assist me in my research process.  Definitely during this process I will be keeping the articles, text book and other guides with me at all times to ensure that I am interpreting research terms appropriately and grasping an understanding of the context given.