My Family Culture

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…

First of all, I would take my camera because it has pictures of special moment with all my loved ones on it and I can capture new memories at my new destination. The pictures on my camera would show a lot about my family culture as well.

Secondly, I would take my Kindle because I would be able to read all kinds of books, magazines and the bible to myself and my family, which is really something we enjoy and represents our family culture.  

Third, I would bring my son’s blanky because he has to sleep with it every night and because it’s the blanket he got when he was born. It has his name and birth date on it and it’s as special to me as it is to him.

I would explain the items to others just as I did above. I would also share the items with them. I would show them the pictures and tell them stories that go along with each one. I would also read to them as well.

If I had to choose just one of the 3 items mentioned above, I would be so devastated and torn. I would want to keep the blanky because it is special to my son, however the camera with all my pictures on it would be hard to give up.

When I first began to think about the personal items I would bring, I first thought of things like my laptop, my cell phone, my Ipod. These items I immediately thought of because they can offer so much more and be so very useful when we arrived to our new location. I think what I realized most from this assignment is that the culture of society is very dependent on technology. I was focusing on taking items to keep us busy because those are the items that we use each and every day. However, I recall life before so much technology, when things were a bit simpler and its sad to think my son will never know what that type of life is like.

When I think of research...

My insights about research have become more refined. I have gained valuable new knowledge which has allowed for me to have new insights and direction in research, but also provided me with more questions as well. I have learned about the various approaches which have helped me to not feel as overwhelmed and to choose the best approach for me and my particular study. The resource book and the assignments were written and provided in great sequence which helped with my understanding the research process better. I found myself questioning processes and steps and then I found them answered in the following weeks course work. The layout  helped me to better plan, prepare and design my study. I think the biggest challenge is just determining the best approach because they al lhave similar  techniques and benefits and mixed method seems to emcompass

Research Around the World

I explored the Early childhood Australia website located at: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ Early Childhood Australia-A voice for young children.  The mission of Early Childhood Australia is to advocate for children birth to eight years in equity and quality in education and care.  I truly enjoyed this website, there was so much to explore and learn. I particularly liked the Research in Practice Series which provides resources and information on major topics and trends for those involved in the early childhood field. The series focuses on a wide range of topics essentially on the ‘hands-on’ aspects of early childhood. Some of the current research topics that they have addressed include: Learning and teaching through play, children as communicators, Early Years Learning Framework, confidence in children and Bullying.

As I explored the site further I found the early childhood archives and was really interested in the recent media release on May 9^th that discussed the continual support for quality early education for children. It discussed the Federal Budget’s commitment to provide additional funding to assist in attracting early childhood teachers in remote areas. The funding will provide $225 million dollars over 4 years which will provide an extra 130,000 families with high quality care.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

When I think of a positive example of effects of research on children and families I think about an incident that came about in one of my afterschool childcare centers almost two years ago. A young girl in my program would continually talk about her facebook profile and all the people she would meet on the Internet. I was dumbfounded that her parents would allow her to access the worldwide web without supervision, especially since she was only ten years old. I tried to discuss the dangers of the Internet with my children in my program, but didn’t have much to go on so we researched the topic and found lots of information. We found ways to address the topic to the children and activities to present to the group. We also found resources to present to parents and ways to help them protect their children. My staff and I decided not only to lead a discussion on this topic in out afterschool program, but to open it up to the parents. We had a family night where we had dinner and got to know each other more and also presented the research information that we learned to the parents and sent home articles and resources to parents as well. After addressing this in my program, the young girl mentioned that she was no longer able to freely search the Internet. We like to think that our research and addressing the issue head on helped to limit her access and possible save her childhood a bit.

My Personal Research Journey

I chose to research the effects of single-parent homes on children I am interested personally because I am a single mother raising my son. I was raised in a very traditional household and my parents have been married for forty-two years. Raising a child on my own was not something I ever imagined doing and I worry every day about the effects it will have on my son.

Unfortunately, I have noticed a certain stigmatism associated with single parents. It is my hope that by researching the effects on the children I will be able to help not only my son, but other families as well, to overcome the stigmata and prove that children from single-parent families can grow up to be strong, intelligent and healthy.

Issues and Trends: Change, Contexts, Consequences, and Constraints Revisited

I understand more in depth about the field of early childhood education after learning more about it internationally. I learned information that was deeper than I imagined and I realized the importance of being aware of what’s going on in the field all around the world not just locally. I believe that because I learned more about the international early childhood field I will be able realign my goals and further my career professionally and realign my thinking and goals personally as well. I learned to not take so much for granted, I learned what I can do to advocate for early childhood education around the world and I learned about some valuable resources that will help me to continue develop and grow. It is my goal that I continue to use what I have learned to help others to grow and develop as well.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 3

Since I still haven’t received word from my contacts, I decided to so the alternative assignment of reviewing the UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” website.
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/).  After taking some time to thoroughly explore this site, I have gained some new insights.

First of all I learned that UNESCO is dedicated to the child as a whole and the holistic approach to early childhood development.

Secondly, I learned that global action week is coming up on April 22. Global action week provides awareness about the need of early childhood education

I also learned that UNESCO had a group of experts conduct reviews of indicators related to early childhood development such as health and nutrition, social protection, and policy and planning. Then reviews are now published and provide recommendation for the content of the Holistic Early Childhood Development Index.

I read lot s of interesting information on this website. I read about empowering girls in Ethiopia and the push for literacy in Nigeria. I also read about the Nokia challenge for mobile communication ideas that help expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education.

Overall, I learned a lot about this organization and they are doing around the world to advocate for children and early childhood care and education. I believe in advocating for our children and support all the efforts that are being made by organizations like this one.