During the course of the last 8 weeks I have been asked to take a closer look at research practices as they relate to the field of early childhood. As part of my professional work in the past, present and future I have been and will be a constant consumer of early childhood research. I am grateful for the work I have done over the last 8 weeks which has forced me to hone my skills as a consumer of research and to take a closer look at how to Do research.
My biggest take away from this course Building Research Competencies is my increased skill to determine what is "good" research. In a world where anyone can act as an expert on anything and post it on the internet (even me) it is vastly important to be able to examine the quality of online content and to determine if information that claims to be based on research is credible (week 2 Introduction retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819265_1%26url%3D).
I have also gained a deep appreciation of what it takes to design, implement and write about ethical research that has benefit to our field. I will stick to my original prediction... I do not see myself as a future researcher, but I must admit that going through the steps of my research simulations has been really informative and dare I say fun? I applaud my colleagues who are and will be early childhood researchers and the work they do to support the evolution of our field.
"Research should challenge habitual ways of doing things, and provide reasons to modify, refocus and change" (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010, p. 6). As early childhood professionals let's use the knowledge gained through research to move our field forward so that all young children have the opportunity to have a solid foundation and reach their full potential in life.
Thank you to Dr. Joyce Myers for her thoughtful direction during this course. Thank you to all my colleagues in the class for your thoughtful posts and questions, often it was your descriptions that helped me to understand the concepts. And thank you to those of you how are out there supporting my work in so many ways!
Until the fall!
Betsy Carlin
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.
I agree with you that with technology it is very important to know the difference in credible research. I too have gained appreciation for the process of researching. Thank you for your comments and insights throughout this course.
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy, I agree with you when you say that by going through these research simulation has helped you out in research a lot. I feel that taking all these steps while doing this research will come in hand for all of us in the near future one day. Thank you for the insightful information and I wish you well on the rest of your journey.
ReplyDeleteI never really understood the value of research in the early childhood education field until taking this course. Thank you to everyone who has helped me understand the importance of research and the value it has on our field. The development of children and the direction they choose to go in life has a lot to do with what researchers learn from their studies. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy,
ReplyDeleteI agree that you can’t always trust an article because someone published it. I learned that validation is the most important, when doing research. To stay up to date on issues dealing with children, this course has taught us that will be doing of it lot, It’s the only to know the right policies there are to help children and their families. To you Betsy and colleagues this has been amazing, sharing our goals teaching children. I hope I see you in another course.
Kathleen Thompson