Looking at research done internationally is really beneficial to learning about research in general. You can see what topics other researchers in other regions are focusing on, what methods they are using and what their current research issues and ideas are. There also may be opportunities for collaboration and gaining new insights from an international perspective. This week, I looked at the Early Childhood Australia website, http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/.
The Early Childhood Australia website has a section on their Research in Practice (RIP) Series. This is a resource for early childhood professionals and parents and it looks as though it has a lot of useful information. Unfortunately, the books in the RIP Series (and most of the articles in the journals) were not available for free-you need to be a subscriber or purchase the books/journals individually. Browsing through the index, I saw that some of the topics covered include diversity, coping with change, communication and relationships with families, aggression, and overall well-being in children.
The website also had a link for the Every Child Magazine as well. I was pleased to see that there were sample articles available and after browsing through this section I found some really interesting information and articles. Some of the topics in this section include supporting bilingual learners, social-emotional development, legal issues in early childhood care, ethics, and health.
I noticed that many of these topics on the Early Childhood Australia website similar to ones that early childhood professionals here in the US look at too. There were some topics that I have not heard much about here, such as indigenous issues and males in the early childhood profession. I thought that these sounded pretty interesting; overall this website had a wide variety of international research topics!
I gained some new insight into different early childhood topics that I have not really focused on before. Browsing through this website and reading some of the available articles gave me new information on a wide range of topics. I was surprised at the focus that Early Childhood Australia has on diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion-there were many articles on these topics in different sections of the website. It seems as though a lot of the current research is based on indigenous issues and the inclusion of Aboriginal children and families.
Looking at this international research website was very informative. Although a lot of the research and topics can be generalized to children worldwide, there were some sections in particular that are solely for Australia. To me, this was really interesting because it gave me an idea of what some of the early childhood issues unique to Australia are and an idea of the Early Childhood Australia’s perspectives. Overall, I enjoyed looking at the Early Childhood Australia website and am happy to have a new international research resource to add to my collection of resources!
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI too chose the same website as you and I thought it provided quality information for parents and young children. I especially like the handbook that is available for parents that have children starting their first year of school. I too agree, there are very similar views and issues that are the same in Australia and the United States.
I am glad that you found some interesting information on this website and that Australia and America has similar focus when it comes to childcare. You mention that an article was on men in the early childhood profession that Australia was focusing on and here in America that is a focus that is being looked at also so that is something that we can compare how Australia is dealing with it and how America is dealing with it. I think it is a valuable topic to continue to learn about. Thanks for sharing your information.
ReplyDeleteThe RIP series has alot of interesting topics.I too noticed that their were similarities to issues here in the United States. It is amazing that the issues in our country are similar to those in others as well. I chose to view the The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)website and some of the research topics that I found to be similar were basically parent involvement, quality programs, and curriculum development. I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI also looked at this website and found many interesting outlooks. I did not see the focus on males in the early childhood field though. That is an interesting topic. The school I am at is an international elementary school and it ranges between ages 3 - 11, which is from Nursery class up to Year 6. I teach the youngest class, but after me there are male teachers in Reception, Year 1, Year 2, so in the early years there are mostly male teachers. Quite unique and it has been interesting to observe them teaching. There are also male teachers in Year 5 and Year 6 but those are upper elementary and a little more common. I remember teaching back in the U.S. and was friends with male teachers who did find it difficult at times because of different issues with other male elementary teachers. I don't think the teachers at my school have felt the same concerns and I wonder if it is just more acceptable to cultures associated with our students.
I agree with you about the website and the research they have that are for worldwide children; there is a lot. It was actually more difficult to find information for simply Australia. It is a good website though!
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