Research Around the World

For this blog assignment I decided to explore EECERA (European Early Childhood Education Research Association)

While browsing  thru their page I found that in each yearly volume  they published a Special Issue or Monograph that focused on an aspect of early childhood studies such as :

•   the development of theoretical foundations of the theme and related topics;
•   the development of new research methodology;
• an up-to-date overview of current knowledge and developments in the field, including an evaluation of relevant empirical studies;
• a presentation of new developments, applications or policy implications

The purpose of this special publication is to promote high quality services for young children and families through the sharing of scientifically constructed knowledge.

In one of their latest publications the topics of discussion were all related to outdoor play some of the titles are :

The dynamics of early childhood spaces: opportunities for outdoor play? (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350293X.2010.525917) click to go to access the full reading :)

The outdoor environment in Norwegian kindergartens as pedagogical space for toddlers' play, learning and development

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

For this week blog assignment I decided to look for a research that has help teacher to teach English-language learner. There are a great number of Spanish speaking students in my district and the population still growing. By researching the Walden Library for research in this particular subject I discover the following research that summarizes the importance of incorporating technology in to the curriculum and lessons and the benefits for not only the ELL’s but for all students.

“This study compared traditional and multimedia-enhanced read-aloud vocabulary instruction and investigated whether the effects differed for English-language learners (ELLs) and non-English-language learners (non-ELLs). Results indicate that although there was no added benefit of multimedia-enhanced instruction for non-ELLs, there was a positive effect for ELLs on a researcher-designed measure and on a measure of general vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, for children in the multimedia-enhanced condition, the gap between non-ELLs and ELLs in knowledge of instructional words was closed, and the gap in general vocabulary knowledge was narrowed”( Silverman, R., & Hines, S. 2009,p.305).

References:

Silverman, R., & Hines, S. (2009). The Effects of Multimedia-Enhanced Instruction on the Vocabulary of English-Language Learners and Non-English-Language Learners in Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 101(2), 305-314. DOI: 10.1037/a0014217  305-314

My Research Journey

When I decided to start my journey as a teacher I never imagine it will as an early childhood teacher. It was the perfect time since I was experiencing motherbood of a baby boy. My journey started as a Head Stard teacher aide and I realized teaching young children was my passion. One year after I debuted as a Hwad Start teacher (2009-2011). Now I am a Pre-Kindergarten teacher and when I compare both positions theres no much of a difference besides the pay and the training. Because of my experiences in both I decided to continue my research on the Importance of special education training to Head Start teachers to help children to excel. I will also will research deeper on behaviors and factors that triggers " bad behaviors" and how training can help teachers to manage these scenarios.
Now that Im more experienced I enjoyed learning more and more about ways in which I can improve to help children and their families...