Research Around the World

I chose to review the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) website. Along with a generous amount of information about the association itself, the site included a link to its research journal appropriately titled, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. This journal is an invaluable resource for an early childhood education researcher. The most recent article correlated nicely with this week’s topic in our class assignments. Many researchers are now looking at the value in what young children think.

Deborah Harcourt (Australia) and Alison Clark (United Kingdom) formed a special interest group called “Young Children’s Perspectives”, and their research into this is documented in the article “Introducing Children’s Perspectives and Participation in Research” (Harcourt & Einarsdottir, 2011). The authors believe that the newfound interest in hearing child voices in research has come about based on the newer idea that childhood is a “social construct” and children are able to actively participate in their learning processes. This approach to data collection in research sounds ideal. Who better to speak with about how children learn, than the children themselves? Yet, some researchers see a negative side to this type of data retrieval. The authors discovered that some researchers find a conflict arising when it comes to how we as adults view children. We are oversimplifying our views. Children are seen as either independent free thinkers, or as dependent and in need of care. What many researchers fail to understand is that children are both of these and their research based on young child participation should reflect this fact in the data collection process.

In a second article Waller, Sandseter, Wyver, Arlemalm-Hagser, & Maynard (2010) discuss how the changing view of what is being emphasized as important in early childhood education is effecting our young children’s health. The authors make reference to the turn toward academics earlier and earlier in education. It has now trickled down into early education and young children are seeing less and less outdoor play time. This in turn is taking away valuable learning opportunities for young children that include social interaction and physical skills that become the basis for much academic learning later in life. It is important to note that the authors addressed this issue by looking at the change in the amount of outdoor play in western civilization as opposed to the rest of the world and in countries that are collectivists as opposed to individualists.

A third article discussing an international research issue in early childhood education provides a view of the Vygotskian approach to early learning used by Russia and other western countries as teachers in these countries come to terms with the push for academics earlier and earlier in education. Bodrova (2008) makes a case based on her research that teachers can teach academic skills through play. Using Vygotsky’s theories as a platform, teachers can intentionally set up scenarios to scaffold children’s learning of different topics in a fun and interesting way.

All of these articles were very interesting and gave me a broader perspective of what early childhood educators in other countries are interested in learning more about. Fortunately, we all seem to be trying to address similar issues related to the field. With many researchers working toward the same goals, we are bound to make some headway. I recommend this journal to any novice or advanced researcher. I was able to learn new thoughts on why researchers, even with all of the positives, would refrain from using young children as vocal resources in their  studies.

References:

Bodrova, E. (2008). Make‐believe play versus academic skills: a vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma               of early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 16(3), 357  369. doi: 10.1080/13502930802291777

European early childhood education research association . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.eecera.org

Harcourt, D., & Einarsdottir, J. (2011). Introducing children's perspectives and participation in research.  European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(3), 437-443. doi:          10.1080/1350293X.2011.597962

Waller, T., Sandseter, E. B. H., Wyver, S., Arlemalm-Hagser, E., & Maynard, T. (2010). The dynamics of    early childhood spaces: opportunities for outdoor play?. European Early Childhood Education     Research Journal, 18(4), 437-443. doi: 10.1080/1350293X.2010.525917