Research Around the World

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ) holds the most prestigious early childhood journals in the world. It is one of only four early years journals indexed by the Institute of Scientific Information. As I looked thru the website I noticed how this journal holds specific criteria to decide which journal topics to write about, how the conferences are developed and placed, as well as who and what organizations they will link and do partnership with. The current links/partners are with the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education and the Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association.

As I looked through the several journal topics I learned how much this organization focused on young children. One article that caught my interest was the their most recent issue (Volume 19 Issue3) on children and their participation in research. Because this semester is focusing research and children I felt the need to read this article to see their point of view. The article stated that children are more than capable of participating in research and it valued the type of information that can be received from children.

www.eecera.org

Research That Benefits Children and Families

When it comes to the countless hours someone has put into research to benefit the families that we love we as professionals will most commonly think of deadly diseases that have either been eliminated or there is a vaccine available to the public. Yellow fever is a viral disease spread between humans as well as between certain other primates and humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. The term yellow fever comes from the jaundice that takes over the entire body of an infected person. The disease cannot be transmitted from human to human and it is mainly passed through and area where there are high level of infected mosquitoes. In history several adults and children have been infected with yellow fever and died before a vaccination was discovered.

The first outbreaks were documented in Charleston, Virgina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1699. A 1793 outbreak in Philadelphia killed about 10% of the city's population. Once a person  was infected the virus, within 3-4 days it was possible for that person to recover. In some circumstances those who contracted the virus went into a second phase of illness after recovery and died. Vaccines are now available and widely used  that can protect a person as soon as one week after injection and protect for the next 30 years. Sadly however, countries in Latin America and Africa still suffer with this disease and it claims the lives of 200,000 people per year.

www.hisotryofvaccines.org/content/articles/yellowfever

Topic Selection

The topic that I chose is "What is play?". I chose this topic because I have heard all too often parents state that there is no need for play in the classroom because their child needs to learn instead of play. Parents fail to realize that while their children are playing they are learning as well. They are learning about the similarities and differences between them and their classmates and sometimes other cultures. They have the opportunity to learn about music at a young age and the appreciation for art. Yes it may seem like doodling on a piece of paper but in acutality the child is learning how to control their hand for wrting as well as making certain shapes. Play is just a gudie for children to be able to explore.

International Learning

Out of all the websites that I have studied and all of the viewpoints that I have read about, I have come to the understanding that there are both positive and negatives influences that I have learned from all of this. First, now that I have read about other countires and their struggles it leaves me with a sense of "will we as people every put education first?" It almost has a point of being discouraged because so many countires suffer with issues within education. Second, I know compare our educational system to others. I know that comparisons won't really help and it can only make me feel powerless over the issues that I face within my own community, instead of focusing on what good I can do. Finally, the last consequence when learning about other countires is the overwhelming feeling of sorrow for those countries suffering from extreme poverty. Our country suffers from poverty as well but not as severe as other countries who are less fortunate. One goal that I would like to take from this entire experience is that I hope to one day be able to share my educational experience and knowledge with those across the globe to bring a community of global awareness for all children of this world. With this community I hope to develop a linkage from one country to the next who can aid each other in specific needs to assist children and their families. I beleive that every nation has something the next is lacking and if we link together then we can make a better world for our future generations.

UNESCO Website

When reasearching this website I ran across a section titled "What are the three most important skills a child should learn?" UNESCO Bangkok Director, Gwang-Jo Kim, said " One of the greatest challenge for education systems today is keeping pace with the skills they will need in an increasingly knowlwdge based economy." He stated that children need to learn culture, become critical thinkers, and also need to obtain life skills. I agree with the ideas and beleive that if every child possessed these skills they will grow as individual. Another insight I found was that only 60% of Nigerians educators possess the qualifications to teach. In order to improve education we must first improve leadership qualifications worldwide. The last insight that I gained was how well the UNESCO's website is put together to give quality information to all professionals across the globe.

(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

Exploring Our Resources

I find that the NAEYC's webiste is a great website that will help many people who are in the profession of working with young children and their families. On the actual website under the Professional Development tab there is information to help prepare those who are in the process or begining the career of working with children and their families. NAEYC offers online learning opportunities, training or trainers, as well as opportunities to gain more continuing education units (CEU's) for the job or personal practice. I believe that this webiste is extremely important because it gives current information on the issues as well as the improvements with the eudcation of children. It also gives an idea of what changes are to be expected and where we are heading in the future.

Global Knowledge

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website   http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/), was a very interesting website to review and it is filled with a plethera of information on many of the global issues as it relates to young children. The growing attention that has been given to early childhood health has opened the opportunity for countries all over the globe to begin transforming the health og their children. While  large  number of studies have inverstigated the impact of early childhood expereince on children's develomental, health, and educational outcomes in developed countries, relatively little evidence is available on early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa (Global Children's Intiative). On this website I have learned that all though the world has made great strides to help benefit young children, that many of them (the poorest countries) are still struggling to get the basic needs. On going studies in Zambia are being performed to address the lacking evidence of improvement. The ZECDP (Zambian Early Childhood Development Project) has made a collabrative effort to research the different health issues of Zambia.