What I Have Learned

Children are shaped by their family, community, and their cultural history. I hope to make a difference as an educator, to first understand families who are diverse in ways such as different culture, economic status, and sexual orientation. As an ant-bias teacher I plan to encourage students to express their own ideas, to be themselves and respect others cultural differences. I am going to learn about the families and communities of the students I teach so, that I can do a better job in the classroom. Examining what you have learned over the years will be a little like eating an artichoke: you have to peel off the layers to get to get clearer about your experiences and assumptions now (Derman-Sparks & Olsen 2010).

One of my goals I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to recognize the biases and difficulties each type of family faces, and assure families that I support and value their unique contributions, in hopes to create a classroom community where children and their families feel safe and welcomed (Derman-Sparks & Olsen, 2010). 

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

To Dr. Snider and fellow classmates, this for me has been like lying on a sofa with a psychotherapist. I have learned that so much of my identity is shaped from my cultural background and that I have to deal with it and learn to help shape the lives of all children in diverse cultures. My experience in this course has shown me how easily my biases and stereotyping can be formed. Words can’t tell you all how much I have learned and how grateful I am for all the support you gave to me. I hope our journey will continue together. Good luck to all and thank you.

Kathleen 

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: Creating Art: 
My Poem

I grew up in a place where the culture was known

Community in harmony like singing a song
I lost my father at an early age
My mother's life turned a page

I lost my grandmother in the prime of her life
Being with older sister became a fight
Learning a new language in school was cool
Getting to know other cultures and eating different food

What we want is to feel safe and accepted in a new place
To see the world as a place for us
            Making friends and being loved in the face of diversity

                     After writing my poem I found this amazing poem I thought you may enjoy 
                                                                    reading!

The Colors Of Diversity

		THE CRAYON BOX THAT TALKED
		By Shane DeRolf                     While walking into a toy store                         The day before today                        I overheard a crayon box                         With many things to say                         “I don’t like Red!” said Yellow                         And Green said “Nor do I”                      “And no one here likes Orange                        But no one knows just why”                         “We are a box of crayons                          that does not get along                         Said Blue to all the others                        “Something here is wrong”                     Well, I bought that box of crayons                         And took it home with me                         And laid out all the colors                       So the crayons all could see…                      They watched me as I colored                      With Red and Blue and Green                    And Black and White and Orange                       And every color in between               They watched as Green became the grass                         And Blue became the sky                                         The Yellow sun was shining bright                       On White clouds drifting by                     Colors changing as they touched                         Becoming something new                     They watched me as I colored                                    They watched me till I was through                     And when I finally finished                         I began to walk away                      And as I did the crayon box                      Had something more to say                                                “I do like Red!” said Yellow                        And Green said, “so do I”                       And Blue you were terrific!                         So high up in the sky                                           “We are a box of crayons.                         Each one of us unique                       But when we get together                      "The picture is more complete”

Colors of Diversity - Scouting Web Retrieved from

www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/SubPages/ColorsDivers.htm -  

"We "Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

 My grandchildren (three girls) come to me on the weekends their mother and father are on night shift at the same time. They know the other children in my neighborhood, which is mixed with White and Black families. They are always excited to play with the other children, when they come over. They have grown up together in a way because; they have been playing with each for quite a lot of years now. A few weekends ago they were playing with my White neighbors children ages range from 4, 6, 8 and 15 as they always do. My grandchildren range from 7, 10 and 13.  My granddaughter noticed they had a new dog in their back yard and asked them when did they get the new dog. One of the children told her when and then said to her (my dad says he only barks at black people). This is not the first time they have said words that are offensive about people of color.

I have always felt their father was prejudiced and this just only confirmed my thoughts to be true. As an anti-bias educator I said to her to explain that they are friends and the words were hurtful because, they are too young to know the difference in what they are saying, they are just repeating what they have heard. I did not get upset with them because, I have come to love these children very much, I just felt sorry for them that they may grow up with hate in their heart for people they have never met.  Their father is not very friendly so. I did not attempt to talk with him. “As you persist through the challenging times and see the fruit of work, eventually anti-bias education becomes a part of everything you do. It becomes a way of life” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010 p. 20).

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

 I have a cousin who as a child we knew he was gay. He always wanted to play school and things girls like to do. He was such a kind and gentle kid. The kids would always tease him and I would feel very sorry for him and I was afraid to take up for him, for fear that they would not play with me. As a child your instincts are always to belong to a group so, whatever the group wanted so did you. Growing up he started to dress like a girl so, he was always called sissy or fag. But he always held his up high and it seemed not to deter him for choosing to live the way he wanted to live.

 He was very resilient and it seemed not to bother him but, I know it did. However, many so called heterosexuals believe that they are not prejudice, and will say statements like have a gay friend. If that person is your friend why do you have to create a label for them? My cousin stated to me once that the fear he has of being gay is losing friends and families, or even being physically assaulted.

                       

 I can only imagine what a child goes through expressing fears to your parents that you may be homosexual and your parents hide their anxieties by reassuring you that it will go away, and that it is just a phrase. Imagine what it is like to pretend to be someone you’re not, to live a lie, to deceive yourself and your parents. They fear losing friends and families, being socially ostracized, and even physically assaulted. Let’s all help children to respect themselves by showing respect for them regardless of who they are.  

If anyone wants to listen to  to this song go to: youtube and chose, MackleMore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert. This profound song is one that everyone should listen to about sexual orientations of indiviuals. We should all just listen and get some idea of what gay individuals go through in this country.

Final Blog for Communicating and Collaborating

Final has become a very big word because; it means this course is coming to an end. Not only did I learn about communication in this course but, I feel we all got to know each other as well. Giving me your support in the discussions and blogs made this course become very significant for me. I have learned that communicating with others is not as simple as I thought it to be. Learning how to do unto others as they would have you do, has opened my eyes to seeing  that others opinions are just as valuable as mine, will help in my ability to communicate better in the early childhood field. I hope this will not be our last encounter together, as we take this journey to learn how to care for young children.

 My e-mail address is Kathleen.thompson@waldenu.edu and kstokes@comcast.net.. I hope to hear from everyone real soon. Take care, I will miss you all. 

Team Building and Collaboration

My first two years in college was very hard for me maybe because, I waited until my children went off to college themselves. I was a lot older than my counterparts. I joined a study group of ten who became my best supporters. Not ever really being a part of a study group, I was a little apprehensive but, I really needed help. I became involved with nine of some devoted and incredible individuals. We always got together late in the evenings because of all of our crazy schedules. I took longer than anyone to actually retain what we learned for our test. They never faltered in believing in me. There was nothing but encouragement and I finally passed my math class with flying colors. I have never forgotten any of them. Saying goodbye as we went our separate was hard for all of us. Eventhough, that was four years ago, I will always remember the support system we had. We are all over the world now and we talk as much as we can.

 In my online courses at Walden University I have chatted with some very devoted people in the early childhood field. Some of you I have been with for a while now. I have also met new people as well. I always took online classes to be impersonal but, as we have communicated some personal things about ourselves you can’t help but get to know more about who we are. I hope we all continue own this journey together. I can imagine that we will be very successful in all parts of our lives. Adjourning is an essential phase of teamwork because you have begun and learned how to end and go into different directions. Adjourning also provides the team the opportunity to say good-bye to each other and wish each other luck as they pursue their next endeavor (Abudi, 2010).

 Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Resolving conflicts

I work part time as a CNA at a Healthcare facility on the weekends. I drive around and do personal care for patients, which have just been released from the hospital. I enjoy working with elderly patients because; they have very interesting stories to tell you about the past. Two of my patients live on the same street and I was suppose to see them at different times of the day, one in the morning and the other one in the afternoon.  Both are elderly and could not understand why I was not seeing them both in the morning. I totally agreed and went into the office to speak to my supervisor about the situation I was in because; I also did not want to come all the way back, to where I had just left.

She told me in so many words that I would have to do it that way so, everyday I had to try and make them understand that it was not my decision and I had to continue to do it this way. This bothered me because; I did not want to hurt anyone’s feeling. I decided to go and talk with my supervisor’s supervisor, who immediately understood and changed the schedule seeing both of them in the morning. My supervisor felt I should not have done that and I told her it was not personal; I was concerned about my patients care. We are not as close as we were but, I think our relationship is better this way.

The first strategy I should have used was Nonviolent Communication skills that details personal responsibility for our actions and the choices we make when we respond to others, as well as how to contribute to relationships based in cooperation and collaboration. For example, I think my approach was somewhat forceful and maybe I could have done it differently. I could have suggested we talk with her supervisor because; maybe it was not her decision to make. I should have suggested either morning or afternoon for both to be seen, which could have been a compromise for both of them. I could have used some of the principles of nonviolent communication to better help me resolve this conflict. My second strategy is to have refrained from how I expressed myself in that situation and the way I perceived the conversation to be.  NVC says we should express ourselves with honesty and clarity, while at the same time paying others a respectful and empathic attention ( cnvc.org).

All right colleagues, give me your honest opinions, I would love to hear what you think I should have done in this situation. Thanks I think, because I have not heard any answers yet.

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). Retrieved from

 http://www.cnvc.org/

How You Evaluate Yourself as a Communicator

  After asking a few friends, I was shocked to hear they believe I tend to take on things that others should be doing for themselves. They think that I conform to everything and I take on too much of others responsibility. For instance, every year I take on organizing our family reunion, that takes a lot of time to get people to do each do their share. So, every year I say I am not doing it and to let some else be in charge, but it always end up being me that handle everything again.

So, while your concept strongly influences how you react with others, the opposite is also true; when you interact other people, you get impressions  from them that reveals how they will evaluate you as a person and how you communicate (O'Hair, & Wiemann, 2012).

 The two to things I want to share with others is the to become more of a better listener, rather than take over conversations to make sure I get my own point across, and to stop believing I am always right when in conversations.  

The second thing I learned was about the Platinum Rule that says to do unto others as they would have you do.This particular rule has made my understanding of communication better in my personal and my professional life to become a better communicator. In effective communication the goal is to try being empathic and take a positive action toward another individual different from yourself

(Beebe, Beebe & Redmond, 2011).

.

 Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s

Diversity in communication

 I do not find that I communicate differently with people from different groups and cultures, but the conversation may be different.  Culture is shared values, beliefs in daily interaction within a group through language, behavior and customs (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010). But, if you are comfortable talking about your own culture, then you will become better at listening to others talk about theirs. I understand how discrimination has affected me so, I am more aware of how it affects other people. However, I do not feel that one culture is more important than another. I don’t think of cultures when I am communicating with others.

You have more in commony with family and friends of your own culture than people in a different culture that may not know anything about your culture. Learning about different cultures helps you to understand what someone else is all about. When you can make friends with people different from yourself, you can be open to making new friends with them in the same way as with anyone.

My first strategy is to become an effective listener with family, friends and colleagues.

The second of my strategies is to learn more about the Platinum Rule to communicate with others; learn to care more about others than myself to make my communication more efficient.

 Lastly, I learned not to be so judgmental and see what’s wrong through someone’s eyes (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010).

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Looking at Good luck Charlie

 The television show I decided to watch was Good Luck Charlie. It is a children show about a family that has a lot of family drama and comedy. I watch this show because, my grandchildren were over and they always watch this show. I begin by turning the sound down and watching it without the words. One of the daughters called Teddy and her boyfriend were sitting on the sofa, being without sound I assume they were having a conversation. All of sudden he goes outside and Teddy goes to open the door up. Not understanding what was going on I turned the sound up and he decided to go outside and come in and ask her to the prom in a gentleman fashion.  When her mother found it was time for prom, excitedly she asked Teddy to wear her prom dress. Of course, Teddy was astonished that her mother asked her to wear her old prom dress to the prom.

Looking at this show without the sound I found that I interpreted differently as to what they were talking about. Teddy decided she would hide her dress outside and led her mother to believe she was wearing her prom dress. Her brother P.J. also needed a date to the prom so,Teddy found him a prom date. P J.’s expression was of surprise when he found out his date was home schooled and her prom was going to be in the basement of her home. He felt disappointed about the prom and text his family about what was going on.

Teddy and Spencer were at her prom and Teddy had changed into her dress instead of her mother dress. Feeling sorry for her brother she decided to attend his prom in the basement of his date’s house. In the meantime, knowing how disappointed her son was, his parent decided to go to prom in the basement as well. Walking in the basement Teddy’s mother was very disappointed that Teddy did not wear her dress. Teddy felt bad and talk her mother into wearing her own dress, they all enjoyed the prom in the basement.

From Listening to this program, I learned listening is the most used communication skill of them all. I interpreted wrong by looking than by listening. Although perception is often blamed for communication problems, it is a necessary element in making sense of the world.

  

"Listening Skills"

Copyright 2011 by Houghton Mifflin. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin via the Copyright Clearance Center

Wk 1 Effective Communicators

The person I think of who demonstrates competent communication for me was; Martin Luther King Jr. Every time I have heard him speak so profoundly, it was like I was listening for the first time. I believe he was a very powerful speaker. He'd begin speaking slowly and would increase the pace and volume, I think to draw the audience to what he was saying. I found out that his “I Have a Dream” speech, was not written and he improvised it from speeches he had done over the years. 

That impressed me so much about him, and I found it to be one of the best speeches I have ever heard.”King was also a master of using a simple, yet key phrases like "I have a dream," again and again in his speeches. That kind of repetitive structure enabled him to clearly make his main point and at the same time make it easy for the audience to come along with him” (Six Qualities, 2010). Martin Luther King Jr. has set the bar so astronomically high, but I would like to model my communication behavior after him to improve myself, even though, I could never do it in the way he did.

Six Qualities That Made Martin Luther King, Jr. a Great Speaker  Retrieved from

http://www.govexec.com/excellence/executive-coach/2010/01/six-qualities-that-made-martin-luther-king-jr-a-great-speaker/39565/ - 94k -

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds; are how to be culturally competent and respect different cultures and their ways of living. I want to have an ability to understand and to honor those differences. This has to be an everyday practice for educators to demonstrate an ongoing commitment, to developing their own cultural competence and in the process with families and communities. Educators have to view families as a central unit to children’s sense of being and belonging in order to be a success in lifelong learning. As educators of children we need to help children to learn about and how to except others from different cultures as well.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice; are for all children and families to have a sense of belonging, experience and affirmation of their identities and cultural ways of being. All children must have access to participate in the education they need to become successful and contributing members of society (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010).

To Dr. Snider,

Thank you for a very soul searching and amazing course. In racism we all think we know about the content of this subject but, I have found I needed to learn so much more on the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice. This course explained it better.

To my colleagues, I have chatted with for 8 weeks and have learned how dedicated we all are to love teaching children of all cultures. I thank you for your support and hope to see you all again in future classes

.Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The name of “my” family’s country of origin is Uganda.

The five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family are:

 (1. to respect and honor their culture and traditions.

(2. to try and learn the language to help them feel safe.

 (3.I would want them to keep their own religion to keep them grounded in their culture.

(4. I will find foods and incorporate them when cooking

(5. to create a school environment that accepts their children for who they are and where they come from.

 I hope that these preparations will benefit both the family and myself because; I understand that culture and family traditions are important for anyone’s identity. By creating a positive and caring environment, respecting each other’s cultural background in any way is the most important thing to do. If you are strong about own culture, then you will be better listening to others talk about theirs. Knowing how prejudice and discrimination has affected me, has made me more aware of how it has affected others.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in this incident diminish equity?   Well, I have a friend, who works at a plant making doors. It’s owned by a white family. He is always telling of the racist things that are said to him. I decided to ask him if he had an incident at his job that was something he could tell me specifically on bias, prejudice and/or oppression in an incident that would diminish equity. He began to tell me something that to this day, even though it was about twenty years ago, he would never forget it. He asked one day whether they were off on Martin Luther King’s birthday and the white guy said I’ll be back to let you.

A foreign guy who did not know English very well brought him a rope, and said this was his answer to the question Of King’s birthday; it was tied like a rope you would hang someone with. This foreign guy did not understand how degrading the incident was, which was why they put him up to do it. The article Inverting Racism’s Distortions states; that while racism is readily identifiable in its more extreme manifestations, hate crimes and other forms of physical violence, explicit discrimination comes in the form of education and employment settings, etc.,

( MARGLES, & MARGLES, 2010).

The feelings he had from this incident was at first to get angry, then he realized that racism was not going to ever change and he worked for the kind of people that allowed this to happen and thought nothing about it. Even after over 20 years this incident is still embedded in his mind.

What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity would be first, the change of the dominant culture. Simply, because the dominant culture is the one that controls what society thinks and feel. As long as they feel superior, it may not ever change. This article explains that no one is born racist. Racism is taught and the lives of whites would go better if racism didn’t exist. Racism hurts us all. It is in the interest of the oppressor group and the group targeted that will end racism. Our full intellect, capacities and human bond are all at risk

 ( MARGLES, & MARGLES, 2010).

MARGLES, S., & MARGLES, R. (2010). Inverting Racism's Distortions. Our Schools / Our Selves, 19(3), 137-149.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One example, of microaggression that happened to me, was just last week, not to me, but an elderly African American woman who leaves in my neighborhood. In my neighborhood, we sort of take turns checking on her, since her husband past away. Mrs. Stokes is a great human being, with so, many stories of her life growing up in a prejudice society. I decided to take her to get assistance with food, which she did get some help for.

It was on the way back, she made a comment and said; it was nice of white folks to help me with food, I am surprised sometimes because, of the way they treated me all my life. I started to work in white folk houses, when I was 10 years old. At first, I had forgotten how some Black elderly people see themselves in America. I always love to listen to her tales of the past, because, I don’t think she realizes how much she persevered and how strong she must have been.

That experience, last week did not change my perception about my the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people like, looking at an elderly African American that was a nanny and housekeeper for the dominant culture all of her life, an never got the respect she deserved. I am not anger anymore, when I hear these types of stories, because it is our heritage and we can’t change that, but we have to work on the future. Mrs. Stokes said however, she got to see a black president, and that felt so good watching on television, seeing him being sworn in.

 It brings me back to DR. DERALD WING SUE’s comment on why microaggressions are so harmful.  She state’s they are indeed reflected of a world view, that is one of inferiority/superiority, inclusion/exclusion or in some sense reflect an oppressive belief in, when we talk about racial microaggressions and white supremacy (Laureate, 2011).

 "Micro aggressions in Everyday Life” 2012, Laureate Media Inc.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

One person I interviewed was my friend Gloria who is African American and her husband traveled all over the world in the military. Gloria felt that culture was where you came from such as, your family and your traditions and the way you were raised.

The second was my cousin Henrietta, who is African America thought culture, included your way of thinking, food; dance and religion were all a part of your culture. There was a time when all you had was family, which included the community and the church. You developed culture based your own values and traditions from the placed you lived in.  They both felt that culture and diversity were a combination of race, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs and even your political beliefs. 

The third was my neighbor Lena, who is white and I felt comfortable asking her about culture and diversity since, she has taught elementary school for about seven years now. Lena says that in her classroom they try to teach that because, our values and traditions may differ from the culture we live in, it is so important to respect the values, traditions and experiences the children and their families come from.

The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course and what was included in the answers I received were only surface culture. Some of the aspects I think were overlooked were deep culture. Most people believe culture comes from, holidays you celebrate, foods you have learned as a part of culture. Deep culture could be gender roles, roles of children; how you show emotion and they way you speak (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010 p. 56).

In the ways in which thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity, influenced my own thinking about the topics were, people think that culture and diversity are the same but, I believe that are joined together because diversity is an acceptance of other cultures and even though we have different cultures, we should be able to understanding that each individual is unique, and recognize and embrace those individual differences

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

My Family Culture

 If my immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event, to bring them with me would be one its blessing. However, since I am told that my host country’s culture is completely different from my own, that I might have to stay there permanently and I am further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, I can only take 3 small items with me.

The three smalls items I hold dear and that represents my family culture are: 1). my family photo album. 2). the locket I have of my mother and father. 3). my DVD player and all DVD’s of my family gatherings.

My photo album goes back to all of all my family gatherings, the ones I attended and the ones when I was not born. This album would help me remember all of my family back then and now. I believe that would keep me grounded and make me smile on the days I would feel depressed. On one of my birthdays, my children gave me a locket that I wear on occasion of  my mother and father, that meant so much to me, most of all, they knew me enough to see how important it would be for me to have. My DVDs are of my family gatherings, when the kids are pulling the ropes to see who will win, the older people trying to play volley ball and let’s not forget all of the teasing we do to each other about our days as children. We have so much fun together.

My feelings if, upon arrival, I were told that I could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items I brought with me, upon finding out there is no electricity, I would have to chose my photo album, because that would be visual (something I could see), when looking at something, it will help me to never forget the people who made such a positive force in the way I see the world.

The insights I gained of myself, because of my family culture, is that I was brought up to see people for what they are and not the color of their skin so, even though I would miss everything about my country, it will not be a problem for me learn the cultures of another’s.

When I Think of Research

When dealing with research the insights have I gained from taking this course is; it takes time. Then, you have to validate where the information comes from and research the credentials and credibility of who wrote the articles. Research gives information that is the result of conclusions obtained from observing and evaluating children in relevant ways from professionals in the field of early childhood. Research can also reveal how different cultures understand child development and challenge us to rethink ways of studying, understanding, and explaining children (Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010)

One of the ideas about the nature of doing research has changed with learning how research is given to children. Learning that professionals (such as pediatricians), even with given consent, the parent has the right to change their minds. Research should never be given if it will bring harm to any contributor’s well being. (Naughton, et al, 2010). Confidentiality is required when dealing with children and families.

The lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood; I learned how planning and designing  dealing with children helps to learn, their wants, needs, and their points of view; although conducting research is important, the researcher needs to follow ethical practices during the research and especially when minors are involved in any research. Even if conducting research conclusions do not provide expected results, the information will always be valuable when learning new things about children.

The challenges that might be encountered will be in using a questionnaire for parents, and the fact that some questionnaires may not be returned. Children will be allowed to give their permission and parents and teachers will give their consents (Naughton, 2010). Participants will be informed about the research in a language that they can understand, and the researcher will have an understanding of the culture of the participants (Naughton, 2010). Research should challenge old ways of planning and designing research to show reasons to modify or change our efforts to promote learning (Naughton, et al., 2010).

Some of the ways my perceptions as an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course is how to be a skilled researcher; you need to be effective, objective interviewer, to know that the process of children research is no longer just input/output, but more of a learning process where children and grownups work, act together and create research to empower children (Naughton, et al, 2010).

I would like to thank Dr. Myers and all of my colleagues for the support and valuable information I received about research. I know my colleagues will make a big splash in early childhood. Good luck to you all.

Reference

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: McGrawHill.

Research Around the World

Some of the current international research topic I found were Early Childhood Australia that has been the voice for young children since 1938. Early Childhood Australia is the highest point of early childhood advocacy organizations, taking action in concerns for young children, their families and indivuals in the early childhood field. Their mission in Early Childhood Australia is to advocate and ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issue, which relates to the education and care of children from birth to eight years old. Early Childhood Australia is comparable to our U.S. established NAEYC (earlychildhoodaustralia.org).

The other noteworthy information I found on this website was a joint position statement by Early Childhood Australia (ECA) and Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA) that sets out their shared commitment to inclusion in early childhood education and care (ECEC). Its purpose is to create a vision for high quality inclusive practices in early childhood education and care. It will assist everyone in ECEC services, as well as supporting professionals, to fully include children with a disability and achieve high quality outcomes for all children. It will also provide a support system for the development of policies and programs designed for all young children (earlychildhoodaustralia.org).

One other remarkable information I found on this website was the inclusive practices promoted by their position statement and are made up by strong shared partnerships, between children, families, early childhood educators and professionals. For ECA their work focuses on inclusion for all children in ECEC settings and for ECIA, children with a disability in all aspects of life (earlychildhoodaustralia.org).

 References

 Early Childhood Australia Retrieved from

 http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/