Embarking on Research in the ECE Field

                                        My Journey Into Research in the Early Childhood Education Field

                                         

                                                    Introduction to My Experience of Research 

            When I originally think or see the word research I would be lying if I said the word doesn't give my body an immediate response to feeling anxious and filled with self-doubt. Throughout all my schooling research has never been my strong suit and I have spent countless sleepless nights trying to write and come up with my own research paper. I know the importance of conducting research for various career fields and how it can help us progress and move forward in the world, however, I would much rather be a participant in a study than do the actual write-up and research for the said study. That being said I am dipping my toe yet again in the roaring waves in the ocean that is research. What I am hoping is that since this is a field I am very passionate about and the fact that I have free range on what type of research I am doing is that I will enjoy learning, seeing, and dare I say writing my own research on the topic of diversity in Early Childhood Education.

                                                                        Week 2 Sub Topics

            My subtopic for this week is how can ECE educators effectively and respectively communicate with families about getting their child therapeutic support? I chose this topic because I am interested in working with kids with various developmental delays. I find it challenging speaking to family members about seeking outside help for help with their child's developmental progress. As of now when I have had this conversation with parents I am assisted by a member of the leadership team with these conversations. It can be very difficult to hear that your child may need some additional services outside of the school program especially when they are so young. Parents may feel as if it is something that they are doing wrong or just refuse to believe that their child has any developmental delays or challenges. It is a very sensitive topic to address and I want to be there as a supportive caregiver for the parent but also make sure to get the point across of why this early intervention is beneficial and sometimes necessary for the child. When I was younger I needed speech therapy and my parents enrolled me in speech therapy before I even started attending a school program. I can relate to the students who may be having developmental delays and are feeling left out or different than their peers and I want to be there for them and let them know that they are not alone and that I will do whatever I can to help them succeed. 

  

      I decided to start my research search in the Walden Library database I looked for family engagement in the ECE field. Here are some of my research findings:

 

Building Collaborative Relationships With Parents: A Checklist for Promoting Success. by Sarah M. Avendano and Eunsoo Cho. March 1, 2020. Teaching Exceptional Children

From this source, I was led to a related topic of Early Intervention. I clicked on this link and found an article on "Stability of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Children with Diverse Backgrounds." This article was written by Ivy Giserman‑Kiss and Alice S. Carter. 

The last article I found related to my topic of research was on the ERIC (Institue of Education Sciences) database and it is another article discussing family engagement in ECE. A New Approach to Defining and Measuring Family Engagement in Early Childhood Education Programs by Teresa Eckrich Sommer, Amy Sanchez, and Andrea Kinghorn Busby. July-September 2018, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1–12.