“Every
young child is thriving and learning” (Early Childhood Australia, 2014, p.1). This
week I had the opportunity to explore a similar organization to the NAEYC called
Early Childhood Australia and their vision to help all young children. The
Early Childhood Australia website provided me with many new connections between
research topics in the United States as compared with Australia.
Currently
in Australia, research topics include looking at identifying effective, preventative
to childhood obesity, identifying the effects of long term care vs. family care
on childhood development, and the effects and use of technology in early childhood
(Early Childhood Australia, 2014). I found it very interesting how the current
research in Australia focusing on early childhood developments were so similar
to the current topics in the United States. Understanding how to effectively
use technology in early childhood is topic I am asked about many times by families
I work with, so I am excited to learn more about international perspectives on
how to effectively use technology with early childhood students.
An insight I had through the exploration of
Early Childhood America’s website, was how comprehensive Early Childhood Australia’s
research was as they focus on the incorporation of families, practitioners, and
young children when collecting their data, similar to how research in early
childhood is conducted in the United States (Early Childhood Australia, 2014).
For example, in a study on digital technology and the effects/benefits for
early childhood children, parental and practitioner surveys were administered
in order to receive opinions from a large participant pool (Early Childhood Australia,
2014). My only concern is how effective the survey format will be for their research
project as the link for the survey was on their website, but I hope they also
administer the website to diverse families and early childhood educators
throughout their country to help receive multiple perspectives and insights on
the use of technology.
Noteworthy information I found on the website
pertained to previously published research articles which identified how early intervention
and preventions programs focusing on maternal and children and family health improve
children’s developments, even from children who came for the most disadvantageous
backgrounds (Early Childhood Australia, 2014). Identifying research which will
help us as educators with the children whom have grown up in least
developmentally enriching environments will hopefully help us to eliminate
achievement gaps and help all children succeed.
Reference
Early Childhood Australia. (2014). A voice for young children. Retrieved
from
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/.
