Research Around the World
I explored the
following websites: Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU)
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); Early Childhood Australia (ECA); and European Early Childhood
Education Research Association (EECERA) prior to this post to discover new insights
and ideas about international early childhood topic. Even though the Early Childhood Development
Virtual University – Sub-Saharan Africa and European Early Childhood Education
Research Association websites provided a wealth of information on international
research topics, it was the Early Childhood Australia website located at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
that interested me most.
The Early Childhood Australia website has been “a voice for young children since 1938 (ECA, n.d.). In many ways, the Early Childhood Australia reminds me of the National Association for the Education of Young Children website. It is full of resources for educators and families. The ECA’s values of integrity, collaboration, leadership, inclusiveness, and quality are like NAEYC’s values.
Early Childhood Australia
publishes resources such as journals, magazines, learning series, and books
that are research based. These resources
are all available to educators through subscriptions. The research topics explored include: “holistic
development and well-being of the child in early childhood,” “inclusion of all
students,” “working effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,”
“children’s play and learning,” and more.
These research topics are not too different from the early childhood
research topics found in the United States.
Since inclusion in
early childhood programs is my passion and happens to be my topic for my
research simulation, I searched the ECA website for research and resources on
early childhood inclusion. I discovered the
Early Childhood Australia (ECA) collaborated with Early Childhood Intervention
Australia (ECIA) to produce a Joint statement on the inclusion of children with
disability in early childhood education and care. The joint position statement provides a vision
for providing high quality inclusive practices in early childhood education that
fully includes children with disabilities and ensures high quality outcomes for
all children with and without disabilities.
“The inclusive practices promoted by the position statement are
characterised by the strong collaborative partnerships between children, families,
early childhood educators and support professionals that are widely recognised
as a cornerstone of high quality inclusive practice in ECEC programs” (ECA-ECIA,
2014).
As I reviewed this document, I
discovered something that was not only surprising but exciting. The references used to develop the joint
statement included Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for Australia,
Shonokoff & Phillips’ From neurons to
neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development, from the
University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute’s National
Professional Development Centre on Inclusion- Research synthesis points on
early childhood inclusion, and Harvard’s National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child – The timing and quality
of early experiences combine to shape brain architecture. To me, it was exciting to know that Australia
was referencing research linked to universities in the United States.
The Early Childhood
Australia and Early Childhood Invention Australia Position statement on the inclusion
of children with a disability in early childhood education and care is just one
resource of the many resources that I discovered on the Early Childhood
Australia website. The wealth of resources
provided within the joint statement will assist me in supporting my research
simulation about the benefits of early childhood inclusion for all children.
References:
Early Childhood Australia
(EC). (n.d.). A voice for young children. Retrieved February 9, 2019 from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/.
Early Childhood
Australia (EC) and Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA). (2014). Position Statement on the Inclusion of
Children with a Disability in Early Childhood Education and Care. Retrieved February
9, 2019 from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ECA_Position_statement_Disability_Inclusion_web.pdf.
Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) (1986–2004). Australian anti-discrimination
and disability discrimination legislation. Available at http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/legislation/index.html
and http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/links/index.html#ad.
National Professional
Development Centre on Inclusion. (2009). Research
synthesis points on early childhood inclusion. Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute. Available at http://community.fpg.unc.edu/npdci.
National Scientific
Council on the Developing Child (2007). The
timing and quality of early experiences combine to shape brain architecture:
Working Paper No. 5. Available at www.developingchild.harvard.edu
.
Shonkoff J. P., &
Phillips, D. A. (Eds). (2000). From
neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Committee
on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, Board on Children,
Youth, and Families. Available from the National Academies Press at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9824.
