Research Around the World

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.