Early Childhood Education - Literature review Example

Early Childhood Education: Summary and critical evaluation of qualitative and quantitative articles Name: Institution: Instructor: Subject: Date: Abstract This document contains a brief summary and critical evaluation of two different articles. The articles are reports of research studied involving early childhood education. The first article is a qualitative research study article on early child development and care while the second article is a quantitative research study article on early childhood research and practice. The qualitative article Summary This qualitative research article on early child development and care was published in in January the year 2011. This was done following the carrying out of the research study in New York City at a child care center based in a university. This particular research study addressed a research question which broadly sought to understand the relationship between the playfulness of the care givers and the emotions of the infants. The question sought to know the manner in which playfulness, as demonstrated by caregivers towards infants, influenced the infants with regard to their emotional attitude. The research question, however, specifically addressed the transformation that was perceived to take place in the infants’ mood, sensory as well as physical play, changes associated with routine and play, jokes, silliness as well as being funny and playful environments with regard to the location of the infants. In addressing the research questions, the study employed the qualitative research methods which generally included observation, interviews conversations as well as other field work activities which involved taking field notes (Deiner, 2013). The qualitative methods of inquiry employed in this research study to address the research questions involved the recording the participants’ actions and activities as well as their voices and delivering them in written form in order to facilitate analysis and to enhance understanding. The semi-structured interviews which were administered to individual participants in the course of addressing the research question were issued on three different occasions for each participants for purposes of boosting the accuracy and consistency of the information obtained as well as the data collected (New & Cochran, 2006). Obstacles encountered, assumptions as well as biases that may have been made by the researcher were evaluated and critically examined as part of the qualitative research study methods. This was facilitated by recording and saving reflective notes in daily journal entries. In this study, which involved early child development and care, the major findings were that the playfulness of various caregivers at times of transition largely influenced the emotional status of the infants. From the finding it also became clear that some themes in the finding were very distinctive. These themes included; one; the fact that change of mood from a compassionate one to a cheerful one by the caregivers actually started their playfulness. Two; that playfulness as was demonstrated by infants’ caregivers was associated with rhythmic sensory or physical play. Three; that the incorporation of playful elements into daily tasks and activities is usually done by caregivers in their attempt to influence the emotional attitude of the infants under their care. Four; that physical location was adopted for use by caregivers in order to subject the infants to playfulness. Five; that in the course of transition, caregivers employed the use humorous behaviors, verbal jokes as well as actions that are perceived as silly in order to setup a playful mood for the infants under their care. The above findings, as obtained from the research study, with regard to the early childhood education field implied that the actions and conduct of the caregivers were very significant in the determination of the emotional status of the infants under their care. The playfulness as demonstrated to the infants by the caregivers played a key role in the alleviation of emotional distress experienced by the infants as well as ensuring and positively influencing their reaction towards new experiences (Clark & Waller, 2007). Critical Evaluation In the research study, the sample population was not adequately described. Some key information regarding the sample population is not issued. This is information that would have been very useful when it comes to evaluation and analysis of the results as well as in the determination of the credibility of the study. Further information that would be needed would be information regarding the background of the infants and how they ended up in child care centers. The presence of this information would allow the researcher understand whether the infants’ emotional status was biologically predetermined or otherwise (Shukla, 2004). The sample population of the infants was also not described with regard to information concerning their health and especially their psychological health. This would be useful in determining how caregivers would be involved in dealing with emotional stress in infants that is associated with their psychological health. The methodology as well as the paradigm use to answer the research questions in this study has got both strengths and weaknesses. In answering the research question, this study employs the use of qualitative methodology (Pianta, 2012). This kind of methodology and paradigm has got strengths in the sense that in answering the research question, it involves a research process that acknowledges contexts and which is holistic in nature. It also assumes a research structure that is flexible and accommodates a variety of research aspects. It acknowledges the personal views of both the interviewees and the interviewers and it aims at developing suppositions that are well grounded other than the generation of relevant future research questions. It also involves an investigation that is clearly explanatory (Grotewell & Burton, 2008). Other strengths of the methodology employed by this research study are that it allows for the study of the personal experiences and other persona aspects that are regarded as complex. It also comes in handy where the things that are being investigated such as individual views and experiences. With this type of methodology the individuals involved can be able to present first hand reliable data in their own way and through their own words. The methodology is appropriate and useful for the generation of hypothesis (Waddell & McBride, 2008). The methodology has, however, a couple of weaknesses. These include the fact the nature of findings obtained with the use of this type of methodology are usually divergent and for this reason they are most likely to be incomplete. Other weaknesses that are demonstrated in the use on the methodology employed in this research study are that the behavioral generalizations obtained through it are not very useful when it comes to learning. The fact that this type of methodology largely incorporates personal view points, beliefs and the context of the study, subjective interpretations are more likely to be either incomplete or misleading. Research carried through this methodology can sometimes fail to meet the interest of a wide audience due since it is usually narrowly-focused. The methodology did not generalize the population. This is because only two caregivers were involved in the interview and their ailed from the same school. This denied the study an opportunity to explore a variety of child care environments as may have been presented if the sample population took into consideration several child care centers. Similarly, the infants involved in the study were only two and from the same child care center. This did not offer an adequate representation of the sample population. The other weakness is that the type of data obtained it usually in text form and unstructured making interpretation and analysis a bit difficult. The ethical considerations on this study included respect and recognition of the diversity of people, consultation and agreement, collaboration and participation, proper management of research as well as compliance and reporting. The ethical considerations were not fully addressed but they were satisfactorily addressed. The use of generalization is appropriate for the goal of in the context of a research as long as it is perceived as the central goal of the research and also as a process through which formulation of theory for further applications is made. Factors that might influence with regard to this research study include interpretation of the results, the data to which the result is compared as well as the nature of the sample data. This research study is one that presents challenges to the long held practices and beliefs in that it clearly demonstrates the essence and effectiveness of ethical consideration in performing studies involving infants as well as caregivers (Saracho & Spodek, 2007) Quantitative article Summary This research study involving early childhood friendship development was done in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was published in the year 2011. The research questions being addressed in this research study included; one; the question of the features and aspects of the relationships involving children peer as their parents report and whether these features or characteristics have got differences when children with and without disabilities are compared. Two; The question regarding the nature of strategies reported for use by parents in supporting the development of friendship for their children and whether any differences are experienced between parents of children with disabilities and those of children without disabilities. Three; the characteristics of children which include the severity of disability, gender as well as sibling and their influence on the relationships with their peers (according to information from their parents) and whether differences are experienced between children with developmental delays and those without. In this study, the methods used in the addressing the of the research questions involved quantitative research methods. Here, the generation and measurement of quantifiable data was done. This involved the participating parents who were forty six in number with children in five different classrooms sampled from programs involving two preschools in the central Illinois. The children considered in this research study had their ages falling between three and six years. Forty female parents were selected from the initial forty six before being divided into two groups which included parents with children having developmental delays or identified disabilities and the other group of parents with children without disabilities and with typical development. The number of parents form both of the groups was recorded with regard to ethnicity, age, marital status, education as well as annual income. The quantitative methods also involved the tabulation of the results obtained from the research study before they were subjected to analysis through statistical correlation techniques (Waddell & McBride, 2008). Following the research study the major findings obtained were that mother from the two different groups of study reportedly offered similar playing and friendship opportunities for the children. The strategies for supporting children in their friendship development were also similar for both groups of parents. However, a difference that existed in the number of times that children from both groups of study involved their peers in their playing activities was noticed. From the findings, it was also clear that there is an important association between the children of either group with regard to the frequency of their playing dates. The other major finding was that mothers who had children with disabilities and developmental delays obtained at least two therapies and had a higher chances of being in need of assistance in relation to likes and dislikes of children as compared to mother with children without disabilities and whose development was typical. The implication of these findings to the field of early childhood education is that it is the responsibility of those involved in early childhood education to learn and understand the development of child friendship from the perspective of a parent so as to offer support to parents is assisting their children to develop peer relationships that are positive (Deiner, 2013). Critical evaluation The sample population in this research study is adequately described, at least in accordance with the quantitative research study requirements. The methodology and paradigm used in answering the research questions in this study has got a strength which is generalizability. Under generalizability, the sample results that are obtained from the study of a sample population are actually applicable to the analysis of a larger population that is represented by the sample. The other strength is that the methodology and paradigm used here are capable of establishing the relation between the cause and effect as far as the results obtained from the study are concerned (New & Cochran, 2006). There are however, weaknesses that are associated with the methodology and paradigm employed here. This includes the fact that complex aspects in a research study are usually reduced a group of events or activities that are measurable. This puts a limitation to the ability of the researcher to explore individual experiences which are often detailed. In this study the ethical considerations involved respect and recognition of the diversity of people, consultation and agreement, collaboration and participation, proper management of research as well as compliance and reporting (Deiner, 2013). They were not fully addressed but satisfactory level was obtained. In this study the factors that might have influence on generalizability include the survey methods used, the data analysis techniques employed as well as the nature of the data collected. This research study supports the general long held beliefs and practice in that is largely agrees with the necessity for carrying out research studies for purposes of addressing research study questions References Clark, M. M., & Waller, T. (2007). Early childhood education and care: Policy and practice. Los Angeles ;London: SAGE. Deiner, P. L. (2013). Inclusive early childhood education: Development, resources, practice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Grotewell, P. G., & Burton, Y. R. (2008). Early childhood education: Issues and developments. New York: Nova Science Publishers. New, R. S., & Cochran, M. (2006). Early childhood education [four volumes]: An international encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers. Pianta, R. C. (2012). Handbook of early childhood education. New York: Guilford Press. Shukla, R. P. (2004). Early childhood care and education. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. Waddell, A. T., & McBride, R. M. (2008). New research on early childhood education. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Saracho, O. N., & Spodek, B. (2007). Contemporary perspectives on social learning in early childhood education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub. Read More