I chose to explore the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) in
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) website (http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php). I was able to read about studies from
Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and more. It is
very interesting to me how far apart we are in miles (or kilometers) we are
really so close on ideas concerning early childhood development. One of the studies I read was done in 1986
about involving fathers in early childhood care and development and another was
from 1991 about school readiness in Kenya.
However, I
really enjoyed reading about the parent, caregiver, and ECD study done in
Ghana. The study used the PLAN-assisted
early child development program in Ghana (Etse, 1997). It used both quantitative and qualitative
approaches to find and understand children’s needs and quality early childhood
development programs from the parents perspectives and compare them to the ECD
caregivers and managers. The major finds
of the study: the parents were somewhat
knowledgeable about child development and the ECD professionals’ opinions were
not significantly different from the parents’ ideas.
In other reading, I saw studies showing ECD programs
play and important part in enhancing a child’s development, early studies on brain
development in infants, play-based education, and standardized assessment
tools. Most of these studies were done
in the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s. The
results were the same back then as they are now: educate parents, nutritious meals, better pay
to retain teachers, play to educate, parental cooperation, prenatal care.
This is a great site to visit and see the history of
early childhood research!
Etse, S. (1997). Parents’ and Other Caregivers’
Perception of Early Childhood Deveopment Needs and Quality: A Study of the
PLAN-Assited Programs in Bawjiase, Ghana Retrieve August 2, 2014 from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/documents/major_projects/Etse%20-%20MP%20Final%20-%20UVic%20LP.pdf
Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI also explored the ECDVU website, there was an abundance of great information that I didn’t know where to start. I see you read the study involving fathers in early childhood and development. I believe it is crucial that we as early childhood professionals empower fathers to be involved in their child’s education; we also need to be accepting as well. I work in a preschool program and over the years I have seen teachers who do not welcome or invite fathers to participate in the program and that is one of the reasons why some fathers do not participate. I would not want to be in a place where I felt unwelcomed either so I understand their plight. Fathers need to be as much involved in their child’s life as mothers are and we need to advocate for them as early childhood professionals. ECD seems to have the same issues across states and countries however; I see a field growing in a positive way to help children and families benefit from all that early childhood has to offer.
Hello Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI also explored the website, I learned so much from this site so I can add to my collection this information will be very informative to me as I continue my journey in the field of child development . Did you have a hard time getting the information that you needed? I see that you was very much so involve in the reading on the impact that the father role play in early child hood. I am so grateful that I am very much involve and encouraging father and to let them know that they are just important as the mother and they are the one that set the foundation in the home. I look forward to reading your blog on next week.
Temika Mccann
Hi Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI chose to look into the Early Childhood Australia website, but it looks like you were able to find a lot of information through the ECDVU website. Do you think there is any reason why research available about Ghana is so dated? I've found that sometimes when I'm looking for scholarly articles that it's difficult to find the most up to date information. I find it very interesting that no matter what country I look into that we are all searching to provide the highest quality care for all children. It means that we are all on the same page, no matter what our home country is.
Thanks!
Machaela
Hello Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI decided to look at Sub Africa website. I was also able to find a lot of information on ECDVU website. I agree with Macheala and found that scholarly articles that it did not have the most current information. I also was impressed that the international community is working together to improve the quality of care for children all over the world. Did you read about any of conferences?
I agree the information posted was not the most current. Which I find disappointing. I am looking in to finding information from third world countries having to do with Montessori education as well.
ReplyDelete