Research That Benefits Children and Families

How wonderful would it be to possess the means and knowledge to conduct a research study on any topic that impacts the field of early childhood! The choices are endless and I know that many of us would choose child related cancers and diseases, so I thought I would take my research to a place that affect many children on a daily basis. My choice would be hunger. We tend to think of hunger as something typically associated with underdeveloped countries, but in fact hunger is a living and ongoing issue worldwide.  It would be luxurious to research a topic such as hunger, so we can finally eradicate such an issue that truly shouldn’t even exist. Hunger has an impact on a child’s development, learning, and growth (World Hunger Education). It is crucial to find the answers with ways to ensure that children’s tummies are fueled with nutrients they need so they can develop to their fullest.

Poverty is a main contributor to hunger (World Hunger Education.) so without the financial means to fulfill all expenses needed to live; many households are left with empty plates for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We need to think about how hunger can impact a child’s ability to learn and concentrate so they can meet the expectations and demands of school. My research study would find ways to eliminate hunger and it would also educate parents with the resources needed so family members are not dealing with hunger. 

Hunger played a significant role throughout my husband’s early childhood. His parents moved to Canada from Germany when he was just a baby and they did not speak English. His parents struggled financially and there were many countless days where he went hungry. He remembers not being able to focus in school as all he could hear was his tummy rumbling. At that time there were no “breakfast clubs” as this was seen as an issue for developing countries, not in our community. His preoccupation with his talking tummy labeled him as a child who couldn’t pay attention and couldn’t focus. The teachers never identified the true reason for his lack of concentration.  His experience as a hungry child has impacted him now as a father of two children. He goes above and beyond to make sure that all of their wants and needs are met.  This experience also gave him the internal motivation to continue with his education and obtain a good job, so he wouldn’t have to experience a rumbling tummy ever again! I never question our grocery bills as his relationship with food and the lack of is something that I could never relate to. 

Research that would help to eliminate hunger would ensure that children wouldn’t have to go to school hungry or come home after school hungry. This research would ensure that families have the means necessary to end hunger so their children can develop to their fullest.

References

World Hunger Education Service:

http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

Your Personal Research Journey

At the beginning of this course we were all given the undertaking of choosing a topic that we want to investigate. The topic that interests me is the importance of family involvement and how building partnerships with families have a positive impact on children’s learning. It is important for educators to not only understand the needs of children, but to understand that we need to be mindful of our families’ needs as well. As a professional working in the field of early childhood, I have become cognizant of the fact that many educators do not feel that they have the skills needed to build partnerships with families. The best way to support children’s learning is to provide environments where families and educators feel comfortable working together.

I recognized that my initial topic was too general to research effectively, so I worked on the task of breaking down my topic into three sub topics that would in the end make it a bit easier to research. I had to ponder and take time to figure out how I was going to break down my topic.  As I tried to think of sub topics, I began to think about the benefits of family involvement, how a number of educators feel that they don't possess the proper skills to build partnerships, and how many educators do know how to work effectively with the diversity that families bring.  I finally broke down my topic into three sub topics, but then came another challenge....which sub topic was I going to pick to do my research simulation for the remainder of the course?

When deciding on which path to follow, I reviewed Dr. Parrish’s feedback and thought about how I could turn theses sub topics into research questions. I reviewed each one carefully to examine which sub topic would bring out the best questions and although it was challenging, I did in the end choose a sub topic that I will use for my research simulation. My focus will be ways to build positive partnerships with families. I came up with an array of questions that will help guide me through researching this topic. The first question which I feel is a good starting point is; "What is a partnership and how do educators and families define partnerships?" 

I look forward to your feedback and will embrace any insight that you have on this topic! I wish everyone the best throughout this research journey and it is great to know that we are here to support one another!!!! :)