WHEN I THINK OF RESEARCH..............

Research helps in broadening the knowledge base of man. Research involves searching for and establishing truth for the purpose of benefiting the society. Research plays an important role in education and offers great benefits to practitioners, learners, and the society. In the field of early childhood education, the dynamic nature of the field makes research paramount and highly important to any professional in the field. As succinctly said by Buysse, V. & Wesley, P.W.(2006) research gives early childhood practitioners and policymakers essential knowledge to use in making decisions on behalf of young children and families. The goal is to integrate the best available research evidence with the wisdom and values of professionals and families.

This course has helped me to come to terms with necessity of research to the field of early childhood education and the need for a practitioner in that field not only to embrace research but to also be a researcher. The fact remains that our teaching and learning would be standing on faulty and shaking foundations if they are not based on research. Research helps teachers to understand what works best in the classroom, and why, what the short and long-term implications are, provide a justification and rationale for decisions and actions, help them have a repertoire of resources to help them deal with the unexpected, identify problems, inform improvement and so forth.

I have learned the importance of high quality research, how to conduct high quality study that provides answers to some important questions in the field of early childhood education. It is through this course that I realized that no single research method or type is best in all situations and that what is effective is to use research methods that are well-suited to the specific study being conducted.

The major challenge I faced in this course was at the beginning of the course and it has to do with my believe that research is a hard job and to be a successful researcher one must be an “expert” in Mathematics. Discussions with colleagues who gladly shared their experiences and professional comments and suggestion from our able course coordinators helped me surmount this challenge.

It has been a worthwhile and highly benefiting learning experience for me in this past eight weeks. I am therefore grateful to all of you-- our instructor and my wonderful colleagues. I sincerely hope I would meet with all of you again in my future courses at Walden University.

References:

Buysse, V & Wesley, P.W.(2006). Evidence-based Practice in the Early Childhood Field. Washington, DC: Zero to Three.