When I think of research.......

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."
                                             Zora Neale Thurston



Wow where to begin, at first I viewed research as a vast amount of charts, figures in identifying or reaching a specific goal or objective. Research was searching the web, reading endless books and papers. After this course I came to understand that research is not only commitment but in a sense becoming an advocate for a specific group. As a researcher, you want to make sure you are doing something that you have a great interest in learning more of, interested in, and hoping to help make a difference or change. Trying to formulate a research topic we have to pay attention to the heart of the research and not only the statistics but in  also the thinking process that went behind in creating the research. I gain an understanding that research is a collaborative effort in finding how and why things work. How we can build arguments in opinions, ideas, and concepts. Through research we can work towards finding evidence to support our arguments and persuade others.

Research is very important in the early childhood field. Applying and understanding research findings is an important step in achieving high quality education for children and produce improvements within classroom practices. The role of early childhood education is a key to predicting success for a child's future. And it is because of research, policymakers, administrators, teachers and families have gain the knowledge that early childhood education is crucial towards the early stages in a child's life.

I did encounter challenges during this course in working on my research. There were moments when I felt overwhelmed and couldn't understand much of the terminology in applying it in my research. I found help in creating a journal. In my journal I wrote down, interesting problems, possible solutions, random ideas, references to look up, notes on previous papers and terminology that was confusing. I would go back to it and it did provide some help.

As an early childhood preschool teacher there is still some  concerned about the degree to which my role is  still widely misunderstood by both members of the general public and my  colleagues in primary and secondary schools.  I feel as time progresses and continued research will support the important role we have in early childhood and the contributions we provide toward the world of education as well.