Research Around the World

I took a look at an international website named the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA). This international early childhood organization publishes a well respected journal called European Early Childhood Education Research Journal.

The listing of some of the most read articles included the following research topics:

1. The dynamics of early childhood spaces: opportunities for outdoor play? By Tim Waller, Ellen Beate H. Sandseter, Shirley Wyver, Eva Ärlemalm‐Hagsér & Trisha Maynard.

2. Make‐believe play versus academic skills: a Vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education by Elena Bodrova.

3. Research with children: three challenges for participatory research in early childhood by Tim Waller & Angeliki Bitou.

4. The influence of play context and adult attitudes on young children's physical risk‐taking during outdoor play by Helen Little, Shirley Wyver & Frances Gibson.

5. Understanding children from 0 to 3 years of age and its implications for education. What's new on the babies' side? Origins and evolutions by Sylvie Rayna & Ferre Laevers.

6. Scaffolding – how to increase development? By Jef J. van Kuyk.

7. What's so interesting outside? A study of child‐initiated interaction with teachers in the natural outdoor environment by Jane Waters & Trisha Maynard.

8. Introducing children's perspectives and participation in research by Deborah Harcourt & Johanna Einarsdottir.

9. Pedagogy, knowledge and collaboration: towards a ground‐up perspective on professionalism by Carmen Dalli.

10. Risk, challenge and safety: implications for play quality and playground design by Helen Little & David Eager.

11. Affordances in outdoor environments and children's physically active play in pre‐school by Rune Storli & Trond Løge Hagen.

12. The influence of the outdoor environment: den‐making in three different contexts by Natalie Canning.

13. Children and the outdoor environment by Laila Niklasson & Anette Sandberg.

14. Enhancing home–school collaboration through children's expression by Lai Ha Yuen.

15. Gender choreography and micro‐structures – early childhood professionals' understanding of gender roles and gender patterns in outdoor play and learning by Eva Ärlemalm‐Hagsér.

16. Perspectives of early childhood teachers on parent–teacher partnerships in five European countries by Eeva Hujala, Leena Turja, Maria Filomena Gaspar, Marika Veisson & Manjula Waniganayake.

17. Preschool teachers’ and student preschool teachers’ thoughts about professionalism in Sweden by Marja Kuisma & Anette Sandberg.

18. Teaching to learn and learning to teach by Amita Gupta.

19. The outdoor environment in Norwegian kindergartens as pedagogical space for toddlers' play, learning and development by Thomas Moser & Marianne T. Martinsen.

20. Children’s storytelling: the effect of preschool and family environment by Urška Fekonja‐Peklaj, Ljubica Marjanovič‐Umek & Simona Kranjc.

One of the articles that caught my eye was Introducing children's perspectives and participation in research by Deborah Harcourta & Johanna Einarsdottirb - European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Volume 19, Issue 3, 2011.  An extract from the article reads as follows:

Over recent years, there has been increasing attention to the importance of involving children and listening to their voices and perspectives in research. The purpose of this monograph is to draw upon exemplary research with young children that is being undertaken in partnership with academics across the globe. The articles also seek to examine some of the critical issues and ethical dilemmas in this unique research paradigm. We are pleased to present discussion from a diverse range of research settings which includes Sweden, Iceland, Italy, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia. The underlying philosophy of each article is that all young children have the competence to engage in research as sophisticated thinkers and communicators and that the inclusion of children's views are pivotal if we are to understand their life worlds.

The emphasis on the importance of listening to children's voices to gain understanding of their learning, lives, and experiences in early childhood settings has increased in the last two decades. This change in orientation is based on views of childhood as a social construction, and children as active participants and subjects constructing their own learning (Mayall 2000; Smith 2007). Children are now regarded as ‘beings’ rather than ‘becomings’ (Qvortrup 1994) and hence childhood and children are seen as worthy of investigation in their own right (Christensen and James 2000; Clark and Moss 2001; Corsaro 1997; Dahlberg, Moss, and Pence 1999; James and Prout 1990; Mayall 2000).

The view of children as strong, knowledgeable, and contributing members of society, with their own rights and responsibilities, owes much to the mandates of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations1989). More recently, the statement issued in the General Comment No. 7 (United Nations 2005) draws attention specifically to the rights of young children to participate in decision making that affects their lives, and to be empowered to communicate their own views. Therefore, researchers interested in listening to children are now trying to learn about children's knowledge, perspectives, views and opinions from the children themselves. However, this is not happening without tensions.

I also, saw an article entitled Research with children: three challenges for participatory research in early childhood by Tim Waller & Angeliki Bitou.

This paper adopts a sociocultural perspective to provide a critical consideration of participatory approaches to research with young children. The particular focus is on the use of pedagogical documentation and learning stories as ‘participatory’ tools to elicit children's perspectives for research. The paper will argue that, despite the recent popularity of participatory approaches the method should not be considered unproblematic. A range of recent literature is drawn upon and reference made to ongoing research. A specific learning story is then expounded as an example, to discuss and critically examine three main challenges for participatory research. Firstly, these concern the assumption that the tools themselves somehow automatically enable participation. The key message from the literature is that it is the research design and relationships that confer real participation and engagement. Adopting this approach also raises a number of serious dilemmas around ethics and power, especially as the interpretation of children's perspectives is usually made from an adult point of view. The paper therefore identifies several practical implications for researchers attempting to elicit children's perspectives and engage them in the research process. In general, it is argued that participatory methods should be grounded within ethnographic study and not seen as a replacement for it.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, the world is becoming a smaller place.  We are different in so many ways, yet we are very similar too.  Child research the world over encounters similar problems and issues.  A solution developed in one country can help a teacher in another country.  The onus is on teachers and educators to review research findings developed by their counterparts in other countries to see if any of it can be applicable to their situations.