Research that Benefits Children and Families

This week I would like to share a positive example of the effects of research in early childhood field. This example comes from a research article that I find interesting and related to my research topic-- play, and my subtopic--benefits of different types of play. The research article, written by Tarsha Estelle Bluiett, is Sociodramatic play and the potentials of early language development of preschool children. 

In this research article, the author states the aims of this study is to explore the interactions of preschool children with literacy-related materials, peers, and adults when they are in socio-dramatic play; and to identify if there are any effects of socio-dramatic play on oral language acquisition and literacy behaviors. 

This study is guided by three questions:

(1) How does socio-dramatic play with literacy-related materials create opportunities for language acquisition at the preschool level?

(2) How does social interaction through socio-dramatic play experience among preschool children foster language acquisition as they are interacting with their peers? (3) How do adults influence the language expression of preschool children during socio-dramatic play? (Bluiett, 2009, pp.7)

This qualitative research use a case study approach in a preschool setting. Through observations, the research finds out that with literacy-related materials, peers and adults, children's interactions offer themselves a chance to use language within the context of socio-dramatic play while writing and speaking; In order to encourage literacy and language development, it is necessary and vital to provide children with needed support and expose children to different materials; The role of adults in this play is a scaffold, a facilitator, a mediator. (Bluiett, 2009)

Through this research, we can see how beneficial socio-dramatic play is to children's development, and what we as early childhood educators can do to support children in this kind of play.

Reference:

Bluiett, T. E. (2009). Sociodramatic play and the potentials of early language development of preschool children. Retrieved from http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/content/u0015/0000001/0000137/u0015_0000001_0000137.pdf

My personal research journey

Hi my colleagues of this course! Welcome to my blog!

My chosen topic for the simulation is How a Play-based Curriculum Affects Children's Learning and Development, according to which I developed three subtopics: 1. the benefits of different types of play to child development; 2. the outcomes of focusing on children's academic achievements; 3. how early childhood teachers implement a play-based curriculum in preschools.

The reason why chose this topic and subtopics is related to my early childhood experience and my concerns about the development of preschools in China. I still remember when I was in kindergarten, I was made sit down with hands on the laps, look at Pinyins on the blackboard, listen to how the teacher pronounced and repeat after the teacher. I still remember how disappointed I felt when teachers said it was clean-up time but I was just about to play. My early childhood experience is quite common in kindergartens or higher level of schools in China though some of schools have realized the significance of play and allowed some time for children to play. However, the concept of play is still not prevalent in China. I would like to try to convince the people around me of the benefits of play, and start with my sister who has a four-year-old daughter in a Chinese kindergarten where academics is placed more emphasis on. I hope through this research I can have a better understanding of a play-based curriculum and how it can be better combined together with academic learning for the good of the overall development of young children. In this way, I can advocate for play in Chinese preschools.

From reading the content of the text for this week, l learn some basic knowledge of how to construct a significant research. The research process is as follows: select a topic; search and review the literature; formulate a specific research issue; design the research; collect data; analyze data; draw conclusions; and write research reports. ((Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010) I can sense each step demands of lots of effort and patience and it may not be full of fun, but I am sure once we get started, we may find some surprises and find it worthy in the journey of research, just like travelling, tiring but surprising and satisfying.

My colleagues, after reading my research topic for this course, if you have any suggestion about my topic, or any reliable research resources, could you please share your valuable opinion with me? I will really appreciate it. Thank you!

Reference:                         

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Chapter 2, "The Research Process"