Research Around The World

Because I have a couple friends that live in Australia, I decided to choose the organization Early Childhood Australia or ECA (2011) for further analysis. When reviewing the website for the organization, I became aware of several current international research topics for the field of early childhood. One research topic that I became aware of was learning. On the ECA (2011) website there was information regarding several research studies that are being conducted on this topic.  Some of these research studies included learning through teaching and play, building confident learners, and working with early years learning frameworks (ECA, 2011). another topic that I became aware of was bullying and its impact. Studies pertaining to aggressive and non-aggressive children and dealing with bullying were research studies that are currently being conducted on this topic in Australia (ECA, 2011). Finally, another topic I became aware of was supporting relationships. There are many studies being conducted in Australia that seek to address the important and impact of supporting relationships,  engaging families, and effective communication in children and families (ECA, 2011).

One surprising fact that I became aware of is that bullying can occur at early ages and is a growing problem around the world (ECA, 2011). Prior to exploring this website I possessed the belief that bullying was only a problem for older children and isolated to North America. However, this is not the case. Another insight that was gained was that many research topics in the country of Australia are similar to those in the United States. The importance of play in the learning process, effective communication, strong relationships, and effective learning strategies appear to be universal topics for those working in the field on early childhood despite his or her geographic location (ECA, 2011).

In addition to the international research topics, some other noteworthy information was found on this website. For example, the country of Australia also places a strong emphasis on honesty and ethics, diversity, and the rights of early children in the field of early childhood (ECA, 2011). Finally, the country of Australia also struggles with issues such as obesity and health, sleeping problems, and social and behavioral disorders like professionals of early childhood working in the United States.

References

ECA. (2011). Early Childhood Australia: A Voice for Young Children. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/resource_themes/resource_themes.html.