Research that benefits children and families

Each day, we hear about many acts of violence in our society. The tragic incident earlier this week in Washington, DC so close to home made me wonder about what causes individuals to become violent. While there may be a variety of possible causes, if had the opportunity to conduct a research study, I would like to learn about the relationship between exposure to specific stressful experiences such as abuse and witnessing violence and crime during childhood and the potential of displaying violent behavior as adults. Furthermore, I would like to research the role of family, school and community supports in helping reduce the impact of stress exposure in childhood. Unfortunately, children today experience high levels of stress due to many reasons; family situations such as divorce, abuse, neglect, being in foster care, bullying or teasing at school, exposure to violence and crime to name just a few. The level of stress that many children are exposed to, are much higher than they can cope with.

 In my view, conducting a study on this topic would be extremely beneficial. By learning about how childhood stressors impact individuals in adulthood, we would know more about how we can better support children to cope with stressors and reduce the impact of the stressors so that despite experiencing a stressful childhood they can lead a positive life.  This information will be especially useful in developing school programs and community programs aimed at supporting children at risk. With more children receiving the support they need, the probability of individuals becoming violent and violence in our society maybe reduced. In addition, the information can be used to advocate for more programs supporting children and families and making policymakers more aware of the need to invest more in children, families and communities.

My Personal Research Journey

Last week, when we were asked to identify a topic we were interested in to study further, I immediately knew I wanted to focus on how to better support young children’s social and emotional development. As pre-kindergarten teacher I am well aware of how important it is for me to focus on this aspect of my students’ development as much or even more than their academic readiness in preparation for their transition into kindergarten next year. As I wondered about what aspect of social and emotional development to focus on for my research, I turned my attention to the needs of the students within my own classroom. While observing my new pre-k students, I realized that many of them had difficulty with taking the perspective of others or empathizing with them during problem situations. I had been wondering about what strategies could be incorporated into our classroom to help children further develop these skills when I came across an article in the September 2013 issue of the Young Children magazine titled ‘Animal Attraction: Including Animals in Early Childhood classrooms. Among many other benefits, it discussed how animals in early childhood classrooms can support children’s social and emotional development (Uttley, 2013).  I had seen first-hand how caring for our class pets; our guinea pig, two tree frogs, two aquatic frogs and fish seemed to benefit the children in my class but hadn’t thought much of it. At that point I realized that I would like to know more about the use of classrooms pets as a strategy to support the development of empathy in young children. 

            After reading more about the process of conducting research, I realized that narrowing down a topic of interest into a research question is one of the most important yet challenging steps in the process. It is certainly one that I have been struggling with. However, after reading several related research articles this week, I think I maybe one step closer to formulating a workable research question. I also have been trying to understand the different approaches to research and given the nature of my topic which approach would fit my simulation. I found that I was able to better understand some of the terminology in the text when it used examples to further explain it. I also found that by completing the research chart, I gained a more thorough understanding of some of the concepts which I am sure I would not have if I had just read through the text. As far as helpful tips for conducting the research process, I realized that with the vast amount of resources and information available, having a system to stay organized is important. As I find articles and go through them, I create a reference list and note down key points of the article. I also categorize articles by topic and place them in separate folders on my computer so that I find them with ease when I need them. Early on in this program, I found that if I didn’t have a system for organizing my resources I would become overwhelmed very easily. 

I am very excited about conductingt my simulation over the coming weeks. I am certain it will be challenging but I think we will all be able to rise up to the challenge. I am more than happy to share whatever resources I come across with you all that will support your research simulations. I would love to hear of any resources you may be aware of that support my topic of classroom pets and empathy in young children or any helpful tips for moving forward with our research projects. 

References:

Uttley, C. (2013). Animal attraction: Including animals in early childhood classrooms. Young Children, 68(4), 16-21.