Researching information on the internet this week brought to mind the saying "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.". I actually considered using this quote as part of my discussion post for class this week. However, when I "googled" it to find out who authored the quote, I found conflicting answers including Edgar Allen Poe, Benjamin Franklin and Proverbs. This simple search illustrated to me how difficult it can be to find accurate and trustworthy information on the internet. After all, anyone can post things on the internet whether it is true or not. For this reason, I have always approached using information from websites cautiously and have relied on ones that I am familar with to get information. This week's study has helped me to distinguish the credibility of websites and information by looking at indicators of credibility, accuracy, reasonableness and support. I found this extremely helpful in my searching for information.
As I begin my research simulation, I have picked the topic of quality child care and narrowed it down to three subtopics including the effects of quality child care on children's development especially their readiness for school, parent's perception of quality child care and evaluations of quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS).
I chose the topic of quality in child care because of my passion for working with child care programs to improve quality. As a former child care director who now works as an employee of a QRIS program, I am very interested in looking at ways that quality can be improved in child care. As a working parent, I am interested at how quality programs can be made available to parents who need a safe and healthy place for their child to be while they are working and how quality influences a parents decision in choosing child care. At this point I am going to focus more on parent perceptions of quality and how this affects their choice of child care. Because the definition of quality can be so broad and can depend on perception, I think it's important to take into consideration the perspective of parents. Afterall, they decide on what type of early care and education program to enroll their child in.
Terri,
ReplyDeleteI think you and I could sit down and talk endlessly about quality child care and others' perceptions of quality. I ran a child care center for 15years and I now work for QRS in Louisiana. What a wonderful topic you have chosen. I cannot wait to read your posts on the process of your research as it unfolds throughout this course. Many times I hear from child care providers that although they have done so much work in improving their methods and the environment of their center, parents do not really care. I do know that is true many times. I scream constantly that we must give more parent education on how to define quality care. I cannot wait to hear more from you in the weeks to come. Great topic!!
Mary Jo
Terri,
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful topic and look forward to hearing more about your research. Being in a rural part of North Carolina a lot of parents do not understand quality childcare, they just want someone to 'babysit' their child. They also believe that education starts in public school. I feel that they need to be educated on how important early childhood education is to their child's development and learning.
Terri,
ReplyDeleteI was the queen of "Google search" until this course. As you said, everything seems suspicious now, we cannot trust in all the information in the web. I have gained lots of insight about what is "good" or "bad" information. Your topic about “parent perceptions of quality and how their perception affects their choice of childcare” is a great topic. I am also motivated in finding more about parents, and how parents can make a difference in their child's education. Your focus is about quality, which I believe is very powerful knowledge to decide which childcare program best fit to trust their child's education.