Research Around the World: Japan




This week's focus is on the CHILD RESEARCH NET. First, however, the very name and the attractive logo of the website have caught my attention. The organization lives by the motto: "Children are our future," which was coined by the founder, Dr Noboru Kobayashi.

The motto reminds me of the famous song performed by the late Witney Houston.



Here are some of the main current international research topics of focus for CRN

  • Social and Emotional SkillsSocial and emotional skills have a great impact on children's development and learning. So here we discuss how to nurture these skills.?
    View posts 
  • ECEC around the WorldFocusing on the trends of ECEC around the world, specialists discuss issues regarding children's growth and development.
    View posts 
  • Digital Media and ChildrenICTs are making day-to-day advancement. Explore the discussion on how it should be used for the better in children's development.
    View posts 
  • Children with Special NeedsHere we discuss building a sound environment where all children, regardless of their needs, can lead a safe and secure life.
    View posts 

Furthermore, here are some additional topics that are of interest to CRN

  • Health and Medical Issues
  • Childrearing
  • Education and Learning
  • Caring for Children after a Natural Disaster

Their website has a link to numerous Educational Research and Development sites. Various survey reports and regarding children are highlighted on these additional sites. Furthermore, most, if not all, are a non-governmental and non-profit organisation that defends and promotes the child's rights to education and care worldwide.  Besides, they have all established and build strong partnerships across the globe.

Here are some insights about early childhood that I gained from exploring this international early childhood website: From the article, "Research on Home Education from Early Childhood to First Grade of Elementary School" (Longitudinal Survey):

Global Trend in Early Childhood Education

Our social environment is rapidly changing internationally at an accelerating pace through globalization in the economy and informatization using IT. No longer sufficient to simply master conventional knowledge, it is also considered necessary for us to acquire attitudes and capabilities to flexibly adapt to our environments, continue to learn, and solve problems. Attention is also turning toward the importance of acquiring such attitudes and capabilities in early childhood for future individual development.
 
The transition from Early Childhood to Elementary School in Japan 

Children cultivate the basics of learning during the period from early childhood to elementary school. To ensure that preschool education and care and elementary education provide a smooth transition in line with children’s development, kindergartens, day-care centres, Early Childhood Education and Care centres (ECEC centres: nintei kodomo en), etc., and elementary schools have begun implementing transitional curricula. 

A Demand for Evidence-Based on Data 

Much research is conducted on activities and involvement with day-care centres/kindergartens and the home in Japan concerning learning processes in early childhood and environments that encourage learning. Moreover, nowadays, it is required to build up evidence-based data collection and analysis.

    Other noteworthy information discovered on this website

    The Director, Dr Yoichi Sakakihara, has a  Blog where he writes on topics related to children, his views and his daily activities. some of the topical issues are:

    Reference

    https://www.childresearch.net/data/ec/2016_01.html

    https://www.childresearch.net/data/pdf/home_education_2016.pdf

    Comments

    1. Itze Montejo-HyattJune 12, 2021 at 11:47 PM

      Wow! What a great review of the Child Research Net. What was your favorite resource or section of resources on this website? I personally found the social and emotional section interesting.

      ReplyDelete

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Words of Inspiration and Motivation

    Ideals contained in the NAEYC and DEC codes of ethics that are meaningful to me: "To work to ensure that appropriate assessment systems, which include multiple sources of information, are used for purposes that benefit children" (NAEYC, 2005 1.4.5). Response: This is significant to my professional life in that, too often we as educators fail our students and limit their capacity to grow and excel through one type of assessment, which is "paper and pen" which is Formative assessment. There are numerous ways of assessing students capabilities. A few of these strategies are Portfolio, Journals, Observations, Checklists, Running Records, Reflections and many others. "We shall provide services and supports to children and families fairly and equitably while respecting families’ culture, race, language, socioeconomic status, marital status, and sexual orientation" (The Division for Early Childhood, 2009). Response: Each child has the right to high-quality servic
    Read more

    Improving Boy's Education in Early Childhood

    Image
      I have selected the topic of Improving Boy's Education in Early Childhood. Because it is a fact that globally we are losing our boys. As a result, we can hardly find healthy males willing to take their rightful position in society. Also, to assist females with certain tasks. With that said, I have found a fascinating article regarding our boys. Article: Raising and Educating Healthy Boys: A Report on the Growing Crisis in Boys’ Education  Here is the link to the article: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED500855.pdf Summary of the Article Children as young as three and four are really good at observing, and they see the inequities. We are sanctioning this in our practices, and everyone is absorbing it. -- Luba Lynch Executive Director A.L. Mailman Family Foundation  We need to start addressing issues of gender socialization of boys and girls at the preschool level. At stake is the full potential of each individual child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. -- Barbara
    Read more

    Farewell Team

    Image
    These past eight weeks have been amazing. My interest was aroused by the stimulating learning resources that I encountered along the way, which allowed me to persevere and develop a  growth mindset as I traverse this professional journey and explore essential skills, components of communication processing. In addition, the myriad of communication competencies, approaches and techniques, and verbal and nonverbal cues along with listening, gestures and expressions have enhanced the way I communicate and will be beneficial as I interact with my students and their families, colleagues, relatives and organisations and agencies. Besides, understanding how my schema and perception of others can influence how I communicate was eye-opening. The self-assessment brought mind-blowing results to the fore that will help me improve or reexamine my communication skills. In addition, the complexities of intercultural communication have highlighted the significance of culture during interaction and allo
    Read more