Dispositions and Data Collection
This week, you will continue your pilot research study by conducting an interview at the early childhood program that you contacted. Gather tools to be able to take notes during the interview, as you will be turning in this "raw data" with your written assignment.
In addition to the three questions you developed, be sure to include the following questions in your interview:
- What are the daily processes and routines families goes through as they come to and leave your program each day? What is the purpose behind these?
- What aspects of the physical, social, and emotional environments support respect for families and welcome their diverse characteristics and abilities?
- What skills and dispositions should early childhood practitioners possess in order to create and maintain collaborative relationships with the families?
Writing the Assignment
a. The assignment should be two to four pages, in addition to a separate title page, a separate reference page and the appendix. Format your writing as follows: MS Word, double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins all around and APA format. Your reference page should now consist of at least four outside scholarly sources (two from Week Two and two from Week Three), in addition to the textbook and required readings.
b. Describe the early childhood program and the community where it resides and explain why you chose this program. Provide details on the demographics of the families and community where the program resides.
c. Describe the process you went through to gather this information/data. (What steps did you take to obtain background information and collect the responses to the interview questions, etc.?) Be thorough and specific as the methodology is important to document in any research process.
d. Provide a brief summary of the responses and compare them to aspects of your philosophy and approach to family and community engagement. Identify similarities and differences that you find and discuss connections between the interview responses and quality of childcare issues identified in this week's discussion topic.
e. Attach your interview notes as an appendix separate from the written paper assignment. (These notes do not need to be in Standard English format but do need to be legible.)