Editors Note: This article was updated to correct information that was stated incorrectly or unclearly. The Spectrum apologies for these errors.
In the basement of Baldy Hall, across from Lockwood library, lies a playground and a classroom that belong to the Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC).
In 1932, the ECRC was sponsored by the UB School of Education. It's purpose includes childcare, research, education and community engagement. The program is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, a distinction that adds additional prestige to the already reputable childcare center. Due to their reputation, word-of-mouth is enough to keep child enrollment steady at ECRC and around 50 children enroll every year, after being carefully selected from a competitive waitlist.
While children play in the center, UB students observe them either in the classroom or from behind two-way mirrors located in each of the observation rooms. Sound is recorded in the playroom, and pipes into the observation room from a speaker system, so the children can be seen and heard from behind the mirror. When signing children up for the ECRC, parents give their consent for the research process, with the option to opt out.
Dr. Benson, the Associate Director of the ECRC, shared details about the ECRC in an interview with The Spectrum.“[Observation] is very important so that we understand child development and understand teaching strategies…The best way to understand it is to see it, to observe it,” Benson explained.
This observation room is used for small-scale observational research, typically working with students early in their programs. The ECRC can also fulfill internship requirements for students pursuing a related field, where students enroll in a required course, LAI 490 or LAI 507, and work in the classrooms with the children alongside taking a weekly seminar.
Benson also explained that larger scale research, includes dissertations and case studies conducted by students, and this kind of work might involve students entering the classrooms and conducting interviews.
“[UB students conducting case studies] come in, they meet the [ECRC] student and they observe and interact with the student a couple of times. Often they interview a parent or myself or the teacher to gain a little bit more information on a specific area of development.”
Thanks to the center, “more than 400 students” every semester, from multiple schools at UB, use the observation room to gain experience learning about children. Additionally, UB students can gain clinical or residency experience as student teachers or interns working in the classrooms.
The center receives an endowment from Fisher-Price, an American toy company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, which has its headquarters located in East Aurora, New York. The ECRC works with the toy company to learn about child development providing for Fisher-Price product development.
“We do some small and some large-scale research, more ethnographic research with Fisher Price,” explained Benson.
Parents pay a flat rate for their children to attend the school, and market rates for childcare are used as a benchmark for the price of attendance. Unlike many daycare centers, however, the center is only open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays. This allows for UB students to fit work time into their course schedules.
Demographics of the classrooms are diverse, with eight different languages currently being spoken at the center. Children attending the program come from the surrounding Buffalo area, and currently 31% of the children attending are from families affiliated with UB, through faculty, students and staff. Families are encouraged to continue to speak their native language with children at home, and Dr. Benson believes that the children are capable of communicating and learning with each other even if a common language is not spoken.
“Play brings us together, and they don’t necessarily have to speak the same language to be able to play together.”
ECRC is in the midst of unveiling a new website, which is slated for release within the next few weeks.
Nadia Brach is a senior features editor and can be reached at nadia.branch@ubspectrum.com.
