My Personal Research Topic

For my research simulation for this course, I would like to take the opportunity to explore attachment in early childhood, and specifically, how secure or insecure attachments in early childhood influence the development of faith.  The three subtopics that I highlighted last week were to explore the factors in early childhood that lead to secure attachments and how parents and early childhood professionals can contribute to healthy secure attachment formation.  Next, to examine the evidence surrounding attachment in early childhood and whether attachments have been implicated to influence faith development.  And finally, to explore the long term impacts of insecure attachments in early childhood, and whether there is any indicated influence on faith capacity.

I chose these three subtopics because I find the concepts of attachment in early childhood to be extremely important in early childhood development and particularly relevant to us as early childhood professionals in the field.  Spending a year working in children's ministry, I saw so clearly how many different kinds of parents and families there are within a community and how differently this affects the children.  I hope to eventually return to a position in children’s ministry, where understanding and affecting faith development in young children will be my vocation.  I see an opportunity through the church to teach parents about their children’s physical, social, and emotional needs and impact the development of healthy attachments among young families in the church.  I also see the church being a possible source of intervention for children experiencing great stress at home through the provision of education and resources to families.  Lastly, as a children’s minister, it will be essential that I have a firm understanding of how children develop abstract thinking that enables faith and what impacts this process.  I believe that attachment plays a big role in this process and look forward to exploring this further.

Here is a photo of the birth-first grade ministry where I worked in Denver!  Love this place.

 I look forward to reading what each of you have chosen as your research topics.  I imagine that our research topics will all be vastly different and thus very interesting to share!