“As the primary carer and guardians of their children, parents have the right to decide what personal information is collected and recorded about their child. It is essential that practitioners obtain written permission from parents authorising them to carry out observations and to keep relevant documentations on record…
…Any personal information about children or families should be treated as confidential unless withholding information would affect the well being of the child.” [Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68]
D1] In observation 1 (written descriptive) I saw Child J imitate the noises of a toy car “brum, brum, toot, toot”. While he was imitating the noises he was pushing the toy car back and forth along the garden wall. This links with piaget’s theory of preoperational play such as symbolic play as he was pretending to drive the car along the top of the wall.
In observation 2 (tracking) I noticed that Child J spent most of his time standing by the toy cabinet where he spent 15 minutes playing with the same toy. According to the tracking observation that I carried out he didn’t spend as much time in the book corner. He roughly spent about 2 minutes in the book corner before moving over to the soft corner. The pie chart below shows the results from this specific observation.
As a child care practitioner I should take into account Child J’s preferences and link them to something he may not enjoy as much so that his least favourite activity becomes fun and more interesting. To do this I could find objects around the room that may be present in a certain story such as one of the spot books as these prove to be his favourite. I would do this by reading child J the story and getting him to find the correct objects that appear in the book. This way Child J will become more involved in the story and he will begin to enjoy story time. Also by doing this his attention span may improve due to the activity he disliked becoming more interesting and so therefore he will turn to the book corner on a regular basis. This in turn will help improve his cognitive development, language development and social skills.
In observation 3 (checklist) I was able to assess Child J’s overall development through using a chart containing developmental milestones for his early years, his age now and what he will slowly start to develop and show. I did this so that I was able to see how well developed he is but also so that I have a clear view of where he may need extra support until he has mastered that specific skill himself; the chart allows me to see which individual needs need to be met.
On the table of milestones there is a great range of developmental milestones in which he has already developed. However there are areas in which Child J may need more encouragement and support in order to be able to do the specific skill himself. An example of this is Child J has recently started to feed himself with a spoon however he is not yet able to use a beaker. According to the table of milestones at the age of 18 months a child should be able to feed independently using a spoon and a beaker; this however is no cause for concern as Child J is currently 17 months. Although this process may seem slow, child J is still showing he needs support, encouragement and help when necessary in order for him to do this himself.
THEORY AND RESEARCH!
D2] Observations help practitioners plan for a child’s individual needs as they allow the practitioner to see the child’s pattern of development. Observing the same child several times allows us to understand the child’s pattern of development, which in turn helps practitioners asses the child’s current stage of development in order to ensure appropriate activities are provided to promote the overall development of the child.
In my placement setting they use what’s known as a “baseline” or “formative” assessment for when a new baby or toddler start’s at the nursery. This allows the nursery to see which milestones the child has already met so that they can ensure appropriate activities are provided in order to maintain the child’s overall development and to understand the individual needs of the child. By doing a “baseline” assessment the care that is provided for the child is to a high standard as all the child’s individual needs will have been taken into account so their overall development can be maintained. This also allows nursery workers to plan and provide activities in which the child will enjoy and be interested in; in turn this will also help nursery workers notice any behavioural concerns which may lead to a decline in their progress causing affects on the child’s overall development such as a lack of confidence, low self esteem and low self worth for their oncoming transitions.
During the observations I carried out on child J it was made clear what his preferences were and also his dislikes. This allowed me to analyse my observations in order to plan and provide activities that he would enjoy and be interested in. I noticed that he enjoyed playing with single toys on his own whereas he disliked the book corner. However child J loves being read the “Spot” books; so looking at my observation results I am able to link the two together so that child J becomes interested in both and enjoys the book corner more. I would do this by reading through some of his favourite books and choosing objects out of them which would be easy to find around the baby room. I would then read the book to child J and ask him to find the object which matched the object in the story. This way he will be enjoying finding the objects but also he will become more interested in the book as he will be finding objects to match. This in turn will also help his overall cognition as he will have to think if the objects he picks actually match the one in the book; this would also be know as problem solving.
Overall this would help myself as a practitioner to plan and provide activities for child J’s individual needs, so that he becomes more interested and focused on a range of different activities due to linking his preferences with his dislikes to ensure his overall development is maintained in order for him to meet his milestones and become on target for the early years foundation stage milestones according to his age and development.
IMPLICATIONS OF PLANNING + THEORY NEEDED!
C1] It is essential when in a child care setting to maintain confidentiality in order to maintain the child’s health and wellbeing. It is required by the data protection act 1998 that personal information must not be used as the individual may be identified putting their health at risk. When working in a childcare setting I make sure that when I am carrying out observations personal information such as their name is not used and the child is related to as a number or a letter; I do this so that I as a practitioner am not putting the child in which is being observed at risk and their health and wellbeing is maintained due to following legislations such as the child protection act, human rights act and also data protection act.
“As the primary carers and guardians of their children, parents have the right to decide what personal information is collected and recorded about their child. It is essential that practitioners obtain written permission from parents authorising them to carry out observations and to keep relevant documentation on record…
…this must be signed and dated.” [Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68]
It is important to respect confidentiality of others in order to gain trust within your setting. Forming trust with other practitioners and also parents allows you to maintain confidentiality as others are able to check through observations in order to make sure confidentiality has not been breeched. If confidentiality is breeched, practitioners and parents may not trust you due to putting the child’s health and well being at risk.
This links to Erikson’s first stage of development about trust and mistrust. He stated that if we did not successfully pass through the development stage of trust we would find it harder in the future to trust those who care; this would be due to a lack of confidence in others leading to frustration which in turn would have a negative effect on how individual needs are met. Erikson theorised that those who became frustrated due to their needs not being met became mistrusting towards others and the world as a whole.
When carrying out observations in a childcare setting, as a practitioner you must not identify the child in any way. You must not include your opinions of the child into an observation as this effects the observation from being factual also the information obtained will be incorrect. An example of this may be seeing the child bang a toy on top of another and saying the child is frustrated. However you are unable to tell if this is how the child is actually feeling unless you have a close bond with the child. A limitation of this may be that you are unable to meet the child’s needs due to not knowing what is upsetting the child or causing the child to become distressed; this in turn has a negative effect on the way you deal with the situation due to not knowing the child’s emotions and mental state. Also it can be very difficult to keep your opinions to yourself and not include them into observations as it is so easily done; due to this I get my placement supervisor to check any observations which I carry out so that I am not objective during the observation and the information gained is factual.
“Any personal information about children or families should be treated as confidential unless withholding information would affect the well being of the child. You must not disclose confidential details to anyone who does not need to know about them. This includes information about the child’s individual development, learning and individual needs.” [Beaver et al, 2008, page: 69]
Storage of observations is also important when dealing with confidentiality as you do not want other parents reading about another child but also if there are any visitors within the setting as this in turn can breech confidentiality and affect the child’s overall health and wellbeing which may in turn put the child at risk. Observations containing information about a specific individual need to be placed in a secure place such as a locked cupboard, also when disposing of observations you need to maintain the confidentiality and therefore shredding the information so that there is know way in which the information can be used in order to identify the individual who has been observed.
B1] Reflecting on the implications of my practice for the assessment of child J through observations, I found several issues which may affect the reliability and validity of these observations; for example in the written descriptive observation which I carried out on child J I noticed that rather than focusing on cognitive development I began to comment more on his physical development. This meant that when I came to analyse this observation I found it slightly harder to choose a good cognitive attitude to work with as I had recorded more on his physical development. I also found that child J’s behaviour changed when he moved from being inside to outside; when inside child J seemed very lethargic and he kept taking himself to the soft corner where he buried his head. When it came to putting his coat on he fought a little first and was asked if he wanted to go outside, he replied ‘no’ and so his coat was left to one side for him to get if he decided that he wanted to play outside. Once outside child J seemed to perk up slightly and became a lot more active. When looking back on this particular behaviour change it shows that if I was to of observed child J inside I may not of got the results I did when observing him outside. However my observation could have been improved if I was to focus more on his cognitive behaviour rather than his physical development.
“Sometimes there are factors outside the practitioner’s control that may affect the reliability or outcome of an observation. Children may be feeling fractious or irritable due to weather conditions, illness, excitement or being unsettled; this can also have an effect on the outcome of an observation. This means that an observation may not give a reliable picture of the child’s general behaviour.” [Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68]
In my second observation which was tracking, I found it difficult to focus on both the time and watching where child J was moving to in the room. Due to child J moving from one area to another in such a short space of time the room plan which I was recording his movements on began to look very busy. This made it difficult when I came to analyse this specific observation as it was hard to see which line went from one area to the other; even though I had recorded each time it still made the room plan very busy and hard to analyse. Another implication of this particular observation was recording the movements of child J whilst watching him in each area to make sure the time in which he spent with each activity was correct. When recording his movements on the room plan I may have missed some of his activity which may have been important for this particular observation. However the tracking observation allows me to see child J’s preferences and dislikes due to the length of time he spent in each area, this allows me to plan and provide activities in which child J will be interested in and enjoy.
In my third observation which was a checklist the reliability and validity was poor. Using the checklist I was able to see which milestones child J had met, however they become implications for planning as milestones he would have been expected to meet he hadn’t quite mastered them whereas some of the milestones he would begin to develop as he grew older, he had already mastered certain milestones. An example of this is child J is unable to feed himself or use a beaker to drink from; however this depends on his mood. Some day’s child J wants to feed himself and others he refuses; he is still not able to use a beaker. Even though child J doesn’t always want to feed himself he is given a spoon to try and encourage his independence. To improve this situation and to work on his development he could have the experience of using different types of cup or beaker to see which he finds more comfortable to hold but also easier to drink from; this would hopefully encourage him to use a beaker which in turn will have a positive effect on his self esteem. Another way in which we could encourage child J would be to choose an appropriate area or layout, for example using a low table and chair so that he gets the experience of been sat at the table when eating and drinking this will also teach him to learn that food and drink are to stay on the table and not to be taken around the room.
^^ WHAT DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT OUR PRACTISE IN THE SETTING?
The theorist who supports praise and encouragement is skinner, he theorised that behaviour became shaped due to punishment and rewards. He stated that children act to avoid punishment to gain rewards. He believed that punishment was counter productive and so he theorised that tasks should be broken down into small steps so that each step can become reinforced and rewards given as the task is learnt.
A1] In my placement setting I see many theorists’s being used in practice. Some of the theorists I see being used are Froebel, Isaacs, Skinner and Bruce.
Froebel’s theory was based on a child centred approach, however many of his ideas were related to free play. He believed that children needed real experiences and to be physically active through play. Froebel’s theory also links with Bruce’s theory that free play is a vital part of learning and new experiences. She believes that through play children wallow in ideas, feelings and relationships and become technically proficient through play.
Free play is shown in placement on a regular basis, the babies and toddlers go through into the messy area at least 3 times a week to do different activities such as play dough, oats, painting, water play and many more. When in the messy area there are always at least 2 different types of activity – more depending on the staffing ratios; this is to allow the babies and toddlers to choose which activity they would prefer and so they can move freely from one to another based on their preferences. Isaacs theory is also shown when doing this as she saw the value of play as a means to enable children the freedom to balance their feelings, ideas and relationships whilst moving in and out of reality through play. In placement we allow the children to choose their own activities so that they can learn to become independent learners; this also helps when the children begin to make their transitions.
ADD REFERENCE
Skinner’s theory was based on behaviourism; behaviourists generally believe that all behaviour is learnt and shaped. Skinner theorised that behaviour is shaped by punishment and rewards; he stated that children act to avoid punishment in order to gain rewards. He believed that punishment was counter productive and that tasks should be broken down into steps to be reinforced and rewarded as they are learnt.
In placement rewards are used on a regular basis in order to encourage good behaviour. I experienced this when being assessed by my college tutor as I had planned for a number of babies to go into the messy area and join in with some different activities. I split the room up into 3 areas and had play dough, painting and the sand and oat trays in each area; this was done to allow the babies the freedom to choose which activity they wanted to do. By doing this I was following Froebel’s theory of free play; however Skinner’s theory of praise and encouragement was being used within my practice too as a little boy was playing with the play dough but he kept taking the dough from the table and dropping it on the floor. As I saw child A doing this I said “A put it on the table please, not on the floor” and so when child A picked up the dough and placed it on the table I said “good boy” and gave lots of praise, this was repeated several times before he stopped taking the dough from the table and dropping it on the floor.
The negatives of not following these theories would be that children would not learn to thrive; teaching would become very structured and formal which in turn would not meet the needs of those kinaesthetic of visual learners. Children wouldn’t get the freedom of learning through experience and so therefore will have a negative impact on children’s overall development.
REFERENCE NEEDED
RESEARCH CRITICISMS OF FROEBEL AND SKINNER FOR SECOND VIEW POINT.
Bibliography
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html 06/02/12
[Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68]
[Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68]
[Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68-69]
[Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68-69]
Appendix
E4]
Written descriptive observation – started 10:45am Wednesday 18/01/12
Child J is unhappy after changing rooms (from the messy room back to the baby room - caterpillars), the room leader gave child J a cuddle and he seemed to calm down. Once he had calmed down he went for a nappy change where he started to cry again – child J seemed to be very clingy after changing rooms.
The room leader asked child J to find his favourite book, he replied ‘no’ and turned his hands so palms were up and twisted his wrists. I smiled at him and asked if he wanted to go outside, he pulled a sad face and replied ‘no’ but still let me put his coat on.
Child J waited nicely by the door ready to go outside to play. While waiting for the other children to get their coats on ready for outside play, he took himself to the soft corner where he then picked up and book and stared looking through the pictures turning one page at a time with his right hand. Child J then tried to tell the story himself; he pointed to the monkey and said banana. He pointed to the bear and made a growl, a snake and he hissed. Child J then rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up using both hands; he then walked over to the door and went outside. Child J took himself over to the toy cars and imitated the noises ‘brum, brum, toot, toot’ and then pushed the car back and forth the garden wall.
Child J then stood at the bottom of the slide before taking himself round to the steps. He stood at the bottom of the steps looking to the top of the slide. Child J then walked over to a baby walk and pushed it up towards the wendy house. He then heard the noise of a toy piano and walked towards the noise, then pretended to play it. He said taking it in turns with his friends and waited patiently before it was his turn to play with it again.
Child J walked over to the sleep shelter where there is red and blue balls attached to a washing line, he started to move the blue balls one bay one along the washing line, doing the same with the red balls. He then started to bang the balls together making the crashing noise. He then took himself over to the garden wall once again where he saw another child pushing a car along the wall. It wasn’t long before he pushed a walker into the space next to the wall and the wendy house. He then picked up a car that he found on the floor and pushed it up the slide before walking round to the steps to climb up 2 feet per step. When he got to the top of the slide he sat for a little before saying ‘do, do, go’ and letting the car go down the side, slowly following after – he repeated this several times. Child J then picked up the car from the floor and through it onto the ground a couple of times before taking himself to the damp wall where he then slapped his hands down in the water and started to splash.
When it was time for child J to go back inside, he shouted ‘no’ and pulled a sad face as he took himself to a corner.
Checklist observation – started 10:45am Thursday 26/01/12
Candidate signature: KJ Clemmet Date: 26/01/12
Key:
____________ → Shills in which child J has already developed and is showing
____________ → Skills in which child J will start to develop and show
____________ → Skills in which child J will start to develop over the next few months
Candidate signature: KJ Clemmet Date: 19/01/12