Burrhus Frederic Skinner’s theory links to the other area I have chosen which is communication and language. Burrhus Frederic Skinner’s theory says there are different types of reinforcements. Communicating with a child in various ways are the best ways to get the best out of a child. Burrhus Frederic Skinner’s theory was about operant conditioning and implications for behaviour management. Skinner had 3 different reinforcements which are called; Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement and Punishments. A positive reinforcement is all about praising the child. This means rewarding them with sweets, stickers and treats but crucially adult attention. If you praise the child, they will think they done something good and they will continue doing it daily. Negative reinforcement is all about children likely to make us respect behaviour in order to stop something unpleasant from happening to us. This means we have to stop children from doing unacceptable behaviour. Punishments are punishing the child/children. This means you’re likely to stop children from repeating behaviour, for example you may learn to stay away from an electric fence after receiving a shock.
‘Skinner suggests that language is learned mainly because when babies try and communicate their efforts are rewarded or reinforced in some way’. (Penny Tassoni: 2007 P73)
E4
Checklist;
-Running around at playtime with friends
-Playing in home corner with friends
-Able to do a jigsaw puzzle alone but with support
-Able to ride a tricycle without support
-Sand or/and water play
-Able to climb the climbing frames outside without support
-Able to go on the slide
-Able to count up to 10 without help
-Name 3 shapes without help
-Able to type/copy name on computer
-Able to participate in a group activity
-Able to find objects around the room
Time sample;
8:35am- Child B is walking around and heads towards the table with bottles.
8:37am- Child B is at the drawing table.
8:39am- Child B is drawing a picture with her right hand.
8:41am- Child B is still drawing with her right hand.
8:43am- Child B is communicating with her friend.
8:45am- Child B is still at the drawing table drawing a picture with her right hand.
8:47am- Child B is walking around showing her picture to friends and members of staff.
8:49am- Child B is at the drawing table again, and cutting paper with her right hand.
8:51am- Child B is drawing another picture with her right hand again.
8:53am- Child B is walking towards the Lego table, communicating with her friend and a member of staff.
Written Narrative;
Child B is sitting in a toy sofa, in the home corner. Child B is talking to a toy doll, Child B is communicating with friends. Child B gets up and goes towards the toy till. Child B is playing with friends and imagining her self watching a fire work display. Child B is running around the home corner. Child B is jumping around and giving her friend a plastic shopping basket. Child B walks towards the table and communicates with other children. Child B is in an imaginative beauty salon getting her hair done by her friend. Child B is laughing with her friends. Child B is sitting on a red chair. Child B stands up and plays with a hair dryer. Child B is gazing outside. Child B changes seats and sits at the back on a blue chair. Child B stands up and sits on front seat again and imagines she is getting her hair blow-dried. Child B starts to walk towards the mirror to see her hair. Child B communicates with friends and teachers. Child B walks towards the home corner again then back again. Child B communicates with friends. Child B put fingers in her mouth. Child B walks around randomly laughing to get attention.
E5
There are various observing techniques but I have chosen Time sampling, Tick sheet and Written narrative.
Time sampling method is when you observe the child in a certain amount of time period for example if you start to observe a child at 9am you may observe them again after every 2minutes. You don’t want to observe the child more then 15minutes because the child can be doing the same thing for an hour and you will be getting the same results every time. This method can help you plan activities and carry them out on the child to meet their individual needs.
Tick sheet method is when you observe a child on what the can do for example if a child at the age of 4 can ride a tricycle that is something they can do so you would put a tick next to that activity. This is another way of observing children on what they are good at and what they need to improve on, this method can help you plan activities and carry them out on the child to meet their individual needs.
Written narrative method is when you observe a child for a period of time and write exactly what they are doing. This method must be done very carefully, this is because you must write what they are doing not what you thinking. This is because if you think they are doing this for a certain reason it can be biased. For example if a child is playing with toys and the same child snatches off another child biased would be a teacher having a favourite and to not look bad they’d ask the child polity asked another child for their toy. This method can help you plan activities and carry them out on the child to meet their individual needs.
‘ in early years settings, observation play a key part in assessing children’s development and are linked closely to planning for groups of children’. (Penny Tassoni:2010 P72)
E6
Throughout an observation you have to maintain confidentiality by not writing the child’s name down. You also cannot state down the setting and cannot give the information you have gathered to anyone else unless it is necessary or asked for. Once you have completed the observation you must put it out of sight and reach of children and others. It is important to keep the observation confidential, because it is part of being professional. You can only give out information if it has something to do with the child’s protection. There is going to be certain information that may need to be passed on the other members of staff or professionals. Information such as health, welfare and protection. But information must be shared with certain colleagues, before giving information out to parents/carers of the child you must check the identity before giving feedback to them.
‘Observations and assessments should be stored properly, which usually means in a secure place’. (Penny Tassoni: 2007 P98)
Practitioners must keep information confidential and must not be talked about to others unless it has an effect on the child welfare.If observations are done they must be confidential and no names must be stated the child must be kept anonymous.Observations must be kept in a safe place out of reach of others.Information can be shared with parents as feedback but before giving out information you must check their identity.This is because child protection is important if the child’s information gets out of the setting the child’s life can be at risk if a stranger or a family member that does not have permission to see the child.When working with children it is important to follow the rules on confidentiality for example if a child in your setting had a issue at home with their family you would keep this confidential and only tell members of staff in the setting.You would not go out of your setting and use any of the children names as this is a breach of the confidentiality.
E7
Discrimination is a big issue, it can affect peoples lives and can lower there self esteem and may not be able to communicate and socialise with others because of who they are. You cannot discriminate a child or parent because of their colour, race, religion etc, this is because it can cause them to lower their self esteem. Recognising diversity is about understanding that children come from a variety of backgrounds and family structures, and that this is reflected in many ways including the languages they speak their culture, beliefs and even care needs.
‘While the core needs o children are the same (love, affection, stimulation and physical care), recognising diversity means responding positively to the differences and valuing all people, not just the children and families you feel closest to.’ (Penny Tassoni: 2007. P7)
To avoid discriminating against any particular child, it will be important to reflect their diverse needs in the routines and plans of the setting. You have seen that differentiation is an important part of working with children. It is also a way in which you can ensure children are not discriminated against. It is also a core value that you should find ways of helping children respect and value each other. This means that you must think about ways in which you help individual children develop positive respect towards others.
‘To fail to differentiate and provide the necessary support would therefore be discriminatory.’ (Penny Tassoni: 2007 P380)
In a setting with children e.g. day nursery practitioner would show respect by joining in religious festivals that were not allowed in there religion. They would set up activities for the children and show respect towards them and their religion and also there families. Parents/carers can give you information that is important that can be about the child/children’s needs. You cannot back out of an activity just because your religion doesn’t allow you to celebrate it. If a child cannot participate in an activity because of there religion then you may have to provide another activity that the child can do. But make it similar to the one they can’t participate in. For example if the children are making cards about a religious festival which is coming up for them the other child can also make a card but to a family member or staff in the setting. You must treat all the children equally but meeting their individual needs at the same time.
D1
C1
Sharing information can be illegal in some cases. This is because anyone can get personal details about a child which can affect their personal issues or personal problems. The children act 2004 is a legislation where changes to children’s services occur, before giving out information parents/carers/legal guardians etc must sign a consent form allowing the practitioners to give out information.
The government officers strongly recommend carers/parents to complete the consent form this is because the children’s welfare could be at risk. Safe storage of information is strongly advised to practitioners this is because that there is no information being let out about the child. This can affect their children’s welfare. You must keep the information confidential because that can build up trust. You must keep the information in a safe place and out of reach and sight of children and others. Working with parents is important; this is because the parents/carers know their child/children more then the practitioners. Parents/carers are the people who know the child best and have vulnerable information that can help you to know the ‘whole’ child properly. It is also important working with children because you ca also gather information such as; names, contact numbers and addresses, likes and dislikes, dietary needs, extra help and support, medical information and family changes. The information provided from parents/carers must also be private and confidential.
‘The only time that observations and records should not be made available is when the child’s security and welfare may be endangered, for example where there is suspected child abuse, in which case the child protection procedure for the setting should be followed’. (Penny Tassoni: 2007 P99)