E3 Explain TWO (2) theoretical perspectives relevant to the areas of development.
Piaget is a theorist that I am kinking to cognitive development, he believed that to understand how children learn and come to conclusions, they must have an enriching environment. This centres around giving children opportunities to explore their environments as it gives them their own ideas or ‘schemas’ which are gained through practical experiences and support.
Piaget named the conclusion of something the child has learned a schema. Part of his theory on cognitive development includes a process of schema development. The schema process includes assimilation, equilibrium, disequilibrium, and accommodation.
Piaget’s theory also includes various stages of cognitive development; these stages were to help show what a child’s ability should be at a certain age. These stages are known as the sensori motor, pre-operational, concrete operations and formal operations.
Bowlby was a strong believer in the importance of attachments for social emotional development, his stated that children have an instinctive need to have an emotional attachment to their primary carer. He believed that other attachments were possible but not as important as the main bond with the primary carer which is often the mother in Bowlby’s theory.
Bowlby’s theory also stated the effects on social and emotional when a child has a negative or deprived attachment to the primary carer and how it affects them later on in life. It was said that the children were more likely to become delinquents with limited intelligence and how they may suffer from depression and other mental illnesses.
It is also stated in Bowlby’s theory that if a child is unable to form a bond by 12 months they will struggle to develop positive relationships in the future. It was also believed that children are instinctively afraid of strangers, Bowlby thought that it was an instinct to prevent themselves from coming to harm.
E5 Identify and use THREE (3) different observation techniques.
A free descriptive/narrative is where you write a small piece about what you witness using the child’s actual language likes 'it mine'. This is a versatile method and is often used as a
“starting point for future observation” Tassoni et al 2007
This method is sometimes referred to as ‘running commentary’ as the observer is giving a commentary. Most observers stop after a few minutes as can’t write everything that a child is doing or saying fast enough. It is good to note the times when you have stopped writing and then continued, this is for people who may read this so they don’t assume it is continuous.
Time samples are where you use free descriptive writing to outline where the child goes to play over a short period of time. Usually you would take an hour out of the day and write down what the child does at what time and for how long, an example/my observation is in e4.
Tick chart is where you plan an observation make the relevant chart to see if a group children can use their fine motor or gross motor skills, if they can do the task tick it against their name if they can't don't put a cross against their name to show they need help.
E6 Explain how to maintain confidentiality throughout the observation.
Keeping confidentiality in an observation is important to keep the child safe.
“All children and families have a right to confidentiality” Tassoni et al 2007 page 99
Observations are very useful tools for early practitioners to carry out and parents are happy with it, however, there are potential information that may be sensitive which means you have to understand that it is confidential information.
Observations should be stored in a secure place, therefore, as a learner you should not discuss any information that was in the observation with people outside the setting. Asking a supervisor about the information is a smart thing to do as the boundaries of confidentiality is often difficult to establish.
As well as confidentiality, the Data Protection Act (1998) also looks at the protection of any and all data that may be considered private information.
“The Data Protection Act 1998 was passed to protect individuals’ rights and to prevent breaches of information” Tassoni et al 2007 page 99
D1 Discuss the child's needs in relation to the selected area of development.
Child S was reaching the milestones of physical development on my observation, to support her in the fine motor skills in which she lacks in areas, she needs opportunities to be able to practice writing letters and form her name on her own and practicing with scissors. Child S needs more opportunities to practice her fine motor skills by colouring and to do jigsaws and. She needs to be given opportunities to practice her physical skills which involve skipping a rope, avoiding obstacles and also playing catch with a partner with a large ball. Also it is important for more practice on her cognitive development for hand eye co-ordination.
D2 Explain how the observations can be used to support planning to meet the child’s needs.
The observations that I have carried out can be really helpful in planning activities that will ensure that Child S will improve on anything she lacks on and further her development, For example the next step for Child S is to practice joining her handwriting since she can write her own name to a great standard.
A milestone that she can improve on is colouring pictures more accurately and neater to improve her fine motor skills. The next step for her would be to cut out shapes accurately as she lacks in the skill with scissors and I believe it is a necessary skill.
Child S can run quickly and she is able to avoid obstacles, the next step in developing further would be to run with avoiding obstacles, I could run an activity for PE to run around cones to help with this. Child S can also throw a large ball to another person allowing the other child to catch it; the next step would be to use a smaller ball. The next milestones she should be developing is balancing on a beam or walking along a line to practice her coordination.
C Analyse the issues which are essential to confidentiality and objective observation
Maintaining confidentiality is extremely important when observing children, one of the most important aspects is that you need to keep the child’s name out of it and refer to it by something like child x. It is important that when using any observation method that you never write the child’s and any members of staff’s name. You can replace members of staff’s names by referring to them as ‘the teacher’ or ‘the teaching assistant.’ Another crucial point is that you must never mention the settings name in the observations as it is extremely confidential, instead of using the school/nursery’s name you simply put where the child was, for example ‘child A was in the sand pit outside’.
Another essential issue to confidentiality and observations is to ensure that information is filed away correctly and securely due to prevent the information being read by someone it does not concern. An example of improper procedures for filing is simply leaving it on the coffee table in the living room of the teachers home for family and guests to stumble on. It is important to keep observations stored in a file that is kept in a cupboard with a lock at the work place in in the observer’s bag in a file.
Another issue that is important to confidentiality and child observations is discussion; it is crucial that any confidential issues that are on the observation should not be discussed outside of the setting .The observations should only be discussed with members of staff affected by them and tutors if the observations are done for assignments.
It is also essential to be objective when observing children. Being objective means to be realistic and to only write what is seen and heard. It is important that observations are not opinionated and that nothing is generalised. When carrying out an observation, the observer must not in any way judge the child on any outside matters such as family background, ethnicity etc. This may lead to labelling an observation is carried out, the observer must not judge the child or the child’s family and never jump to conclusions as this can lead to labelling the child.
“Objectivity is about being open minded and suspending judgments.”
Tassoni et al, 2007, page 100
If you label a child ‘naughty’ or a trouble maker the child to self-prophesise and change their behaviour to suit it, as the old saying goes ‘monkey see, monkey do’. This is applies to subjects such as maths as labelling affects children here to. If an observer is not objective when making observations, it may cause a lack of validity which may influence people’s behaviour towards the child who has read the observations.
B Reflect on the implications for practice of the assessment of children through observation.
When assessing children through observations you will find the areas of that children need to improve on considering the ‘norms’ of their age. A suitable observation for this would be a checklist observation.
“This method can be used when you need to look at a child’s or young person’s skills or knowledge.”
Tassoni et al, 2007, page 93
A checklist observation affects what we do when working with children as it shows is the areas of development children need more help with. If a child is ahead of the milestones if his/her age, it gives the observer the opportunity to give the child more challenging activities to support the child with higher level work; if a 4 year old child can count by rote to 10 then try to encourage them to count up to 20 by rote.
Some observations are performed because you are concerned about a child’s behaviour and are generally done with an event sample observation.
“The observer records specific pre-selected behaviour is recorded. Event sampling is used to study the conditions under which particular behaviour ocuurs.” Ionna Palaiogou 2008 page 70
An event sample gives us the opportunity to monitor a child’s behaviour and allows us to step in with strategies to improve the child’s behaviour, it can also be shown to parents to discuss ways to improve the behaviour. By using the event sample method you achieve an understanding of the child’s behaviour and the triggers to it. An event sample allows you to monitor the result of the strategies used to prevent the behaviour that is not wanted which affects how you work with the child as you continue the designed strategies.
An important aspect of working with children is running activities to enrich the child’s environment. A participant observer interacts with the child so he/she learns what the child is interested in and being able to plan activities around those interests. For example, if a child enjoyed Autumn you could do a whole class collage of a tree and each child paints a leaf red, orange or yellow with a possible twist of adding in a few pieces of coloured card, feathers etc to stick on the leaf.
“The extent to which you engage with a child or young person during an observation or assessment can make a considerable difference to the outcome.”
Tassoni et al, 2007, page 101
A Evaluate the influence of theoretical perspectives on aspects of practice which affect the development of children.
One influential theory that is used in childcare practices today would be one of Jean Piaget’s.
“One of the most influential theories of how children’s thinking develops was put forward by Jean Piaget.”
Tassoni et al, 2007, page 66
Piaget strongly believed that children developed best when they had enriching environments, child care practices are hugely influenced by his theory. They allow children to be indoors and outside and give the children different opportunities which will improve their development. Children are given challenges in schools which give them the opportunity to think about the task at hand and stimulate their cognitive development.
By using Piaget’s theory in practice childcare practices give children a wide range of opportunities to gain different experiences e.g., a primary school can take children outside in the autumn to look at the leaves to show children the change from summer to winter and have then guess what comes next. If the children see snow and are told it is winter they can form the idea or schema that winter is cold therefore it is winter in the December-February months.
Like Piaget, Vygotsky had a constructivist approach. He agreed with Piaget that good environments were important but that social experiences were equally important. A term Vygotsky used was ‘scaffolding’ meaning children need to be guided or supported by adults in order to learn ideas and concepts. Instead of improving the learning environment Vygotsky stated that a social environment would be more beneficial for the child he/she needs their mother to show them how to do the activity. Children also need to be praised for their actions as it encourages them to complete the activity to a high standard.
Vygotsky’s theory on having a social environment being just as important is demonstrated in practices all over the world. In primary schools the children are able to sit next to each other talk allowing the teachers to leave a group of children to work together as they are able to solve the problem through communication. Also, in nurseries groups of children are given key workers who would demonstrate activities e.g. putting on and zipping up his coat.
Childcare practices give children the social environment that Bandura suggested. Members of staff act in a suitable behaviour to show children how to act correctly and give them plenty of opportunities to complete Bandura’s cognitive elements. At a nursery, key workers grab the child’s attention with an activity e.g. clay modelling. They then show the child how to do it, and then let them try it themselves while giving them praise.
Primary schools can also use these elements of Bandura’s by demonstrating to the children while they are sitting on the carpet, repeating so that they memorise it and the give the children to practice to the skill themselves. The members of staff then give the children praise for their hard work and effort.
E8: bibliography.
