Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/using-observation-a-mini-experience-in-the-life-of-children-and-teachers/5015251/
Understanding how to develop meaningful curriculum that sparks the interests of children and promotes sustained attention to topics can be a challenge. The concept of planning curriculum with children, by observing their actions, and listening closely to their ideas is not as easy as it may at first appear. Learning to understand children's actions, to integrate knowledge of child development, and to make informed decisions for organizing materials or the environment requires time for analysis, discourse, and reflection.Inspired by the underlying principles of the Reggio Emilia approach (Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1998; Hendricks, 1997), a university faculty member, university students, and preschool teachers examined the roles of children and teachers as researchers using observation as a means to study children's actions. Practicum students, the university instructor, and teachers in the preschool learned to observe children in a different way. They observed and documented children's actions and words to better determine how to arrange the environment, select topics of study, and plan for subsequent experiences with the children.
Using observation to plan curriculum means understanding children's actions and words to glean insights into their interests, questions, ideas, or feelings. Subsequent experiences are planned from the study of teacher's documentation (written notes, photographs, video, ...