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Observation Tips
May 28, 2009
All children need a laptop. Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, Dads, Grannies and Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles - someone to hold them, read to them, teach them. Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred previous generations. Loved ones who will pass to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes, and their dreams.
-Colin Powell, first black U.S. Secretary of State, 1937 - 2021
-Colin Powell, first black U.S. Secretary of State, 1937 - 2021
"You cannot see 'angry'; you can see frowning and hear screaming. You cannot see 'loves,' you can see smiling and hear giggling. When you record the specific body language and sounds the child expresses you maintain objectivity. This provides a more accurate view of what is happening with that child; it is a more accurate translation of the child’s intent for multiple caregivers. For example, stating that 'Reggie (15 months) picked up the sensory tube and angrily threw it at the caregiver' invites a whole set of misinterpretations depending on how the reader views what 'anger' looks like. Does it look like screaming and throwing with force and intent? Does it look like frowning and crying? The actual observation of this incident, written with objectivity, provided a completely different scenario. 'Reggie (15 months) picked up the sensory tube, made eye contact with the caregiver, and waved the tube back and forth. The caregiver held out her hand, palm up, toward Reggie. Reggie looked back down at the tube and released his hand. The tube flew past the caregiver and rolled across the floor. Reggie frowned and crawled away. He began banging on a piano with the palm of his hand.' This observation provides a non-judgmental documentation of a set of events free of subjective and often inaccurate conclusions."
"Observations," "Teamwork," and "Communication" are the latest sets of Exchange articles that you can purchase and download online, then read for Continuing Education Units from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Once you or your staff members have read the articles, you take an online test from the University and if you score 80% or above the University will mail you your CEU certificate.
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Comments (1)
Displaying 1 CommentVideatives, Inc.
Anherst, MA, United States
Dianne MacLean wisely advises us to be objective
when we are recording (aka, writing down)
children's actions. We need to create an accurate
record so that we can revisit it and reflect on
what actually happened. But more and more
teachers are using small video cameras to
help them capture the actual behavior, which
works even better than even the best note taker
in the county. The camera, relative to the
note-taker, is more objective. After that point,
however, I encourage teachers to do their best
at interpreting the behavior and this requires an
bit of speculation. Speculation based on what
is seen in video revisited, but speculation none
the less. Sometimes teachers are so adverse to
speculation that they do little more than report the
physical episode. But it is in speculation that we
make social meaning of the children's behavior
and figure out an entree into their way of
thinking. Our speculations can be "closely mapped"
to the behavior in the video, but the meaning
will never come from reporting only what
you see. We relate to children because we
have some guess about their intentions
and their assumptions of how the physical and
social world works. And if we make an entry
with a false speculation, the children often
help us revise our speculation in their
reactions. We venture forth and adjust in
the process of sensitive dialogues with
children.
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