Guidelines for Observing Young Children in School

1 child Development Instituteoccasional paper seriesGuidelines for Observing Young Children in SchoolMargery B. FranklinGuidelines for ObservingYoung Children in SchoolbyMargery B. FranklinChild Development InstituteSarah Lawrence College 1994, revised 2004 Table of ContentsNote to the Reader .. Out .. Settings and the Observer .. 2 Observing in the thick of it .. 2 Observing from the sidelines .. 2 General points .. to Observe .. Records .. 3 Field notes .. 3 Running records .. 4 Maps, drawings and photographs .. 4 Equipment .. and interpretation ..4 VII. Sample Records .. 6 Readings .. 12 Note to the readerThis brief guide is intended for students and teachers who are interested in learningthe basics of Observing Children in their everyday surroundings. My review of worksin the field led me to the conclusion that most books on the subject set out a list ofrequirements for objective observation that are daunting to all but the mostdevoted researcher and, in fact, can become a screen rather than a window betweenobserver and observed.

2 For this reason, I have attempted to provide a series ofguidelines that should make the process of observation engaging rather thantedious, while yielding textured, nuanced material for interpretation. Three helpfulworks on Observing Young Children are cited on the last are many reasons for Observing Children inpreschool classrooms and day care settings. Ob-serving Children in one of their natural habitatsis an excellent way to gain understanding of howyoung Children experience their worlds and func-tion in complex environments. At the same time,observations provide grounding for interpretingtheory. For example, if you are reading aboutstages of development in Erikson or Piaget, youcan think about your observations in terms ofthese psychologists descriptions. Observationsmay provide illustrative material for a paper, orbecome the basis for developing a research pro-ject. Many classic studies in child developmentare based entirely on observational as well as psychologists depend onfinegrained observation to develop their under-standing of individual Children as well as thefunctioning of a outInstruction in observation previously empha-sized the importance of being objective, of notletting your own views or biases determine whatyou see.

3 It is now widely recognized that obser-vation is always selective. What we attend to andhow we see it are shaped by our interests, pur-poses, and past experience. While we necessarily see the world throughour own lenses or interpretative schemes, syste-matic observation requires being objective in aparticular sense becoming aware of our ownperspectives, considering how our perspectivesenter into our perceptions, trying to imagine theviews of the other, and comparing our observa-tions with those of other observers. Whenmaking observation notes, it is important toconcentrate on meaningful description. Evalua-tive comments come is a primary way of learningabout the world and our place in it. Scientistsand artists spend a great deal of time observingtheir environments and the creatures that inha-bit these environments. So do the rest of us,although we may not be conscious of doing we are all natural observers, it takestime and patience to develop a systematicapproach to you begin Observing Children in class-room settings, do some casual observations ofkids in a local playground or another informal1setting such as the supermarket.

4 Ask yourselfwhat you learned from these observations. Youmight also try Observing adults in several differ-ent situations, and ask the same question. Bringalong a friend to observe a situation with you andthen compare your impressions of what was you are new to the classroom in which youwill be Observing , introduce yourself to theteacher and teacher assistants. Ask them to helpyou learn the Children s names. Find out the gen-eral schedule of the day and acquaint yourselfwith the different areas of the classroom. Later,make a map of the classroom from memory, andthen check it. Write down your recall of a fewincidents, your impressions and reactions. Youmay want to begin a journal as a supplement to,or including, your observational first observations in the classroomshould be of anything that interests you. Keep inmind that the ordinary is as significant as theunusual. Try to think about how the world looksthrough the child s eyes how does she see andunderstand the physical space of the room, otherchildren, the grown ups?

5 Observational settings and the observerObservational settingsrange from naturally occur-ring situations to highly controlled laboratorysituations. The first are sometimes referred to as natural field situations and include bothindoor and outdoor settings. In a day care setting, preschool or otherschool classroom, you are Observing Children inone of their natural environments. These arephysical environments made up of differentkinds of equipment and spaces: classrooms filledwith furniture and other equipment, hallways,and outdoor areas through which the childrenmove. They are also social environments inha-bited by Children , head teachers, assistantteacers, and sometimes other adults as well ( , visitors). Whenever you observe a child , you are neces-sarily Observing the child in an environment, not asan isolate. It is important to keep this in mindand to make your observations in a way thatincludes the child s relation to, and interactionswith, both physical and human you are a student assistant, assistantteacher, or teacher, it is most appropriate tothink of yourself as a participant observer.

6 You areinteracting with the Children and observingthem at the same time. On some occasions (andhaving previously consulted with the headteacher), you may stand back from the class toobserve and take notes. We refer to these twomodes of observation in natural settings asobserving in the thick of itand Observing from thesidelines. You may shift between these two modesin a relatively short period of time. The twomodes of observation yield different kinds ofrecords (described under Observational records). Observing in the thick of itWhen you know what you are interested in (forexample, social interaction in the housekeepingcorner), it is possible to do focused observationeven while you are interacting with the is required to keep your mindgoing on two tracks simultaneously but, withpractice, you can do a small pad or notebook in a pocket,and jot down a few words or phrases as things arehappening, or very shortly thereafter. Thesenotes will help you reconstruct the episodes.

7 Observing from the sidelinesYou should try to make arrangements to do someobserving from the sidelines. To do this, firstconsult with the head teacher about good timesfor observation and where you can stand or sitwithout being in the way. Observing from thesidelines means just that standing back fromthe flow of events and taking detailed notes onwhat is happening. For teachers or assistantteachers, it is helpful to arrange times when you are not urgently needed in your teaching pointsDepending on the purpose of your observation,you will note the child s real name or use apseudonym, initials, or a code number. In mostcases, you will do the latter in order to both kinds of observation, if a child asksyou what you are doing, you can say I m doingmy work or I m taking a few notes so I llremember what happened or something elsethat feels natural and is true but doesn t makethe kids feel self-conscious or your first time in an observationalsetting, make a mental list of the Children in theclass.

8 Is it complete? Draw a map of the class-room, with approximate locations of majorfurniture, etc. Is it more or less accurate?What to observeWhat you observe will depend on your your first weeks in a classroom, there willbe a focus, or several foci, for your you aiming to learn about Young Children ingeneral and their patterns of development? Areyou gathering data for a paper or research projecton Children s pretend play? Are you studyinghow Young Children communicate with eachother? Are you interested in how Children makefriends? Do you want to learn about a specificchild s patterns of behavior in the classroom?In any case, observe specific incidents orevents, and describe each as fully as that actions are meaningful. Notewhatthe child is doing, but also consider howsheis doing it. For example, a child is riding a bicy-cle from one place to another. What is the childdoing while she or he rides? Does she attend toher social and/or physical surroundings? What isthe quality of the movement, the general atti-tude or stance, Consider another example:Two Children are building together.

9 Do theyseem to be working collaboratively, or is eachworking alone although in physical proximity tothe other? Do the Children seem planful in theirwork on the building, or do they have a morecarefree approach? What is each actually doingthat makes you think she is planful or carefree ? Concentrate on the moment. General state-ments, about the child or the meaning of theactivities, are not part of the observational recordper se. They belong in your commentary and/orconclusions about the to note: Setting (area of classroom) Date, starting time Participants (pseudonym, age, gender) Actions of each child in relation tocontext (and, if more than one child , inrelation to others) Verbalizations Length of observation (or indicateending time)Observational recordsThere are many kinds of observational records,ranging from field notes (sometimes termed anecdotal recordings ) to check lists and ratingscales. In addition, observations from thesidelines can be done as event samples or timesamples.

10 In event sampling, you observe episodesof a particular kind of behavior; in time sam-pling, you observe whatever happens within, forexample, the first 5 minutes of every 20 types of observational records will be con-sidered here: field notesand running notesField notes are accounts reconstructed fromobservations taken when the observer can jotdown only a few phrases describing the event andperhaps fragments of the Children s speech in thesituation. It is very difficult to remember detailsof an event, particularly dialogue, after morethan a little time has passed. As soon as possible not more than few hours later use your notesto write an account of what you observed, orspeak it into an audio recorder. If you don t recallparts of the event, or couldn t hear part of whatwas said, indicate the gaps rather than trying tofill in. 3 Running recordsA good running record is a detailed observationdone at the moment the observed event is occur-ring. Generally, the observer has to stand backfrom the situation, but not necessarily for morethan a few minutes.