Play and pedagogical_documentation

PLAY & PEDAGOGICAL

DOCUMENTATION

Apr 13, 2023CHCPR14B CHCPR9C & CHCPR10C

CHCPR14B OBSERVE CHILDREN AND

INTERPRET OBSERVATIONS

CHCPR9C DOCUMENT, INTERPRET AND

USE INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN

CHCPR10C DESIGN, IMPLEMENT AND

EVALUATE PROGRAMS OF THE SERVICE

LOOKING, SEEING, WATCHING?




What does observing mean to you? What purpose does it serve? How well do you know the people or

situations you have observed?


LOOKING, SEEING, WATCHING? What are some of the difficulties that

arise when observing? How might you overcome these? What can you do to assist, extend or

resolve the situations you have observed?



Own observations of children are significant, valid and concise

Interpretations of behaviour, needs and interests areclearly linked to evidence in observations

The intensity/detail of the observation is appropriate to the purpose and the context

Interpretations of observations demonstrate inclusiveprinciples and understanding


Play & Pedagogical Documentation 13

CHILD INITIATED PROGRAMMING

One upon a time, in a land far, far away, there were people who lived in boxes. There were boxes of all different sizes and colours, and the people thought they were wonderful.

What made it hard, however, were the children. They didn’t like the boxes. They didn’t want to live in them, and they cried when they were made to stay there.

So they set about finding ways to climb out of their boxes…Elizabeth Dau; ‘Enhancing Children’s Development’

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Educators responsibility Reliance and Comfort Identity Question Explore Rethink

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CONFUCIUS

‘To Hear is to forgetTo see is to rememberTo do is to understand’

1960’s – Two important changesFocus from teacher to the childFocus from teaching to learning

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TRADITIONALLY… much emphasis has

been placed on the early childhood teacher knowing in advance what is to happen in the program

Result: What is going to happen is seen as ‘the Program’ rather than what actually does happen

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‘To hear is to forget,To see is to rememberTo involve me is to understand’

Marilyn Fleer

Involving the child in experiences… offers new insights

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A PROGRAM

A program in an early childhood setting is inanimate

not active, energetic, or lively

Until it is in the hands of the children and educators

Then it becomes complex and dynamic, almost with a life of it’s own

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A PROGRAM SHOULD REPRESENT THE LEARNING A Program is the process

of learning A series of actions,

experiences and spontaneous incidental moments

Learning in the broadest sense; happening through interpersonal relationships, experiences and routines

Learning that happens; as children, educators and families interact with the environment and each other

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WHAT DO WE REALLY WANT?

The starting point for educators must be:

What Do We Want For Children? To continue struggling to be free of the

boxes or to have guided and meaningful

opportunities to explore their world at their pace, linked to their interests along with supporting and progressing their current level of development

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‘Changing how we think about children and our work looks quite daunting, but it is really just a shift, in how we think rather than throwing away our ‘old’ knowledge and starting again.’

Dau. E; ‘Enhancing Children’s Development’ 2004

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THE CHALLENGE…


TRADITIONAL OBSERVATIONS…

We observe but do we understand?

Traditionally observations were seen as a means of getting to know children

Traditionally observations often focus on unimportant detail because it may fit into a developmental box

Observations tend to describe the child in isolation, as an individual, rather than as a person within a group 13/04/2023


OR…

Alternatively we can watch children with the intention of understanding what interests them and support them beyond the box

Moving away from traditional methods of observation enables us to see children working in a social setting and the complex interrelationships they have with other children and staff

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CHANGING OUR TERMINOLOGY AND PERCEPTIONS

Interactions …a way of looking at children

as if they are ‘scientific curiosities’ with whom we ‘interact’ as part of our ‘work’ with them

To Relationships

…asks us to see children as people, unique and valuable in their own right

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RELATIONSHIPS A relationship is a

living thing It changes over time It can be improved

or damaged, and requires ongoing care and attention

This describes important aspects of our work not reflected in the term ‘interaction’

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THE WHOLE CHILD

As suggested previouslyTraditional methods of observation and

recording, break the child up into a series of boxes

The names and numbers of these boxes varies

They range through physical, intellectual, emotional and social development

Add to the mix creativity, language or communication

Fragmenting children inhibits our ability to see children as a whole

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When we describe children in developmental boxes we compare them against ‘norms’ to decide on their ‘needs’

The focus becomes how we will teach what we have decided the children ‘need’ to learn

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THE DEFICIT MODEL… This creates a negative view

Children are described in terms of what they cannot do rather than…

What they can do

‘Norms’ are based on our knowledge of what most white, middle-class children do at a particular age

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Doesn’t consider gender

Doesn’t consider cultural differences even with in white middle-class

Doesn’t account for huge variations in the times children learn particular skills

Doesn’t account for children sitting above or below the ‘norm’ 13/04/2023

LIMITATIONS


HHHMMMM?

How do we resolve this conundrum?

How do we work with those who sit outside the norm?

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to view and act on our role differently

Shifting from deficits to abilities and interests

By changing our view to focus on children’s interests and abilitieswe see them in a more

positive wayWe see them as more

actively involved in what happens

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WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY



We are able to see children being involved in the construction of their own understandings of the world

We respect the knowledge that children enter our worlds with

If we do all this we are in a far better position to help their learning through the program

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Education

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