Observing and documenting children’s learning is a vital skill in early childhood education and care, as it informs future learning, captures the child’s progress, helps to develop teaching strategies and assesses where the child is at. Here are some steps and tips to start developing your observational skills and writing.
1. Understand the Purpose
Know why you’re observing. Are you tracking a child’s development, assessing skills, or gathering evidence of learning? Your purpose will guide what you look for and how you record it. We typically observe children’s interests, current skills, culture, abilities, and dispositions. We also are focusing on children’s interactions with others and development across all domains. The EYLF provides a lot of guidance on what to observe and why!
2. Choose the Right Method
There are various observation methods like anecdotal records, running records, checklists, and learning stories. Depending on your purpose, select the method that best captures the information you need.
3. Observe Without Interference
To get an accurate sense of the child’s learning, observe without directing or interfering. Try to be a fly on the wall; your presence should change children’s play, behaviour or learning process.
4. Take Detailed Notes
Note down what you see and hear without interpretation or judgment. Use objective language to describe actions, conversations, and interactions. This includes the child’s exact words, physical movements, and expressions.
5. Reflect and Analyse
After observing, reflect on what you’ve noted. What does it tell you about the child’s learning, interests, skills, or needs? How does it inform your teaching or support strategies? At Storykate, I create a lot of videos, guides and articles on unpacking the theories, pedagogical approaches, and principles from the EYLF to help you with your analysis and reflections.
6. Use Descriptive Language
When writing your observations, be descriptive. Use vivid language to paint a picture of the scenario for someone who wasn’t there. Describe the setting, the activities, the child’s engagement, and any interactions with others. Check this free guide full of descriptive expressions to get you started.
7. Include Examples and Evidence
Support your observations with specific examples and evidence. If you mention that a child has improved in a certain area, detail an instance where this improvement was evident. As you noticed, I always include the child’s exact words or dialogues whenever possible.
8. Be Objective and Respectful
Ensure your observations are objective, focusing on facts and events rather than assumptions or interpretations. Always maintain respect for the child’s privacy and dignity in your notes and written observations.
9. Review and Revise
Re-read your observations to check for clarity and objectivity. Make sure that your observations are complete. I always try to read aloud my observations. Ensure your writing communicates your observations effectively to others, including parents and colleagues.
10. Seek Feedback
Share your observations with the vocational trainer or educational leader for feedback. You can also share your observations with other students or colleagues. They might offer insights into your observational skills or writing style that you hadn’t considered.
Practice Exercise
To start, you might want to practice observing and writing about a simple scenario. Set aside time to observe a child or group of children during a play or learning activity. Take detailed notes, then try writing up your observation. Focus on accurately describing (capturing) what you observed, staying objective and respectful, adding exact words of children and including children’s dialogue. Don’t forget to add a context (where have you done the observation), time and date.
