Amreen Rafiq Written observation and evaluation

0902519

The observation technique that was chosen for the observation was the unstructured narrative or also known as written record (Hobart and Frankel, 2004, p.37). The reason for choosing the unstructured narrative observation style was to observe the specific children without having a predetermined aim (Sharman et al. 2000, p.35). The unstructured narrative is a way to observe Ed without having prior knowledge about his aim during the observation. Sharman et al. (p.35) further state that this type of observation is spontaneous and usually comes about as a result of something interesting or unexpected happening. In this case, Eds aim was to mix a potion with water and mud in order to discover the different texture of water at the nursery and the woods. Simpson and Tuson (2003, p.27) believe this allows the observer a great deal of freedom to decide what is going to be observed. During the observation it was visible that Ed playing with the water was relative to his cognitive development. Goswami (1998, p.1) defined cognitive development as 'the set of processes that enable us to gain information about our environments- processes such as learning, memory, reasoning and problem solving'. This was explored in greater detail by theorist such as Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner and Albert Bandura. Vygotsky focused on children's cognitive development in a social context, in which children explored and learned (Lindon, 2005, p.40). Vygotsky believed that children who work alongside a more skilled partner (teacher) can learn more as they guide them through the activity. Allowing the less skilled children to achieve success in tasks which could have been more difficult if done alone (Meggitt 2007, p.157). The observation demonstrates Ed to be an independent child who does not feel the need to be reliant on others unless he needs to. Tassoni (2001, p.111) believes that, self-reliance and independence are important skills for children to develop. This allows them to be more creative in their play as they are not afraid
1

Amreen Rafiq

0902519

of doing things wrong (2001). Broadhead (2009) further analyses the importance of letting children learn through play as it helps them acquire the language and action/interaction skills that is necessary in the coming years for them. The activity given by the Nursery to the children is an excellent progress for them to be able to solve their own problems (2009). Similarly to Vygotsky, Bruner suggested that children learn more through play. Bruner developed a process known as scaffolding, which Lindon (2005, p.41) defines as a supportive technique used to offer verbal or non-verbal guidance to children in the process of gaining a new skill or understanding. The teachers encourage Ed by asking him about the water and what he is going to do next. Bruner further believed in the importance of adult support in the development of childrens thinking and understanding (Robson, 2006, p.32). Ward (2009, p.157) believed it to be a supportive process of advising, encouraging and facilitating. This will lead them to their limit of zone proximal development. There are always activities happening in schools where scaffolding automatically becomes a part of it. The teachers get involved during the visit in the woods by helping Ed to talk about his actions and what it is he wants to achieve by adding the mud in the water. Bandura (1977 in, Shaffer, 2008, p.46) believes children to be active information processers. Therefore children are likely to think about the relationships between their behaviour and its consequences, and are more affected by what they believe will happen than by the events they actually experience (p.46). Bandura further stated that children's behaviour is based upon observation and imitation of what an adult does 1977 in, Shaffer, 2008). Bee and Boyd (2007, p.19) proposed that children not only learn from real live scenarios but also from television. Similarly, Ed could have been imitating an adult or someone he had seen on TV doing the same stuff to water. Children get influenced by both positive and negative factors. A research carried out by Bandura, had a woman hitting a bobo doll. The results indicated, children who saw the model being rewarded also repeated those
2

Amreen Rafiq

0902519

actions. The children who saw the no consequence film were also more likely to beat the doll. The children that were not repeating the actions were the children who saw the model being punished. The main outcome was that children when discussing it afterwards learned the same amount of information. There are many ethical considerations that have to be taken into account when observing children. The ethical issues that had to be tackled before the observation were; informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity (privacy), and the right to withdraw from the project. Informed consent has been defined by Diener and Crandall (1978 in Cohen et al, 2007 p.52) as the procedures in which individuals choose whether to participate in an investigation after being informed of facts that would be likely to influence their decisions. The difficulty in this situation would be that children might not understand the information given to them. Therefore consent would be taken from their parents and the nursery on a voluntary basis where they understand and agree to their childrens participation without any duress (BERA, 2004). It is further established by Bell (2005) that informed consent is linked to confidentiality and anonymity (p.48). Bell (2005) criticises that many promises have been broken due to misunderstandings between researchers and participants. In this observation there is not an issue of confidentiality or anonymity as the video is a public domain which has been recorded for hypothetical observations. It can be seen from the above analysis that ethical issues can occur at any point of time during the project. Hence it is essential to let participants know that they have the right to withdraw from the observation for any or no reason, and at any time (BERA, 2004). To conclude the hypothetical observation has its strength as the video can be replayed to write down anything that has been overlooked; this cannot be done during a real observation.

Amreen Rafiq

0902519

The weakness is that a lot has been edited out to narrow down the time which would not be the case during a live observation.