‘By patient listening to the talk of even little children and watching what they do…we can wish their wishes, see their pictures and think their thoughts’ (Isaacs, 1971).

Susan Isaacs believed that detailed knowledge about a child came from observation. She produced record cards for teachers to use in their classrooms, designed to build up a picture of the whole child; encouraging teachers to enter the magical world of childhood, without interfering in it.

Observation is about watching and listening to children’s expressions, actions and behaviours. It requires a sensitive and respectful approach to each child’s activity.  More importantly, it requires an attitude of openness, with little expectation of what you might observe about the child. In short, this means disposing of those lists of outcomes, learning intentions or targets that only offer a flavour of what each child is capable of. Children do, say, and know so much more and we owe it to them to capture this learning and development in a meaningful way so that we can best plan for their future learning experiences. You may often be surprised at a child’s capabilities if you remain open, and not focused on looking for evidence to tick off a particular learning outcome.

The aim of observation is to know each child sufficiently well so that you can provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum, rich in resources and interactions with their peers and with interested adults.

We need to know:

·         What interests them and which activities they favour over others

·         How they respond to an activity of their own choosing, or one that has been adult-led

·         How they interact and build relationships with other children and with adults

·         Their approach to investigating new learning

·         How their views of the world are expanding

·         How their physical skills are developing

·         How their knowledge is building

Justine Howard, in the 4^th edition of Mary Sheridan’s seminal work, explains clearly her reasons for creating high quality observations.  This new edition builds on Sheridan’s work, focusing on the value of detailed observation for understanding key elements of children’s development:

‘Sheridan’s observations of children’s spontaneous play were invaluable in providing practitioners with an insight into the development of ‘real children in real situations’, allowing the reader to enrich their theoretical knowledge and validate their own experiences.’ 

Having a sound understanding of child development is the backbone of any early years teacher’s work. Without such knowledge, we cannot effectively provide the resources, experiences and interactions which each unique child needs to continue his or her learning. Howard’s book is essential reading.

Similarly, Pikler’s observational approach, as described by Manning-Morton and Marlen (2020), emphasises the importance of quality observations of children. Dr Emmi Pikler (1902-1984), a Viennese-born paediatrician, worked after WW11 at the Loczy Institute in Budapest. The authors explain Pikler’s primary motivation was to use observation as a tool to better understand each detail of the infant’s growth, action and expression.  Her ethos was always to look for the child’s ‘competence’ which contrasts with our current model of observation and assessment: largely deficit models arising from a ticklist approach, comparing children’s attainment to pre-determined learning outcomes.

‘Observation of the nature of a child’s movement is seen to give insight into their personal and emotional state and how they relate to others. The purpose of observation is also to build the relationship through developing and retaining the practitioner’s interest in the child and to reflect on and refine their approach’. (Manning-Morton & Marlen, 2020)

At Loczy, observation is seen as worthless if it is not discussed. At regular meetings with a senior pedagogue, staff discuss their observations of children’s skills, behaviours and actions. Staff are trained to develop focused observation skills and to reflect upon each child’s unique learning journey.  

‘Documentation is not about finding answers, but generating questions.’

(Filippini in Turner & Wilson, 2010)

Documenting children’s learning is a process: collecting, interpreting and reflecting upon a child’s learning and development. In addition to informing parents and carers about their child’s learning journey, documentation can help to plan appropriate next steps and learning opportunities for each child. It can also serve as an effective assessment tool without the need for ticklists of expected learning outcomes which often reduce the curriculum and diminish teachers’ freedom to provide an exciting, stimulating age-appropriate learning environment.

Documentation developed in the 1970s and 80s in Reggio Emilia. Turner and Wilson (2010) identify one of the important aspects of documenting children’s learning:

‘Pedagogical documentation invites us to be curious and to wonder with others about the meaning of events to children. We become co-learners together; focusing on children’s expanding understanding of the world as we interpret that understanding with others.’

Pedagogical documentation inserts a new phase of thinking and wondering together between the act of observation and the act of planning a response.

‘Rather than looking for what is known through assessment, pedagogical documentation invites the creativity, surprise and delight of educators who discover the worlds of children.’

Sharing our observations of children’s learning with our colleagues helps us all to listen to other viewpoints: other teachers may have an alternative view or aspect of a child’s learning that we may not have considered. By reflecting on our different experiences with a child, and our varying knowledge about the child’s dispositions, interests and skills, we strengthen our professional partnerships and open ourselves up to new understandings. *

Observation is not simply a retelling of what a child did or said, although this is the start of the process. High quality documentation offers a deeper understanding and insight into what and how the child is thinking, feeling, interested in, and how their world view is expanding.

Once we have this information, and we have shared our knowledge about the child with others, we are in a much better position to respond to that information and to provide exactly what the child needs to sustain his/her enjoyment in learning and to make progress.

Turner and Wilson explain:

‘It is when we have made children’s thoughts, feelings, and values visible that we can study the meaning of events to children, offering our thoughts collaboratively so that our own understanding widens, deepens, and takes in multiple perspectives. This process of group study of educators’ attempts to make children’s thinking and feeling visible is what makes documentation pedagogical. Documentation becomes pedagogical because the group study of documentation teaches educators ways that children learn, and ways that adults read children’s learning’.

Te Whariki

The national curriculum of New Zealand, published in 1996, was a result of the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum Development project, co-directed by Margaret Carr. Her seminal work on Learning Stories has been the fundamental text for exploring how to create effective pedagogical documentation: how learning stories are created, what they are used for, and how they impact teaching and learning.

‘The crucial stages of noticing, recognising, and responding reflect the three components of a learning story as narrative observation, analysis of learning, and planning for future learning. As a teacher or practitioner, you notice many things when working with a child, you recognize and identify some of what you have observed as learning and develop your response to that learning. This means not just describing children’s confidence or participation, but what they have learned in terms of what has changed in their dispositions, behaviours, skills, knowledge, or language. Valuing children’s resourcefulness, creativity, problem-solving and curiosity’. (The Education Hub)

Learning stories are not just one lengthy observation, but are multiple narratives created from observations, which create a cumulative picture about a child’s learning. They are observations that are reinterpreted as stories, then analysed and used for planning the most appropriate learning opportunities for each child.

The Education Hub describes the process:

‘Developing stories over time and space (in other words, linking separate stories…) enables assessment documentation to show the development of dispositions in different situations, and enables better understanding of the learner in action….Assessment in early childhood needs to reflect the complexity of children’s learning and development, and this doesn’t come via a predetermined list of outcomes children are expected to achieve. Less standardized forms of assessment are often the most appropriate for assessing complex learning in context’.

In addition to describing a child’s activity, learning stories also provide information about the environment and interpersonal interactions that the child encounters. As The Education Hub states, ‘Stories might say as much about teaching as they do about learning, and therefore they can provide a source of evaluation of teaching’, especially when used in the process of collective reflection with staff colleagues’.

How to move away from ticking statements of expected learning and development

Over the last few years, the pressure on staff to write numerous observations of each child, regularly and frequently, accompanied by ticking learning outcomes (for example, Development Matters statements) that were never designed for such a purpose, has really brought some early years staff to their knees.  

Now is the time to address the ticklist problem; we have a new inspection framework (September 2019), new educational programmes for 2020/2021 and new early learning goals (ELGs) for the end of Reception summative assessment. We can now simplify the observations process, whilst still curating useful information about each child’s learning needs and sharing those with parents and carers. A simple system is required that is effective in taking the children’s learning forwards, without being an onerous task. So, let’s once and for all make those ticklists a thing of the past! 

Nancy Stewart’s article has been cited time and again by many professionals in the sector attempting to drive the move against the relentless, misunderstood expectations that ticking Development Matters statements is the only way to know where the children are in their learning and development. Or what their next steps should be. In most cases these next steps have simply been identified as the next statement on the list, rather than one identified from an in-depth understanding of each child’s level of development and their current interests.

Now we have a new Development Matters document (non-statutory guidance for September 2021), we can still eschew any version of it becoming yet another ticklist to demonstrate progress. Easier said than done, as we can all predict that someone, somewhere, will think that that is a requirement and start the process all over the again. We do have the choice whether or not to follow it, but the pressure can be immense, particularly if senior leadership teams demand numerical data as proof of progress.

If we really think about what we need from an observation, we can avoid the ticklist approach to assessment. What teachers and practitioners need is a simple narrative describing what the children can do now. And the best way to create meaningful observations is twofold:

·         to learn what you’re looking for when you’re observing the children

·         to make observations something you do as a natural part of your work, not as an add-on  

Observations of children’s development and preferences should not take up so much staff time that the fundamental purpose of children attending your setting is compromised. Children need attentive, engaged teachers and practitioners who know each child very well and understand how to support their future learning - by spending the vast majority of their time talking and playing with the children. 

 Dr. Julian Grenier, lead author on Development Matters (2020) has explained how early years staff can use the new guidance, without falling back into the ticklist assessment process. Watch his video presentation here.

Remember the guidance available to you, among others, is the revised EYFS which becomes statutory in September (2021), the new Development Matters, and Birth to 5 Matters. 

In the next articles in this series, we’ll be examining what to look for when you are observing children, and how to create meaningful, effective observations. Without a ticklist in sight. You can read Part 2 here. And Part 3 here. 

* Using an online learning journal to record observations of children’s learning can create a simple and effective platform for reflecting on each child’s learning and sharing our own perspectives. Staff can offer their own perspectives on the children’s learning and the whole process becomes a unifying, group activity. Tapestry’s Reflections feature offers an effective tool to share the learning and development of their children with colleagues, to reflect on them, and to plan for their future experiences.