Common observations myths
There are so many varying ways that services and individual educators do things it often leaves many questions and myths for educators, especially new to the industry educators.
Observations make up a large component of the paperwork requirement for educators.
Observations are the most effective way to measure and assess a child’s growth and development.
Paperwork surrounding caring and educating a child in a service can drive some educators crazy. Some educators are left with a host of questions on what to do, where to place, how much to do and so on.
Here we clarify some of the most common questions asked.
How many observations should one child have? Is there a requirement?
There is no specific requirement that dictates the number of observations that MUST be done for a child.
It is more about ensuring that you have regular observations on all the children in your care and realistically this often means that it equates to one a month per child. This is sufficient if they are valid observations.
That said, it is important to note that while you are observing that child once per month you will also have the follow up.
Within your weekly program you should be following up any emerging interests that occurs within the room and for individual children which should also be noted and done on an ongoing daily basis so having observations once per month is fine.
Who is responsible for observations?
In a good service it is an equal task.
It is not just left up to the room leader/coordinator to complete. In a well run service individual observations can be grouped per educator within the room so everyone can have a group of children they can observe each day and this is rotated so that every educator observes every child at some point and it provides a balanced overall snapshot of the child’s development.
Having said that, there will be times depending on the days children attend, how often the staff attend (ie: a staff may only work 3 days per week and only see the same set children) that dictate how the observational rotation works.
A good system is to look at the number of children that attend your room then work out how many children need to be observed each day in order to complete a monthly observation per child and select educators to observe specific children per day.
This can be tracked using a calendar or spreadsheet, add the child’s name on the day along with the educator of who will be observing which child so that it is clear to all in the room and is a easy reference point and allows for the monitoring of each educator observing each child.
It is important to note that whilst all should be contributing to the observations the role of the lead educator/coordinator is to ensure the observations are applicable and relevant and to mentor educators should they need it.
They should always read/monitor the observations done within the room by other educators.
Where are observations stored? Should they be visible?
While we may want to shout it from the rooftops that we have completed all the mountain of paperwork and are up to date observations should be kept confidential and as such are NOT be displayed for all parents to view but rather only by the child’s family.
The most common place they are kept is in each individual child’s portfolio, however, this is not prescriptive.
Can observations be added to a child’s individual portfolio?
Absolutely, they ideally should be added into their portfolio.
This is the perfect opportunity for a parent to access and see how their child is going, their day at the service and their learning in action as well as what follow up approach is going to take place to further extend on their child’s skills and abilities.
It provides a reference point for inclusion for the parents and allows them the opportunity to be a part of the ongoing assessment that is occurring at the service.
A copy also needs to kept of each child’s observation in their file for the service to keep as portfolios are for parents records.
