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Observation, assessment & planning
A short introduction to observation, assessment and planning.Good for looking at
- Observation
- Assessment
- Planning
- 00:01
- Observation, Assessment, and Planning.
- 00:06
- Alert observation, looking and listening,
- 00:10
- is a crucial part of being an adult
- 00:12
- who will be helpful to young children.
- 00:17
- Parents are most supportive of their children
- 00:20
- when they notice what is happening
- 00:21
- and adjust what they, the adult,
- 00:23
- do in response to what has interested their child.
- 00:35
- Early-years practitioners
- 00:36
- have a professional responsibility
- 00:38
- to fine-tune their skills of observation,
- 00:41
- realizing that a great deal
- 00:42
- of valuable observation is relatively informal.
- 00:46
- It is a case of keeping your eyes and ears open
- 00:49
- and maintaining an open mind when you make sense,
- 00:51
- interpret what you have noticed.
- 00:58
- Good early practice involves a continuing process
- 01:01
- of observation, simple assessment, making sense,
- 01:05
- and flexible planning.
- 01:07
- Mary Jane Drummond usefully described this process or cycle
- 01:12
- as being all about seeing children's learning,
- 01:15
- understanding their learning,
- 01:16
- and then putting our adult understanding to good use
- 01:20
- for the children themselves.
- 01:23
- Good quality observation hones in
- 01:26
- on what is actually happening,
- 01:29
- what has caught children's attention.
- 01:36
- Video footage give you the opportunity not available
- 01:40
- in daily life to look and listen again and again.
- 01:46
- You're splashing it.
- 01:47
- It is possible to polish up your skills
- 01:48
- of observation towards these small details
- 01:51
- that happen quickly and so may be missed
- 01:53
- unless you are on the lookout for them.
- 02:11
- What sense do you make of what is happening?
- 02:16
- What is it in more detail about this activity
- 02:19
- that makes it so welcome to this baby or child?
- 02:25
- What have you, the adult, learned from this observation
- 02:28
- about this individual child and in general?
- 02:40
- It might be something that appears simple
- 02:42
- like the importance of regular friendly eye contact
- 02:45
- with young children.
- 02:48
- Are you splashing Gwinn?
- 02:49
- In ordinary daily life,
- 02:51
- what strikes you about individual children
- 02:53
- and their current interests?
- 02:56
- What motivates them most strongly?
- 02:59
- On the basis of what you have observed,
- 03:02
- what do you think are these children's preferred ways
- 03:04
- of learning?
- 03:19
- What have you learned about this individual child
- 03:21
- and what works well for them
- 03:23
- along with what are sensible next steps for him or her?
- 03:27
- Effective and sensible planning day-by-day
- 03:29
- with young children is led
- 03:31
- by what you have noticed recently.
- 03:34
- It is never good practice for group settings like a nursery
- 03:37
- or for child-minders
- 03:39
- to have a rigid forward plan for activities.
- 03:42
- Of course you have plenty of good ideas up your sleeve,
- 03:46
- but what you notice today should influence
- 03:48
- how you fine-tune any flexible plan for tomorrow.
- 03:52
- And just as important,
- 03:54
- your observations will highlight those crucial aspects
- 03:57
- of good planning around young children,
- 03:59
- such as allowing generous time for experiences
- 04:02
- and respecting that young children need personal attention.
