DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING
STUDENT NO: S147585
ASSIGNMENT ONE
DEBORAH O DELL & JANE WEBB-WILLIAMS
WORD COUNT: 1308

This essay will be based on the importance of observation as a tool for understanding child development. The main argument of this essay is that observation is very important, simply because the strengths outweigh the limitations. It will focus on different types of observational methodologies and their strengths and weaknesses. It will also consider the importance of observation within practice and research.
An observation involves watching someone and dealing with what they do rather than what they say they do (Gillham, 2008: 1). It allows the observer to directly see and hear what’s happening (Mac Naughton and Hughes, 2008: 157). In terms of children it allows us to tune into them (Fawcett, 1996: 3) and understand what they already know. There are many different observational techniques, these include: narrative observation, time sampling, event sampling, anecdotal and diary records, checklists and rating scales (Bentzen, 2000: 84). For the purpose of this essay, only a few of these techniques will be expanded on.
One observational technique which may be used to understand child development is a checklist. These are regularly used within schools to record children’s individual progress (Sharman et al, 2007: 5).They also aid practitioners in picking up on the presence or absence of specific behaviour (The Goodheart-Willcox Co 2009:59). Another type of technique which may be used is event sampling. This technique measures the child’s behaviour when facing different events. When carrying out event sampling Gillham (2008: 10) states that observation is key, if it is disrupted then events may be missed. A third type of technique is time sampling. This involves splitting up an observation and recording the different behaviours a child displays within each time segment (Keenan and Evans, 2009: 58).The last technique that will be discussed is anecdotal records. These are used mainly by teachers. Their produced by teachers for future use, to help them understand aspects of a child’s behaviour (Bentzen, 2000: 126).Now that a couple of techniques have been explored, the strengths of them will be considered.
The checklist technique has many strengths. It can be used in many different situations and it is easy to follow (Bentzen, 2000: 144). If an existing checklist is relevant to the observation then this can be used to save wasting time (Mac Naughton and Hughes, 2008: 159). Sharman et al (2007: 5) suggests that checklists are regularly used in schools to record children’s progress. This suggests that checklists are important within practice. Research has shown that event sampling is practical and is good for uncovering rare behaviours (Bentzen 2000: 118). As event sampling and time sampling are both ways in which behaviour is charted they often share their strengths. Mac Naughton and Hughes (2008: 158) state that one strength of time and event sampling is that they can both be easily adapted to a person’s needs. Keenan and Evans (2009: 63) believe that these two types of sampling allow a researcher to ensure that the child is showing natural behaviour. Anecdotal records also have strengths, these include the fact that they can be used in any setting and do not require training for their use. Another strength of anecdotal records is that they can be used over a long period of time, showing how children have made developmental progress (The Goodheart-Willcox Co 2009: 59). Keenan and Evans (2009: 63) believe that observational methods do have weaknesses as well as strengths. These are now going to be considered.
Saphier (1993 in Virginia Adult Learning Resource Centre, 2003: 2) states that checklists never include enough categories for every observed event a child faces, this is a limitation. Another limitation of checklists is that they rely on personal judgement (Mac Naughton and Hughes, 2008: 159), what one person see’s as a child’s normal behaviour another person may not. Event sampling and time sampling also have limitations. The main limitation of these two types of sampling is that they are time consuming and take a long time to analyse (Mac Naughton and Hughes, 2008: 158). Gillham (2008: 11) suggests that it is hard to define one simple event; this therefore would be another limitation of event sampling. Time sampling according to Bentzen (2000: 110-111), doesn’t treat children’s behaviour as it naturally occurs; this is another limitation. Anecdotal records also have limitations. One of these is that incidents observed are based on the observer’s interests, therefore they can be seen as inaccurate (The Goodheart-Willcox Co, 2008: 59).