Classroom Observation

For this project I chose to visit and observe in a private preschool program oriented towards the mentally-impaired child. This small school is very near a state university, although it is not directly associated with it. Most of the families who enroll their children in the school are graduate students or faculty at the nearby campus, and the director is a graduate student in the master's program in education.

There are eight 4-and 5-year old children in the group, and each of them has some special difficulty in the emotional or mental realm. The physical environment is a house that has been partially converted into a school. The director uses her kitchen and living room for various activities, and two other rooms are set aside for the children, as well as the fenced-in outdoor play yard. The atmosphere is homey and friendly, and the director is as relaxed as if she were inviting the families, the children, and me over for a friendly chat over coffee.

This program is a half-day arrangement, and day care is not provided. The educational and mental health curriculum is intended for enrichment and specific assistance to children and families that have identified some difficulty in their child's behavior or development. Most of the children come through referral from the local mental health center. The instructor carefully screens each family and makes certain requirements for parental involvement in the program. Each parent assists for a few hours each month, partly to keep the tuition costs reasonable, and more importantly to allow the parent to observe the child within the group and to be directly involved in the instruction of the children.

The director explains to me that she is working especially diligently with a particular child, Chris, a 5-year old who has been in this program for two years. She has been evaluated by many specialists, and it has been determined in a rather general way that she is learning disabled, although the exact components of her difficulties have not yet been determined. Conferences have been held with the parents and evaluations conducted by a psychologist, social worker, speech pathologist, physician, and audiologist. The child's behavior is unusual in that she treats other children as objects and tends to repeat behaviors in a rigid manner. Her speech is described as echolaic, that is she repeats the last few words of sentences several times out of context. Chris is gifted musically and can do unusual improvisations on the piano and repeat rather lengthy passages in an imitative way when the teacher works with her one-on-one.

The time period chosen is the morning gathering together time right after the children arrive at the school. The usual routine is that the parents drop off the children who come in and pick a quiet toy to play with in the living room until everyone is there. Then the director brings the children together in a group for conversation and a story. The director has mentioned to me that she is focusing on Chris at this time in an effort to get her to behave less destructively with the other children and toys upon first arriving. Her pattern in the past has been to go straight to the record player, which is her favorite object in the school, and forcefully move aside whoever might be using it before she has a turn. The director tells me that on this particular day it is her goal to assist Chris in asking a child for the next turn with the record player and to listen during the story, without interrupting with repeated verbal phrases.

On the morning of my observation, a mother is working at the school, and the director has told me ahead of time that she has given this parent supervisory responsibilities for the first few minutes of that day so that she can focus on Chris. I have met this parent who is well-situated and ready to greet the students as they arrive. For purposes of convenience in writing up the observation, only the director, the parent, and Chris are identified individually, and the other children who speak are simply designated as "child."

Director: Good morning, Cheryl. How are you today?

Cheryl: A little tired, but I am glad to be here. Chuck is so busy with his pastoral internship that it cuts into our

family time with Amy. When I'm here I can relax a little. Maybe in some ways, I'm just like one of the kids. (Laughs a little embarrassedly).

Director: I'm glad you are here, and I'm glad that you enjoy yourself. It's important to me that you feel comfortable here. I want you to meet someone new who's going to observe today. (Gestures towards me). I'd like you to meet Cheryl who is working here today.

Child: Mom, I want to show you this puzzle that I really like. Come here.

Cheryl: OK. Let's look at it.

Director: Good morning, Brian. What a good-looking baseball cap. Is that new?

Child: Yes, my dad got it for me at the game yesterday. Can I wear it inside here?

Director: Yes, it seems like a very special good luck cap. You can wear it inside all morning if you want to.

Cheryl: Hi Shannon. And Jenny. Did your mom bring you together?

Child: Yes. Where's Amy?

Cheryl: You're neighbors, aren't you? Amy's in the other room.

Child: I want to put my jacket under my cubby.

Child: Hi. Are we going to play outside today? I want to work on my plane with the tools.

Cheryl: Yes, probably after the snack time. So you're learning to work with the tools?

Child: Yes, I'm making a plane, and I want to take it home today.

Chris: I came in the green truck today, green truck today, green truck today.

Director: Hi, Chris. I'm glad to see you. Your mom brought you in the green truck?

Chris: Yes, I came in the green truck today, green truck today. (She takes off her jacket and knit cap and drops them on the kitchen floor, and heads for the record player. The director stays very close to her and speaks in a quiet but firm voice.

Director: Let's find your cubby with your name on it and put your jacket and cap there.

Chris: Right there. Chris. Chris.

Director: Yes. That's your place for your things. Stevie is using the record player now, and you will get the next turn. I'll hold your hand while we wait for your turn.

Chris: The record player is mine.

Director: I know the record player is your favorite thing. You really like it.

Chris: It's mine now.

Director: Stevie, Chris wants the next turn at the record player. Have you promised anyone else the next turn?

Child: (Singing, with headphones on). You are my friend, you are special to me.

Director: We'll wait right here, Chris. You will be next. (She holds Chris very close against the side of her body, with her arm around the child's waist.

Stevie, can Chris have the next turn?

Child: (Nodding, and singing to himself) Special to me.

Chris: Chris have the next turn? Chris have the next turn?

Director: That's good. Let's make sure he can hear you. (She gently lifts one earphone off the child's ear). Can Chris have the next turn in just about another minute?

Chris: Chris have the next turn? Chris have the next turn?

Child: That's all. There.

Chris: It's my record player. Chris have the next turn.

Director: Thank you, Stevie. Chris really wanted the next turn, and it's very hard for her to wait. Thank you for ending your turn so that she could be next. Would you come over here with me where we're going to start the story group? You can sit right here.

Cheryl: We're about ready for the story. Let's put this back in the rack. I'll help you.

Child: I'm not done yet.

Cheryl: Can I help you finish this up?

Child: This goes there. Yes. It's almost done.

Child: I want to sit there.

Director: There's a place for everyone.

Child: I want to sit next to Shannon.

Child: That's mine.

Child: I know.

Cheryl: I'm going to sit here. Can you sit on this side of me?

Child: There, that's done. I put it back.

Director: Chris, after that song is finished, we're going to have the story.

Chris: Trip, trap, trip, trap, over the bridge.

Director: The Billy Goats Gruff. That seems to be your favorite story.

Chris: Trip, trap over the bridge (She sets down the headset and sits on the sofa).

Director: I think we're about ready to begin (while putting away the record and record player).

Chris: Trip, trap, trip trap over the bridge.

Director: Chris, that's the story I'm going to read today, and when I get to that part, I want you to say that out loud. OK? Until then, I want you to sit here very quiet and listen to the rest of the story. (Pulls the child very close to the side of her body.)

Director: Once upon a time . . . . .

In this observation I noticed the teacher's style in working with the difficult behavior exhibited by Chris. The teacher set up the class on that particular day so that her attention could be somewhat free to focus on this one child, and the parent-assistant was aware of the situation. The teacher sets a warm emotional tone for everyone present, including the mother, so that all feel at ease. Each child is greeted individually, and the very simplest needs and desires are treated in order in a relaxed, deliberate manner.

The teacher, in an interesting way, used Chris' repetitive speech pattern so that Chris could hear herself repeat what should be done next. The teacher modeled the appropriate behavior when asking the child for the next turn at the record player, and then Chris was repeating those words, in a way, teaching herself how to ask for a turn. In the meantime, the teacher physically restrained her so that the wrong behavior would not occur.

This director-teacher uses modeling quite effectively, not only with Chris, but with the other children in setting a friendly, courteous classroom psychosocial environment where the children can thrive, even with their particular difficulties. This is not a place where anyone screams at anyone. The director is quite aware of the power of a quiet voice and a firm, loving hand, and she uses her bodily presence and touch in a gentle way that guides the child into the correct behavior.

The teacher anticipated that Chris would want the record player and would try to bodily force the other child away from it, and she made herself free enough to work with the child on an individual basis to begin to change this behavior pattern. The reward for the child in cooperating, even a little bit, is the approval of the teacher and more attention from the teacher (sitting next to her for the story).

Chris was also acknowledged for her intelligence and uncanny intuitive sense about which story was going to be read. The director conversed with her in a normal way, even though the child had unusual ways of conveying her questions. The teacher's manner of treating the child with dignity seems to calm the child and guide her into the correct path of behaving. The director is flexible in moving the children from one activity to the next and in her creative use of the parent-assistant.

This is a group that needs to be instructed one-on-one much of the time, even if the conversations are very short, and the director seems to understand that. She apparently does not plan any formal academic lessons that are very long because it simply would be inappropriate for the developmental level of these children. She is creative and relaxed about giving leeway when it simply does not matter how the particulars work out. For example, although she might prefer that the children take off their hats inside, the child who had on the special new hat was allowed to keep it on for that day because it was important to him. In this case, the feelings of the child are more important that the courtesy of taking off a hat inside.

Chris is rewarded with teacher approval when she is even approximating the desired behavior. Even when the teacher was holding her close to her side with a bit of a struggle, she rewarded the child with verbal praise because, in fact, she was taking her turn a bit more graciously than on previous days. This teacher can see improvements in the smallest increments and helps the child shape behavior in the desired direction, even if an outside observer might not see those small improvements.

It is not known whether Chris was quiet during the reading until the part where she could say what she wanted to, but the teacher set the tone for the appropriate behavior, and she again, reinforced the child's importance by sitting her very close by her side. It seems that the teacher has learned that this child responds more to physical guidance than anything verbal. Her verbal nature seems to have been mixed up in some way, and the teacher works with her in terms of her imitative speech in order to get her to say the right thing at the right time.

The director speaks to these children one at a time, especially as they arrived. And on this particular day when she wanted to devote more attention to Chris, she designated the morning greeting responsibility to the teaching assistant. That one-on-one manner seems to set a tone such that each person feels acknowledged and important, perhaps a rarity for a child who at such a young age already has serious difficulties. The children respond well to these basic courtesies, and during the observation time, there was no serious acting-out behavioral infractions. The director seemed to already have a working arrangement with this particular mother so that they understood each other's relating style.

The director mentioned to me during our conversations prior to the observation that part of the goal of her program was the support of the parents in their own growth. This was apparent in her friendly comments to Cheryl before the class session began. She spoke to her in an open, receptive way and was interested in the life of the family. In this way, this school provides a family education program which makes a real difference in the quality of life for everyone involved. I would ascertain that this director was effective on this day, at least in getting Chris to wait for a turn at the record player. It seemed like the story time was also likely to go in the direction desired--that Chris would be likely to wait for the appropriate time to say, "Trip, trap, trip, trap, over the bridge."

My reaction to this observation experience was positive. I did not know what it would be like to be in a private school setting, particularly one that was in a home. I thought it might be a lot like babysitting, but that did not turn out to be the case. This teacher has used the home environment to set a loving tone for the education and support that she provides for these children and families. The only thing I might do differently is to write down specific plans and objectives. This teacher seems to work strictly from an intuitive, creative style, and I might complement that with more written behavioral goals.

As I observed the director work with this unusual child and her unusual speech pattern, I gained a bit of insight and compassion for what is required to be a sensitive special education teacher. The teacher did not in any way try to correct the child's inappropriate speech. She instead used it to shape her in the direction that was desired. She seemed to allow herself to emotionally and mentally get into the framework of the child in order to find a way to communicate. And I tremendously respect what I saw in the dignity she gave the child for her obvious intelligence and uncanny sensitivity. How did Chris know the story was going to be The Billy Goats Gruff? This intuitive empathy between teacher and student again showed me that learning disabled does not mean retarded.

It is important to me to learn how to follow this type of example, to work with students where they are, with their strengths, whatever those strengths might be. I also was impressed with the simplicity of the goals and activities. Nothing grand was planned for this particular day. It was a normal day, and all the teacher wanted was for Chris to show some progress in not forcing another child bodily off of the record player. It is these small successes strung together that create a larger feeling of accomplishment for the handicapped child.