Observation, Assessment and Planning in the EYFS: Part 5: Observation

'Providers must undertake sensitive observational assessment in order to plan to meet young children's individual needs' (DCSF, 2008, Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, p37)

This quote, taken from statutory guidance (my italics), places observation firmly at the heart of planning the curriculum for the young children in our care.

Through observation we should be able to gain an insight into the worlds of the children with whom we work, and go some way towards understanding how our provision looks through their eyes.

Observing children while engaged in a playful, self-chosen activity can be particularly valuable, because they exhibit high levels of engagement (Laevers, 1997) and operate at a higher level than they would in a more formal adult-led activity.

As Susan Isaacs said, 'If we watch him when he is free to play as he will, the child shows us all he is wishing and fearing, all that he is pondering over and aiming to do' (1954, p6). The implication for us as practitioners is that we need to have created an environment in which such learning can take place.

However, making observations alone is not enough. It is essential that we regard the analysis of what we have seen as a vitally important part of the process of teaching and learning. We need to recognise that interpreting observations is an intellectual process, and that theoretical knowledge will greatly enhance our understandings of young learners, and help us to truly value and recognise the varied achievements of young children.

As Paley (2005) says, it is more than watching and listening. She describes it as a close examination of the child's curriculum, that teaches us how to 'be' when working with them. It is part of our professionalism to develop our skills in understanding what we see, and our ability to articulate it to others.

ON THEIR OWN

Picture the scene (see right). Two four-year-olds, a boy and a girl, have spotted a pile of irregularly shaped offcuts of wood, left by the landscape gardener who had been working on the nursery's outdoor area. No adult has taken the least bit of notice of these scrap materials, but the two children have decided to use them to build and construct.

They both work tirelessly, first carrying the wood to a suitable place to build, then thoughtfully, precisely and collaboratively building a tower from the blocks that is, eventually, taller than themselves. The little girl approaches a visiting adult, known to the setting, and shouts with delight, 'Harriet, Harriet, come and see what we've done! It's our sixth go, and we're still doing it!'

Over the period of at least an hour, these two children who, indoors, were shy, reticent and reluctant to communicate, had achieved something remarkable - a stable structure built with uneven pieces of roughly sawn wood and taller than themselves.

The questions I would want to ask of practitioners are:

- Would such an achievement be observed, recognised and valued in your setting?

- If it were, how would it be recognised and how would value be demonstrated?

- How would the observation be used?

I now want to explore each of these questions thoroughly, because they lie at the heart of the way in which we observe, assess and work with children.

RECOGNISING ACHIEVEMENTS

Let's begin with the first question: 'Would the achievement be recognised and valued?' This question is of central importance. To paraphrase what the people on training courses say to me: 'We're always observing, all the time ... It's just what you do, isn't it?' Well, it's certainly what some people do. However, watching is one thing. Unpicking, understanding and acting upon what we see is another issue altogether.

It is impossible to engage in observation from a neutral perspective. We bring to each observation a set of life experiences, understandings, beliefs and expectations that make us who we are. Our beliefs about what learning looks like, and our view of children and childhood, colour our observations and impact upon our assessments of children.

It is worth considering at this point what holds the 'currency of worth' in your setting. By this I mean, what really counts as a successful outcome? To continue with the metaphor, children who trade in the 'currency of worth' will be deemed successful. However, those who do not, perhaps because it is inaccessible to them, may be judged less successful, through no fault of their own.

The problem becomes particularly acute when the outcomes that are valued (those with 'currency of worth') are the very ones that are both emotionally and cognitively inappropriate for the children's age and stage of development. Photocopied worksheets are a perfect example of an utterly inappropriate activity, not only in the EYFS but beyond. However, they are often seen as providing valuable 'evidence' of children's learning.

Some children - usually, it has to be said, girls - will complete such an activity with a minimum of fuss. Others, quite rightly, will avoid such activities or treat them with the contempt they deserve. They will be deemed to have failed. If, however, we value the widest range of outcomes, from the widest range of activities, then we can see more children as successful learners.

This is particularly important for those of us who work with babies and toddlers. It is crucial that practitioners discuss what they see and contemplate how it might best be recorded and celebrated. Imposing age-inappropriate activities on our youngest learners in order to gather physical pieces of evidence will not support these children's intellectual growth, or their self-esteem.

VALUING ACHIEVEMENTS

So, let's return to the two children building the wood block tower. What are their achievements worth? Would they be regarded as having participated in a valuable piece of learning? When considering this, it is important to note that it was a child-initiated activity and would not have been found in the planning for the setting for that week. The children's notable achievements were:

- Collaborating successfully on a complex task requiring patience and determination

- Celebrating their success with others

- Taking turns in conversation, issuing and obeying each other's instructions

- Using the language of mathematics to solve problems

- Counting, including ordinal numbers

- Investigating the properties of shape

- Building and constructing with challenging materials

TAKING RISKS

It would be possible for an adult in the outdoor area to make a mental note of all of this, smiling quietly to themselves and thinking how clever it was; however, unless such achievements are explicitly valued, the observation will not have been worthwhile.

Making notes, taking photographs, perhaps even videoing where appropriate, would all be excellent ways to record the outcomes of this achievement. It would be more than appropriate to share what the children had done with parents and carers.

SHARING ACHIEVEMENTS

It is easy to send home children's pictures, paintings or models. We must think of ways to send other kinds of learning home too.

The prime audience for any piece of assessment must be the children themselves. We need to embed responses to children's various successes into our time with them, thereby passing on to them a language with which they can talk about their own learning. This is empowering for all concerned and raises self-esteem.

Too frequently, children's achievements are used as tools for interrogation. To ask 'How many bricks did you use?' or 'What colour is your tower?' would, in this instance, undermine the work that the children had done. Practitioners need to respond not only to the products of learning, but more importantly in my opinion, to the processes.

In this example, the most valuable time for observation to take place is while the children are building, listening to their conversations and watching the strategies they employ in their building. To merely view the finished tower is insufficient.

We might look at the achievements of the two four-year-old builders not only through the window of the EYFS guidance, but also through other measurements of attainment. Using the Leuven Scale, which measures levels of engagement and emotional well-being, the two children described would have scored very highly. Practitioners familiar with using schemas (Nutbrown, 1999) to analyse and describe children's learning, may identify a vertical schema, perhaps.

Whatever frameworks we use, it is important that we use them as windows into the children's world, and as tools for planning future learning experiences rather than ways to label individuals in such a way that the child's personality becomes secondary. There can be no doubt that it is invaluable to look at patterns of learning and thinking, but to reduce children to 'transporters', 'enclosers' and 'rotators' is to deny many other facets of their character.

It would be desirable to look for further evidence of such patterns - in their mark-making, or in small-scale block play. A conversation with parents may reveal similar behaviours at home, and at the very least would show the setting valued such play.

What of the children themselves? First and foremost, we need to celebrate their achievement and success with them. Talking to them about what they had enjoyed and how it had made them feel would make for a very useful conversation. Discussion with children can hold the key to the most effective assessments, adding information to observations and giving the children a voice. Reflecting on the children's achievements may lead practitioners to plan further opportunities for collaborative talk.

Unless we observe children in a wide variety of contexts, our assessments will be unfair and invalid. We may also redefine our views of the kinds of resources we offer to children and how we plan for problem-solving.

For evidence of the children's achievements, there could be photographs, notes and records of conversations. As this was an activity that took place outdoors, it would be invaluable to display their achievements inside. Wall space may be available for such a display, or perhaps a photograph album could be created that contained images of significant outdoor achievements.

A quick look round the walls of any setting demonstrates clearly what has 'currency of value' at any particular time. Regular, rigorous audits of your displays will help maintain the correct balance between celebration of children's achievements and celebration of the laminating prowess of staff members who regularly visit resource websites.

Remember that when we observe, it not only gives us the opportunity to evaluate children's learning, but also acts as a mirror on our practice. If children are not observed using the book area, why might this be? Is it because children don't enjoy books, or might there be a more reasonable explanation?

I once asked a boy in my reception class why he never visited the book corner. 'Because you're always in there,' he replied. I wasn't, but on reflection I realised that it was where I spent time writing in home-school diaries; I had made it my office. In conversations with his mother, it transpired that he enjoyed looking through shipping magazines (his father worked in a dockyard). She donated a selection of these, I relocated my 'office', and Alex started to use the book corner.

Conversations with children about the environment and the learning opportunities in it can be an invaluable tool for improving the learning experience for all children.

When we watch children, we also need to make time to listen. We need to really see, hear and understand what their behaviours are telling us about the environment and experiences we provide. Paley (2005) says that when we observe children we need to ask 'Who are you?', rather than 'What can we do to fix you?' Valuing the play of young children as their 'work' is empowering and enlivening. Don't regard it as a chore or a burden!

FURTHER READING

- Nutbrown, Cathy, Threads of Thinking (Paul Chapman)

- Whitbread, David and Coltman, Penny, Teaching and Learning in the Early Years (Routledge)

- Paley, Vivian Gussey, A Child's Work: The importance of fantasy play (University of Chicago Press)

EFFECTIVE OBSERVATION

- Remember that lengthy written observations may not always be desirable or possible.

- Note what is significant and/or unusual, whether it was spontaneous or planned, and why you felt it to be so.

- Post-It notes are invaluable for recording and they can easily be added to children's records, and may feed learning journeys.

- Remember that one activity may offer evidence across a range of curriculum areas, so be alert to the cross-curricular potential that continuous provision can provide.

- An observation is not a piece of assessment in its own right.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

- Do you have an observation system that is manageable for the adults, and above all else, useful for enhancing children's learning?

- Do all practitioners in your setting have a shared set of values about what constitutes successful learning?

- Do you make time to discuss children's learning with them, where appropriate?

- Can you demonstrate how your observations impact on your planning?

- Do you make time to discuss what you have observed, sharing thoughts and ideas and supporting each other's professional development?