21 Reflections and Observations

In previous chapters, we have discussed the importance of observation and how to capture our observations using different methods based on our needs and the context. Once educators have captured children’s behaviour, interests, and learning, how should they use that information? Exploring the answer to that question will be the focus of this chapter. We will first begin with a discussion on the importance of collaboration during the process of observing and documenting.

Revisiting the Observation Cycle

In an earlier chapter, we introduced the observation cycle and discussed specific steps that are always part of the process. What will vary, however, is what each of those steps looks like since there are many factors that differentiate one early learning program from another. The program philosophies, age groups, family involvement, and demographics of the community are some factors that might result in different representations of the cycle. For example, if we consider an educator who works on their own and cares for five children of mixed ages in their home, their observation cycle will likely look quite different from an educator who works with 30 children in a kindergarten classroom with a teaching partner.

When observing children, it’s important that educators involve others in the process to include different perspectives. Not only is this helpful in capturing a more well-rounded account of children’s interests and development, but the collaboration can also help open educators’ eyes to new ways of seeing things and inspire change in professional practice. Professional development experiences are excellent opportunities for educators to collaborate with others and grow in their teaching approaches, and research has shown that these experiences improve the quality of interactions with children and early learning programs (Egert, Dederer, & Fukkink, 2020). Educators can also collaborate with other educators, the children’s family, and other professionals they work with. When we communicate and collaborate, especially with a child’s family, we benefit from being able to reflect their deep understanding of the child and their family’s cultural context.

This open communication is the perfect representation of Aristotle’s famous saying that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Educators have one view and understanding of the children from their experiences with them, and the families would have their own view and understanding, which would no doubt differ. When families and educators come together with their unique perspectives in addition to a deep sense of caring and respect, what often results is a completely different and deeper understanding of the child than either would have been able to come up with on their own.

When to Document and Reflect

Educators observe children all day every day; it’s what we do! What is more challenging, however, is the documentation component that follows. This is because educators are often in-ratio, meaning they don’t have the luxury of being able to step back and jot down what they observed because then their full attention wouldn’t be on the children. Depending on factors like the age and number of children, type of program, and daily tasks that must be completed, some educators may have more windows of opportunity than others. For example, educators who work in a toddler program where all children sleep for two hours every day may be able to use naptime to document some of their observations, whereas an educator working in a home environment may not have that option because they have other tasks that must be completed during naptime (like tidying up after lunch, preparing snack, cleaning, etc.). This is when using documentation methods like taking photos or voice notes can be helpful.

Responding to Observations

After you’ve observed children and found the time to document your observations, then you consider how you should respond. What experiences would extend the children’s interests or further promote their learning? This is often referred to as “curriculum planning,” but this term is somewhat deceiving, because best practices in the field of early childhood education highlight the value of emergent curriculum where we follow the children’s interests and can’t really plan ahead like educators used to when following theme-based programming. That said, even when educators aren’t planning curriculum weeks in advance, there is still significant reflection and discussion that are required. This is when that collaboration that was discussed earlier is so beneficial since brainstorming and sharing ideas with family members, other educators, and even the children can help inspire new and exciting possibilities.

Let’s look at an example to see how a team of educators in a kindergarten program might respond to their observations. Imagine a team of educators received an email early one morning from Jacob’s parents letting them know that he would be bringing in a picture of his new puppy named Marty that they just brought home over the weekend. Jacob was very excited to tell all of his friends about the puppy, so the educators made sure to build some time into the morning circle for Jacob to share his stories. The educators asked what he needs to do to keep the puppy healthy, and Jacob explained the tasks of giving him fresh water and food, taking him for walks, brushing him, and bringing him to the veterinarian for a checkup. Jacob also brought a picture of his puppy named “Marty” to show everyone. The children were very excited and asked a lot of questions including where the puppy sleeps, what he plays with, and if he bites.

Photo by Glenn: https://www.pexels.com/photo/high-angle-photo-of-a-corgi-looking-upwards-2664417/

After the discussion, the children went to the dramatic play area and wanted to create a veterinarian’s office where they could take care of the stuffed animal dog that was in the classroom (that they of course named “Marty”). The educators helped the children brainstorm ways to make a bed for him (out of blocks that could be made more comfortable with one of the blankets they often use to wrap the dolls in) and food (that they made by ripping small pieces of brown construction paper and placing in a small bowl). This play extended into recess time where they wanted to take Marty outside and give him a stick to chew on.

The educators documented their observations and took note that many, but not all of the children were interested in the new “class pet.” They also noted that while many children were excited by caring directly for Marty, others seemed more interested in creating the things that Marty would need, like a leash and a cage. The educators documented how some children were inspired to paint pictures of their own pets. All of this information was incredibly helpful in creating experiences where the children could all pursue their own interests. For instance, the educators asked families to temporarily donate any pet products that the children could use to take care of Marty (like a dog brush, a toothbrush, a coat for cold days, boots for snowy days, etc.) The educators printed pictures of cages to place near the block area so the children could be inspired by the design elements while building their own, and they set up the easels and provided different neutral shades of paints (like browns, beiges, white and black) to capture the colouring of many types of dogs.

When the educators reached out to the families asking about donations, several families shared different types of animals they have at home (a parrot, ferret, and fish). This collaboration allowed the educators to work directly with those children to ensure their interests were reflected. They asked them questions about the types of care those animals required, and that turned into an interesting classroom discussion where children graphed how many of their pets had fur, feathers, or scales. Some Indigenous families reached out to let them know that while they don’t have pets at home, animals play a large role in their lives during their fall hunts, so the educators worked closely with those families and children to learn more about their traditions and allow the children to share their experiences with the class. There were many questions about why they hunt, what animals were hunted, and what they do with the animals afterward, so this served as a rich opportunity for discussion, learning about different cultural practices, and community building.

As the educators led these discussions, they focused on promoting skills in different developmental domains. For example, they introduced new vocabulary including “vaccinations,” “vertebrates,” and “mammals.” They strengthened children’s literacy skills by using the computer to research questions and help the children find the answers. The graphs that were mentioned above allowed the children to collect and organize information, which is an important cognitive skill. When the conversation focused on how the type of care required by dogs compared to the other types of pets, children practiced their ability to reflect and reach conclusions (another valuable cognitive skill). As children listened to one another and accepted that they preferred one type of pet over another, this strengthened their ability to take another person’s point of view, which is an important emotional skill.

During this whole process, the educators took pictures of the children as they took care of Marty, built various homes for different types of pets, and painted pictures. They jotted down some of the children’s interesting questions and comments, and identified the important learning that was happening from start to finish. They added the documentation to the children’s individual portfolios and posted it on the bulletin board for families, other staff, and children to see.

This scenario reflects how important collaborating with others is, how observation and documentation allow educators to identify children’s interests and ensure that all children are represented, and how it’s possible to use that information to extend those interests to support children’s holistic developed in child-led experiences.

Children’s Portfolios

We introduced portfolios in an earlier chapter, but we will expand on them here to see how they can be used to capture children’s learning. A portfolio is essentially a collection of artifacts, including photos, artwork, and writing samples that showcases a child’s interests and development over time. It’s an observation method that grows and evolves to reflect changing interests and skills, and because children all have different interests and skills, each child’s portfolio will be unique to them. For instance, if Jeremy loves trains and blocks, it’s likely that his portfolio will contain lots of pictures of the train track networks he creates and the towers he builds. On the other hand, Matthew spends most of his time in the art centre painting pictures of his family and also in the writing centre where he writes stories about the adventures they go on together, so his portfolio would include writing samples and pieces of his art.

Photo by Yan Krukau

Format of Portfolios

While some portfolios may be paper-based where educators have a folder they add actual artifacts to, digital portfolios are becoming increasingly common.

There are many advantages of digital portfolios:

• Don’t take up a lot of space (where paper-based portfolios can become very large over time with many artifacts)
• Can be easily shared with families
• Allow children to bring home artifacts like art and writing samples while still having them be included in the portfolio
• A printer isn’t required (as opposed to paper-based portfolios where an educator would need to print a photo to include it)

Regardless of the type of portfolio that is selected, what is included in portfolios is an important consideration, and it’s something that has changed significantly over time. Many years ago, you might have seen portfolios that contained results of developmental checklists or standardized assessments since the focus in education was on how well a child demonstrates skills within various developmental domains. This also means that portfolios would not differ from child to child, because educators wanted to see how well children could write, identify letters, count, etc. and they felt they could do this more effectively by comparing all children’s performance on the same prescribed task.

Current best practices are based on our understanding that children are all different, develop on a unique timeline, and demonstrate their learning in various ways. The Ministry of Education (2014) highlights the importance of well-being, expression, belonging, and engagement, so these are often at the root of how educators choose which artifacts to include in a child’s portfolio.

For example, while one child might choose to express their literacy skills by writing a card for their sister for her birthday, another child might create a sign for the doghouse they built out of blocks. Regarding how children prefer to engage with their early learning environment, this will also vary greatly from child to child. For instance, one child might be fascinated by oceans and choose to read books, do research on the classroom tablet, and draw pictures of sea creatures, so the artifacts demonstrating that child’s engagement would look quite different from a child who spends almost every day in the dramatic play centre pretending to take care of their baby, cook meals, and go grocery shopping.

When children’s learning is captured in a writing sample or piece of art, the artifact to include in a portfolio is clear. However, you might be wondering what artifacts might be able to capture some of the events described above when there isn’t necessarily a physical piece of evidence of what occurred. There are many options available to educators, including the following:

• Photos
• Learning stories
• Anecdotal or running records
• Audio recordings capturing children’s language and conversations
• Video recordings

You’ll notice that some of these are only possible with digital portfolios, and this is one other advantage that comes with choosing that format over a paper-based portfolio.

Be Intentional

It’s important to be selective in what is included in a child’s portfolio. As you can imagine, if educators tried to capture every moment of a child’s day or chose to include every drawing they ever created, the portfolio would not only be extremely large (especially in the case of a paper-based portfolio), but it wouldn’t be as meaningful. Educators should select artifacts that reflect growth in a child’s skills or evolving interests.

For instance, including two paintings of horses would be somewhat redundant and wouldn’t reflect any unique information. However, if the painting of the first horse showed the child had written “HRS” (for “horse”) and the next painting showed “hors,” the child’s use of lowercase letters and vowel capture more sophisticated writing skills, so it would absolutely make sense to include both of these paintings in the child’s portfolio. Being selective in the artifacts that we include ensures it will be a useful and meaningful tool that can prompt reflection and discussion and inspire new experiences to further their learning.

Children can and should be involved in the process of selecting what to include in their portfolio, and this has the added benefit of opening up discussion with them on what their ideas and wonderings were, what they feel proud of, or what new questions they might have that the educator can help them explore further. This can really help to enrich the educator’s reflection on the artifact, what it might mean, and how it could be used to extend the child’s interests. It can also allow the child to see and hear their learning from an educator’s perspective which can help inspire new goals for the children.

Important Considerations

Something that educators must be mindful of is creating a portfolio that works best for the child and their family. Some families might not be comfortable with digital portfolios due to privacy concerns, so a paper-based portfolio would be most appropriate. On the other hand, for a family where the parents are separated and live in different cities, a digital portfolio might be the perfect way to ensure both parents are able to stay up to date on their child’s interests and learning. Accessibility must be considered since some families may not have internet or a computer/mobile device to access the information, so discussing which format is preferred with each family is crucial.

Also, with digital portfolios, educators must ensure that only the child’s family and other authorized individuals have access to the child’s information, so they must be password protected. Educators also need to follow the policy of their program and any licensing requirements which may dictate which digital tool can be used and how.

Resources

Egert, F., Dederer, V., & Fukkink, R. G. (2020). The impact of in-service professional development on the quality of teacher-child interactions in early education and care: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 29, 100309.

Fenning, K. & Wylie, S. (2020). Observing young children: Transformative inquiry, pedagogical documentation and reflection (6th ed.). Nelson.

Ministry of Education. (2014). How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years. https://files.ontario.ca/edu-how-does-learning-happen-en-2021-03-23.pdf