7 Interpretations and Action Plans

Interpretations

Observations have two main parts. During the actual observation, you must remain objective. After completing the observation you will think about what you observed and draw conclusions. Remember, however, that interpreting observations is a skill that you are just learning. Your impressions may not be accurate, especially since you are seeing only a small part of a child’s life. Your interpretations and conclusions, like your observations, should be kept confidential. So far, we’ve discussed how to effectively observe children and then how we can objectively document our observations. Once we have completed those steps, then we need to interpret what we’ve seen by analyzing and reflecting on what we have observed. After so much focus on using only objective language in our documentation, this is when we can finally include our subjective responses or beliefs about what we saw and heard. The word “reflection” is key here since it emphasizes the thoughtfulness of this stage.

Here are some questions we might ask ourselves during this stage:

  • What skill or activity does the child appear to be working on?
  • How did the child approach the activity and how long did the child stay engaged?
  • Is this behaviour typical or unusual for the child?
  • Would this child benefit from peer scaffolding?
  • Does this child need more individualized support?
  • How can I motivate this child?
  • Were there any new play patterns or social interactions?
  • Did the child master any new skills or milestones?
  • Are there any skills or milestones that need further support?
  • Were there any “red flags”?

In our interpretations, we can review previous observations to monitor progress over time, and this allows us to reflect on changes in a child’s development. For instance, we might ask ourselves, “Does the child engage with objects or people differently than a month ago? What has changed? What has not changed?”

This is also when we can take the context into account. If we observed a specific behaviour, what happened directly before? Reflecting on that question can help us understand what possibly contributed to the behaviour. What happened directly after the behaviour occurred? The answer might reveal how a behaviour is being reinforced, and this is perhaps something we were not aware of until we stopped to ask the question.

Analysis
Analysis

 

Besides analyzing documentation on your own, you can share information with your co-educators. With factual notes and work samples that document what a child does or says, educators can collectively discuss what they think, and they can pose additional questions. Although they each will have their own set of observations, having the opportunity to collaborate and share information about the children will only enhance their effectiveness when planning next steps (which we will discuss later in this chapter).

Here are some possible questions educators can ask each other:

  • “What growth do you see?”
  • “Are the peer interactions the same in the afternoon as in the morning?”
  • “What are your thoughts on this behaviour?”
  • “How effective do you feel this transition is?”

When co-educators discuss their observations, not only are they able to share their successes, but they can also share their challenges. An educator who works with you will be familiar with the children and may have valuable insight that can help with your planning since they may be able to offer suggestions from a different perspective. Something to consider is consulting with the children to help inform your interpretation. When we ask children questions like, “Can you tell me more about when you said/did…?” this reduces the need for us to guess the reasons behind a child’s actions.

Once you’ve interpreted what you observed, be sure that you remain open-minded to other interpretations as your ideas about what happened and why might change after discussing the situation with other educators or the children.

Ponder This

  • Consider a child that is new to your classroom. How would observations over time provide opportunities for you to engage and get to know the new family?
  • Consider a child that is moving on to a new classroom or school. How would your observations and interpretations support the new educator? and in turn support the transition for the child and family?

One thing to be mindful of is the language we use in our interpretations. Because they contain our opinions and reflections on what we believe was meaningful about what we saw and heard, we need to ensure it’s clear that what we’re including in this section is not a fact. We can do this by using words like “appears,” “seems,” and “perhaps.” In this step of the observation process, we must be aware of our values, perceptions, and biases since these can creep into our interpretations. Also, just like in our documentation of what we observed, we need to use positive and person-first language to remain respectful and professional.

While we are able to be slightly subjective, there should be a logical and evident connection between our observations and interpretations. This stage should still adhere to the guideline that what we’re writing likely wouldn’t result in any strong objections by others reading it. What can help is when we bring in any contextual or additional information to support our ideas. For instance, if we observed that Peter was crying as he stood at the window waving goodbye to his father after drop-off, we might say in our interpretation, “It appeared as though Peter was sad about his dad leaving after being dropped off.” This would be a reasonable analysis if we also included that Peter’s dad mentioned how he was leaving on a work trip and that Peter had a difficult morning knowing he wouldn’t see his dad for a few days. Including support for our opinions will give weight to our interpretations and prevent our biases from influencing our ideas.

Action Plans

During this stage, we plan for the next step. Essentially, we’re asking ourselves, “What now?” Given what you’ve observed and documented, how should you follow up?

It’s at this point that we respond to our interpretations of what was observed. For instance, we might decide that it would be beneficial to adapt the environment, modify the daily schedule, or plan how to guide the children’s learning based on what the child can do as well as what the child is ready to try.

Reflecting on the following questions can help you decide what your next step might be:

  • How can I set up the environment to incorporate the children’s interests?
  • What resources and materials will I need?
  • What milestones, learning goals and objectives can I further support with this activity?
  • How can I create a “good fit” for this child’s temperament?
  • Did I acknowledge children when they met expectations, and did I provide genuine praise to reinforce positive behaviors?
  • Am I setting clear expectations?
  • Do I need to change the routines or schedule?
  • Have I incorporated all the developmental domains and considered the whole child?
  • Did I plan for individual activities, small group, and larger group opportunities?

Finding the answers to these questions is somewhat like putting a puzzle together. As you wonder about the “why, who, what, when and how” you begin to put the pieces in place and generate potential ideas. First, you think about what the child can do on their own, and the milestones they have already mastered. Next, you think about whether you are meeting each child where they are developmentally. Then, you look for the areas of development that need further support. Ultimately, your interpretations will guide your planning efforts.

Specific answers to the questions we identified above are beyond the scope of this resource and will be explored in courses that consider curriculum planning, but essentially, an effective action plan will always follow these guidelines:

  • Motivate children to explore their environment
  • Inspire children to investigate various centers and activities
  • Encourage children to create with new materials
  • Allow children to engage in conversations and prompt them to ask questions
  • Prompt children to interact with peers
  • Permit children to problem solve
  • Celebrate diversity and embrace uniqueness
  • Accommodate each child’s learning styles and individual needs

As educators reflect on children’s play, they discover possibilities to sustain, extend, and help children’s play to be more complex and, consequently, support the children’s continual learning. Educators review ideas for possible next steps that might include adding materials to interest areas, reading books with large or small groups, leading specific learning experiences, or investigating a topic over time with the children. With clear ideas or objectives in mind, educators create action plans that include strategies to enhance the learning of all children in a group, as well as strategies to support the learning of individual children.

Here’s an example of documentation following an observation that includes an educator’s interpretation as well as a reflection on possible next steps.

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Date: 10/10/23

Time : 10:45 – 10:55 am

Location and Setting : Inside during open exploration the following centers were open – easel painting, blocks with fall materials, dramatic play with firefighter and homelife, math center with pumpkin cut outs for counting

Activity: Dramatic Play Area and Library Area

Children Present : Joey

Joey played in the dramatic play area. He was dressed up in the firefighter outfit. He held the toilet paper roll in his left hand and pointed it towards a basket of stuffed animals. As he waived the toilet paper roll back and forth (side to side) he said “psssshhhhhsssshhh.” After a minute or so, Joey dropped the toilet paper roll and picked up a stuffed doggie from the basket. He took the stuffed animal to the table. As he pet the doggie, he said “You’re ok, You’re ok aren’t ya.” He then kissed the doggie on the nose, picked it up and carried it over to the library area where he sat down on the carpet square. He put the dog in his lap and started to look through a book.

Interpretation:

  • With the recent fires, I wonder if Joey saw firefighters on the news or working in his neighborhood?
  • I wonder if Joey has family members that are firefighters?
  • I wonder what other community helpers would be interesting to explore?
  • Joey has not been observed reading before, I’m curious to see what milestones he has mastered? Can he turn the pages?
  • Can he recognize letters or words? Can he recall information?
  • Joey played by himself. In previous observations he played with Martin. I wonder if they had a disagreement with Martine.
  • I wonder if Joey needed time to himself. Maybe Martin wasn’t interested in playing firefighters.

Reflection:

  • What materials can I add to the dramatic play area to extend Joey’s interest in pretending to be a firefighter?
  • Are there storybooks about community helpers that highlight firefighters?

Wrap it Up

We will be exploring interpretations and action plans further in upcoming chapters when we look at different types of observation tools we can use, and this will help add to your understanding of these important components of the observation process.

 

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Observing Early Learning Canadian Edition Copyright © 2024 by Loyalist College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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