Observing and reporting on

child development
SAQA Unit Standard
ID 244475

Learner Guide

Study Guide: Observing and reporting on child development SAQA ID 244475

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 Table of Contents Page
About this study guide 4
Course outcomes 5
Unit 1: Observing babies, toddlers and young children 6
Topic 1: Observing towards the assessment of individual development 7
Topic 2: Observing objectively – minimising bias 13
Topic 3: Frameworks and assessment guidelines 15

Unit 2: Recording observations 23

Topic 1: Keeping accurate, bias-free records 24
Topic 2: Structuring your records 26
Topic 3: Why records are needed 28

Unit 3: Giving feedback on observations 35

Topic 1: Feedback mechanisms and confidentiality 36
Topic 2: Giving clear, relevant feedback 38
Topic 3: Sensitive, efficient and sufficient feedback 40

References 42

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 About this Study Guide
Introduction
Welcome to the study guide for Observing and reporting on child development. In this study guide you
will learn how to observe babies, toddlers and young children. Your observations will contribute towards
the assessment of individual development, by using given frameworks, guidelines or observational
instruments. Observations should be made continuously, across the whole spectrum of activities in the
programme, and provide information about patterns of development.

These observations should be recorded accurately, in the form of anecdotal records checklists, rubrics or
reports. The records should reflect observations made in a culturally sensitive way and without bias, as far
as possible.

These records of observation should be clearly and systematically structured, and include information
necessary for tracking progress. They will be used for assessment, referrals, design of programmes and
evaluation of activities and programmes.

Before you begin, spend some time familiarising yourself with the structure of each topic, so that you can
work with it easily. You should also pay attention to the following icons so that you know exactly what
they stand for:

When you see this icon, it means you must complete an activity.

When you see this icon, it describes an important concept or explanation.

When you see this icon, you will find a definition of a word or term that may be new to
you.

When you see this icon, it means you must place your completed written work in your
Portfolio of Evidence.

When you see this icon, it means you must write in your Journal.

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 Course Outcomes
This course is designed to help you to achieve course outcomes – if you work diligently through the study
material, face-to-face training sessions and complete all required activities.

Specific Outcome 1: Observe babies, toddlers and young children

1.1 Observations contribute towards assessment of individual development

1.2 Observations are carried out in such a way that minimises bias and subjectivity.

1.3 Observations are guided by given frameworks, assessment guidelines or instruments.

Observations are continuous, based on daily activities and provide sufficient information to
1.4
establish patterns of development.

1.5 Observations cover the full spectrum of activities in the routine or daily programme.

Specific Outcome 2: Record observations

2.1 The records accurately reflect the observations and are culturally sensitive and bias free.

The records are structured in a clear and systematic manner, and include any information
2.2
that may be needed for tracking progress.

Records are useful for contributing towards assessment of individual development, referrals,
2.3
design of programmes and activities.

Course Outcome 3: Give feedback on observations

Feedback is given using appropriate feedback mechanisms and in accordance with

3.1
confidentiality requirements.

3.2 Feedback is clear and relevant to the child’s development.

3.3 Feedback is given with appropriate sensitivity to diversity and emotions.

3.4 The type and manner of feedback is constructive and meaningful.

Sufficient information is provided to enable the purpose of the observation to be met, and to
3.5
enable further decision-making.

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 Unit 1:
Observing babies, toddlers
and young children
Unit outline

1. Observing towards the assessment of

individual development

2. Observing objectively – minimising

bias

3. Frameworks and assessment

guidelines

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 Topic Observing towards the
assessment of individual
1
development

Activity 1:
The purpose of observation

US: 244475: Specific Outcome 1, AC 1. CCFO: Communicating

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Working together in your class group, come up with ideas as to why observation should be necessary.

See if you can come up with FIVE suggestions in your group.

Write in your Journal.

Listen to what the rest of the class groups have to say now. As you go through the next couple of pages,
compare what you learn to what the groups came up with.

When you observe, your knowledge of child development will help to give you background information
that will be the ‘spectacles’ or the framework to help you with what you see and hear (called active
listening).

There are also assessment guidelines and instruments that you can use as tools to guide your observations
of all the different aspects of the child’s development. (See examples later in this study guide.)

QUOTE

“He doesn't watch, he notices.”

–Thomas D'Evelyn

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Aims of observation

The aims of observing include:

 To gather information that you can use when you plan your activities
 To identify how you and the children have progressed and to provide evidence to colleagues,
parents and the principal that some progress has taken place
 To provide accurate feedback to colleagues, parents or specialised helpers like psychologists,
physiotherapists or speech therapists (where necessary)
 To develop your skills and confidence as an ECD practitioner, and see how you can improve on
your practice

Add any other aims here you have thought of:

How to make a start in observation

When you begin observing, you are getting to know the child. You may have questions about her
milestones (what she has achieved so far), her strengths and weaknesses and the areas of her development
that seem slow or exceptional. Observing is the key to this information. The different techniques used for
observation are seeing and active listening, supplemented by questioning.

See

Observing

Question Listen

Figure 1.1 The three key components of observing

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The issues you may want more information about may come from the different domains (areas) of
development as we see in table 1.1:

Areas of development Example

Cognitive development How the child is thinking and forming patterns of

meaning:
Is the child beginning to build with blocks of
different shapes?

Is the child working out how to put blocks together

to build a house or a shape?

Language development Is the child’s speech appropriate for his age?

Is she talking and responding to others?

Social and emotional development Is the child struggling to manage loud and agitated
behaviour?

Is the child able to say goodbye to her parent in the

morning without tears?

Physical development Gross motor and fine motor coordination

gross: using large muscle groups e.g. legs, arms
fine: using small muscle groups e.g. fingers, toes
Can the baby feed himself finger food at 5 months?

Can the young child manage a simple puzzle?

Can the child climb up and down steps?

Moral development Does the young child show sympathy for others?

Can the child start to tell the difference between

right and wrong?
vs.

Creative and imaginative development Does the child enjoy and show imagination in her

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 play or art activities?

Can the child initiate her own play activities?

Spiritual development Does the child show any awareness of a higher

power?

Does she participate in prayer sessions?

Table 1.1 The main areas of development, with examples

How do you observe?

a) To check if a child is developing a particular skill successfully, you could choose a setting or
activity that requires children to use this skill, for example, threading different coloured beads on
a string.

You then:
Run the activity with the whole group, for 20 minutes a day for a week and observe three children
per day during the 20 minutes.
[Note: It will be easier to observe children sitting close together.]

b) To observe the child holistically in terms of her overall development and social adjustment, you
need to:

Focus on one child per day and observe the child for five minutes in each different activity
in the programme or each play setting.

What you have to offer the observation process is:

 your own knowledge of child development

 your knowledge of the child
 your experience as a practitioner
 your warm and caring attitude
 your willingness to eliminate bias from your perspective

The observation process includes:

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1. Being conscious and open to collecting information during every activity or interaction you
have with the child.

2. Making notes about all the different aspects you have observed.

3. Organising and sifting through this information using any relevant assessment tools you may
have.

Observing and reporting on child development is a core skill in ECD facilitation. To learn to do this to the
best of your ability, use the activities to practise and improve, by including self-reflection. It will also help
you if you answer the self-assessment questions.

DEFINITION
Self reflection: thinking back on what you have done and identifying strengths and
weaknesses in your approach; deciding what could be improved on in future

When you are doing the observation you will be making notes (recording) and then after that you will
prepare for feedback to the relevant role players. This will be discussed in more detail later in this study
guide.

Activity 2:
Observing children at an ECD centre

US: 244475: Specific Outcome 1: AC 1; 2; 3, 4, 5. CCFO: Collecting

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Select two children at your ECD centre.

Observe the children for a morning and then complete the following chart with regard to these three
aspects of development below. Note at least one example of each aspect of development.

CHART 1
Aspect of development Number of times there is positive evidence of
development occurring in this area

Frequently Often Seldom Never

5+ times 3–4 1–2 times
times

language development

example:

social and emotional development

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 example:

physical development

example:

Information about the child:

Name_____________________________
Age: _______
Home information if available: ___________
___________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Any other important developmental issues you
noticed during the observation:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Your comments:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

Place your written answers to these questions inside your Portfolio of Evidence.

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 Topic
Observing objectively –
2 minimising bias
Your attitudes toward people who are different from you can affect observations that you make. The aim
of your observations is to ensure that they are unbiased – in other words, someone else observing the same
child or children would come to similar conclusions.

When you observe, you need to realise that you will probably always make judgements based on what you
have experienced in your life. Recognise these prejudices and make the decision that you cannot allow
them to affect your judgements of the children you are observing. You may feel differently about children
from a different race from your own; you may want to respond differently to what you perceive to be fat
or ugly children, you may feel particularly drawn to red-headed little girls – recognise this and do not let it
influence your judgement. Do not let your expectations be shaped by your ideas of what is ‘right’ or
‘expected’ from different groups, genders or ethnic identities.

DEFINITION
Stereotype: a fixed idea about a group or person that includes certain characteristics (for
example, all girl babies should be dressed in pink). By responding to someone with a
stereotyped point of view, you expect them to match the characteristics of the stereotype
(for example, you would expect a girl baby to be wearing pink).
Prejudice: when you make a judgement about a person and about how they will react
before getting to know who they really are: pre = before and judice = judgement. When
we have fixed ideas about people and make judgements about them before we get know
them, these are usually linked to stereotypes, and it is difficult to change these ways of
thinking.

These are some examples of stereotypes:

 All Indian people are Hindi.

 All boys should be good at sport.
 All girls love to play with dolls.
 All young people are keen to experiment with sex and drugs.

By making decisions about the people we meet before we know them, we subject them to our stereotyped
thinking. We should try to remain open-minded and get to know people better before making judgements
and categorising them in our thoughts. Not all boys have to be good at sport – many of them are very
well-adapted and not good at sport. Stereotyped ideas are simply lazy thinking and mostly false, and do
not take the whole person into account.

In your observations, you should avoid applying labels to the children. Examples are: “That spoilt little
boy won’t help his friend clean up because he is not expected to clean up at home” or “This clumsy child
will have poor ball skills, I’m sure.” Make observations without prejudice and without jumping to
conclusions; rather open up to all sorts of information and accept the information without filtering it
through your fixed ideas. Check your observations for any stereotyped ideas. Ask questions about why
you have made certain conclusions. Take into account the cultural and individual differences between
children, without relying on stereotypes.

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Removing bias from your observations

DEFINITION
Bias: an opinion which leans towards or against something, often without any factual
evidence for the correctness of that point of view.

Bias can lead to unfair treatment of people. At the ECD centre, you might be biased against children who
come from a particular religious background or who are privileged. Sometimes biases lead to unfair or
unjust treatment of others. For example, if you believe that a Sotho-speaking child is not as intelligent as a
Zulu-speaking child, you may not be open to observing the true developmental level of the Sotho child.
Or, are you possibly favouring a child because she comes from the same cultural group as yourself? (Bias
can also be positive, favouring one group or individual over another.) This will make your assessments
inaccurate and ultimately disadvantage the child.

In the ECD playroom we try to create an environment that is free from bias and stereotypes.
Take time to reflect on your observations, to clarify and filter out any biased ideas before you evaluate the
child’s development.

Examples of prejudice are: “Young people without Grade 12 will never hold down a job” or “They are
receiving social grants because they are lazy” or “Disabled people are lucky because they don’t have to
work.” Prejudice blinds us to the person’s true reality. People who are prejudiced tend to act in a
discriminating way against others, treating them unfairly, often because of differences of race, sex or even
exceptional talent.

Example of bias that could possibly affect observation

Two children join Bella’s ECD centre, from a Somali Muslim family. The girls, aged four and
two, wear headscarves when they arrive with their mother (who is also wearing a headscarf).

In Bella’s observation of the new children, she needs to assess their developmental level of
fine motor coordination and gross motor coordination. At the end of her observation session,
when she summarises and makes conclusions, she finds that they are both competent for their
expected level of development. This surprises her because she has assumed that the
headscarves would get in the way of the children’s activities and hamper their development.
Later she finds out that the children don’t wear the headscarves all the time at home.

(The right of the child to wear a headscarf in the school setting is a subject of debate. The
European Union has decided not to ban it in primary schools. What do you know about the
current debate about wearing headscarves in ECD centres and primary schools in South
Africa?)

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 Topic
Frameworks and assessment
3 guidelines
Observation should be focused and accurate, and in order to make it useful for assessment purposes, the
facilitator should rely on assessment instruments. These provide a framework for organising information
and describing accurately the important detail within the observations.

Types of assessment instruments

Rubrics

Practitioner
journals Portfolio items

Interviews Checklists
Assessment
instruments

Standardised
tests Daily feedback
reports

Association & Frequency

participation charts
charts

Figure 1.2 Types of assessment instruments

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Rubrics

DEFINITION
Rubric: a scoring tool that lists the criteria for an assignment or task. A good rubric
describes levels of quality for each of the criteria.

An assessment rubric is a tool that provides a way of setting up grading criteria for activities you require
the child to master – in other words, you can use rubrics to assess a child against a milestone for a specific
age or a specific level of development. A rubric guides the ECD practitioner to:

 Clarify for herself the level at which the child is expected to perform by describing these levels in
the rubric
 Establish norms (standards) for performance of children at a specific age or a specific level of
development
 Compare the performance of different children so that you can assist those who require additional
help and take note of exceptional performances
 Generate documentation for future feedback to role-players on the child’s performance.

How to formulate a rubric

To formulate your own rubrics for assessing child development, you should use your knowledge or
reference materials about child development. Keep in mind that these standards are generalised and that
each individual child, with their unique capabilities, should be assessed as a whole and as an individual.
These kinds of standards should always be seen as guidelines and not as absolute inflexible rules, and they
are based on theories and existing knowledge about children’s developmental milestones.

How to develop a rubric of your own

Level ► 1 2 3 4
Performance
descriptor
▼

Figure 1.3 An example of a rubric

1. With the help of your colleagues, decide which activity you are going to observe, and more or less,
on what the aspects are of the activity you want to assess.
2. Observe some children doing the activity or look at some previous work to see if there is anything
you have left out.
3. Refine your original aspects if necessary.

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4. Give names to each of these aspects. Write these on a table in the first column.
5. The levels of performance may be written as different ratings across the columns in the top row (e.g.
excellent, good, needs improvement) or as numerical scores (e.g. 4: child exceeded the expected
developmental milestone, 3: child reached the expected developmental milestone, 2: child reached
the expected developmental milestone partially, and 1: child has not reached the expected
developmental milestone yet).
6. Assess your rubric, discuss it with colleagues and possibly parents, and then try it out with a few
children. Change it where necessary.
Adapted from http://www.sites4teachers.com

Benefits of rubrics

 Rubrics are more effective than giving just one mark or grade to an activity as they make the
practitioner think more carefully about what outcomes she requires from the activity.
 They can be used more than once but can be changed over the years when necessary.
 They are likely to provide a fairer and less biased assessment of the activity from one child to
another.
 Rubrics will also be more consistent over time as you have defined exactly what it is that you want
the child to be able to do.
 Practitioners can share rubrics they have developed and this will also help to establish a fair standard
for assessment.

Portfolio of evidence
The child’s portfolio should include any kind of activities that were done by the child. Here are a few
examples: drawings, paintings and creative art activities, work done on a computer, photos of child
activities, audio and video tapes.

Children provide a rich source of information through their drawings. Developmental milestones as well
as important social issues often reflect in the way they draw their pictures. Examples of themes that could
be used for drawings are: my world, my family and pictures that focus on emotions like anger, love and
caring.

Interpreting children’s drawings is a highly developed skill

and you should preferably interview or chat to the child
about the drawing immediately after it is completed, to get
an accurate idea of the meaning of the drawing for the
child. When you have a number of drawings that the child
has done you may also be able to see particular trends in
her drawings, e.g. drawing herself outside the house,
drawing her father as an exceptionally large figure, not
including a sibling in the picture. These could be indicators
of possible family problems but you will need professional
assistance to take your concerns further. The children’s
drawings and artwork can also be an indication of issues
that interest them and you can use these as a starting point
for future classes.

Note that portfolios should be carefully stored since you

will lose a whole year’s work if you lose them!

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Developmental checklists
Checklists are often used in the assessment of developmental milestones. It is important to understand
what is being described in the checklist, and to consider the child’s individuality when using it as an
observational tool for assessment.

Here are some guidelines to help you:

 Use the checklist once at the beginning of the year and once at the end, to get a rating for each baby,
toddler or young child, and to check progress at the end of the year. You may want to use it only for
those babies, toddlers and young children who show that they are struggling with a particular issue in
order to investigate the extent of the problem, for example, a child that is struggling with language
and communication.

 Informal and busy settings like snack times and play times are the best times to use the checklist to
get an idea of the developmental level for babies. For toddlers and young children, you can use the
checklist during circle times, outside play time or during any other activity.

 Remember always to record the child's name and the date, duration, time, and setting of the
observation, along with the contextual factors (for example, “Sibby is playing on the seesaw with
Steve, and talking to him about her weekend at her gran’s house”). Keep the completed checklist in
each child's individual folder or portfolio.

Observation to assess beginning and end-of-term abilities in Gr R

Activity ► writes draws recognises knows remembers completes

name simple some names of a song simple
drawings written colours puzzle
Name words
▼

Richard     

John   

Thabisa    

Thembisa

Andy    
Date: 5 Feb 2009
Observation period: 30 minutes (11:00–11:30)
Notes: Thembisa only succeeded at one activity; seems to need to develop confidence in
herself. John, Thabisa and Thembisa struggle with the written word.

Figure 1.4 Example of a developmental checklist

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Daily feedback reports
A class list with space to write down any notes regarding the child’s progress for each day should be
available. This helps to make the observations of the day more constructive and it will help you to record
and remember important incidents that should be shared with the parents at a later stage. It will also assist
you in establishing patterns in behaviour.

6 /2 Comments

Alison 

Andrea a

Busisiwe  seemed very tired a.m.

Craig 

Cuan 

Daniso 

Eduardo a second time this week

Garnet 

Japonica  scribbled all over drawing made

Figure 1.5 Example of a daily feedback report

Frequency charts
The purpose of a frequency chart is to help you to keep record of how many times a certain kind of
behaviour is displayed by the child.

You will need to decide what it is you want to record – you might want to focus only on certain children –
and then make sure that you have some time to complete this each day. If there are particular behaviours
that are disturbing, you can use these charts as back-up information for interviews with parents or
discussions with colleagues.

Frequency Chart: Self-reliant behaviour

Observe children managing themselves and participating in activities. Place a tick next to the child’s
name every time you observe either independent or dependent behaviour.

Examples of behaviour to monitor include:

Washing hands, buttoning jerseys, putting on shoes, finding and putting away belongings, organising
resources needed for activities, tidying up, initiating play. Note: an overly dependent child may cry or
tantrum if he or she does not obtain immediate assistance.

NAME OF CHILD INDEPENDENT OVERLY DEPENDENT

Can manage independently Requests & requires assistance
Bernice √√√√

Cathy √√√

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 Darien √√√

Feroza √√ √

Jordan √ √ √ √ √√ √ √

Latiefa √√√√ √

Maureen √ √ √ √ √√ √ √

Nigel √

Paul √√√√ √√

TOTAL 25 16

Figure 1.6 Example of a frequency chart

Association and participation charts

These charts can be used to assess how the child uses the indoor and outdoor space, equipment, and with
whom the child likes to associate. Divide the class into small groups so that you can make sure that you
assess all the children. Draw a diagram to explain the layout of the indoor and outdoor space. Observe the
children and record who plays where with what equipment, toys, etc. and with which friends do they
usually share their playtime. Making notes of these observations will help the ECD practitioner to
understand the child’s preferences, for example, with regards toys. (Davin & Van Staden 2005, p.p. 249–
250)

Example
Some children may spend a lot of time building with blocks or playing fantasy games indoors,
and hardly any time climbing on the jungle gym outside. This kind of behaviour will have
implications for the development of the child’s motor skills. The fine motor skills may be well-
developed while gross motor development may lag behind. The child could then be given
specific tasks to complete on the jungle gym to encourage gross motor development.

Some behavioural patterns could indicate certain problems with interpersonal interactions in the group.

Example
Mpho, a 3-year-old boy who is rather big for his age, always seeks out the company of Ben,
another 3 year old who is significantly smaller in stature than Mpho. After careful observation
of the interaction between the two boys and the other children, the ECD practitioner realised
that two other boys (Ruan and Gershwin) tend to bully and boss Ben around. Mpho seems to
have made it his task to protect Ben against these two. As a result of this discovery, the ECD
practitioner should attend to the bullying behaviour displayed by the other boys.

Standardised tests
There are some standardised tests that could be used for formal assessment of children for example some
school readiness tests. Children are usually referred to professionals such as occupational therapists or
educational psychologists for this kind of formal assessment. The validity of some tests is questionable. In
the light of the diversity of our current society, we need to understand that children, who come from a
very different background from those children who were used as respondents when the test was
developed, will respond differently to that test. This makes the interpretation of the results not always
trustworthy. They should therefore be interpreted in consultation with practitioners who know the child
well.

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Interviews with the children
Interviews with a child can help you to clarify issues that you think might be affecting the child’s
progress. They could also provide you with some ‘alone time’ with the child. They should not be stressful.
It might be useful to talk with children in a small group so that the child does not feel threatened. There
might, however, be times when you need to talk to the child alone and you need to establish an
atmosphere of trust and the child needs to know that what she says is confidential.

Interviewing a child could provide a huge amount of information to the ECD practitioner. Asking
questions is a good way of gathering information. Here are some examples.

Example: Ask open-ended questions

Set the task in an open-ended and neutral way by asking “Please draw a picture of your family”
rather than “Draw a picture of your mother, father and siblings”. In the first instruction you are
leaving it up to the child to draw whoever she regards as being part of her family, but in the
second question you are instructing the child to draw specific people.

Example: Guard against leading questions

Ask “Who is not in the picture of your family?” rather than asking “Do you not want to draw
your father?” The first question will give the child the opportunity to respond in her own way;
whereas in the second question you make an assumption that she does not want to draw her
father. There might be other reasons that she did not draw her father. For example, the father
might have died, the parents may be divorced or the father may simply be out of town due to
work responsibilities at the time. In other words – do not put ideas or answers into the child’s
head. Allow the child to come up with her own explanations.

Practitioner journals
It can be useful for practitioners to keep a daily or weekly journal in which she documents issues that are
concerning her, successful playroom activities, ideas for future classes and the progress made by the
children in her group. The journal will also be useful for reflecting on at the end of each week, term or
year, and can be used for information the following year. The journal is a personal account of her teaching
and not for official use.

Children with special needs

You might suspect that a child does not hear, or see well. You may identify possible behavioural or social
problems, or you may identify possible difficulties regarding visual or auditory perception, special
orientation or gross and/or fine motor development. However, keep in mind that you cannot diagnose
learning or developmental problems.

As an ECD practitioner you can only identify potential developmental or learning difficulties. Diagnoses
can only be made by specialists such as paediatricians, neurologists, occupational therapists, speech
therapists, social workers etc.

When assessment is done purposefully, it is inevitable that the ECD practitioner will identify children
with potential special needs.
It is important to identify which of these children will be helped by the adjustment of the learning
programme alone and which of these children will need referral to other specialists.

The earlier these difficulties are diagnosed and treated, the better the possibility of a positive outcome. So
do not hesitate to discuss any concerns of this nature with the parents or guardians. Make an action plan in
co-operation with the parents, and rather refer sooner than later. No harm is done in an ‘unnecessary’

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assessment by a professional, but a lot of harm could be done if a problem is ignored instead of treated in
time.

When a problem is diagnosed by a professional person, work with that person to provide an optimal
learning programme for that child. Find out from them what you can do as part of the daily learning
programme to facilitate active learning for that child.

We will discuss this issue in much more detail in the study guide Developing learning programmes to
enhance participation of learners with special needs.

Activity 3:
Observation in practise

US: 244475: Specific Outcome 1: AC 1–5. CCFO: Communicating and collecting

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Choose a child from your ECD centre. (Check that you have permission from the principal to do so.)
Spend two hours with this child and do everything that this child does, including running, eating,
going to the bathroom, talking to another child, etc. Choose at least two different assessment
instruments to make your observations. Before you start, think about what you would like to learn
from the observation – what is your objective (for example, to assess a certain developmental
milestone)? Then plan how you will use the assessment instruments before you actually do the
observation.

After the two hours, write a 200-word summary of your findings.

Write in your Journal to reflect on this activity.

Conclusion

In this unit you have learnt how to do observations, how to do these without prejudice and bias and you
have been shown the various types of evidence that can be used to observe children.

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 Unit 2:
Recording observations

Unit outline

1. Keeping accurate, bias-free records

2. Structuring your records

3. Why records are needed

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 Topic
Keeping accurate, bias-free
1 records
In the same way that what you observe can be affected by stereotyping and prejudice, so too can what you
record be influenced by your bias about a child’s personality, attitudes, race, culture, gender and
background.

Example for discussion

You have two children attending your ECD centre. One is from a poor background and
there is little parent interest in his progress. The other is from a wealthy background with
parents who are constantly monitoring her progress. Are you going to report on them in the
same way?

Be aware that your judgements and perceptions may play a role in your records.

Activity 4:
Recording and not remaining sensitive to culture

US: 244475: Specific Outcome 2, AC 1. CCFO: Communicating

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Below is an example of a facilitator recording her feelings about being approached by a parent with a
problem. Her attitude, which is revealed by the judgemental and prejudiced remarks she has recorded,
shows cultural bias.

Yusuf complained to his dad that I had called him ‘my little sausage’ as he felt this was
insulting. Yusuf’s dad, who I can see is over-sensitive and so serious, asked to see me
this morning and spoke about the use of pet names, asking me to call Yusuf only by his
given name and not use any pet names for him. I do call the children ‘sweetie’
sometimes but I think this request is ridiculous. Some people take everything so
seriously. I will try to change, but it is a habit of mine to show my affection for the
children this way. We are supposed to be warm and caring facilitators.
Facilitator: Linda

Discuss in your group:

Is there a problem in the above case study? Is the recorder demonstrating prejudice? Why? How do
you think she could have reported this in a non-prejudiced way? What is the difference between a fact
and an opinion?

Report back to your class group.

Write in your Journal.

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Steps for recording objectively

What should your approach be when recording an observation? Follow the following steps to ensure that
your recording is as objective as possible:

1. Describe briefly what happened. Answer all the questions “who, what, where, when, why and
how”, as far as possible, giving only brief and essential facts.
2. Record your professional assessment of the situation as clearly and factually as possible.
3. Specify what follow-up action may be needed.
4. Make notes in your journal about your own response to the event.

Figure 2.1 Recording objectively means recording in a balanced, fair manner that tries not to take sides,
show favour or distort the facts

QUOTE

“The observation of others is coloured by our inability to observe ourselves impartially.

We can never be impartial about anything until we can be impartial about our own
organism.”
– A. R. Orage

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 Topic

2 Structuring your records

How are records kept? There are various types of observation record sheets; some being more formal than
others. These include:

Type of report Description

class list logs attendance registers with brief notes if necessary

anecdotal records notes on your observations of specific events e.g. what happened
when the child had a temper tantrum

checklists a list of standards for development where you can tick of what the
child does, e.g. is able to recite a short rhyme

frequency charts a chart to monitor a specific behaviour e.g. how often the child is
able to interact with others in a group

reports a formal statement of the child’s progress throughout the term – this
will probably use comments and checklists
Table 2.1 Type of reports

Writing up observations

When you write up a record of an

observation you will need to remember the
following:

 Write up the records as quickly after

the observation as possible, or you are
likely to forget all the details of what
you have observed.
 Be sure that you have the correct details
of the child you are observing: name,
age and group.
 Record the date and the purpose of the
observation.
 Record not only what you see (the child’s activity, body language, facial expressions and
movements) but also what you hear (the child’s comments, responses to other children).
 Be as objective as possible (facts not opinions).

Note any factors that could influence the observation (the child’s health, state of alertness or tiredness, the
weather, other people in the area who might be influencing the observation – other children, practitioners,
parents).

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List your conclusions and make recommendations.

You will need to analyse what you have written and this will become easier with experience. Read over
what you have observed; use your knowledge of the child to inform your conclusions, as well as your
knowledge of the child’s background, physical, emotional and mental development, and your knowledge
of developmental theory.
Decide how you will store observations; ensure that you keep the records in a safe place for storage and
that they remain confidential.

You might want to have a separate file or portfolio per child, or a storage box per class – this will also
depend on the policy of the organisers of the ECD centre.

Figure 2.2 It is a good idea to have a separate file or portfolio for child

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 Topic

3 Why records are needed

What is the role of records in assessment? There are two general types of assessment. These are formative
and summative. They will be clarified below.

Formative assessment

DEFINITION
Formative assessment: an assessment that is done on an ongoing basis; it should happen
in a variety of ways, at various times and in various situations.

Social interactions between the children or sudden gaps in their ability to do an assessment task they could
manage before should all be recorded, so that you can then adapt your learning programme to cater to
their needs. This is called observation for facilitating learning and development. Observation (for
formative assessment) feeds into the natural cycle of assessing, planning, implementing and reflecting
within the learning programme, as we see in figure 2.3.

Reflecting Assessing

Implementing Planning

Figure 2.3 The observation process

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Information that you could put together as a result of your formative observations could include:

 Does this child need extra assistance at the ECD centre?

 Are there some other activities which I should be doing at the ECD centre?
 Do I need to refer any of the children to another professional person for extra assistance?
 Are there aspects of my ECD practice that I should change?
 Who else needs to know about this – the rest of the ECD practitioners, the principal, parents?

Summative assessment

DEFINITION
Summative assessment: an assessment that which gives an overall picture of the child’s
knowledge and skills development.

We also rely on observational records to assess the children’s progress in a summative way, usually at the
end of a term or year. This information is usually of value to your supervisor, the team of colleagues,
parents, and other service specialists.

Summative records are structured and are a sum of what you have observed during the time period – this
will include your observations, the child’s work and any other input you may have collected.

Here is an example of a written report.

Wonderland Day Care Centre

Progress report June 2005
Assessment codes
4 Child exceeded the expected developmental milestone
3 Child reached the expected developmental milestone
2 Child reached the expected developmental milestone partially
1 Child did not reach the expected developmental milestone yet

Name Hannah
Surname Green
Age 3 years 8
months
Weight 19 kg
Height 90,5 cm
I know My birthday Parent’s Address Telephone
names number
4 4 4 4
I help myself with Food Toilet and Getting Tying
washing dressed shoelaces
hands

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 4 4 4 2
Relationships Friends Adults Respect for
authority
3 3 3
Gross motor development
 Climbing
Jungle gym 3
Steps 3

 Jumping
Star jumps 3
Skipping with a rope 3
Jump on left leg 3
Jump on right leg 3

 Balance
Stand on left leg 3
Stand on right leg 3
Walk on a line 3

 Eye-hand co-ordination
Catch a ball 3
Throw a ball 3
Bounce a ball 3
Hit with a racket 2

 Eye-foot co-ordination
Kick 3
Flip-a-catch 2

Fine motor development

Colour in 4
Draw 4
Holding a pencil 4
Folding paper 3
Threading 3
Cut 3
Tear paper 3

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 Draw a figure 4
Page through a book 4

Visual perception
 Forms
Identify 4
Name 4
Copy 3

 Colours
Identify 4

 Puzzles
Number of pieces 16
Complete on own 4
Complete with help n/a

 Spatial orientation
In Front, behind, up, under, left 3
and right
Can complete patterns 3

Auditory perception
Understand instructions 3
Auditory memory 3
Identify sounds 3
Using sentences 3
Vocabulary 3
Can express him/herself in words 3
Pronunciation 3
Convey a message 3
Sing along 3
Ask questions 3
Answer questions 3
 Cognitive development
 Numerical
Can count to 10 4

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 Recognise numbers 2
Copy numbers 2
Understand more/less 3
Understand big/small 3
Sequencing 2
 Understand
Days of the week 2
Today, tomorrow, yesterday 2
Seasons 2

Comments from class teacher

Hannah is a very pleasant little girl a real joy to have in the class room. Perhaps one needs to pay
attention to the concepts of yesterday, today and tomorrow as well as the days of the week. A
suggestion could be to put up a calendar in her room to visually display the concepts. At school
we will pay attention to the areas where she scored a 2. Specific activities will be given to her to
help her to develop those skills. Please feel free to contact me if anything is unclear or if you
have any concerns.
Signature Class Teacher: Mrs Class Teacher
Signature Principal: Mrs Principal of Wonderland Day Care Centre
Signature parent:
Date: 30 June 2005

Figure 2.4 Example of a progress report

You might also need to do a special report in the following cases:

 If the child demonstrates a particular behavioural problem over a long period (e.g. aggressive
behaviour) or if she demonstrates a new behavioural problem after some particular trauma (e.g.
losing control of her bladder after her parents’ divorce)
 If you notice a health issue in the child that affects her learning (e.g. asthma)
 If you see evidence of learning difficulties that could be remediated by her parents or with outside
professional help
 If you notice that the child has exceptional abilities or intelligence and requires extra support or
stimulation
 If the child is new to the ECD centre or is about to leave the ECD centre.

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Referring a child to specialist workers

When you need to refer a child to a service specialist, you should be able to rely on a pool of resources
that your ECD centre has already established, for example, your principal should know the name of a
contact person at the local hospital who could do a basic developmental assessment of the child.

If you need to establish that network of resources yourself, here are some guidelines to do so:

Guidelines to establishing a referral network

1. Parents/caregiver’s informed consent

Always begin a referral by including the cooperation and informed consent of the parents or primary
caregivers, as they are the ones who must take the child to any appointments and provide the cooperation
necessary to carry out the treatment.

2. Identify developmentally appropriate resources

Identify the developmentally appropriate resources (for example, baby clinics or paediatricians, or other
specialised ECD services for children with special needs, or developmental assessment units at a
children’s hospital, or speech and hearing therapists at a general hospital). These resources should also be
culturally appropriate for the needs of the child’s family (language may be an issue requiring special
support so that parents can work with the service specialist, with full understanding). Affordability of the
specialised service is very important for parents.

3. Create a network

Connect with these social or medical services and create a network of a variety of them, so that you can
match a service to a child’s particular need. A good network should include a family doctor, a mental
health facility (for children), and a child health specialist, as well as government social work agencies or
NGOs offering support for parenting skills. Build up your list or network constantly, by being aware of
any new community resources.

4. Cooperate and communicate

Ensure that you cooperate and communicate with them effectively. This will mean that you are more
likely to get help quickly (for the child) when it is needed. Get these services to become your allies in
helping parents with young children.

5. Use easily accessible resources in the community

Use easily accessible resources in the community, if possible, to increase the likelihood of follow-up and
of parents keeping their appointments.

6. Ensure that the service specialist is providing support to parents/caregivers

Be sure that the service specialist is providing some support to the parents or caregivers, so that their
contribution to the problem (or to the solution) is managed properly. Due to the fact that the process of
referral usually starts with informing the parents and enlisting their cooperation, the next activity gives
you practice at doing this.

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 Activity 5:
Examples of progress reports and specialist networks

US: 244475: Specific Outcome 2, AC 1–3. CCFO: Collecting

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Gather the following information from the ECD centre you work with:

1. Ask an ECD practitioner if you may have a copy of a term report for three children of different
abilities in one of her classes. Ask her to delete their names. Swap two of the reports with your
classmates so that you have reports from three different ECD centres. File these in your portfolio of
evidence.
2. Ask the ECD practitioner for a list of their specialists and put this in your portfolio of evidence, as
well as two copies of specialist lists from two of your class members.

Place your written answers to these questions inside your Portfolio of Evidence.

Conclusion

In this unit you have learnt about record keeping and the relevance of records, about avoiding bias and
prejudice in records, about how to structure records and finally, about referrals to other specialists.

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 Unit 3:
Giving feedback on
observations
Unit outline

1. Feedback mechanisms and

confidentiality

2. Giving clear, relevant feedback

3. Sensitive, effective and sufficient

feedback

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 Topic
Feedback mechanisms and
1 confidentiality

The importance of confidentiality

Why is confidentiality so important? Surely everyone has the child’s interests at heart? Surely information
can be passed from one professional to another without the need for steps to protect confidentiality?

Unfortunately the rights of the child (and his parents) to confidentiality are not always respected. A
community setting like an ECD centre is host to children, adults, facilitator colleagues and other staff. All
of these people might get to know the details of a child’s referral to a specialist, if care is not taken. This
has social implications for the child and the parents, for example other parents may reject the parents of
the child socially or tell their children to reject the child at the ECD centre. Also, the information may be
misinterpreted by people who do not know the meaning of the terminology (jargon) or misunderstand the
implications of a referral.

Steps to take to protect confidentiality

 Do not discuss the child in her hearing or in his presence.
 Include in discussions only those colleagues, parents or specialists who are directly involved in
working with the child.
 Be wary of telephone discussions – you need to check that you are speaking to the correct people.
 Where parents are divorced or there are multiple caregivers, be aware of this and handle the
situation sensitively.
 Store information correctly in files and keep them locked, to protect the confidential records from
being abused or getting lost.

Activity 6:
Preparing for a parent interview

US: ID 244475: Specific Outcome 3: AC 3, 4, 5. CCFO: Collecting and communicating

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Work with a partner. Take turns to play the role of the facilitator and the single parent.

Mrs Tobias is a single parent. You have an interview with her about her child, Ben, who is very active
and noisy. The facilitator needs to give Ms Tobias feedback in an interview about her child. This is
not affecting his development yet, but it is affecting your class. You are trying to get Mrs Tobias to
cooperate and encourage Ben to be quiet during certain times while he is at home: mealtimes,
bedtimes and listening while his mom reads a story.

The aim is to get the mother to set limits and encourage quiet behaviour at certain times at home,
which will help reinforce your efforts at the ECD centre. Identify which activities Ben has to be quiet
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 for, in your programme.
Try to be sensitive and open to Mrs Tobias, while encouraging her participation and cooperation.
2. Give each other feedback on your roles. Use this assessment rubric:

Facilitator’s feedback Not adequate Adequate Excellent

Communicates clearly

Focuses on child’s strengths too

Concerned with child’s difficulties

Sensitive to parent

Explains link between home and ECD activities

Give some information in your feedback to explain your rating of your partner on the rubric.

Provide your partner’s scoring of your interview skills to go in your Portfolio of

Evidence.

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 Topic
Giving clear and relevant
2 feedback
When providing feedback, keep in mind the goal of your observations. You started with a question or a
concern about a specific aspect of a child’s development. Refer back to this point or question when you
provide the feedback, so that you don’t stray from the point and provide irrelevant information.

Guidelines on making feedback relevant to development

 Identify what your question or concern was. (This has been the focus of your observations)
 Refer to the relevant assessment instruments (checklists, milestones, rubrics, anecdotal reports)
which you used to assess this aspect of development.
 Try to answer the question in your feedback. Use clear, simple language.
 Link the question to any other relevant domains of development (since development is holistic) that
may be affected as a result. Explain briefly how they are affected (if at all).
 Direct the feedback to the most appropriate person or expert who can help the child (whether it is
the parent, caregiver, or service specialist).

Remember that the aim of the observations and feedback is to improve the child’s situation and maximise
her opportunities for full development.

Read the case study below and then do the activity that follows.

Case study: Feedback relevant to development

Elsie is a child who suffered from encephalitis at age 4, which caused her to suffer mild brain
damage. Her gross motor coordination was affected the most, and her fine motor coordination
also needs help. She is now 5. In spite of being highly intelligent and socially capable, she has
difficulties in the classroom: she is lagging slightly behind the other children in the gross
motor and fine motor skills (she is at about age 3 ½ with these.) She is already receiving
regular physiotherapy.
Your role as facilitator of the ECD centre is not to provide expert input, but to keep track of
her development and give her some extra attention when she needs help in the group. The
kind of encouragement she needs from you is daily support with activities and for you to
monitor her improvements. She will eventually catch up almost completely with the
milestones and age-appropriate gross motor and fine motor skills.
Your feedback to parents about Elsie’s progress should focus strictly on how she is catching
up. Your report should also describe how Elsie’s performance is responding to your input and
to the activities she is doing with the group.

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 Activity 7:
Give feedback relevant to development

US: ID 244475: Specific Outcome 3, AC 3, 4, 5. CCFO: Collecting

US: 58761: Exit Level Outcome 4

Think about the case study about Elsie and then answer the questions that follow:

1. Do some research and find out what encephalitis and brain damage are.
2. Identify the activities in your weekly programme that you would expect Elsie to need help with.
3. Write an imaginary oral report that you would give to her parent/s after having Elsie in your class
for two weeks.

Place your written answers to these questions inside your Portfolio of Evidence.

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 Topic
Sensitive, effective and
3 sufficient feedback

How to give sensitive feedback

When you are giving feedback to the role-players (parents, colleagues, the principal and specialists) you
need to be sensitive about what you say and do. This includes:

 Making sure that you set a time and venue that suits everyone
 Ensuring a warm and accepting environment
 Making it clear that the issues are confidential and ask permission, if you need to, to refer the child
to a service specialist
 Listening carefully to what others have to say
 Showing you are paying attention through your body language; you can do this through making eye
contact and nodding to reinforce what they say
 Summarising their main points briefly before giving your opinion (e.g. “You are saying that you
find it difficult to wake Primrose up in the morning. I find that …”)
 Reflecting their emotions (e.g. “You are afraid he might not be able to cope with school next year.
We have found that …”)
 Being particularly sensitive in meetings where parents are separated or divorced

How to ensure that feedback is effective

For feedback to be effective to the relevant role-players you should:

 Ensure that the meeting is relaxed, comfortable and non-threatening

 Be clear about why you are meeting
 Convey the information in a clear and organised fashion
 Show the parents assessment rubrics if necessary and explain these
 Listen to the opinions of the role-players
 Come up with suggestions and possible solutions in the meeting
 Be clear about who will take responsibility for which parts of the follow-up
 Set dates for a future report back if necessary
 Minute the decisions and way forward briefly and send a copy to each of the role-players so that
they are reminded of what to do

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Sufficient feedback

When you meet with the relevant role players, it is important that you have enough evidence in order to
support the conclusions you have drawn about the child.

Your evidence should:

 be thorough and organised

 show an awareness of the child’s development as a whole and as a unique individual
 usually be documented over a period of time (unless you are meeting them about an urgent, once-off
issue)
 be related to other children’s development of the same age
 include different examples of the child’s performance (portfolio, checklists, interviews, etc)

Conclusion

In this unit you have learnt about how to observe babies, toddlers and young children, you have engaged
with different ways of recording activities, you have found out about giving positive and sensitive
feedback to the adults involved and how to access the necessary resources.

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References

Internet articles

 Harmony Child Learning Centre Developmental Checklist for 4 ½ to 6 year olds,

www.harmony.com.au/downloads
 http://www.sites4teachers.com
 http://www.uen.org/k-2educator/assessment.shtml

Books

 Dombro, A, Colker L and Dodge, D: The Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers, revised
edition, 1999, Teaching Strategies, Washington.
 Davin, R. and Van Staden, C. 2005 The reception year Heinemann Publishers, Johannesburg
 Duff, J. Aspects of Junior Primary Teaching. 1993. Lexicon Publishers: Johannesburg.
 Faber, R. and Van Staden, C. The Year before School. 1997. Heineman: Johannesburg.
 Matterson, E.M. Play with a Purpose for Under-sevens. 1965. Penguin Books: United
Kingdom.
 McEvilly, K. and Tiley, J. A Sound Foundation: Education for the Primary School. 1990.
A Sound Foundation: South Africa.
 Odendaal, M.S. The ABC of Communicative Language Teaching. 1991. Acacia: Goodwood.
 Whitbread, D. (Ed). Teaching and Learning in the Early Years. 1996. Routledge: London.

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