Fieldwork: Infant/Toddler or Child Observation

Part I: Observation, Documentation and Analysis, Infant or Toddler For this 4-6-page assignment, you will focus on an infant or toddler who is between 0-36 months old. You must observe the infant or toddler and interview at least one of the child’s parents/caregivers, with the observation and interview being a combined total of approximately 5 hours. Observations must be conducted in one of the following settings: a home, childcare setting, preschool, Head Start, or primary school classroom. In addition, your choice of observation sites should follow programmatic guidelines to ensure diversity across and within your fieldwork placements. Once the observation is completed, you will then use your notes from the observation and interview, as well as other forms of documentation that you will collect (as noted), to create a portrayal of the infant or toddler you observed. In addition, you will conduct a detailed analysis of the child where you will reflect upon your observations, what they tell you about who the child is in the world, and how the information you have gathered connects to larger practical and theoretical implications. Your completed assignment, modeled after the “Descriptive Review” process*, will include the following sections: (*Descriptive Review reference article noted in syllabus and provided in Blackboard.) I. Introduction: The contextual information: • Note the child’s gender • Note the child’s age • Other information on the child’s background such as language(s) spoken in the home, siblings, etc… • Make sure to include: • Date of the observation • Time of observation (both the start and end time) • Description of the setting and participants present • If the observation is conducted in a childcare or school setting, include a brief summary of school and community demographic information. • Why you decided to observe this particular child IIa. Observation (Notetaking, Describing) This section will be comprised of your observation notes, organized in the categories listed below. As discussed in class, the language you use when recording observations should be descriptive, “setting aside heavily judgmental language and diagnostic or other categorizing labels…what is most important is to ground language used to describe a child in examples and illustrations so that the language is wellrooted in observation.” (Carini, 2011, p.11). Be sure to use examples from your observation notes as you create your child portrayal: Your child portrayal should include the following areas: • physical presence and gesture • disposition and temperament • connections with others (both children and adults) • strong interests and preferences • modes of thinking and learning