Observing children is important for assessment purposes. Educators should observe objectively without making assumptions, and consider the context of a child's behavior. Judgments about a child's development and learning should be based on skills and behaviors they demonstrate consistently and independently across contexts. It is best to observe children in both adult-directed and child-initiated activities to gather a range of evidence. Collaborative documentation and assessment that involves children and families provides a more complete picture of learning.

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OBSERVING CHILDREN
for
ASSESSMENT

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Why Observe?

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Assumptions
and Inferences
• One of the keys to being a good observer of children is
the ability to remain objective and not to make
assumptions about what might be happening.
• As educators we will have a more accurate picture when
we know the context of the child’s behaviour and what
may have led to it.

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Judgements of children’s
development and learning
must be based on skills,
knowledge , understanding
and behaviour that are
demonstrated consistently
and independently

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Consider a range of evidence displayed in
different contexts and across areas of
learning
Observe children in adult directed and child
initiated activities
The assessment made is the best
description of the child’s achievement

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Contemporary
issue:
How can we
really best
record
evidence of
children’s
learning?
Early Childhood Australia (2014) reports that some early
childhood educators might not initially be comfortable with
the term ‘assessment’.
As one early childhood educator points out:
One of the problems with the word assessment that it invokes
thoughts of tests and work sheets. I think people are fearful of
‘making judgments’. …What is different about the EYLF
is that we are asking people to make judgments against a set of
outcomes.

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Contemporary
issue:What are
children learning
in early
childhood
education?
• Ken Blaiblock (2013) argues that just as there is no
requirement for centres to focus on particular learning
outcomes for current frameworks used in early
childhood , so there is no requirement to assess
particular areas of children’s learning.

8. Socio-cultural contexts of learning
• Recognition of the social and cultural contexts of learning,
collaborative approaches to curriculum, understanding of
dispositions of learning, and recognition of power relations
have resulted in changing approaches to observation and
documentation.
• Sociocultural methods of documentation focus on
observing group interactions and the ongoing interests of
groups of children. Much can be observed of shared interests,
friendships, group interactions and cooperative behaviours.
• This approach to documentation, results in observations
that are ‘far more vibrant, reflective and complex’ than a
traditional approach (Fleer & Robbins, 2003, p.15)

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First Lens: the child as an individual

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The second lens:The
child as a social being

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The third lens:The
child interacting in
the environment

12. .
Collaboration
&
Consultation
Gathering further documentation to
help with planning can be achieved
through,

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Collaborative
approaches to
documentation
and assessment
• Collaborative process give all participants
involved, a voice in documentation.
• Children are important partners in the
documentation process.
• Children are active constructors of their own
learning and are citizens with rights, and therefore
should be active participants in documentation.
• Children and families can be involved in many
aspects of the documentation of children’s learning
such as contributing artefacts to portfolios and
documenting learning stories.

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Collaborative
documentation
means that
educators:
• Engage in critical reflections regarding the power
relationships between children and educators and
take steps to develop more equal power relationships
• Offer children explanations of what they are
documenting and why
• Offer children the right to refuse to participate at
any point and respect their decision
• Are alert and responsive to subtle cues indicating
that children are not comfortable with being observed

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Collaborative
approaches to
documentation
and assessment
…
• Document children’s learning in naturalistic
environments where children can choose to be active
participants in the documentation process • Use
multiple methods of documentation to provide all
children with opportunities to express their ideas
• Respect children’s ownership of their ideas
• Provide children with opportunities to engage in
dialogue about the meaning of documentation
• Include children’s self-reflections in documentation on
their learning

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Value of consultation
• Broinowski (1997, p 6) suggests that the value of
collaborating with others is ‘inspirational thinking [that is]
enhanced by working together’.When we collaborate with
others, we allow ourselves the opportunity to develop a
united and common vision. When stakeholders share a
common vision, everyone’s efforts are focused in a similar
direction.We are also able to explore and consider many
different ways of achieving the same goal.

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Developing program in consultation with
others
• A relevant and well-developed learning program will
reflect the views, opinions and values of all the
stakeholders of a service.

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Value of consultation
All the information that we gather through consultation will
help guide us in our program design.

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Consultation…
also allows stakeholders to raise and
discuss concerns and issues about the
learning curriculum
allows for any issues to be discussed
with all stakeholders before changes to
the learning program are made.
Changes are agreed on by stakeholders
and later evaluated to see if the
situation has improved.

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Environments
that support
consultation
Broinowski (1997, pp 92–97) discusses
what is known as the ‘interactive
management model’ where consultation is
a critical factor.
What is interactive management?
Where all stakeholders are encouraged to
express their ideas.

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Think
about the
following
questions…
List those people you
believe would be
stakeholders.
How would including
stakeholders' interests
benefit children?