28 Unit 1 Children and Families in Today’s World
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Ways to Observe
There are many ways to observe children. The
best way is to observe children directly. Many
observations, however, are done indirectly.
Direct Observations
A direct observation means watching chil-
dren in their natural environments. These envi-
ronments include home, play groups, child
care programs, schools, and public places, such
as shopping centers, parks, and restaurants
(Figure 1.14). Most direct observations occur in
these types of places.
Researchers often set up special laboratory
settings where they can do direct observations of
behaviors that do not occur in the natural environ-
ment. They may need to observe, for example, how
a baby reacts when the mother leaves the room and
a stranger enters. Researchers also use laboratory
observations to speed up the observation process.
Suppose researchers want to observe a child’s bal-
ancing skills. If they go to a park with a balance
beam, they may wait hours before they observe
enough children to form a sample for their study.
In a laboratory, however, children would arrive at
the setting, walk the beam, and leave. Researchers
also use laboratory settings when special equip-
ment is needed.
to ask questions about what you see. This
is how professional researchers learn.
• Like professional researchers, your
assignment may cause you to want to learn
more about a behavior. For example, you
may hear three-year-olds reciting numbers
from 1 to 10. Does this mean they can
count objects to 10? To fi nd out, you may
need to observe behavior more closely.
• Observing children can help you better
interact with the children in your care. You
can learn this by observing how others work
with children and how the children react
to them. When you observe adults who
work with children, you can learn to imitate
their successful behaviors. For instance, if
you observe a teacher sitting on the fl oor
working with children, you might later try
this, too. This can help you interact with
children in a more positive way. Because
many skills are learned through imitation,
this type of observation is important.
• In some cases, you may be allowed to
participate in the activities of children
while observing. Extra “helping hands”
are often needed and serve as a learning
experience for you, too. In all cases, by
watching carefully, you can respond
quickly if dangers arise.
Figure 1.13 Each time this
student observes and takes
notes, she learns to see more.
When was the last time you
observed a child’s behavior?
What did you learn from that
observation?