Observing Children Behavior - Essay Example

To administer Piaget’s test for understanding other’s points of view, I observed Ahmed during his playtime. At the start of my observations, Ahmed was reclusive and was not open to the idea of sharing with other children. This was evidenced by Ahmed’s habit of taking toys and retreating to a corner to play on his own without showing any concern for other children. Over time, as Ahmed was exposed to the other children through his daily interactions with them, Ahmed started becoming more and more open to other children. Initially, Ahmed was only willing to accept himself and would tend to walk away with his toys if some other child came close by. Over time, Ahmed developed enough tolerance to allow other children to come close by and sit while Ahmed played on his own. Ahmed only allowed other children to play with him when he realized that he would have to consistently interact with these children for a period longer than that in the nursery. Essentially, this signifies that Ahmed began to realize that other children had a point of view of playing with the toys that Ahmed had. It could be surmised that this indicates a development in that the child is more willing to accept other children’s points of view as evidenced by Piaget’s research (Rogoff, 2003).

One of the more important observations in Ahmed’s case comes from his use of language at the start of the observation period and now. Initially, Ahmed had to be communicated using visual cards since Ahmed failed to understand the intelligible application of English words and phrases. This could be attributed in large part to Vygotsky’s model of development which emphasizes that socio-cultural factors act significantly to affect a child’s early development (Van der Veer, 2007). Ahmed was exposed to Arabic alone at home and so was unable to understand or speak English. However, once Ahmed became a regular in the setting, the application of English words and phrases by caregivers as well as by children around Ahmed allowed him to improve his vocabulary significantly. It could be related that an enabling environment allowed Ahmed to scaffold into understanding the English language (Bransford et al., 2000). In addition to this development, Ahmed also began to converse in English although his vocabulary is limited when compared to his peers of the same age. Again, this development indicates that Ahmed was able to learn to speak English words and phrases based on support provided by his peers and the practitioners in Ahmed’s immediate environment (Clay, 2005).

Ahmed’s behavior in terms of attachment has also changed significantly over time. In the start, Ahmed was detached from the setting and the primary caregivers. Ahmed’s attitude reflected his lack of attachment to the caregivers. Ahmed would wander around at will and would rarely listen to the caregivers in the setting. However, over time a few stressful situations, such as another child taking Ahmed’s toys, prompted Ahmed to consult the caregivers. This interaction and the improving language skills allowed Ahmed to become more closely associated with the caregivers. Ahmed now understands that although the caregivers disappear when the nursery’s time ends, they are still present and that Ahmed will have to encounter them continuously. This indicates clearly that Ahmed has formed object permanence in terms of the caregiver’s presence (Waters & Waters, 2006). Moreover, Ahmed would initially react to the caregiver’s presence each new day as if seeing the caregiver for the first time. This behavior persisted for around two weeks after which Ahmed realized that the caregivers are available to help him. In the first two weeks, Ahmed would behave like a stranger to the caregivers each morning but now he comes in and greets the caregivers in a mixture of Arabic and English. Also, Ahmed now tries to gain the attention of the caregiver by providing verbal cues. In case the caregiver does not provide immediate attention to Ahmed, he utilizes gestures to grasp the attention of the caregiver.