Key Aspects of Child Observation - Essay Example

Child Observation Name: Institution: Introduction The term observation refers to the ability of understanding a concept or situation in order to gain better insight on it. Thus, observation allows an individual to well informed on a topic as well as creating awareness on a given situation. This essay provides complete insight on the information gathered during a child observation. The observation took a period of five weeks and was on a seven month year old child. The child lives with both his parents and two older siblings. The observation took place at the child’s home with the consent and supervision of both his parents. At the beginning of this child observation task I felt vulnerable and guilty at the same time. This is because I was in an environment that is normally out of my comfort zone and in which I was subjected to thoughts of uneasiness. I also felt guilty as I assumed that it was unfair to put this family setting through my own assumptions, values, beliefs and prejudice about their wellbeing as a family. Background Being the first time that I am conducting a child observation task, I felt unfit and not ready at first. I had my own reservations on how the family would respond to my presence in their home as I felt like I was intruding. These doubts and lack of experience in observation made me nervous. There were instances when the child would crawl up to me and I was confused as to whether I should give him attention or continue with my observation without interfering with the process. However, my role as a professional reminded me of the importance of separate my feeling and desires with the subject as a way to form clear boundaries. This way I am able to work without any feeling of attachment and my judgment is not hindered. I would often wonder how this process would impact me as a social worker, an individual and as a future parent or guardian. However, I knew that as a social work student observation played a key role in my professional career and would assist me in acquiring more skills in my field as an observer. Trevithick (2012, P. 169) affirms this by stating that “we learn a lot by observing others and as such, we learn what is being transmitted through tone of voice, volume, intonation, posture and gestures." During this five week period I gathered a lot of insight and was able to expand my knowledge as a social work student. I was able to reminisce on my upbringing, my community and the various family settings that I had previously interacted with. I had both emotional and psychological impact from this experience as an observer. This process revealed to me the essential and practical nature of observing. Observation mainly requires one to interact with their subject through watching, being attentive to every detail and by listening. As an observer one is required to speak less, listen more and provide their subject with enough room to express themselves and their thoughts. Role of Observation in Social work According to Baldwin (1994, P. 83) observation entails "hearing and valuing the voice of the observed." Through the actions and various ways in which the child was able to respond to certain situations, I was able to create a connection between the child and myself. This scenario between me and the child taught me the first lesson of observation. The importance of gathering information by allowing the subject to fully express themselves while taking note of the different feeling and attitudes identified. Thus, observation requires the observer to refrain from passing judgment on a situation solely based on their own thoughts and involve recording as a way of using the subject’s behavior and responses to form a viable conclusion. Observation is a skill that must be learned through training and practice. As an inexperienced student this situation taught me that one must be well prepared before approaching their subject for observation. It is important to note that an observer might easily be swayed to make irrational decisions about their subject solely based on their assumptions. Thus, observation not only provides an in depth understanding of a situation but also allows one to examine their judgment through interaction. Fawcett (2009 P. 16) argues that observation provides one with a learning opportunity and as observers; we must be able to learn that what we see during an observation is merely on the surface. Therefore observation is used as a tool that equips the observer with the capability to draw understanding from the internal and external worlds of a toddler. Trowell and Miles (1991), argue that the skills acquired through observation are imperative to areas of social work and is not limited to a specific discipline. Social work involves interacting with different people, from different cultures and age groups. The process of observation plays a critical role in enabling a social worker to understand life cycle of human development. Child observation provides a social worker with the opportunity to study the early stages of development of a child which subsequently impact the later stages of a person’s life. The main aim of observation as a learning process for social work students is to equip an observer with a stance. This refers to the ability to observe attentively while being involved but examining his or her emotions in a situation consists of the ability to watch and maintain a suspended judgment. Observation allows the worker to separate their feelings about a situation and to think reflectively before passing their judgment (Wilson, 1992). During my observation period, I noticed that the child related well with the other members of the family. He seemed to be comfortable being around his grandmother, parents and siblings and he responded well to people he was familiar with. For instance, once he saw me come to his house he behaved in a manner that he had knowledge of who I was and would occasionally stare at me with a smile. Moreover his movements around the house revealed that he was quite active and had knowledge of his surroundings. He would often laugh out loud when he was excited about something and would cry or try to move away from a person when he lacked attention or disagreed with his parents. I also noticed that the child developed really quickly. His movements and responses were a little advanced for a seven year old. I assumed this is because he had older siblings with whom he would often play with allowing him to learn some things from them. For instance, during lunch time, the child objected to eating his baby food by throwing up the first spoon he was fed and subsequently refused the rest. He started throwing tantrums and refused any of his parents and grandmother to carry him. When his older sibling picked him up he was calm and ate the solid food he was fed. I was able to learn from his sibling that the child did not like baby food and often preferred to eat what the rest of the people ate during meal time. Observation and Communication Such scenarios in my observation period created a great awareness of the environment of my study which was both a verbal and non-verbal scenario between the child, his parents and siblings. Observation educates an individual on the different aspects of communication as used by different people of varying age groups. According to Fawcett (2009 P. 17), observation provides a better understanding of what different gestures, movements and sounds mean to different people and different cultures. I became more conscious of how power and hierarchies interact and in what way the powerless position of children is perceived in a family (Fawcett 2009 P.18). Social workers are expected to develop assessment skills in the different channels of communication and the acquisition of empathy during this process. Smale et al (1993 P. 50-53) agree with this by stating that, ' the hard work of hearing, comprehending and communicating understanding of what other people say, the thoughts and feelings that they express and the way that they make sense of their world', a task which lies far beyond 'routinised responses’, ‘problem identification' and 'an interrogative approach.’ Successful observation experience is perceived to be one that the observer is able to identify behavior as a form of communication. For instance the child would often reach out to one of his parents or siblings if he wanted something or required attention from them. One time during the observation, the child started sucking at his fingers and moved to where his dad was to get his dummy to suck on. Once he saw that his siblings had picked their lunch and moved to the living area he reached out for his mum and got rid of the dummy and now wanted food. This way I learnt that the child mainly communicated with movements and sounds. Thus communication makes sense as a behavior that is evoked in order to convey a given meaning which needs to be understood as part of the internal or external worlds of the observed. Behavior as part of a communication explains the thoughts and emotions of a person. Child observation is identified as an effective way of assisting a social worker in understanding the various stages of child development. Payne (1998), defines this process as one that aims at using observation as a means of collecting information on the progress of a child’s development. Therefore a single observation session is not adequate for an observer to determine a child’s developmental capabilities as well as his or her nature to adapt new skills. One of the challenges I faced in my observation period in addition to my lack of experience was time. I felt that an hour was not sufficient to have conclusive information on the growth and development of the child in relation to how he interacts with the rest of his family. Observation in social work should assist an observer with an opportunity to gather sufficient information that will contribute in making informed decisions. This also assists the social work practioner in planning for the observation process in order to meet the needs of the child and seek professional assistance if need be. Despite the short comings associated with observation, child observation remains a vital skill that is important in the day to day practice of a social worker. Role of Seminar Groups in Observation The seminar group has been of help throughout the child observation process as it allowed me to discuss my feelings and insecurities. Seminar group provided a secure and open space that enabled each one of us to discuss our experiences the challenges one faced and ways in which we could overcome these challenges. I was now able to relate to the argument presented by McMahon and Farnfield (1994) on the role of seminar whereby they state that the impact of the unconscious and conscious processes of observation can be overwhelming for professionals. Thus group interactions mirror the personal and professional events that arise when a social worker interacts with the observed and their surroundings. During these seminar groups I was able to notice that the experiences discussed evoked certain thoughts and feelings in the facilitator. Thus the facilitator ‘mirrors’ the emotional conflicts arising within a professional due to their ability or inability to respond to the unfamiliar expectations of one’s observation requirements. The seminar classes provided extensive theory that was helpful while carrying out my child observation. Despite the fact that I was meant to focus on the internal and external worlds of the child and how he relates to his environment, the theory from the seminar group equipped me with technical skills to cope. Theory on containment, responding to anxiety, projection and transfer proved to be very helpful in assisting me to understand the child and manage my feelings. Additionally the knowledge and skills learned in the seminar proved to be very useful in order to interpret what I had observed and applying some of it in my observation. Moreover, being that I am not a parent yet, the seminar theory allowed me to understand what normal behavior and child development is in a toddler. Conclusion This child observation task really introduced me to the world of a child and how they respond to various situations and people. Through this observation task, I shifted my focus on the child’s internal and external worlds and how it is relative in his development and growth. Additionally, seminar groups were of great help since they provided a platform that allowed me to manage my thoughts and prejudice while maintaining a suspended judgment as a professional. Child observation is seen as ‘perspective transformation’ which challenges the cultural and social beliefs of the observer through reflection leading to transformation at the end of the process. The child observation process was an enjoyable task which I did not expect to learn so much by merely observing. It allowed me to put the theory learnt in class into practice and understand my role as a professional social worker in the future. Although the task was only for an hour, I learnt a lot from the child, his family and his surroundings. References Baldwin, M. (1994) ‘Why observe children?’, Social Work Education. 13(2): 74–85. Fawcett, M. (2009). Learning Through Child Observation. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. McMahon, L. & Farnfield, S. (1994) ‘Infant and child observation as preparation for social work Practice.’ Social Work Education, 13(3): 81–98. Payne, M. (1998) ‘Social work theories and reflective practice’, in Social Work Themes, Issues and Critical Debates, eds R. Adams, L. Dominelli & M. Payne, Macmillan, Basingstoke. Smale, G, Tuson, G. with Biehai, N. & Marsh, P. (1993). Empowerment, Assessment, Care Management and the Skilled Worker. London: NISW/HMSO. Trevithick, P. (2012). Social Work Skills and Knowledge: A Practice Handbook. Open University Press. Trowell, J. & Miles, G. (1991) ‘The contribution of observation training to professional development in social work.’ Journal of Social Work Practice. 5(1): 51–60. Wilson, K. (1992). The place of child observation in social work training, Journal of Social Work Practice. 6(1): 37–47. Rubric for Evaluating the First Full Draft The First Full Draft (25%) – due Week 11 is 10-12 pages. This is a complete rough draft of the paper, including all required sections and incorporating feedback from the Working Draft. Elements Points Content Introduction – ½ page Includes attention getter 0.5/1 Provides appropriate entry to the topic 3/3 States research question(s)/research thesis 0.5/1 Body – 8-9 pages Presents a structured body that includes all fully developed sections of the paper 17/20 Includes headings that reflect the paper organization 5/5 Supports points/arguments with credible source material and cites definitions of key terms/ideas as applicable 17/20 Synthesizes multiple sources 8/15 Shows evidence of critical thinking and in-depth analysis 4/5 Conclusion – ½ page Restates main points and answers the research question(s) 5/5 References – 1 or more pages Contains all and only the cited texts 2/2 Mechanics Is accurate in grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, word choice, and use of transitions 10/10 Citations Uses correct APA in-text citations 3/3 Includes correct APA references 1/2 Format/layout Follows APA page layout (title page, running head, headings, font) 3/3 Revision Incorporates feedback from the Working Draft 4/5 Total 80/100 Read More