Doing Your Child Observation Case Study: a Step-By-Step Guide

✍ Scribed by Cath Arnold

• Publisher: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill
• Year: 2015
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 162
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Many early years students and practitioners can struggle with how to observe children, knowing what makes good observations, as well as how to use them and why they matter so much. This is a very practical 'how to' book on observing young children and preparing a child case study, with helpful guidance on how to go about this, including where and how to begin and proceed; appropriate techniques and related processes as well as possible pitfalls. In addition the book includes examples of good observations which show how your observation can be evaluated, analysed and used.

The book covers the whole process of embarking on the study or observation of a child (or children) including sensitive areas or areas to avoid. It begins with choosing a child to study; the ethics of the study; ways of gathering data and tools to use; observations that are useful; examples of short child case studies and longer child case studies; how to select material to include; and, analysing or interpreting the material.

One child (Georgia) is used as a focus example throughout the book so that you can really get to grips with how a good child observation study unfolds and develops. Further shorter examples also illuminate the challenges and practicalities of doing your child observation case study.

✦ Table of Contents

Praise for this book
Dedication
Contents
List of figures and tables
Introduction
1 Choosing a child to study
2 Considering the ethical aspects of child study
3 Ways of gathering and recording data
4 Making useful observations
5 Selecting material to include in a child observation study
6 Thinking about theory that illuminates learning
7 Analysing and interpreting what the information gathered is telling us
8 An observational study of Georgia
Concluding thoughts
References
Index