Observe a child for 5 minutes at a Child Development Centre/ Institution and write field notes using the format of a reflective diary. Code data and identify the themes. Derive hunches for further research. Prepare a report.

August 9 , 2006

The Principal

(school

(address

Dear Sir /Madame

Greetings

I am (your name here , a student of (your school here . I am currently enrolled in a course on Research Development in Education and as a requirement for the course we are tasked to conduct a field observation of young children in their classroom in to determine their behavior during class and derive hunches for further research . Hence , I would like to ask your permission to conduct my field research in your school . I would be observing

a child for five minutes only and will not disrupt classes . I assure you that all information gathered will be kept confidential and the identity of the subject and the school will be protected at all cost

I am hoping for your favorable response to my request

Respectfully yours

(your name

August 9 , 2006

Mr . and Mrs (name here

(address

Dear Sir and Madame

Greetings

I am (your name here , a student of (your school here . As part of our course requirement in Research Development in Education , we are asked to conduct a field observation of young children in their classroom environment . In this connection I would like to ask your permission for your child to be my subject of observation . I will be observing her for five minutes only during her classes and will not need to interact with her . I can provide you with a copy of my report . No identifiable data will be gathered and confidentiality will be strictly observed . I am hoping for your favorable response to my request , your assistance would immensely help me in completing my course requirements

Sincerely yours

(Your name here

Classroom (Observation environment

The observation environment was a part of a large hall was three classes were simultaneously held . Each class was designated by the group of tables where a teacher is assigned to each group . There are no chalkboards but instead children 's works are displayed in walls and religious flags hang on threads . The hall has no windows but the walls are short which allows the children to see the outside when they are in the center . Outside of the hall is a wide open space with trees and grass which gives them a place to run and play . The children are seated in small wooden tables and chairs . Fans were strategically placed inside the room to aid in keeping the room airy and not too warm . Drawings of cartoon like characters were painted onto the walls offering an impression that the room is for fun and was not too serious for the children . A corner with toys and children 's books was also present in the classroom . Different visual aids of the alphabet , numbers and colors were also noticed stacked near the chalkboard

The student was observed in its own classroom environment with minimal intervention from the researcher although the children knew that they were being observed . The researcher was positioned at the back of the classroom where the child observed is clearly in the line of vision and did not notice that she was being observed . All in all , the classroom is conducive for learning , discovery and play of young children

Field Notes (Reflective Diary

Time Observation Reflection Code

8 :45 The child is fidgeting in her seat , trying to understand what the teacher has asked them to do . I think the child was not able to fully understand the instructions of the teacher

CTB

8 :46 The child is now opening her book and starts to scribble in her book of writing . She is writing in it very fast . I think the child now has an idea of what to do it 's because she looked at what her seatmates were doing

IB

8 :47 The child stops writing and starts to stand and returns to her sit and then stand again . Clearly , the child is trying to get the attention of the teacher since she is the only one standing and sitting repeatedly while her classmates are busy doing their work

ASB

8 :48 The teacher finally goes to the child and the child is asking the teacher if what she did was right . The child is trying to ask for help although she did not say it directly

HSB

8 :49 The child listens to the teacher and nods her head a few times when the teacher demonstrated how to do the task . The child now understands what is asked of her and does not feel ashamed that she got it wrong the first time

LB

8 :50 The child goes back to her book and then erases vigorously what she had written earlier and kept looking at her seatmates work . The child is worried that she may be the last one to finish the task since she had to do it all over again

EB Codes (Themes

CTB - Confused Thinking Behavior

IB - Insightful Behavior

ASB - Attention Seeking Behavior

HSB - Help Seeking Behavior

LB - Learning Behavior

EB - Emotional Behavior

The themes were derived from the actual observations of the researcher based on the child 's behavior within the five minutes allowed in the project . The observed behavior was identified by isolating the objective of the behavior . Like in the first observation the child exhibited behaviors that are indicative of confusion . In the second observation the child showed behaviors that are described by psychologists as insightful behavior , the moment of thinking and then the sudden burst of action . The third observation was clearly attention seeking behavior the standing and sitting was a way of getting the attention of the teacher . The fourth observation indicated that the child is asking the teacher for assistance in to correctly work on her tasks . The fifth observation showed that the child understood what she needs to do and hence learned the task at hand . The last observation however showed that the child was worried about finishing the task last compared to her classmates , which involves an emotional reaction which may interfere with her performance in the task

Hunches

The child 's attention span is shorter compared to her seatmates

The child is self-reliant she tried to work on the task just by looking at how her seatmates did theirs

The child is not equipped with social skills since she did not ask for help form her seatmates and did not call the attention of the teacher directly

The child is shy or may have a problem communicating her needs to other people

The child wants to fit in with her classmates by keeping up with them thus her worry of being last in finishing the task

The hunches were based on the theories of learning and personality that often is indicative of how children would react to situations . The hunch on low attention span was brought about by the fact that she did not paid attention to the teacher 's instruction although it was quite short The assumption on being self-reliant is based on the observation on her attempt to work on the task on her own . The hunch on being ill-equipped socially was made on the observed difficulty of the child in asking for help from her classmates and teacher , this is true also for her difficulty in communicating . And lastly , her need to belong or be like the other kids by keeping up with them which usually is normal at this age

Field Observation Report

Observing a child in a classroom situation would give the researcher an opportunity to closely identify behavior patterns in the classroom which surveys or checklists cannot sufficiently describe . This would also enable the researcher to gather information that would be used to further research on young children 's classroom behavior and what is actually occurring in the classroom and how it relates to effective learning . Hence , a field observation was conducted last (date ) at (name of school ) with the consent of the school administrators and the parents of the child . The confidentiality of the gathered information was emphasized by both parents and the researcher

The classroom was conducive for learning and for play . The ambiance in the room was not very serious and it could be seen that the children 's creativity was encouraged in class . The teacher was very accommodating and assisted the researcher in choosing the child to be observed , she also gave information like age and seating arrangement of each child The researcher chose the child to be observed on the basis of the seating arrangement where the child can be easily observed without much interference . The actual observation started after the classroom orientation in to give the child time to settle and be ready for their school work . The children were working on their writing when the actual observation occurred

The class was observed for 5 minutes between 8 :45 to 8 :50 in the morning and was videotaped . The researcher was careful not to disrupt the classes and was conspicuously seated at the back so that the class would not notice that they were being observed although they were introduced to the researcher and they knew that they were being observed . The observation yielded behavior patterns that suggest that the child had problems with social skills which include asking for teachers help approaching the teacher or asking questions from her seatmates . She was observed to be fidgeting in her seat , an indication that she did not understand the teacher 's instructions and instead of directly asking the teacher who was available to them , she just looked at what her seatmates were doing , tried to do it on her own and realized that she may have not done it correctly , then she tried getting the teacher 's attention by standing and sitting alternately . She also showed behavior which manifests a need to belong because she was conscious of being left behind in her school work

It can be deduced that the child may not be emotionally ready for kindergarten or that she has not matured enough to be able to relate effectively with her peers or authority figures . From the gathered data it could be said that a future research on the effects socio-emotional skills of young children to the learning process be conducted . This research would help identify the social and emotional skills needed to effectively aid in the learning process

LETTER TO THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (name of the head

Chief project officer

Child Development Research Centre

1st July 2006

Letter of request

Dear Madam

I am a student from ) and is currently undergoing the Bachelor of Education program in the . Under my subject on Research and Development for Education , I am required to submit an observation report about a student . And I hope to select a child from your school to be the subject of this observation

The purpose of my project is to write an observation report based on the behavior of the child . The child I choose will be videoed for 5 minutes for later analysis , also I will be writing down notes about the environment of the school , but the child and the school will remain anonymous . Rest assured that the conduct of this observation will not bring harm to the school and the child and the video tape will be confidential

Conducting an observation in your school would contribute to the progress and success of my course . I would appreciate it very much if you could inform me about your decision as soon as possible , do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions . Thank you very much for considering my request

Yours sincerely

(my name (name of the coordinator

Course coordinator

LETTER FROM THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

(my name

(Address

(country

1st July 2006

Letter of Consent

Dear Madam

I hereby grant permission to (my name .who is Bachelor of Education student in ) to observe a child from my school And I am aware of the following

(a ) What is being observed about the child will be written and videoed for five minutes

(b ) Notes will be taken to describe the school environment

(b ) Findings from the observation will be used to write the researcher 's final report

(c ) When writing the report the child and the school will remain anonymous and the video tape will be confidential

I know that conducting a study in my school would contribute to the progress and success of the researcher 's course

I wish you all the success in your academic career . Do not hesitate to ask me any question regarding the school environment and the child

Yours Sincerely

(Name of the head

(designation

LETTER TO THE PARENT (MY NAME (address ( Country

Letter of request

Dear Sir

I am a student from .country ) who is undergoing Bachelor of Education program in the .my institute . For my third assignment under the subject Research and development for Education , I have to submit an observation report about a student

The purpose of my observation is to write an observation report based on a child and I hope to observe your child . This observation will not take longer than 5 minutes and your child will be videoed for later analysis However , your child will remain anonymous and only I will have access to the tape , which will be kept at a secure place . You and your child are not waiving any legal claims , rights , or remedies because of your child 's participation in this study

Conducting an observation of your child would contribute to the progress and success of my course . I would appreciate it very much if you could give me permission to observe your child . Your child 's participation in this study will not lead to the loss of any benefits to which he or she is otherwise entitled . Even if you give your permission for your child to participate , your child is free to refuse to participate . If your child agrees to participate , he or she is free to end participation at any time

In any case , I thank you for your consideration of this request . Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions

Yours sincerely (name of the course coordinator

(my name (Course coordinator

LETTER FROM THE PARENT (Address of the parent .road .town ) 1st of July 2006

Letter of consent

Dear Madam

I hereby grant permission for ) who is following Bachelor of Education course in ) to observe my child . And I am aware of the following

(a ) What is being observed about my child will be written and videoed for five minutes

(b ) Findings from the observation will be used to write the researcher 's final report

(c ) When writing the report my child will remain anonymous and the video tape will be confidential

(d ) Even if I give my permission for my child to participate , my child is free to refuse to participate

I know that conducting an observation of my child would contribute to the progress and success of the researcher 's course

I wish you all the success in your academic career . Do not hesitate to ask me any question regarding my child

Yours Sincerely

.name of the parent ...