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Note: This symbol
will be used throughout the book wherever observation notes are included.
This is an introductory chapter which outlines the planning cycle and introduces two vital concepts: (a) the essential role of observation of children and (b) the fact that respectful and successful learning always starts from the child. Remember to look up the words in bold which you will find explained at the end of each chapter.
The tale of two women
Maria and Julia are both working women. They are both married, have children, live in a city, drive cars and have careers which they value. This is the story of a Monday morning in the life of each one:
Maria got to bed late on Sunday night. She and her friend Julia had been out to the cinema and she was tired when they got home so she fell into bed without checking her diary, looking online for the weather forecast or preparing for the next day. On Monday morning she got up after the alarm had rung for the second time, put on the clothes she had been wearing the night before, had a bowl of cereal, kissed the children goodbye and set off to get her bus. Once outside she discovered it was much colder than it had been at the weekend: her bare feet in their sandals were freezing and she had no umbrella, no scarf and no hat. She arrived at work damp, cold and bad-tempered. She was made even more bad-tempered when she realised that she had left the papers she needed for the meeting in her other bag at home.
Julia also got to bed late — even later than Maria, because when she got home from the cinema she quickly checked her diary and made a note of the meeting she needed to be at by ten the next morning. She also looked at her favourite weather website, noted the change in temperature predicted and set out her clothes for the next day. Before she fell into bed she ensured that the notes for her meeting were in her bag — the one she would take with her next day. She arrived at work dry and warm, ready for the coming week and in a good mood.
You may have identified with one or other of those women and we have all certainly had days like Maria’s and days like Julia’s. What Julia did — quite simply — was that she planned. In order to make her morning go well she took several minutes the day before to check that she knew what she was to do on Monday and ensured she had the papers she needed. She checked too that she knew what the weather might bring so that she was prepared in terms of what to wear. Her planning made her morning and her week get off to a good start. There might have been some unplanned-for things to disrupt her plans — the theft of her handbag, for example, or trains not running on time. But apart from things like that, her plan should have allowed her to start the day without undue stress.
Planning is an everyday term — the sort of word which we all use frequently, perhaps without stopping to think what it really means. And we use it in many different contexts and with a range of different meanings. A dictionary definition of the word ‘plan’ describes it as a scheme or a programme or a method, worked out beforehand, to achieve something, or as a tentative or proposed course of action. Planning then would mean either (a) what one does beforehand in order to achieve a goal or (b) a sequence of actions designed to meet a plan. The great thinker Thoreau said, ‘Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.’ In effect Julia had a plan. She spent some time the night before, thinking about what she might need to wear and take with her to work based on the information she already held or was able to gather. Maria had no plan.
For professionals involved in the care and learning of babies, toddlers and young children, planning is essential. It is as important as getting dressed in the morning, arriving at work on time and treating the children, their parents and carers and those we work with respectfully. It is only through planning that we can expect to earn respect by being efficient and effective. A number of questions arise from this.
Why plan?
You plan in order to be in control of what you are doing. In terms of your work you plan for a number of reasons and in relation to a number of different people. This implies that planning carries with it a focus, roles and responsibilities. As you read through the list that follows, do think about these.
1 You plan to ensure that the children in your care are looked after, cared for, stimulated appropriately, kept safe, and nourished physically and emotionally.
Your responsibilities here are to the children.
Your focus is on the children.
The roles you play might include
observing the children indoors and/or outdoors; setting up the environment; taking notes of what you observe; playing with the children; reading to the children; speaking to them and listening to them; physically caring for the needs of children (changing nappies, feeding babies); talking to parents and carers; and so on.
2 You plan to ensure that you know what your role will be with the children throughout the day. You have to plan (either on your own or with your colleagues) which children you will be focusing on; where you will be; what you will be doing. This planning involves thinking about what your role will be throughout the day.
Your responsibilities here are to the children, even though the focus is on your role.
The focus will be on what you do.
Your role may change over the course of the day and it may be determined by the ages of the children and their individual needs.
3 You plan to ensure that you know what the role of other adults will be. Sometimes the o...
