Observations and documentation in preschools

Preschool staff experience

Abstract

Observations are an important part of preschool practice for a variety of reasons, for example to document progress, focus on children’s educational environment or to gather information for parent teacher collaboration. According to the national curriculum, teachers are required to conduct regular observations, the aim being to create a nurturing learning environment and to support the school curriculum.

This article is based on a quantitative study regarding the use of observations and documentation in Icelandic preschools. The study was conducted online during late November and early December 2019. The participants were staff members in Icelandic preschools. The study aims to gain a clear view of the methods and tools preschools use for documentation and observations, the purpose behind selected methods, and who is most likely to carry them out. Not much is written about different ways of observation in Icelandic preschools. It was decided to seek answers to the following research question: Which methods do preschool staff use to document and observe their work with children? The following sub-questions were also taken into consideration: In which context are observation methods used? And how do preschool staff use the results? Who is conducting the observation within the preschool? The response rate was high; 249 preschool staff members answered the questionnaire. The participants’ background varied, while most had quite a long experience working in preschool.

The results show that different methods are used for preschool observations and many schools rely on mixed methods. Child Observation and Pedagogical Documentation are the main methods, both used by 64% of the respondents, although Learning Stories are also common in a quarter of the answers. The Mosaic Approach is known and used by 5% of the preschool staff who answered the questionnaire. On the other hand, results indicate that some variant of child observation is used at the expense of other kinds of observations. Child observation is claimed to be less time-consuming and therefore more popular. It is important to consider the effect this could have on children. Another example of what can take teachers’ time away from observations is the pressure to use standardized tests. Heavy workload, more tasks, too few teachers and high employee turnover are additional reasons for teachers to place observations on the back burner. Most of the staff who answered the questionnaire had some training and education in conducting observation. They prioritize observations relating to social skills, wellbeing, a child’s development and children’s communication. This emphasis is explained by stating that if children‘s wellbeing is in focus, it becomes easier to work on other aspects such as children’s development and education. Observations are used both focusing on children individually and on groups of children.

It is notable that multiple methods are utilized in some way. More than half of the participants usually or always use documentation and observations to prepare continuing education for each child or children. However, there is also a large proportion of participants who sometimes or never use such methods. Almost everyone uses the results of documentation and observations to make plans for a child or a group of children, to discuss the learning and development of the child and the child group, to prepare parent interviews and organization of the job. According to the results of the study, it seems clear that most of the preschool staff are involved in the documentation process. Therefore, this is not solely the responsibility of the preschool teacher.

The results shed light on the organization of observations in Icelandic preschools. They also demonstrate the need for more consideration when it comes to preschool staff who need better nurture and more encouragement. As a closer look at the preschool working environment is required, it is also clear that an increased number of professionals is needed.