Deb curtis early childhood education

T h e A r T o f A w A r e n e s s H o w

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C a n t r a n s f o r m

Y o u r t e a C H i n g

S e c o n d e d i t i o n

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eArly childhood / TeAching MeThods

l e A r n T h e A r T A n d s k i l l o f o B s e r v AT i o n

Deb Curtis and Margie Carter

have coauthored several best-

selling redleaf Press books

together. they are the founders

of harvest resources associates,

a partnership to inspire early

childhood providers and

educators to invest fully in their

own professional learning. Deb

and Margie each have over thirty

years of experience teaching

young children and adults in a

variety of settings. they have led

many professional development

initiatives and presented for

large and small organizations

across north america, australia,

and new Zealand.

The art of observing children is more than merely the act of watching them—it is also using what you see and hear to craft new opportunities in your classroom. This resource provides a wealth of inspiration and practice. It will help you learn to observe in new ways. You’ll witness children’s remarkable competencies as they experience childhood, and you’ll find new joy in your work with children.

Inside, you will find

• Ten study sessions to help you advance your skills and practice observing children from different points of view

• Stories, photographs, and classroom reflections modeling the ways observation can be used and displayed in your own teaching

• Activities to help you notice and appreciate what you see

• New ideas and strategies to organize your observations, share them with colleagues and families, and apply them to planning and assessment processes

• Emphasis on cultural awareness, observing through an objective lens, and using technology as an observation tool

By learning the art and skill of observation, you can improve your teaching and help children grow and learn.

ArtAwareFullCvr-f.indd 1 9/28/12 10:44 AM

The Art of Awareness

How Observation Can Transform Your Teaching

Second Edition

D e b C u r t i s a n d M a r g i e C a r t e r

Published by Redleaf Press 10 Yorkton Court St. Paul, MN 55117 www.redleafpress.org

© 2000, 2013 by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a maga- zine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet.

First edition published 2000. Second edition 2013. Cover design by Jim Handrigan Cover photograph by leaf / Veer Interior design by Erin Kirk New and typeset in Adobe Chapparal Pro Excerpts and adaptations on pages 13, 41, 92, 108–109, and 168–169 are

from Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit by Corita Kent and Jan Steward. Copyright © 2008 by Corita Kent and Jan Steward. Reprinted with permission of Jan Steward and the Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles.

Printed in the United States of America 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

ISBN 978-1-60554-249-2 (e-book)

For Elizabeth Prescott, who first taught us the joy of observation,

and all the early childhood educators thereafter who have been looking

closely and delighting in children with us.

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 A New Way of Being with Children: An Overview of the Study Sessions 12

Chapter 2 Study Session: Learning to See 24

Chapter 3 Study Session: Observing for Children’s Perspectives 40

Chapter 4 Study Session: Observing Children’s Lively Minds 56

Chapter 5 Study Session: Observing How Children Use Their Senses 72

Chapter 6 Study Session: Observing How Children Explore, Invent, and Construct 90

Chapter 7 Study Session: Observing How Children Connect with the Natural World 106

Chapter 8 Study Session: Observing How Children Seek Power, Drama, and Adventure 122

Chapter 9 Study Session: Observing Children’s Eagerness for Drawing, Symbolic Representation, and Literacy 144

Chapter 10 Study Session: Observing How Children Form Relationships and Negotiate Conflict 166

Chapter 11 Study Session: Observing Children with Their Families 184

Chapter 12 Getting Organized to Observe and Study Your Documentation 208

Chapter 13 Using and Sharing Your Observations with Others 226

Chapter 14 Using Observations for Planning and Assessment 242

References 259

Additional Resources 261

Index 263

vii

Acknowledgments

The ideas, experiences, and examples harvested for this book come from more places than we can remember or acknowledge. We apologize for any unintended omission of citations and extend our appreciation to all the instructors, authors, artists, and illustrators from whose work we have drawn inspiration.

A number of teachers and programs generously offered us their time, photographs, and observation stories for the first edition of this book, pub- lished in 2000, when digital photography was in its infancy in early childhood settings. So, while we continue to be grateful for their contributions, mov- ing the book to full color with digital photographs meant we had to replace nearly every story and photo for this 2013 edition. For their contributions to this new edition, we give special thanks to the staff at Crescent Park Child Development Center, in Palo Alto, California, including Stephanie Hill, Jess Guiney, Sheena Wilton, Lindsay Juricich, Jesly Morales, Simone Fussell, Uwimana Middleton, Katja Davis, Michael Burrell, Julia Hill-Wright, and Tierney Falkner. Their exceptional child-centered work inspired Deb to work with them in opening a toddler room, and they generously contributed stories and photos to this book. Lorrie Baird, Samantha Monteith, Julie Thompson, Angela Hoar, Norma Curtis, Dianne Traynor, Nicole Kent, and Lisa Delgarno at Kawartha Child Care Services in Peterborough, Ontario, inspired us as they embraced the use of learning stories as a staff development tool, and they generously contributed samples of their work. Shelly Brandon from London Bridge Child Care Services in London, Ontario, contributed several thoughtful stories about her work with toddlers. Sarah Felstiner, Emily Viehauser, Sandra Floyd, and Jill Loreto of Hilltop Children’s Center in Seattle, Washington, con- tinued to offer us terrific examples of how observation can inspire and trans- form one’s teaching practice. After fifteen years of work at Hilltop, Ann Pelo has moved on to other endeavors, but her contributions to this book remain strong. Karina Rojas, Luz Casio, Elida Sangerman, and Laura McAlister offered us lovely observations and photos of their work to begin to practice the art of awareness in their bilingual centers of Sound Child Care Solutions, also in Seattle. For many years we’ve worked with the consultants and cohort teachers of United Way Bright Beginnings in Houston, Texas, and watched them grow in documenting their offerings of invitations of beautiful materials

ix

http://crescentparkpreschool.org/
http://www.kawarthachildcare.com/
http://www.londonbridge.com/
http://www.hilltopcc.com/
http://soundchildcare.org/
x Acknowledgments

to children. Shannon McClelland, Kasondra Brown, Sanjuana Frank, Fran Brockington, Dana Hampton, Lorna Patterson, Patricia Hernandez, and Daisy Machac made contributions to this book from their teacher cohort work. Thanks to Betsy Surtshin and Victoria Varela of the Osher Marin JCC Child Development Center in San Rafael, California; Elizabeth Hicks, Christine Borgel, Cheryl Scott, and Cheryl Miller of the Point Pleasant Child Care Centres of Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Darlene Nantarath of the Acorn School in Toronto, Ontario. Yvonne Walker and Megan Montoya in the Phoenix, Arizona, area sent us detailed observations of the competencies of the spe- cial needs children with whom they work. Sue Briton of the Paradise Valley Community College Cohort Project in Phoenix made stories and photos avail- able from our work there.

We are deeply appreciative of the inspiring work of our colleagues in Aotearoa, New Zealand, for the way they have taught us about including whānau families in documentation and the use of learning stories as both an assessment tool and professional development vehicle. Our study of their remarkable work and ongoing visits to centers have truly enhanced our under- standings. Special thanks to Lorraine Manuel, Hanna Fale, and Jen Boyd at Tots Corner; Thelma Chapman at Awhi Whānau Early Childhood Centre; Karen Wiley at Te Puna Kohungahunga; Jenny Jones at Magic Garden Care and Education Centre; Adrienne Wilkins, Maria Riepen, and Emma Parsons at Sophia’s Preschool; Chris Bayes and Gemma Smith in the Foundations Class at the Diocesan School for Girls; Wendy Lee at the Educational Leadership Project; and Margaret Carr at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Gratitude to Peg Callaghan, Nancy Gerber, Donna King, and Kelly Ramsey, colleagues who continue to bring us photos and detailed stories about their time with children.

Thanks to Kerry Ruef and the folks at the Private Eye who first intro- duced us to—and generously supplied us with—jeweler’s loupes. And to Paul Fleishman who inspired us with his poems in two voices.

Our appreciation goes to David Heath, Douglas Schmitz, and the entire team at Redleaf Press who continue to strengthen the coherence and presen- tation of our work and help us to communicate our message to the early child- hood field. They are a pleasure to work with.

And, as always, we are grateful to our families and friends, who continue to believe in and support us even as we get consumed by book projects. Their encouragement to pursue our passion for children and those who care for them makes it possible for us to do this work.

http://www.marinjcc.org/earlychildhood/early-childhood-education/
http://www.ppccc.ca/
http://gator1846-rosalbab-primary.hgsitebuilder.com/
http://www.paradisevalley.edu/
http://totscorner.co.nz/
http://tepunakohungahunga.maori.nz/
http://www.magicgarden.co.nz/
http://foundationclass1.edublogs.org/about/
http://www.elp.co.nz/
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/
http://the-private-eye.com/index.html
http://www.redleafpress.org
Two Voices within a Teacher

I’m an early childhood teacher

I think of my work as

very demanding very stimulating

It’s as if I’m

an air traffic controller an architect designing an environment for discovery

trying to keep everyone on course a gardener, tilling the soil, planting seeds and prevent collisions for a love of learning

a bodyguard teaching the children how to share and get along with others

The learning environment I create is clean and organized.

I’m always buying new curriculum materials I arrange things with discovery and beauty and learning games in mind, choosing things from nature and

loose parts for play in the classroom

If I could just

get the children to sit still and listen take time to sit and listen to them

I could

teach them what they need to be discover their questions and encourage their ready for school curiosity so they’ll be excited about learning

I’m worried

they don’t learn enough when they just play they don’t get enough time to play

There’s so little time

to get everything I’ve planned done to experience the wonder of childhood

Children need to be challenged to pay close Children must have time to race down the hill, attention and follow directions splash through that puddle, sit under a tree,

and gaze at the clouds

Watching children play

doesn’t make me look like a real teacher is the part of my job I love most Children do and say the most remarkable things

It’s true, children sometimes surprise me I’m amazed by their insights and abilities with what they know

I know it’s important to observe

each child has to be assessed for progress each child has so much to teach me Watching closely, I see so much growth unfolding

I so want

the parents to see me as a legitimate teacher the parents to delight with me in what their children are doing

I have so much I want to cover with So much of my curriculum comes from my curriculum my observations

When I let the children have free play

I have to have eyes in the back of my head I see how they benefit from taking risks, to keep them safe and out of mischief and how inventive and capable they really are

This work

has so many pressures and demands is sooo rewarding!

I’m thinking

about looking for another job this job is one I want to keep for as long as possible

Introduction

If you’re an early childhood teacher, no doubt your head is full of tugging voices and questions: What are the children really learning as they play? How should I handle all this pressure for school readiness? What will reassure par- ents that I’m a competent teacher? How long can I really stay in this job?

Competing interests in young children’s futures storm around and within us. Early childhood teachers feel so much pressure to shape children into what society expects of them. There is an ever-growing body of quality rating scales and professional and state standards that early childhood educators must be accountable for. In quieter moments, we long to be with children in a different way. Then the prevailing tide rushes in with the language of QRIS, early learn- ing frameworks, and accreditation criteria. The wonder of childhood is pulled under and washed away once more, and with it, our love of teaching.

Waiting for you in the eye of this storm are the art of awareness and the joy of paying close attention to children. With close observation, you can refo- cus, see the value of childhood and children’s remarkable competencies, and remember why you wanted to be a teacher. You can learn to integrate the con- cerns of these contesting voices. A full measure of delight can return to your work with children. If observation is already part of your teaching practice, you may find an expanded focus in this book to deepen your work into a more intellectually engaging and joyful practice. If observation isn’t at the center of your practice, developing the art of awareness can transform your teaching, your job satisfaction, and your commitment to a career in the early childhood field.

Refocusing Our Work The early childhood profession faces a critical juncture. We have come of age as a full-fledged profession with a core body of knowledge, code of ethics, pro- fessional standards, accreditation systems, credentials, research, professional literature, and a multitude of conferences for ongoing professional develop- ment. These developments are all wonderful. In addition, policy makers and

1

2 Introduction

funders are understanding the importance of early-years education for brain development and later success in school. But for practicing early-years teach- ers, these developments often translate into giving more attention to rat- ing scales and accountability systems than to the children themselves. This assessment-driven reality reflects the overall trend in education in the United States.

In the United States, there is no clear vision for the value of children or the role of childhood in our collective lives. We are willing to entertain chil- dren, make products for them to consume, and prepare children for adult- hood. Yet we don’t earnestly give them much attention for who they are right now. We overlook the insights children offer us. Except for brief moments of crisis, holidays, or campaigning for elections, rarely do the lives of children get public attention. The general public doesn’t discuss how children enrich our humanity and our overall culture. Even parents and teachers fail to notice what children notice, and they don’t let children lead us to a new awareness and appreciation for their time of life. Professor and author David Elkind reminds us in The Hurried Child that in the last fifty years, our country has become more and more adult oriented, with children increasingly viewed as a nuisance. Shopping malls, casinos, health clubs, and the Internet have all been conspicuously developed as places for adults to gather. Parks, neighbor- hoods, and schools have been neglected. Most early childhood and school-age

Introduction 3

programs are isolated from the rest of the world. This contributes to this gen- erational apartheid in our communities. Strange as it seems, early childhood workplaces have grown to mirror, rather than transform, the invisibility of children in our society at large.

The early childhood field itself is a clear target of commercial interests. This is ironic, because we are marginalized and devalued in the overall alloca- tion of resources and public attention. We, too, often behave as if we’ve lost our way. Rather than steadily cultivating a vision for ourselves, we often just follow the latest trend. In our professional meetings and conferences, we are persuaded to spend our time rushing rather than relating, consuming rather than creating. Professional development and meetings rarely focus on chil- dren’s words, feelings, experiences, or thought processes.

Taking Up the Invitation Children can awaken in us an understanding of being inventive, engaged, delighted, and determined to rearrange the world. If we listen to and watch them closely, they will teach us to be more observant, inquisitive, and respon- sive in our work and lives. It isn’t easy to pay attention to children in this way. So much conspires to take us in other directions. The daily crush of tasks and pleas for attention is enormous. Our requirements and accountability systems, our schedules and meetings and learning goals can easily push child- hood out of the picture. Unlike children, we adults have so many pressing agendas that we often miss what is right under our noses. Children invite us to take a closer look. This book invites you to learn the art and skill of obser- vation. Doing so has the potential to change your life, not just your teaching, for the better.

The late Anita Olds, an expert in designing spaces for early childhood, used to say of licensing requirements, “Children are miracles, not minimums!” They come to us full of wonder, eager to understand and be competent. Yet despite our good intentions to teach them, we adults easily begin to deplete children’s innate wellspring of zest for learning. In An American Childhood, Annie Dillard puts it this way:

No child on earth was ever meant to be ordinary, and you can see it in them, and they know it too. But then the times get to them, and they wear out their brains learning what folks expect, and spend their strength trying to rise over those same folks. (Dillard 1993, 208)

4 Introduction

When we neglect to see who children really are, we deprive ourselves of deeper sources of delight. We miss the opportunity to witness the profound process of human development that is unfolding before our eyes. Becoming a careful observer of young children reminds us that what might seem ordinary at a superficial glance is actually quite extraordinary. In a class she taught, early childhood author Elizabeth Prescott compared a string of ordinary moments for a child to beads on a necklace, each one unique yet related to the others, combining to create an unfolding work of wonder.

To be sure, some children don’t appear as wonderful to us as others. They are the real challenges to our vision. Sometimes these children almost require us to use a magnifying glass to see what is really there. Taking the time for deeper glimpses into the play, work, and thinking of challenging children makes our job one of continual exploration, invention, and flexible thinking. If we can keep our focus, we will get through the rough and bumpy times, past our blind spots, to find some new perspectives on even the most difficult chil- dren. One of the goals of this book is to help you develop the ability to notice details and adopt different perspectives. Bringing liveliness and enthusiasm to your work life is another.

Listening, Observing, and Documenting Is a Pedagogy When we begin to value who children are (not just what we want them to be), a shift happens in the way we think about learning and teaching. Our jobs become more engaging and fulfilling. We also begin to envision a larger purpose for our profession. We strive to make childhood visible and valued for the ways that it can enrich our humanity and contribute to our collective identity. To bring this transformation about, we need a pedagogy (a way of thinking about learning and teaching) that mirrors our vision for children. We don’t want to promote one that exists in the popular culture. We need to move away from commercially packaged activities. We need to make the time to develop curriculum collaboratively with our coworkers, the children, and their families. We must focus our attention away from the clocks and check- lists to see what is going on with the children themselves. Teachers who sub- scribe to a pedagogy like this come from a place of curiosity. They believe in children’s capabilities and know that they are engaging in a process that is not static; it’s unfolding.

The benefits of this approach are far-ranging. Moving children into the center of our focus teaches us more about child development. We begin to

Introduction 5

understand the learning involved in self-chosen play and the components of a curriculum shaped around children’s perspectives. Looking closely, we can see the influence of cultural patterns. This helps us learn more about ourselves, our prefer- ences, our biases, and our blind spots. Discussing our observations with coworkers and children’s families helps us to see things from different perspectives, allowing each of us to transcend the limitations of our own points of view. We create a collective context for mutual respect and learning from each other.

Gathering observation notes and other forms of documentation and sharing them as stories of children’s pursuits gives the children and their stories more visibility, meaning, and respect. The learning process is enhanced for the children as well as the adults. College professor and author George Forman puts it this way:

We know that making children’s ideas vis- ible is an important goal. It helps children convert an activity into a learning encounter. Therefore, if documentation helps children make their own feelings, patterns of behavior, theories, and rules more visible and explicit, then documentation could become the primary means of educating young children. (Online dialogue on Reggio listserv discus- sion, 1999)

Where can we see this pedagogy in action? Many would point to the schools of Reggio Emilia in Italy and in the schools they have inspired around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. We can see the seeds of this approach in the teaching and writing of Karen Gallas, Elizabeth Jones, Vivian Paley, Gretchen Reynolds, and Carol Anne Wien. Their books are rich with descriptions of children’s play and teachers negotiating their roles in it. Teachers can turn to these writers’ works again and again for reminders and inspiration about how children’s lives can be val- ued and our differing perspectives on them can be negotiated.

Several practicing early childhood teachers have also written books, giv- ing us a firsthand, vivid picture of how this pedagogy has been developed in their classrooms. Ann Pelo worked as a preschool teacher/author in a full- time child care program. Her teaching is featured in a series of staff train- ing videos: Children at the Center, Setting Sail, Thinking Big, Building Bridges

6 Introduction

between Teachers and Families, To See Takes Time, and Side by Side (available at www.ecetrainers.com). Pelo describes her evolving pedagogy of listening, observing, and documenting in the book she coauthored with Fran Davidson, That’s Not Fair! (Pelo and Davidson 2000).

When I first began the practice of taking notes about children’s play and making recordings of children’s conversations, I didn’t really understand how to use all the documentation I gathered. I did it because I’d read about it being the right thing to do. I’d carefully transcribe a recorded conversation among children, then go on with the plans I’d already made. I mostly thought of the notes and conversations as ways to capture on paper the sweet and appealing thinking of young children. I’d share my transcriptions with parents, inviting them to “listen in” on conversations that they would otherwise miss.

As I grew into the practice of supporting emerging projects, I learned more about how to use the documentation that I collected. I noticed myself wishing to understand if my guesses about the children’s interests were on target or way off base, knowing that it mattered deeply to the success of an emerging project. I began to turn to my carefully collected notes for guidance. When I studied my notes and transcriptions alone or with a coteacher, I could see underneath the children’s words to the themes and issues undergirding them. I noticed when ideas were repeated or when a theme showed up over and over. I began to see through to the heart of children’s play. And with an understanding of the heart of their play, I could respond in meaningful ways and take an active role in shap- ing an activism project. I could better supply the classroom with props that would sustain play. I could plan trips or invite visitors to the class- room. I could ask provocative questions of the children. I could develop strategies for the children to represent their thinking. Listening to the children is my best guide for supporting emerging projects. The documen- tation I collect while the children play and talk deepens my listening. (Pelo and Davidson 2000, 76, 78)

Later Pelo went on to author The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings (2007), in which she describes how she used her observations to design in-depth studies for children using art media as “thinking tools.” You’ll see examples of this kind of work in several of the chapters of The Art of Awareness.

First-grade teacher Karen Gallas has written a number of books charting her journey as a teacher. Gallas makes children’s words, actions, and artistic expressions a focal point for her own development. In her book The Languages of Learning, Gallas (1994, 5–6) describes her pedagogy of creating the class- room as a research community.

http://www.redleafpress.org/The-Language-of-Art-P160.aspx
Introduction 7

This process of data collection is ongoing. It becomes part of the life of the classroom and is absorbed into the interactions between teacher and students. Thus, over the course of a school year, I compile an enormous amount of information that helps me to reflect on the classroom and to answer my more difficult questions about teaching, learning, and the pro- cess of education. . . . As a teacher-researcher, I do not determine before- hand the categories of information I am looking for, the nature of the data, or the questions to be asked. Data collection is not a process used only for assessing children’s learning or evaluating curricula. The process of data collection, as it has evolved, has become a central part of my class- room practice.

Vivian Gussin Paley is a well-known classroom teacher and author with more than a dozen published books. Her writing reveals the richness of chil- dren’s perspectives, along with the thinking process of an evolving teacher. In describing how her approach to teaching evolved, Paley says that in her early days of teaching, she found herself having trouble remembering who each of her twenty-six to thirty kindergartners were. At night she would develop schemes to try to remember each of their names, all of which failed. It was only when she set herself the task of writing a few sentences about something each child did or said that she solved this problem and began to know each individual.

8 Introduction

This strategy engaged Paley for a while, but as it became routine, she found herself getting bored. Author Margie Carter recalls the following con- versation with Vivian Paley from October 1999:

“Bored!” exclaimed a teacher listening to this story. “How could you pos- sibly be bored with twenty-six to thirty children to tend to? You must have been frantically busy!”