Observe and collect data
Record your observations of the child.
Here's what we said before on the topic: Link
The next principle is to record your observations of the child. This will help you and others find out exactly what is the problem and suggest responses.
Collecting data may include:
- Observation notes of the child’s interactions with a range of other people
- Anecdotal notes
- Diary entries
- Recording specific indicators determined with the supervisor
- Using formats provided by the supervisor
- Checklists
- Charts
You can also collect other kinds of information:
- Asking other workers involved with the child
- Consulting resource staff or others with relevant expertise
- Consulting parents and other family members
- Talking to other children, if it’s appropriate.
You can then analyse your data to find out exactly what problem behaviours are occurring, how often they happen, how intense they are, and how long they last. While most of the problems will be what you expected, you might find some to be surprising.
When you have a clear idea of the exact, problem, you can then use your data to help develop suitable support strategies.
Keep a diary of incidents if a particularly difficult child often behaves unacceptably. It will be useful when your supervisor reviews the situation.
Joshua was a particularly difficult child. Although obviously of above average intelligence, he had a very short attention span and was often sadistic. For example, he’d test a newly-sharpened pencil by poking it into another child until they bled.
Although Beth, the childcare worker, successfully closed down each problem quite quickly, she needed a long-term solution. Her supervisor asked her to keep a diary of all incidents for several weeks and then they’d review it together.
