Play Situation - Playing in the Park

Mode Assessment: Case Study

Situation: Ballet Class

Where did you observe the class/children?

The children were practicing in a large dancing hall of a private ballet school when I had the chance to observe them. The walls were adorned with large mirrors while the students were practicing; this was the case for both, the regular sessions as well as for special events

What ages were the children you observed?

The ages of the group ranged from 4 to 10 years.

Were there adults present in the observations? (If so what was their role?)

The adults were present in the class room. The class, taken on a weekly basis, provides development for children in a social and creative environment. The presence of adults with children guides the young guns to develop coordination and motor skills and also create a relationship between the two by making them spend time together through dancing. The day began with an assembly session and instructions detailing the routine of the practice for dancing classes that lasted for about half an hour. The kids then practiced the explained steps on their own aided by one of the teachers while the second teacher attended to the queries made by parents and guardians who solicited all kinds of developmental and relationship and behavioral issues of their wards. A teacher-parent interaction increases the awareness about child development- about participative activities, development of communication abilities and is a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the child (Thompson, Ruthmann, Anttila, & Doan, 2014).

Situation 2: A play situation - Playing in the park

Where did you observe the class/children?

The observation was done in an open public park's play area.

What ages were the children you observed?

The children belonged to the seven to eleven years age group.

Were there adults present in the observations? (If so what was their role?)

Some children were inhibited and could not take instructions, or even interact freely with other children without their parents' proximity. Hence, their presence was imperative as I wanted to observe the learning capabilities and inherent skills the child possessed in a normative way. The parents were advised to be around to act as emotional supports for the children and to reassure them.

Section II

Situation: Ballet Class

What did you observe?

The teacher needs to observe the behavior of the children to prescribe the right activities in a particular age group. The general adaptive powers across an age group helps the teacher incorporate the general range of activities even if it is true that individual inclinations and capacities may vary by some degree. Thus, a teacher takes into consideration the cognitive acumen an age group under tutelage is capable of as she tries teaching newer steps (Zallen, 2013)

I observed the children going through their training in the ballet class. The children were listening carefully to their teacher and following the actions that she was performing. Some children were given to practice some moves that they were practicing individually in front of a mirror. Julie Fisher (2013) emphasizes the importance of observation if a teacher is to gain a clear picture of the learning potential and needs of students. This idea may not sit comfortably with many dance teachers as there is often a misconception that if a teacher is not constantly 'doing' then they are not 'teaching'. Fisher describes teacher intensive, teacher initiated and child initiated approaches to teaching and the need to consider these when structuring the content of a dance class (CBTS401, 2015).

What behaviors did you observe from the children?

Some of the children were concentrating on what practice they were assigned to do, while the ones aged 4-5 were mostly looking towards their parents to make sure that they have not gone anywhere. Some children were gracefully and with full concentration performing their moves. They had a confident body language and also listened to their teacher with full concentration and the motivation to perform the next move. One child was shy and did not want to perform with people looking at her but after her mother came to stand beside her, the girl started applying the techniques that were being taught.

How did these behaviors affect the situation?

The behavior of the children who did not want to perform in front of others was affecting the whole situation because the teacher was constantly trying to make them perform. She even assigned the older children to some little ones so that their reservations were lowered down to some extent. This was stalling the process, but helping the situation as well.

What cognitive development stage were the children?

Children in the two to seven years age group are in their second formative stage of cognitive development brought to notice by Piaget. It is marked with cognitive awareness and intelligent use of symbols- language and comprehension developmental stage. This is the pre-operational stage of development where the child can relate to events and objects around him signifying cognizance of memory and imagination in the child (Lutz & Huitt, 2004)

Why do you think the behavior and/or cognitive developmental stage affected the situation?

According to Greeno (1989), the complexities of the human-environment relationship are too overwhelming to be understood as a means of general cognitive awareness. At the best, the reactions and relativity to a particular situation and environment of an individual and his cognitive abilities can be surmised to appreciate his power to acquire and develop awareness and knowledge. (Lutz & Huitt, 2004). The children at this stage require a lot of attention by the adults which if not provided to them can cause problems for the people around. Learning something is a result of the interaction that an individual has with the environment because everywhere around there are actions taking place that the child wants to pick up and learn.

How did the teacher, or adult in charge, interact with the children?

The teacher was trying to pay attention to every child and also convince the parents at the same time to interact with their children so that they learn the technique easily with an intimate interaction. The music put on at first was the children's famous rhymes. At first I did not understand the purpose of it, but then I noticed the children starting to pay attention to it. The nursery rhymes were put on to make children at ease because of the association of music with children. Children grow up listening to these rhymes at home, and listening to them in a strange place helps them to comprehend that this place is like their home. Every child had one adult with them who had helped the children in dressing up as well.

The teacher was at the front of the group leading the pack. I noticed that the similar costumes also comforted the children who were taking the class for the first time. Some of them were confident copying the technique with ease. Constant recognition made them want to learn more and the other children were also looking up to them.

Was there any behavior that impacted on the delivery of the lesson?

Since some children were only on their first day of the lesson, their shyness was affecting the activities of other children, because the teacher was trying to concentrate on them so that they had opened up a bit. Children are the best assets for those seeking to gain valuable insights; spending quality time with activities involving children provide us with markers in child behavior and their development. Parents and immediate family know details about children that would help us accelerate our understanding of the behavioral traits of a child better than anything else owing to the time they spend together (CBTS403, 2015). So, the presence of a family member with the child helped in bringing out the real side of the children, which helped me, understand one of the most important techniques of creating comfort for the children.

How did the teacher react to this?

The teacher remained very calm in this situation because she understood how difficult it is to handle the children. Instead of forcing the children to come out and stop being shy, she gave each one a little booklet and told them to write or draw anything they want. This would help to know what the child thought of the ballet class and also encourage him to bring out his creativity.

Situation 2

A play situation - Playing in the park

What did you observe?

Playing in the open helps the child provide exercise and develop their physical abilities and also interactive skills with the environment and people. Development of motor skills and creative pursuits in activities like jumping, throwing or even running and inventing variations in games like hide and seek, tags respectively are attained along with risk-taking and social awareness skills (Brotherson, 2009). I observed that children were busy in their activities and also sharing their toys with other children. There were adults present but they were not interacting with the children. The children were playing by themselves or playing with other children. Some of them were going through the swings and re-enacting their super heroes, while some were playing with balls and Frisbees.

What behaviors did you observe from the children?

Children enjoy playing with toys like cars and trucks, balls, dress-up clothes dolls, skipping, blocks and puzzles and other toys. This also helps them learn many things around them and at the same time develop people skills. I observed that children found it pleasing to be in the company of others while playing. I observed that attention and control was an important lesson learnt by children while playing with the ball. Another important activity that seemed to help improve skills regarding weights and measures, sizes and shapes was block-building in the sand-pit which also taught them a lot about control and coordination (Brotherson, 2009).

How did these behaviors affect the situation?

Playing is one of the best activities a child can engage in to learn many things simultaneously. No other single activity brings out as much in a child. The child, while playing explores activities involved, drums up his imagination to relate to things in a story like fashion or for that matter, gives in to raw instincts like fighting it out with playmates at times. I observed that they don't like being interrupted or asked to stop when engrossed in playing. In the early days, an infant explores through chewing a new plaything fascinated by colors and sound. More skill is required when seeking out imaginative and memory related shapes and figures out of blocks. Further skills are needed to interact with new playmates. Thus, it is essential that parents allow sufficient time for children to indulge in playing to develop and enhance cognitive and motor skills along with social and interactive acumen (Brotherson, 2009).

What cognitive development stage were the children?

Children in the age group of seven to eleven are in the operational development stage. Here, they learn to present their thoughts coherently and in an integrated fashion. The child can form definite relativity between objects, thoughts and symbols- language and expression start taking definite, meaningful structures in this age group. During this span, the child can form independent opinion about objects and activities and that too, through multidimensional perspectives (Lutz & Huitt, 2004).

Why do you think the behavior and/or cognitive developmental stage affected the situation?

Here the self-centered way of thinking starts giving way to more accommodative thinking. To be able to extrapolate and make abstractions is yet to be achieved in this stage. The intelligence is developed (Lutz & Huitt, 2004) to a stage where relativity to things and events reactions to stimulus is matured. The children can start analyzing things from more than one point-of-view that hence, starts having a bearing in their environment.

How did the teacher, or adult in charge, interact with the children?

The adults in charge were letting the children play on their own, because with their constant interaction, it might disturb the construction of their social self. A lot of the children who were playing on their own at first were now either playing with another child or sharing their toys with each other. This helped them to open up to people who were not intimately close to them and learn different things from them as well. However, one child wanted his parent to play with him, but was instead introduced to another child so that he plays with children of his own age and gets comfortable with them.

Was there any behavior that impacted on the delivery of the lesson?

There was no such behavior that impacted the delivery of the lesson because the children were playing in a natural environment that was helping them to go with their natural instincts and interact with children of their own age.

How did the teacher react to this?

The adults tried to let the children play on their own which helped them bring out their creative selves by themselves.

Compare the observations.

Ages of the students: The age group of ballet class children was four to ten years and that of those playing in the park ranged from seven to eleven years.

Behaviors observed: Indoor activity in the ballet room and outdoor activity was observed in the public park playing area. The Ballet room activity displayed the capability of students to follow specific instructions, whereas in the playing activity the child's creativity and free flow of expression was under observation. Thus, I was able to observe the children expressing themselves in two different forms.