In a hectic early years environment, busy practitioners often feel that they have to use what precious time they have to interact with the children, and so view observing children as a luxury.
Such feelings are understandable, but we should never underestimate the value of objective observation. Maria Montessori believed a teacher should teach little and observe much. Consider this example.
Josh (three years) walks into the classroom and asks, 'Where's Rosie?' He smiles when he sees her and walks over to her. They bounce up and down, facing each other. Rosie (three years) takes some books from the table and drops them on the floor. 'Let's go for a walk with books!' she says.
Holding hands, they walk around the classroom carrying the books. 'We are walking, we are walking,' they proclaim. 'Let's make a map,' says Josh.
They get paper and crayons and scribble a map. Josh rolls up his paper into a tube. 'Roll your paper,' he tells Rosie. 'Let's go looking for treasure.'
Rosie can't roll her paper and asks me for help. I suggest that Josh help her. 'Okay,' says Josh. They hold the 'telescopes' to their eyes and walk around the tables chanting, 'Treasure! Treasure!' Rosie says, 'I am Princess Rosie.' Josh says, 'I am a pirate.'
Rosie collects a basket of beans and tips these on to the floor. I approach Princess Rosie and, maintaining the role play, ask if I can help her dig for treasure. We 'dig up' the beans and put them into the basket. I introduce a mathematical exercise I want them to do that day (Montessori's 'short bead stair') by saying, 'Do you want to see some precious bead treasure?'
This observation raises many puzzling questions, for example:
* What function did the 'bouncing' greeting serve?
* Why was walking with books such a fulfilling experience?
* Where did the maps/treasure/ princess/pirate ideas come from?
* What made them link the concepts of maps, telescopes and treasure?
* Why did Rosie collect the beans and tip them on the floor?
This play sequence clearly served a meaningful, necessary, purpose for the children, who repeated the 'bouncing greeting', 'walking with books', and 'looking for treasure' activities for a week until one of them was absent and the pattern was interrupted. The observation reveals how this play sequence:
* has social, physical, intellectual and creative benefits for the children
* may benefit their emotional equilibrium and self-discovery.
However, it also raises two fundamental points about learning and teaching.
Most teachers will be aware of Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development - that is the difference between what a child can achieve on their own and the level that they might achieve with the assistance of an adult or more capable peer.
Our example goes further, showing that the simple act of social play can also benefit children's learning. Rosie had no prior knowledge of telescopes. Rosie was only introduced to the concept because she happened to be playing with a child whose older brother had been learning about telescopes at school. Thus, from unstructured play with another child, Rosie improved her understanding of telescopes.
Our example also illustrates when it is acceptable, and unacceptable, for adults to intervene in children's play. There were several points when adult intervention could have had a negative impact - for example, when Rosie knocked the beans on the floor.
A teacher who had not been observing the children:
* would have seen only two children wandering aimlessly around the room with rolled-up pieces of paper
* might have misinterpreted why Rosie tipped the the beans on the floor
* would have been unaware of the exciting role play that was in full flow
* might have intervened to direct the children towards doing something 'more constructive'.
Intervening would only have adulterated the children's play, reduced the value of their creative experience and damaged their self-esteem.
Moments when we can teach children in the context of their play will not happen every day, but we need to create the conditions where it can happen.
This means stopping when we can, slowing down, watching and waiting for the children to teach us.
Katherine Fisher is a Montessori teacher with a degree in Playwork in the Oxford Montessori Schools. Fraser Brown is teaching fellow at Leeds Metropolitan University and senior lecturer on the BA (Hons) Playwork degree
