Nursery World - How are we doing?

There are so many ways to monitor a child's progress and, says Jennie Lindon, good practice will include staff reflecting on observations of their own behaviour Part of a positive approach to children's behaviour is to keep track of events to monitor their progress. Staff alertness, simple tracking techniques and ordinary conversation can all help you gather information.

There are so many ways to monitor a child's progress and, says Jennie Lindon, good practice will include staff reflecting on observations of their own behaviour

Part of a positive approach to children's behaviour is to keep track of events to monitor their progress. Staff alertness, simple tracking techniques and ordinary conversation can all help you gather information.

Keeping track

You are likely to want to monitor specific progress if you and a child have worked on an aspect of behaviour that they find hard. In order to make any progress you need to be clear about the details:

* Concentrate on what the difficulty is at the moment. You need to get beyond shorthand labels and talk or make notes about a child's behaviour in ways that are not critical of the child as an individual.

* By all means consider the long-term goal for change, but swiftly set goals to work toward in the next few weeks.

* Make realistic goals by using your knowledge of the child and what you have learned from their family.

* Think ahead to how you will share your monitoring with the children themselves as well as their parents.

Small steps

Monitoring of progress and behaviour does not always have to be formal. For example, when three-year-old Harry started being cared for by his childminder, Esme, he had no experience of sitting at a table for a meal.

Esme's long-term aim was to bring Harry into the social mealtimes with the other children, but she knew there would have to be small steps along the way.

Two rules were non-negotiable: 'We sit when we eat' (rather than Harry's habit of wandering around, food in each hand) and 'No television at mealtimes'. Tolerating these rules was hard enough for Harry, without having to be at a table as well, so Esme allowed Harry to sit on the sofa at mealtimes as he did with his own family. She explained to the other children, 'Harry is not used to eating his meal at the table, so he's starting with a little tray like he does at home.'

Over a period of two weeks, Esme continued to invite Harry to join the group at the table.

In just under a fortnight, Harry got frustrated with trying to join in the meal table conversation from the sofa and chose to sit at the table. Esme simply said, 'That's easier, Harry. I'm glad you wanted to join us.' Harry had been given time and his family ways respected, but Esme had not compromised on ground rules that she judged to be important in her home.

Be reflective

Monitoring is not only about the struggles of individual children. Good practice in any early years setting is that adults are willing to reflect on their own behaviour. You need to use observations to consider whether you should make changes in your actions or how you run the daily routine.

For example, the routine in one nursery was that children spent time inside with activities before the door to the garden was opened at mid-morning.

This inflexible system was frustrating for the children. They tried to be involved in the indoor activities, but would become distracted when it neared time to go outside.

Staff found themselves getting irritated with children who slipped away from the indoor activities that were regarded as more valuable. When the doors were opened, there was also a burst of activity that sometimes led to falls and upset.

A staff meeting stopped the situation being defined as a problem created by children's behaviour. The manager supported a discussion that challenged the belief that children 'must do some educational activities before they go outside'. An agreement was made that the door would be opened to the garden after the brief welcome session. Children could then move between indoors and outdoors.

Over a few weeks, staff made observations of a small number of children, including those who were the most keen to get outside. Children were observed briefly for their activity every five minutes over an hour. This monitoring showed that the keen outdoors children often came back to the indoor activities after a time outside. Observation of what the children were doing in the garden, especially now that they were more relaxed about this part of their day, helped staff to recognise that skills were learned outside, including concentration.

Monitoring yourself

Good practice in monitoring progress will mean that adults are open to learning about their own behaviour. When you create a positive atmosphere with children, they become confident to raise problems about your adult behaviour. You have to allow for three- and four-year-old levels of courtesy, but young children are not necessarily rude about what you do or say. You will learn a great deal through what Alison Clark recently called 'everyday listening' ('Points of view', Nursery World, 23 October 2003), rather than organising specific consultation sessions.

* It is important to listen if children complain, 'You are always saying "be quiet".' Perhaps your regular, and increasingly loud, instructions are making it harder and not easier for children to settle into storytime. You could try a new system, maybe ringing a small bell or holding up both arms to signal quiet. Then ask the children after a while whether they think the new routine works better. You can also say, 'I've tried hard not to tell you "Be quiet". How am I doing?'

* Sometimes you will find a child's behaviour particularly hard to tolerate. It is too easy then to slip into nagging. The child can rarely do anything right, or right enough. You may catch yourself in this unfair pattern, or in a team a colleague may be able to alert you. Perhaps you could commit to holding back on criticism and finding three good things to be able to say about and to the child at the end of each day. When you make this important effort, then it is appropriate to monitor yourself in a simple way, perhaps with a diary or asking your colleague to comment again.

* Some teams in group settings have monitored superhero play and adult concerns about games that look aggressive. The work of Penny Holland, for example, has highlighted the importance of careful monitoring - of the existing situation and what happens after a change. Teams can assume that play is aggressive and that difficulties arising from adult bans are further defined as problems arising from children's behaviour. NW

Tips for teams

* Monitoring techniques must be seen positively. Children's behaviour is undermined, not supported, if adults use tracking children to 'prove' how badly behaved they are.

* Some individuals feel vulnerable and find it hard to reflect on their own contribution to the situation. Team leaders need to deal constructively with any challenge of, 'So are you saying it's all my fault then?'

* Teams need an atmosphere in which colleagues support and give constructive feedback to each other about changes - in adult behaviour or 'how well the self-service snack time is working'.

* Adults who support each other are far more likely to give positive guidance to children. Practitioners also then model 'good' behaviour by how they treat each other in front of the children.