Importance of Ethical Issues When Observing Children

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Unit 3, Task One Sarah Penny Explain the importance of objectivity and the consideration of ethical issues when observing children ‘’An observation is watching children with the clear goal of studying a specific behavior or ability.’’ (PDF Download) Objectivity is incredibly important when observing children mostly because the observation is biased if we are not objective. It would be based on opinions rather than the facts, we need to be able to evaluate children fairly and conclude what milestones are been reached in order to adapt to the level of learning the child is at. “Observation is the key to understanding young children as learners and a vital tool in finding out more about them as individuals. It is an integral part of the assessment and planning cycle and a firm basis for reflection.” (2006). Being objective means children are not generalized or stereotyped, this is important as if children are labeled they live up to them and problems occur, e.g. if someone stereotypes a colored child because of their opinions on their race or culture then the child could potentially result in being exactly how you stereotyped them, whereas this could be changed if you didn’t. To get reliable results you can’t take the child’s family background, skin color, culture background etc into consideration as the results are then biased. As objectivity is proven to lead to reliable results where we can compare results with other studies and analyze the different views to make your results and conclusions stronger. Through observation we assess where children are in terms of developmental stages and therefore provide the best possible care for it in a scientific manner. Through these developments be observed, it will allow the practitioner to amend the children’s learning. If a child is not progressing as expected the practitioner will be able to help the child further
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