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Clinical Observation

Kenley Cribb

Coastal Carolina University

EDEC 332-01

Dr. M. Mcelvery

December 13, 2019

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I conducted my clinical field experience at Georgetown Head Start in Georgetown, South

Carolina. Georgetown Head Start serves 64 students who come from impoverished homes. The

racial makeup of Georgetown Head Start can be described as majority African American, with a

small percentage of Caucasian, and Hispanic/Latino students as well. I selected one African

American, female student, who I will refer to as Child A. Child A is three years old and comes

from a single-parent home. She is often dropped off and picked up by different members of the

community because her mother is busy working at a fast-food restaurant. Child A exhibits

defiance and mistrust of adults. Child A is also falling behind academically in relation to the

other students in the classroom. For Child B, I selected an African American male student who is

also three years old. Child B comes from a two-parent household and is always dropped off by

his mother. Child B exhibits proficiency in his knowledge of colors and letter recognition. Child

B shows little to no behavior problems within the classroom. I chose these two students because

they are close in age, come from different backgrounds, and show significant differences in

cognitive development. Although the following students are close in age and even sit beside each

other in class, they are different in many ways. Child A and child B differ in fine motor skills,

gross motor skills, social/emotional development, as well as cognitive development. I reflected

on my prior knowledge of educational theories and my knowledge of children’s development to

come to the following conclusions.

I was able to observe Child A and Child B closely, due to their proximity in seating. I

often sat between these two children during class time to observe them and encounter their

interactions with each other, as well as with the other students. I initially focused on the social

and emotional behaviors of Child A because her behavior required my full-time attention. I

noticed that children typically steered clear of Child A and avoided all interaction with her. I
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thought that was odd because most of the students are friendly with everyone. However, I soon

realized why the other students were apprehensive when interacting with Child A. I found that

Child A is very aggressive and violent towards her classmates. She often hits others when she is

feeling threatened in any way.

I was able to relate this reaction to the survival state I learned about in my classroom

management course. I believe this child feels threatened and unsafe in the classroom due to prior

experiences, therefore, she reacts with outbursts of violence. Child A’s reaction is automatic, is

done unconsciously, and done so in self-defense. Child A is also violent and extremely defiant in

all interactions with adults. I believe this is due to a sense of mistrust with adults due to a lack of

consistency in her life. She is being taken care of by different individual each day. Child A

exhibits deviant behavior when she is instructed to do anything or made to interact with any

other children. Child A often screams, “NO,” to her teachers and needs constant reminders to

follow directions. When I first entered the classroom, Child A was very hesitant to interact with

me and did not want me to interact with her. However, after spending more time in the

classroom, Child A became aggressive towards me as well. Child A is known for reacting

violently towards her teachers as well. She attempted to cut me with her scissors and hit me

repeatedly.

However, Child A shows empathy for her fellow students and teachers when they seem

to be upset. Child A is also kind to other students on the playground and often wants to push

them on the swing set. I believe Child A is a sweet child but has experienced inconsistency to the

point that she now feels unsafe and does not have a sense of trust for anyone. It is my goal to let

this child know she can trust me and that she is loved. Child A is also willing to help her

classmates and loves to help them open their milk cartons. Child A seems to have a better
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relationship with the teacher’s aide and listens to her instructions. She also loves playing outside

and playing during center time. Child A often refers to her mother as, “Titi,” and often asks the

teachers if they are going to call Titi when she misbehaves. This shows that Child A may be

acting out to gain attention and time with her mother. I believe that child A, like many other

children who do not get to see their parents very often, is exhibiting negative behaviors to

express to her parent that she needs her.

As I observed Child B’s social and emotional interactions, I realized that he is very vocal

and likes to take the lead in most conversations. Child B also repeats himself quite frequently in

conversation with his peers and with adults. I also noticed that Child B requires lots of adult

attention and he often calls the teacher’s name repeatedly all day long. Child B interacts with his

peers well, although he still exhibits signs of egocentrism. He plays well with others when he can

take the lead. However, when he does not get his way and has to share, I see signs of

egocentricity.

Child B is a very loving child and often asks others to play with them. During my first

visit to the classroom, child B asked me to sit beside him during class. This child is fairly well

mannered and is not easily influenced by the antics of his classmates. However, child A and

child B do not get along very well. Since they sit beside each other, I try to mediate. Child B tries

to control Child A and help her make good decisions in the classroom, which infuriates Child A.

Child B loves to play in the kitchen center and gets upset when other students get to play there

instead of him. Child B listens intently to classroom instruction and is an active participant in his

learning at circle time. While most of the boys are on the carpet wrestling, child B is sitting on

the carpet “Crisscross apple sauce.” Child B is surely a leader in the classroom, but still is a child
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and has not yet gone through all of the stages, as discussed by Piaget. It is important to remember

that these students are still children and are going to act like children.

As one can see, there are extreme differences in the social and emotional development of

these two children, and also many differences in their cognitive abilities as well. Child A is one

of the younger three-year-olds, therefore, it is understandable for her to be a little behind in the

classroom. However, I observed through the teacher’s use of formative assessments that this

child has no color recognition, is not able to count to ten, and does not yet know her letters. Child

A does know the beginning letter of her name and can recognize that letter around the classroom

and often refers to “her letter” and points at it on the walls. The teachers are trying to work with

the students, like child A, who are struggling with color recognition by letting them leave the

carpet to attend centers if they can recognize colors on the wall. However, this tactic has not

worked efficiently yet. Child A also creates lots of behavior problems during instruction time

and often has to be moved away from the carpet. Her behavior may be hindering her ability to

learn effectively. However, when I did my lesson using corn as a sensory station for the students,

Child A was very attentive to the lesson and engaged in the activity.

Child B is very attentive during carpet time and listens intently to the teacher’s lessons.

He is usually one of the first to answer her questions or to ask a question. Child B is proficient in

color recognition, knows his ABCs, can recognize all the letters in his name, and can count to

ten. I was able to observe his cognitive abilities during one of the teacher’s lessons, called shape

bingo. For example, the teacher would call out a red circle and the students would have to see if

they had a red circle on their bingo card. Child B was able to recognize all of the shapes and

colors called out.

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I performed the centration test with both child A and child B, by laying out two rows of

five blocks. The first row had five blocks close together and the second row and five blocks

spread out. I performed this task with both students and at different times. I asked Child A to tell

me how many blocks were in the first row, we counted five together. We then counted the

second row together and found that there were five blocks in the second row as well. I then asked

her which row had more and she replied that the second row, where the blocks were spread out

more, had more blocks. I also completed the steps above with child B and got the same results.

Both children, the same age, at different rates of cognitive development both believed the second

row had more blocks because it was spread out.

I also observed the fine motor skill development of both child A and child B. I found that

child A was able to open her milk carton, which is a hard task for even the older students. She

was also able to put the building block gears together during center time. However, she struggled

using art materials. For example, I supervised a cutting activity with the children and child A cut

sideways and would not let me help her. Child A also had no concept of holding the paper while

she cut it. I believe this is due to her lack of prior experience with using art materials and seeing

them used in the home.

I observed that child B struggled with some tasks, where Child A, did well, such as

opening his milk carton. I believe this may be because Child A opens his milk every morning, so

he is not trying to open it often. Child B was very good at cutting during the cutting activity and

was able to finish the task quickly.

I observed the gross motor development of both children on the playground at recess, as

well as in the classroom, and did not find that they were delayed. Both children were able to

walk, stand in line, and sit on the carpet. The children also ran around on the playground often
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and could climb the playground equipment and swing on the swing sets. They both are very

active compared to the other children. Child A was more active and energetic on the playground

compared to Child B. I found this very interesting because studies show that males are often

more active at recess than females.

The cooperating teachers attempted to conduct positive reinforcement with the students

which aided them in, “Initiative versus guilt,” the third stage developed by Erik Erikson. The

students need to have their needs met at a young age so they can begin gaining trust for their

caregivers. Children need consistency and need to know they are loved. This is done by adults

when they meet all of their basic needs. Young children need more than food and shelter, they

also need affection and someone who cares about them. As I observed these two, three-year-old

children, I found that they were in the preoperational stage, as discussed by Jean Piaget. I also

observed the children’s need for social interaction in the classroom and at home. Child A was not

as verbal in the classroom because when she is spoken to at home, she is not expected to engage.

However, Child B, when spoken to at home, is expected to reply to his caregivers. I applied

Vygotsky’s Social development theory to what I was seeing in the classroom and realized the

importance of social interaction in young children. My job as a future Early Childhood educator

is to teach children how to interact with each other, how to be kind, and how to navigate the

world around them. Being an educator is about so much more than just teaching standards, it

takes love and dedication-it takes heart.

I found during my time in the classroom that my cooperating teachers did use their

formal education for good in the classroom. I observed that they used the conscious discipline

techniques for behavior management, as well as the organization of the classroom. I also

observed that the classroom was an area conducive to the learning process. Children were
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allowed to play and participate in activities that were developmentally appropriate for their age.

It was easy to see their desire to follow the rules mandated by administration, NAEYC, federal

head start guidelines, as well as state guidelines. I learned a lot about young children and their

developmental processes from observing a Head Start classroom. I hope to use what I have

learned about young children, what it means to be an educator, and the theories I have learned in

class to shape me into the best teacher I can be.