Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Observation and Guidance I will include basic observation and guidance techniques for individual children (infancy – six years). This course puts more emphasis on guidance techniques and the personal value and belief systems that underlie their usage, but also provides students with some basic observational tools (running records, anecdotals) that can be used in identifying, evaluating, and developing guidance strategies. 

This course is required for the Early Childhood Certificate and the A.A.S. Degree in Early Childhood Education. In order to count toward the Early Childhood Certificate or AAS degree, this course must be taken for a letter grade. 

Completion of, or concurrent enrollment in ECE 120: Introduction to Early Education and Family Studies is recommended.  

Students must have access to infants, toddlers, or young children (2.5 – 5 years) in order to complete observation assignments. PCC’s Child Development Center is available for this purpose. 

This course requires college-level reading and writing abilities (passing or testing into Writing 115). Students who are concurrently working toward this level of competence in a developmental writing class or on their own may audit this course.  

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Identify, individually and collaboratively, guidance techniques for individual children based on proven theory and practices.
• Identify environmental, developmental, and cultural factors that impact children’s behaviors.
• Identify the skills and strategies needed for make accurate observations of individual children based on child development principles.
• Explain the connection between observations and appropriate guidance, management, and planning for individual children.
• Articulate the role of observation in communicating with parents and professionals.

Students Will:

• Participate in weekly large and small group discussions.
• Complete required observation and guidance assignments and personal reflection statements.
• Complete service learning hours or book/article reports.
• Complete a case study of a child (age 0 – 6) using observation techniques covered in class.

Students will acquire skills and abilities through practice relating to:

• Observer objectivity.
• Running Records.
• Anecdotals.
• Relationships between development and guidance
• A Pro-Social Environment
• Positive Communication
• Positive Action
• Praise vs. encouragement
• Effective guidance.