By keeping detailed records of a child's learning style, behavior and interactions with others, parents and teachers can better understand a child's emotional, social and educational needs. Narrative records enable parents and teachers to develop a curriculum that provides for a full range of needs and develop confidence-boosting plans to help the child achieve full potential.
Diaries are used to record a chronology of a child's behavior after the behavior occurs. Diary records provide information to the parent or teacher about a child whose behaviors need to be better understood. Journals record details about the behavior of each child in a group after the behavior occurs. Journals are kept over a period of time and are used to track the status and progress of each child in the group. Anecdotal recording provides a descriptive narrative detailing a specific behavior after it occurs. Anecdotal records are used for teacher planning and conferencing. Running records provide a chronological record of a child's behavior while it occurs, over a given time. Running records document what a child is doing in a particular situation and are used for individual and group planning. Specimen descriptions are used to determine cause-and-effect relationships in a child's behaviors. Detailed notes recorded while the behavior is occurring, often aided with audio or video recordings, help analyze classroom management.
Narrative observations provide a better individual perspective of the child being observed. Observers learn what motivates and interests the child, how the child responds to particular activities, what influences her behavior, how the child's skills are developing and how she interacts with others. This information is then used to develop a learning plan to help the child achieve full potential.
Narrative observation records are time-consuming and can be difficult to interpret. Common observation errors include insufficient evidence, omission of some facts and recording things out of order. In many cases, narrative observations don't give a complete picture and depend too much on the observer's memory. Incidents can be taken out of context and later misinterpreted.