Case study 2: External factors influencing children's behaviours

This scenario is based on the simulated organisationLittle.ly (long URL:www.littlely.eduworks.com.au).

A four-year-old Child has been attending the service for three years. The Child has an easy temperament and has a bubbly and friendly personality. The Child used to be looked after by the grandparent who recently became very ill and died unexpectedly.

The Child is very upset when the Parent leaves in the morning, but the Child settles quite quickly within ten minutes. The Child plays happily with most of the children in the room. Yesterday, the Child was playing shop with friends. The educator reminded the Child that it was time for the Child's friends to have an afternoon sleep. The educator said that the Child could sit quietly and read a book to rest the body and mind. The Child got very upset. The Child threw things and pushed the educator away and screamed: 'I am not finished'. The Child had not ever displayed this type of behaviour before.

The Child's educator said calmly, 'I understand how tricky it is to stop a game when you are playing. Are you feeling okay? Come and sit with me and we can have a chat'. The Child started crying and the educator reached out and gave the Child a cuddle. The educator said, 'It's okay to feel upset, I'm sorry I didn't realise it would upset you to ask your friends for their sleep. Is anything else bothering you?'

The Child cuddled tighter and said, 'My Nana went away too, I can't play with Nana and Mummy doesn't play with me anymore either'.

The educator listened to the Child and said, 'I'm very sad that your Nana went away. I bet that's really sad and hard for you to understand. Do you think Mummy is a bit sad at the moment too? Maybe we can make mummy a card or a picture while your friends have a sleep'.

The Child drew a picture for Mum and settled down. The educator sat with the Child during rest time and reminded the Child that the educator is here if the Child needs a cuddle at any time.

The educator said to the Child while drawing, 'How are you feeling now? How were you feeling before?' The Child said, 'I am feeling better, but I was sad'. The educator said, 'Sometimes feeling sad can make us feel a bit angry too. Do you think you felt angry or were you feeling something else?'

The Child said, 'I was angry, but I felt like my friends were going to leave too'.

The educator said, 'Maybe you were feeling a bit scared do you think?'

The Child said 'Yes'.

The educator said, 'If you ever feel like that again, I'd like you to breathe in and out and then tell me how you are feeling, that way we can make sure you and our friends are happy and safe, is that okay?'

The Child said, 'Yes, I shouldn't have done that'.

The educator said, 'That's okay, and it's understandable that you felt that way. You didn't know you could tell me how you were feeling, but now you do'. The educator asked the question, 'What did you love to do with your Nana?'The two chatted for the full rest time about the Child's Nana and the educator learned lots about what they liked to do together.

The educator let the Child's mum know that the Child was a bit upset today and that the Child found comfort in drawing Mum a picture.

1. Explain how children can be involved in developmentally appropriate ways when agreeing expectations of behaviour.

2 Identify the part of the case study where the educator communicated expectations for behaviour with the Child. Evaluate the Educator approach and provide one example of how you could improve this interaction or follow up with the Child.