识别工作人员与家庭观察儿童时所持的视角
Identifying the Lenses Through Which Staff and Families Observe Children
一次观察就像一张照片，捕捉的是某一个时刻。作为观察者，你就像摄影师一样，会聚焦某些事物，忽略另一些事物。也像摄影师一样，你会把自己的想法、偏好和感知带入观察过程。
An observation is like a photograph—it captures a moment in time. As an observer, you are like the photographer, focusing on some things, ignoring others. Like the photographer, you bring your own ideas, preferences, and perceptions to the act of observing.
成为一名善于观察的人，需要练习。对于教育工作人员和家庭来说，其中一个重要方面，是认识到自己注意到什么，以及如何解释对婴幼儿的观察，都可能受到许多因素的影响。文化、气质、是否存在发展迟缓或残障、个人经历与人际关系、专业知识，甚至社区价值观和媒体传递的信息，都会影响工作人员和家庭如何看待孩子，以及与孩子相处时的感受。
It takes practice to become a good observer. For education staff and families, an important aspect of being a good observer involves knowing that what they notice and how they interpret their observations about infants and toddlers may be influenced by many things. Culture, temperament, the presence of a delay or disability, personal experiences and relationships, professional knowledge, and even community values and messages in the media affect how staff and families see and experience children.
这些影响观察与解释的“镜头”一直在发挥作用，即使工作人员和家庭未必总能意识到它们。例如，两位成人（如家访人员与家长，或两位教师）可能都看到同一个婴儿烦躁哭闹，却对这一行为的含义有不同理解，因而作出不同回应。观察幼儿需要自我觉察，而这种觉察会随着时间逐步发展。因此，帮助工作人员和家庭识别各种影响因素，并开始察觉这些因素何时可能妨碍自己看见孩子真实的样子，是十分重要的。以下几个方面值得思考：
These lenses through which staff and families observe and interpret are at work even though they may not always be conscious of them. For example, two adults (e.g., home visitor-parent; teacher-teacher) may both see an infant fuss but interpret differently what the fussy behavior means—and respond differently. Observing young children involves self-awareness, and this awareness evolves over time. So, it is important to help staff and families identify various influences and begin to recognize when these influences may be interfering with seeing a child for who he or she really is. Here are some things to consider:
每个人都有自己的文化背景，每个家庭的文化也各有特点。文化，包括对人和事的态度、信念与期望，塑造着我们作为个体和幼儿教育专业人员的样子。例如，有些文化认为，说话或听人说话时注视对方的眼睛，是尊重的表现；另一些文化则认为，听人说话时垂下目光才表示尊重。如果一位家访人员的文化重视说话时的目光接触，而孩子或家庭成员的文化重视听人说话时垂下目光，她就可能认为对方在忽视自己，或表现得不尊重。
Every person comes from a culture, and every family's culture is unique. Culture—attitudes, beliefs, expectations about people and events—shapes us as humans and as early childhood professionals. For example, some cultures consider it respectful to look someone in the eye when speaking or being spoken to. Other cultures consider it respectful to look down when someone is speaking. A home visitor whose culture values looking someone in the eye when speaking may think that a child or family member whose culture values eyes down when someone speaks is ignoring her or being disrespectful.
气质（如谨慎、外向、敏感，或对秩序的需要）、个人兴趣与偏好，以及感受（如什么会让我们兴奋、担忧或不自在）等特点，也会影响成人如何看待孩子、如何与孩子相处。这些特点可能让成人对有相似特点的孩子感到更亲近，给予他们更多关注，观察他们的次数也比其他孩子更多。同时，这些特点也可能使成人疏远与自己不同的孩子。工作人员可能较少关注这些孩子，或以更消极的方式解释他们的行为。例如，一位能够忍受强光、环境噪声，以及架子和墙上摆满各种“东西”的教师，可能很难意识到，一个经常哭泣的婴儿，恰恰可能是受到了这些事物的过度刺激。
Traits such as temperament (e.g., being cautious, outgoing, or sensitive; having a need for order), personal interests and preferences, and feelings (e.g., what makes us feel excited, apprehensive, uncomfortable) also affect how adults see and relate to children. These traits may help them feel closer to children with similar traits. They may pay more attention to children with similar traits and observe them more frequently than other children. These traits may also drive adults away from children whose traits are different. Staff may pay them less attention or interpret their behaviors more negatively. For example, a teacher who has a high tolerance for bright lights, environmental noise, and a lot of "stuff" on shelves and walls may have a hard time figuring out that an infant who cries frequently may be overstimulated by those same things.
工作人员通过课程学习、工作坊、职前和在职培训、实践指导、导师支持，以及在机构班级、家庭式托育场所和家访中的日常实践，获得理解和回应婴幼儿所需的专业知识与基础。他们应当有信心将这些知识和经验用于观察孩子、理解孩子的行动。不过，保持开放的心态，也是幼儿教育专业素养的一部分。专业知识和经验不应成为真正看见和理解一个孩子的障碍。幼儿教育专业人员明白，在观察和回应孩子这件事上，总有更多值得学习的内容。
Staff gain professional knowledge and grounding for understanding and responding to infants and toddlers from coursework, workshops, preservice and in-service training, coaching, mentoring, and daily practice in center-based classrooms, family child care homes, and home visits. They should feel confident about bringing this knowledge and experience to observing children and interpreting their actions. However, part of being an early childhood professional is maintaining an open mind. Professional knowledge and experience should not be a barrier to really seeing and understanding a child. An early childhood professional knows there is always more to learn about observing and responding to children.
为支持教育工作人员和家庭，可以：
To support education staff and families:
利用《接纳残障婴幼儿》培训指南等资源，帮助工作人员审视自己的信念和态度，了解这些因素可能如何影响自己看待项目中的残障儿童，以及与他们相处的方式。
Use resources such as the training guide Including Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities to help staff look at beliefs and attitudes that may influence how they see and relate to children with disabilities in their program.
运用反思性督导，与工作人员持续进行一对一交流，探讨他们的信念、偏好和专业经验如何影响他们观察和看待自己所服务的婴幼儿及家庭。根据需要提供指导，帮助工作人员协调相互冲突的视角，并与家庭、同事开展交流，理解不同看法，为每个婴幼儿的最佳利益共同努力。
Use reflective supervision to continue one-on-one conversations with staff about how their beliefs, preferences, and professional experience inform how they observe and see the infants, toddlers, and families with whom they work. Provide guidance, as needed, on how staff can balance competing perspectives, as well as talk with families and each other, to understand differing views and work together in the best interests of each infant and toddler.