Reference no: EM133696436
Assignment: As a part of your placement you will be asked to keep a field journal. Your mentor will need to see your journal at different stages of the placement. Please make sure you take it with you every time you go onsite. This journal doesn't have to be expensive. In the past I have used exercise books from the newsagents that have cost me less than $1.00. It is what is in it that counts.
HOW TO KEEP A FIELD DIARY
A field journal is essential to a Playworking style and used when in the field, or as we call it, onsite with children. When you go onsite, you will record all your observations, thoughts and questions in your field diary. Your field diary will be unique to you, reflecting your personal style. As you can see by the examples of different field journals below, there is no one way to keep a field journal. Field diaries end up being
very personal. It may take some trial and error before you come up with the way that works best for you.
Some people will sketch, add notes, record snippets of conversations and record their reflections of each session. Some people will record their observations with charts, list and labels, while others will write long, detailed descriptions. A formal field diary can even have a diary-like account with records of feelings and emotions.
You can use whatever tools work best for you. The important thing is to record the information so you can use it later when trying to remember what you saw, so when you go back to reflect at a later date, you will remember!
Some prompts that may be useful to get you started are:
"What do I see?"
"Do I see anything that surprises me?"
"Is there something that happened that you didn't expect?"
`What worked well?"
"What could I have done differently?"
"If something isn't working, why?"
Reflective practice is an important part of the work we do. You need to be reflecting every time you are in a space with children. By doing this, you are getting into good habits. Some examples of field diaries....You can be as creative as you want, adding in things from the site, thoughts, ideas, drawings etc....
Its a field dairy. I have attended a 3 days of playwork placement at park and children's pictures have been clicked there. Make three field dairies for 3 different days. First You have to write about loose parts then you have to tell the observations about how they are playing with the loose parts ( cardboad, paper cups, ropes, tires, bottles and many more ) and in the end do reflection.
You have to write a total of 3 field dairies. ( different days)
1. Intro Intro - which day and why you do to the burwood park. Why Intro - which day and why you do to the burwood park. Why you were to there.
2. ?observation - write four observation of each session. In total (12 observation of 3 field dairies) your interaction and conversation with children. How you use loose part. Write 4 observation of each session.
3. Reflection- its just like summary. How can you improve in next session if something not working.