It became apparent that children reflected on events and experiences which related to different periods of time. Table 3.4 (see page 85) below identifies the timeframes and Figure 4.12 (page 128) the occurrences within the data.
Table 3.4 Reflective time frame and codes
Reflection time frame or mode
Code Past events
R1 Present or immediate past events
R2 Future events.
R3
R1: Past events
As in the pilot study, the children reflected on a range of events, some of which were past events and experiences. Vocal children use a range of different vocabulary such as; past tense action verbs and prepositions such as ‘before’. Children also demonstrated past reflection in their actions as they
129
repeated actions apparently learned earlier. To illustrate this, the following vignettes combine excerpts from observation transcript and field notes:
‘Child (FNA002) came over to the sand tray where an adult was sitting. She indicated to the adult that she wanted to pay the treasure game which they had played the previous week.
FNA002 ‘Looking for treasure’ she said and smiled at the adult.
She picked up the beads and began to bury them. A boy MNA002 came up to the tray. She smiled at him
FNA002 ‘he close eyes’,
FNA002 recalling that these were the rules which the same boy had insisted on last week.
MNA002 ‘I will close my eyes FNA002 and you have to bury the treasure. Then I open my eyes and I will find them all. Coz x marks the spot.’ MNA002 closed his eyes and FNA002 looked up at me smiling before finishing off burying all of the beads.
FNA002 ‘keep eyes closed’ to MNA002. ‘finished’.
MNA002 opened his eyes and began to scoop the sand away using a sieve. He found three beads
MNA002 ‘x marks the spot’.
FNA002 was smiling and clapped. Once MNA002 had found five of the beads he counted them
FNA002 ‘my turn, I shut eyes’.
She was excited, jumping up and down and shut her eyes using her hands to cover them.’
130
R2: Present or immediate past events
Reflections on the immediate past or present events were the most prolific of the reflective types within the observations and dialogues. These reflections were spontaneous and evidenced children’s thinking. Frequently the children talked about the event, their understanding of the experience, event of knowledge, demonstrated new knowledge based on the recent experience and in some cases referred to how they felt about it. For example,
‘I returned the nursery unit and FNA002 instantly recognised me when she came in. I was sitting at the sand tray where she had played with Child MNA002 and Child FNA008 last week. FNA002 and smiled at me and came to the sand tray. The resources were the same, dry sand and glass beads. FNA002 is a quiet girl and a little shy at first, she can talk but has a tendency to use telegraphic speech at times. I have noticed in previous observations that she sometimes struggles to take turns. She clearly remembered the game from last week and wanted to play it again. She knew that the searcher had to keep their eyes closed to play the game.’
HR Observation field notes 05/2/15- School B.
Morning nursery class; after break. Child MNA002 brought a book about dinosaurs into nursery and he took it where ever he went. He had a very good memory for the names of each dinosaur and enjoyed talking about the images in it.’
131
R3: Future events
Future events did sometimes figure in children reflections. Typically, these events referred to things which children were going to do or people they were going to do something with. For example,
‘Observer ‘Hi C, how are you?’
MNA002 ‘Fine, I have got a book about dinosaurs and this one is called T Rex. I am very good at dinosaurs and I know them all.’
MNA002 points to the dinosaur and then proceeds to point out others, naming them. He points out how one looks like bird as the image has feathers on it. He tells me that T-Rex is a meat eater and roars. I smile and ask him how he knows that T-Rex is a meat eater and then thinks for a while and then says because he has sharp teeth. I agree and ask if there is any other clue that could show that he eats meat. He shakes his head and I point to his feet.
MNA002 ‘Sharp claws ‘ he smiles.
Observer ‘well done’ ‘can you think of any other meat eater animals?’. MNA002 smiles and roars again
MNA002 ‘tiger, they eat meat and they have sharp teeth and …sharp claws?
Observer ‘shall we see?
He thinks for a moment and then points to the small world play. We go to the small world play area and Child MNA002 starts to look through the animal box for a tiger to check. MNA002 finds a tiger and points to the claws. He smiles at himself and then continues to sort through the animals inspecting their feet’
132
Figure 4.12 below shows the occurrences of each of the different reflection timeframes. It appears that present/ immediate past tense reflections R2, were the most prolific for both genders and future reflections least.
MNM005 ‘Are you my teacher today?
Observer ‘No I am here doing my research, do you remember? MNM005 ‘Ah’
MNM005 ‘I have been to two schools already and this is three. At my first school I can’t remember but my last one I had my lunch there and my mummy picked me up and there were babies too. When I am 5 I am going to big school. Into class 3 and my teacher will be Mrs S. I will be a big boy and stay all day. I am going to have a school dinner and my mummy will come to get me. There won’t be babies though. I am going to do lots of work at school like E (his sister). She doesn’t like school dinners but I will. My favourite is fish fingers.’
133
Figure 4.12: Reflective timeframes by gender
This aspect when examined across the first four utterances per child (Figure 4.13) similarly showed that R2 was the most prolific type of reflection. However, this sample revealed that females were more likely to reflect on past tense and future tense than males.
0 50 100 150 200
R1 R2 R3
Occurrences of reflective timeframes
R e fl e ctiv e tim e fr am e s
Gender comparison of reflective
timeframes
Male Female
Key: R1= past tense reflection; R2= present or immediate past; R3= future tense reflection.
134
Figure 4.13: Reflective timeframes in first four utterances by gender