Emotional Behavior Observation: Dependency

Observer's Name: Josie Parry

Child Observed: A.A Childs Birthdate: 5/24/12

Child's Age: 4.7.25 Date and time of Observation: 1/18/17 at 9:05 am
Behavior: An incident of dependency.

Behavioral/Interaction Description Interpretation

A.A. is walking into the classroom with her
mother and brother. A.A. is hiding behind
her mother and clinging on to her mothers
leg.
A.A. is demonstrating emotional
dependency by staying near her mother
and brother. A.A. craves the presence and
reassurance of her mother as she is
entering a classroom with teachers who
are foreign to her. This is normal behavior
for a child of A.A.s age.

A.A.s mother asks, Why are you being so A.A. portrays a secure attachment to her
shy, honey? A.A. shuffles farther behind mother, for she feels protected by her
her mothers leg. presence. A.A.s attachment to her mother
is a positive thing, for A.A. is improving her
development of trust.

Teacher A comes over to greet A.A. Teacher A recognizes A.A. is having a

Teacher A happens to be A.A.s former difficult time separating with her mother.
assistant teacher from last semester. Children sometimes need motivation and
encouragement to help lessen the
dependency on another individual. When I
am present at the time A.A. is being
dropped off, I have discovered that it will
be beneficial for me to greet A.A. with
encouragement and positive energy.

Teacher A prompts A.A., Hey, A.A. Would Although A.A. does not directly respond to
you like to go read a book with me? A.A. Teacher As prompt, she does
shrugs her shoulders. acknowledge Teacher A. A.A.s
immediate emotional dependency on her
mother could be starting to wane.

Teacher A holds out her hand for A.A. to This demonstrates that A. A. most likely
hold. A.A. grabs onto her hand and follows developed trustrather than mistrustin
her through the classroom. Teacher A the previous semester. Teacher
A must have previously responded
consistently to the needs of A.A. while
forming a valuable relationship, for that is
necessary for a teacher and child to

1

Teacher A asks, Would you like to color
shapes with me?
A.A. shrugs her shoulders. Teacher A
asks, Would you like to go play house in
the dramatic play area? A.A. shrugs her
shoulders.
Teacher A starts to welcome more
children who are entering the classroom
for the open house. A.A. stays close to
Teacher A.
Teacher B goes up to A.A. Would you like
to color with me, A.A.? A.A. slowly shakes
her head yes, looks around, and then trails
behind Teacher B.
develop trust, especially when a child has
a shy temperament, as A.A. might have.
A.A. is not verbally communicating with
Teacher A, but her nonverbal cues are
important to identify and understand. A.A.
appears to be hesitant to commit to an
activity, perhaps because she is not yet
comfortable with the environment. When I
address A.A. in the future I will be aware of
not only her verbal communication, but her
nonverbal indications as well (body
language, facial expression, gestures).
Just like A.A. indicated a secure
attachment with her mother, she may have
a similar relationship with Teacher A. I now
know that when I work with A.A., it will be
crucial for me to develop a stable
relationship with her. This will result in
effective communication between A.A. and
me, providing more opportunities for
learning.
It is possible that A.A. is at Eriksons
Autonomy versus Shame stage.
Although A.A. is nervous being with
unfamiliar people, she is extending her
autonomy by showing she is a separate
person from her mother and Teacher A.
She may also be increasing her ability to
have social competence, and she is about
to have the opportunity of entering the first
stage of learning prosocial behavior with
the help of Teacher B: entering play
successfully.
Emotional, social, and cognitivemore
specifically, languagedevelopment are
all present in this observation.