Observational Studies Program

The Observational Studies curriculum follows a small seminar format that allows ample time for discussion and fosters integration of a wide range of ideas into students’ professional settings. Each student is assigned an advisor who will work closely with the student for the duration of the program.

Year One consists of a three-track seminar series: Infant Observation Seminar, Theory and Practice Seminar, and a Work Discussion seminar.

Year Two consists of: An Infant Observation Seminar, Young Child Observation Seminar (alternating weeks with Theory and Practice), and a Work Discussion Seminar.

Seminars explore many scenarios, including the impact of medical illness, sleep disturbances, feeding problems, postnatal depression in mothers, premature babies, bereavement, multiple births, abuse, and trauma on children and their families. Students will build a deeper understanding of the particular emotional context in which these difficulties arise, and develop ideas about effective interventions to relieve them.

Cultural Insights

Students and faculty in the Observational Studies program come from many countries and cultures that have included Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, the Philippines, China, Turkey, Mexico, Israel, and Lebanon. As many students find families from their country or culture of origin to observe, multicultural exchange and perspectives become a powerful aspect of the program.

Setting Up and Carrying Out an Observation

Students are asked and often assisted in finding families to observe. The family must be unknown to the student. Students are not permitted to observe their own family members, friends, close colleagues, or neighbors. Families are nearly always found through a third party which may include a faculty member who has learned of an interested family.

Students are given a letter from program chair(s) to bring to the families for the initial meeting with the parents to describe what is involved. Both the family and the student are able to get a feel for each other, to raise questions about the nature of their commitment, and the student’s task. The letter and the observer’s explanations make clear that the observer is a student and wishes to learn about development in an up-close way. Families are assured confidentiality. Their names will not be known to anyone except the student.

The student, like the family, will come to know about the issues associated with the arrival of a new member of the family and how parents and siblings get to know the baby. At the heart of this learning is the appreciation for the upheaval to whatever the established family order, and the renegotiation of how things evolve. The student becomes familiar with the task of having to find and define a place within the family.

The student is a “friendly visitor” who does not interfere with whatever is going on in the home. They simply observe what is happening, along with their own internal response to it. Although they may respond to conversation initiated by the caregiver or parent, or other members of the family, interventions or initiation of play, conversation, picking up the baby, and the like are not permitted. The student has to bear whatever anxieties or uncomfortable feelings that are stirred up without discharging these through action.

No notes are taken during the observation. After the observation, the student writes up what happened during the visit and their own responses in as much detail as possible. Students initially write up a one- or two-page observation. By the time they leave the program they are usually writing five to seven pages. The program enables students to further their ability to capture and recall nonverbal, verbal, and interactive sequences.