Running Head: KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY

Key Project, Case Study Lindsay Nichole Lambert Ivy Tech Community College

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY For my final case study, I observed and interviewed an eleven year old girl named E.C. The interviews and observations took place over the span of two days, November 25th and 26th. On November 25th, I observed E.C in her surroundings, interacting with other girls, doing her

homework, and participating in programming. This observation lasted three and a half hours. The next day (November 26th), I observed E.C at the after school program for two and a half hours, interviewed her instructor for a half an hour, and then her mother for a half an hour. In total, I spent seven hours interviewing and observing to gather as much information as I possibly could. The observations and interviews on both November 25th and November 26th took place in the sisterhood room. Sisterhood is a program for girls who are eleven to eighteen years old. The room has a very open concept. There are seven bean bags, multiple chairs around a table, a television and bookshelves. The room has four windows that are nearly floor to ceiling. E.C is an eleven year old girl who is in her first year at a local middle school. She lives with two younger sisters, her mother and her step-father. She has one step brother who is currently in his sophomore year of college (who lives on campus), and has a twenty four year old sister who lives with their biological father due to severe Down syndrome and Autism. E.C and her family just moved to a gutted 1800s Victorian Style foreclosed home as a result of a large family dispute. They are planning on fixing it a little at a time with each pay check; however, they are still lacking heated water, and most appliances. E.C and her mother both tell me that school has always come easy to E.C, and that she has gotten straight As since they switched from check plus to the letter grading system. She has many friends (according to E.C and mom), and I also observed her talking to everyone she came in contact with during my observation at the after school program.

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY E.C is in good general health with all current vaccinations, regular doctor visits, as well as yearly physicals for school sports. Her eating habits are generally healthy with an occasional snack (parents are very strict with food rules). She has no physical concerns or injuries. E.C has

waist long blonde hair and blue eyes, five feet, eleven inches tall, and weighs one hundred eleven pounds. According to Rush University Medical Center, the ideal weight for a girl who is five feet eleven inches is one hundred and forty to one hundred and seventy one pounds (so she is very underweight). Mom insists that her doctor has never once questioned her body weight or BMI. Sleeping habits are changing as E.C is getting older, as she is demanding a later bed time. Right now, we are sticking with 8:30, E.Cs mom grins at E.C, who shoots her a look back. According to the Developmental Checklist on page 526 and 527 of Infants, Children and Adolescents, E.C is physically on target for her age. Standing five feet, eleven inches tall, it is safe to say that E.C has hit her growth spurt. She is involved in cheerleading, basketball, volleyball and tennis. According to the checklist, she is right on target with her gross motor skills, executing gross motor skills of running, jumping, throwing, catching, kicking, batting, and dribbling more quickly with more coordination, (Berk, 2013). E.C does very well with games with rules, and is very much a team player says instructor, Dana Henson from her after school program. While observing in the sisterhood room, I noticed that E.C is right on target for her age. According to the Milestones Checklist on page 527 of Infants, Children and Adolescents, E.C is continuing to master Piagetian tasks in a step-by step fashion, she exhibits spatial reasoning while working on homework, and is able to help others older than her with their homework (shows understanding of number concepts, written language, logical thought, problem solving, etc.). According to Dana (sisterhood instructor), E.C is one of the head planners for the L.E.A.D

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY initiative that sisterhood is participating in, which shows that she is able to spread her attention selectively and plan effectively. In the seven hours that I observed and interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of where E.C is at emotionally/socially, I noticed that she is also right on target. As I stated

previously, E.C exhibited many positive peer relationships while at her after school program. She talked to everyone with a smile, and they all spoke kindly back. By showing that she had positive peer relationships, and was able to talk to everyone with her head held high, smile on her face showed that she was very confident. She showed that she had a positive self-concept and selfesteem by the way she treated herself and others, however, she showed that she takes constructive criticism quite harshly, curling up into a turtle shell before taking another crack at an undesirable behavior. According to mom, E.C works very hard on her school work, and has received straight As the length of her school career. E.C added that she knows that her hard work pays off, and that yes, sometimes I am miserable and I do not want to study, but I do, and I pass. This shows that she is able to distinguish the ability and effort she puts into things for her success, and does not leave everything up to luck for her success. She has many friends, but says that she only has a few close ones that she would trust with her life. According to page 499 of Infants, Children and Adolescents, this shows that her friendships are becoming more selective and are based on mutual trust, (Berk, 2013). Of course, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Throughout my seven hours of observation and interviews, I noticed three strengths and three weaknesses that E.C exhibited. For each strength and weakness, I will offer a suggestion on how these strengths can either be further developed, or how the deficits can be corrected.

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY

The first strength that I noticed was that E.C was very personable. All of the staff greeted her as she came through, and she greeted them back with a smile. She talked to all of the girls in the sisterhood room, as well as the younger ones as sisterhood girls began to leave. This strength could be further developed by having deeper conversation, practicing listening skills and making direct eye contact while talking. The two other strengths I notice that E.C exhibited go hand-in-hand. E.C showed a great deal of leadership, as well as problem solving. As I stated earlier, E.C was the leader when a fellow sisterhood member lost her cell phone. E.C collected information and retraced footsteps to find C.Rs phone. Her leadership and problem solving skills are advance compared to other girls in the sisterhood room, but she could further advance her strengths by asking more questions and using her critical thinking skills. I also noticed three weaknesses that E.C exhibited throughout my observation and interview time. One of which is that she exhibits an imaginary audience, quite often. While imaginary audience is normal for her age, I still consider it a weakness. According to Infants, Children and Adolescents on page 572, Imaginary audience is an adolescents belief that they are the focus of everyone elses attention and concern, (Berk, 2013). Multiple times during the observation she swore everyone was looking at her, and she would hide with red-faced, giggling embarrassment. In actuality, people started looking when she began hiding and laughing. One way she could try to correct this would be to pay more attention to her surroundings. Listen and watch others body language, and think, Does their conversation pertain to me? Are they looking at me? Another weakness I noticed was that she also exhibited personal fables (again, quite frequently). According to Infants, Children and Adolescents on page 572, personal fables are an inflated opinion of their own importance, (Berk, 2013). Those who exhibit personal fables believe that certain people are watching and thinking about them. This goes hand-in-hand with

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY the imaginary audience I previously stated. E.C thought multiple times that all of the other girls were constantly thinking about her, and that their full attention was constantly on her. This caused her to cut into conversations, interrupt others and add irrelevant information to change subjects. While personal fable is normal for E.C to exhibit at her age, it is still a weakness. This can be corrected in the same manner that the imaginary audience is corrected (listen, watch others body language) in addition to slowing down and thinking about the situation. The final weakness I notice that E.C exhibited while observing was how she handled criticism (constructive). A few times her instructor would say instead of doing [undesirable behavior] why not try [positive behavior]. Her body language shrank and her smile changed into a frown, she would sit for a few minutes, and then continue the undesirable behavior (which was mostly talking when she was not supposed to). She would try to redirect the situation by treating the

instructor like a peer more than a respected adult. This is a weakness because she is showing lack of respect to authority. This can be corrected by gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between herself and the instructor. E.C is eleven years old, which means that she is in the formal operational stage. During my seven hours of observation and interviews, E.C seems to be right on target for her age, as she is well into the formal operational stage. According to simplypsychology.org, as adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning, (McLeod, 2010). E.C exhibited critical thinking when faced with a problem, and broke things down for those around her (and herself) to understand more thoroughly. For instance, when one of her peers, C.R lost her cell phone, E.C was the leader in retracing steps, and ultimately finding

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY C.Rs cell phone. She gathered information from others, and looked in all of the places that C.R had been before losing her phone. I have learned many things throughout my observation and interviews for this final case study. The most significant thing I have learned is that there are many internal and external factors that can affect a childs typical development, in positive and negative ways. In E.Cs

case, her obstacles (parent divorce, remarriage, handicapped sister, moving, family disputes, etc.) have only pushed her to do her best in everything that she does. I have learned that by age eleven, children are well on their way to becoming adults. They start growing like weeds, their gross/fine motor skills become fine-tuned, and they cognitively begin thinking like adults, using reason and knowledge to think through problems. I will use everything I have learned from this final key project in my work at Girls Incorporated as a program specialist, as a volunteer at local elementary schools and learning centers. I have learned not only how children in the formal operational stage develop, but ways to interact with them and help them through this everchanging time in their lives.

KEY PROJECT, CASE STUDY References: Berk, L. E. (2013). Infants, children, and adolescents (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. McLeod, S. A. (2010). Concrete Operational Stage - Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/concrete-operational.html

Rush University Medical Center (n.d.). Ideal Weight and Height Chart | Body Mass Index Chart | Rush. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page1108048103230.html