Week 7: The Woes and Wonders of Working with Children

Hi everyone,

Alex here, I thought I’d share my experience of the many woes and wonders of working with children.

One of the main reasons I came from the U.K. to Sydney this year, aside from the vastly more pleasant weather, was it gave me the opportunity to work in a developmental psychology laboratory. During my second year of my undergraduate degree back in Cardiff I took an introduction to developmental psychology course, and it was probably the course I enjoyed most throughout the year. Learning about how children develop gave me an entirely new appreciation for just how amazing it is that they gather so much knowledge and so many skills in such a short space of time. Thus, I decided that I wanted to spend my placement year (as part of degree I had the opportunity to spend a year working in an institution related to psychology) working in a developmental psychology laboratory. Thankfully, I secured a placement here at UNSW working in the Early Learning Lab, under Jenny’s supervision.

Before I started my placement, I didn’t really have any idea of what it would be like to actually work with children when conducting research. I’d had some experience helping out coaching at my local rugby club, and also volunteering at a local primary school helping young children with their reading, but I knew that actually running experiments with children would be different.

One of the most challenging things about working with children is actually trying to get them to do what you’re asking them to do. Often, they fall prey to distractions, such as toys or siblings, which means they lose focus on the task you’re asking them to do, which can be frustrating. Also, it is often difficult to know if children understand exactly what you’re asking them to do, or if they are simply nodding along as you explain the task to them. Another one of the main challenges when testing children is recruitment. Testing children usually involves finding parents who are willing to give up part of their day to come to the university so we can test their children. I’ve spent considerable time emailing and phoning up parents to see if they are interested, and trying to find a suitable time can be challenging because children are in school or their parents are working. This has led to me having to come in on a few Saturdays in order to accommodate parents’ availability, which isn’t the end of the world, but it’s always nicer to have a lie-in on a Saturday morning!

Whilst research with children can be challenging, as I’ve discussed above, it can also be extremely rewarding. Children are incredibly interesting, and some of the answers they come out with are extraordinary. For example, I asked on child to choose items she would like to take with her to various locations when she was a grown-up. Like many other children her age, she chose child-preferable items over more adult-preferable items (e.g. juice rather than wine). However, when asked to explain why she chose these items, she said she chose them so her children could use them, an answer I was not expecting at all. Another of the benefits of working is children, is that they often brighten up my day. Whether it be from a silly joke or answer, a smile, or a hug, they always seem to make my day just a little bit better, something I am always grateful for.

Overall, I would highly recommend working with children, should you get the chance. They won’t always do what you ask them, and they can be easily distracted or bored, but they are always a joy to be around and interact with, and it is truly remarkable how they develop so rapidly.

Thanks for reading, and good luck with proposal reviewing/revisions!

Alex