Sewing on a shadow: acquiring dimensionality in a participant-observation

Abstract

Participant observation occupies an intermediate area between observation proper, where the discipline asks that we refrain from initiating actions, and psychotherapy, where interventions and interpretations are offered in pursuit of psychic change. In this paper the authors explore a participant observation—an application of a young child observation—within a special needs pre-school classroom. One of the authors initiated volunteer work in this classroom with a view to enriching her understanding of how children learn. This volunteer work was not intended as a therapeutic intervention, nor was a therapeutic outcome expected, yet something quite wondrous occurred. The authors present material from the encounters between the observer and a floppy, withdrawn five-year-old girl over an eight month period, tracing the trajectory of the budding connection between them and the growth that flowed from it. In this short time the child seemed to develop a nascent three dimensionality, able to engage and play symbolically with a separate other. In describing this unfolding, the authors highlight the active, reciprocal nature of the containing process, underscoring the impact of sustained attention and the transforming power of aesthetic moments in releasing developmental possibilities and enlivening the self.

Keywords:

• participant observation
• containment
• autistic features
• reciprocity
• dimensionality

This paper was originally presented at the International Congress of Infant Observation in Buenos Aires in August 2008.

This paper was originally presented at the International Congress of Infant Observation in Buenos Aires in August 2008.

Notes

This paper was originally presented at the International Congress of Infant Observation in Buenos Aires in August 2008.