OEP 101 Module Topic Two (Two lectures)
OEP 101 Module Topic Two (Two
lectures)
Title: Development
of a Child
Content:
· Role
of heredity and environment development on individual’s learning
· Continuous
and discontinuous theories of development
· Development
of physical development during childhood
· Cognitive
development during childhood
· Socio-emotional
(psychosocial) development during childhood
· Development
of self
Introduction:
In
this Topic we look at students as they grow and develop in relation to
learning. Remember that you need to have knowledge of your students so as to be
an effective teacher. How can you teach students whom you don’t know? Child
development knowledge equips you with the understanding of your students who
are at different stages of development so that you can appropriately teach
them. Also, you may stay with the same students for a long period of time in
which some developmental changes will definitely be occurring. You need to
notice these changes and respond to them accordingly.
Objectives:
At the end
of this topic the student will be able to:
·
Identify
hereditary and environmental factors which underlie learning ability
·
Distinguish between continuous and
discontinuous theories of development.
·
Describe the physical, cognitive and
psychosocial development of school children.
·
Identify the diversity in the classroom.
Body
MAIN
CONCEPTS
Let’s
start by describing the concepts “grow” and “development” as used in
psychology. Both concepts are based on the fact that during life span
individuals are progressing from one stage to a higher stage. This process and
stages are characterized by changes. Grow is used when the changes are
quantitative, i.e. an increase or decrease in numbers. A good example is height
and weight of students. In normal circumstances children’s height and weight
increases (read grow) as they progress in years. We expect two years old to be
shorter and lighter at this age relative to when they will be in primary
school.
Development
is used for qualitative changes. These are not directly observable but infer
some changes within the individual have taken place. A good example is language
development. At birth children cannot talk however around two years they begin
to speak. Language spoken at the age of two is qualitatively inferior relative
to the language used at four or at ten. The changes manifested in language
don’t mean that the brain has changed but rather some reorganization has taken
place that account for the differences between the stages.
In
this lecture we look at the development of the students in three main areas
i.e. physical, cognitive and psychosocial. These areas develop simultaneously
and are, as mentioned before, interrelated. As you have noticed on the
development of students there is quite a variation in rate of development. In a
group of students of the same age and in the same class and all still growing
you find some of them are taller while others are shorter for their age, some
heavy and others not so heavy, some have language that is well advanced for
their age while for others their language is below that of the normal age
group. Also, there are developmental variations within the individual
himself/herself. Some may grow fast in terms of weight but more slowly in
height. The implication is that students of the same age are similar in some
aspects and different in others.
The
periods of child development are classified by psychologists into four periods.
Notice that, as mentioned above, there is variation on the onset and end of the
periods. These periods are:
·
Infancy:
starts from birth to 18 to 24 months. It is characterized by total dependence
on the caregivers at the beginning. During this period a child begins to
develop sensorimotor coordination, walking, language, thinking and learning.
·
Early childhood:
starts at the end of infancy and extends to 5 or 6 years. Sometimes this is
called preschool period. The child is more self-sufficient and has developed
some skills related to improved sensorimotor coordination.
·
Middle to Late childhood:
extends from 6 to 11 years. Most of children in this stage are in primary
schools (elementary schools). They have developed self-control and acquire
primary skills of learning i.e. reading, writing and math.
·
Adolescence:
begins around 11 years and extends to between 18. This is a transitional period
from childhood to adulthood that is characterized by rapid body changes that
includes the development of sexual organs functions. Also individuals in this
stage seek self independence. Most complete primary school at this stage, and
most of secondary school students are in this period.
ROLE OF HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT ON
THE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENT
In
development there is a constant interaction between nature and environment or
nurture. The nature component involves the biological processes that start at
conception i.e. genetic inheritance formed by the combination of genes of the
sperm and those in the ova. The conception processes has a major role in
determining the rate of growth of the body in terms of weight and height; and
the development of brain, motor skills and body changes caused by hormones.
Also, there are some human potential that are genetically programmed, including
the learning processes, language development, and motor coordination.
The
environment includes physical and social surroundings. Physical environment is
essential for the survival the individual, his/her development in general and
learning process. Some studies have indicated that children who had severe
kwashiorkor experienced learning difficulties later in schools (Galler, et. al.
1987), and those exposed to lead later on in life experience physiological
problems (Patrick, 2006). In physically
stimulating environments children were found to be more developed language wise
than those in less stimulating environment (UNESCO, 1987). Social environment in form of child’s relationship with other
people has great influence on the socio-emotional processes of the child i.e.
emotional and personality changes of the child.
So, we see that some of the potentials are
determined by heredity; and the influence of environment on heredity either
enhances or deters student’s learning process.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT DURING
CHILDHOOD
We
all know that the brain is the major organ of cognitive processes. The brain is
divided into different parts that are involved in different aspects of
cognition and learning. Here we only identify some of the major parts. Before
that, bear in mind that we don’t fully understand how the brain functions and
there are debates going on about the biological bases of learning.
The
brain has two halves, called cerebral hemispheres, which are connected by
corpus callosum. The two spheres appear to be identical but there are some
differences in their functions. Cerebral lateralization is the
specialization of the functions of each sphere of the brain. The right
hemisphere controls the left side of the body while the left hemisphere
controls the right side of the body. So if you are right handed you are left
lateralized, if left handed you are right lateralized. For most people speech
is localized in the left hemisphere. Nonverbal processes such as spatial
perception, visual activities, and emotions are predominantly localized in the
right hemisphere. However, studies show
that the brain is more complicated than that since both atmospheres to some
degree are involved in all activities. Complex functions such as logic and
creativity involve both spheres of the brain.
The
brain has four lobes. Frontal lobe has functions for motor activities and
thinking; temporal lobe has functions for hearing; parietal lobe has functions
for body sensations; and occipital has functions for vision.
The
development of the brain is not fully understood. Neurons, (nerve cells) grow
by increasing in size and in number. A process known as myelination, whereby
the neurons are covered by an insulating material, increases the size of the
brain and the speed at which messages travel through the nervous system
(Santrock, 2004). Myelination in the areas related to focus and attention is
not complete until the end of late childhood, explaining why students below
this stage have problem remaining focused on one task for a long time.
In
describing cognitive development we will use the theory proposed by Jean Piaget
(1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist. Originally he was trained in the field of
biology and philosophy. While working with the results of IQ tests of children
he noticed that young children’s answers were qualitatively different from
those given by older children. He believed that children are actively constructing
their world as they respond to what they see, touch, or test. For him the way
we human respond to the environment is not learned but an inherit method of
intellectual functioning i.e. a function that is there since birth.
Piaget’s
theory of cognitive development has four major stages. They are major since in
each stage there are sub-stages.
However, before looking at them let us define some key concepts of the
theory:
·
Schema
is a concept or an organized pattern of thoughts or behaviour that form one
organized unit. Riding a bicycle is a scheme (behaviour); picture of a dog or a
dog is a scheme; and teaching is a scheme (a complex one). Schemes help us to
organize and make sense of our world.
·
Adaptation is
a psychological mechanism used by children to use and adapt schemas in a new
experience. This mechanism has two processes, namely assimilation and
accommodation. Assimilation occurs when a child incorporates new knowledge
into existing knowledge i.e. taking in new objects, events, and concepts into
the existing schemas. Accommodation occurs when we are
changed by what enters into our mental structures. So, through assimilation we
transform the environment to fit into preexisting cognitive structures while
accommodation changes our cognitive structures in order to accept something new
from the environment.
·
Equilibration.
Encountering a situation that does fit into our mental structure creates
disequilibrium i.e. a conflict in trying to understand the new situation. The
process of resolving the conflict through assimilation and accommodation is
known as equilibration.
·
Organization is
when we bring together isolated behaviours or ideas into a single more complex
behaviour or concept. This leads to have smooth functioning cognitive system.
The above processes are fundamental on how
children understand their world and adapt it in their mental structures. With
this knowledge we now look closely at the four stages of cognitive development.
These stages are in a specific sequence, each indicating children as having a
distinct way of thinking. The differences between the stages are qualitative in
nature rather than being quantitative i.e. differences are not based on “what”
or number of ideas a child has but on “how” a child thinks. So, in the sequence
of cognitive development in the following stage the thinking process is more
complex and accurate than in the previous stage. These stages are called
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations.
The sensorimotor stage
This
extends from birth to 2 years. The term sensorimotor imply that during this
stage the child explores his world by use of sensory experiences such as
seeing, hearing and touching. It is by coordinating these experiences that the
child develops the first schemas and it is the basis of the beginning of
cognitive development.
At
the beginning of this stage the child’s responses are through reflex actions
i.e. unlearned, innate reflexes such as sucking anything that touches the mouth
or grasping any object that touches the palm of the hand. Through these reflex actions the child
becomes aware of sensations caused by these actions and uses them to adapt to
the world. At this sub-stage, known as primary circular reaction, most of
the deliberately repeated actions involve only the body e.g. sucking (sucking
involves fingers and mouth). Later on,
the reactions involve object outside the child himself/herself (secondary
circular reaction) e.g. holding an object (use of hand and the object).
Then they coordinate several actions to achieve something. Between 12 and 18
months a child starts to experiment with things e.g. deliberately dropping
things to see what will happen (Tertiary circular reaction).
So,
it is during this stage that the child forms the first schemas through
assimilation and accommodation in adapting to his/her world. It is the
beginning of the organization process. Development of language (associating
sounds with objects or events) is another important aspect in this stage. Also,
they develop the sense of object permanence i.e. objects
continue to exist even when out of sight. Before then children do not look for
objects that are removed or obstructed out of visual field, cannot be seen,
heard or touched. The sense of object permanence is very significant since the
child’s world becomes organized and predictable. Furthermore, in this stage the
child becomes aware that s/he can be the cause of an action. Also, due to
development of mobility the child is able to explore objects that are far and
consequently new mental abilities.
In this stage they learn to walk, meaning they
gain the ability to access the environment around them. Before walking they had
to depend on others to bring items to them, now they can move around to the
object and explore their surroundings. So in sensorimotor stage children learn
through use of senses, actively exploring their environment.
Preoperational stage
The
stage extends from 2 to 7 years. According to Piaget operations are actions
that we perform mentally including knowing an object, thinking and manipulating
ideas. A good example is when we compare things mentally to discover their
similarities and differences. So, in preoperational stage the child is not yet
able to manipulate things mentally although s/he has started to use language.
In this stage a child’s mental functioning is mainly characterized with the use
of symbols.
The
child gains the mental ability to represent an object that is absent, a
demonstration of thinking. The use of language expands rapidly; they engage in
pretending plays whereby an object (let’s say a piece of wood) may represent a
house, car or person. In the play they assume that the innate objects are alive
and conscious, referred to as animism.
Another
characteristic of this stage is egocentrism. This is inability to
know and recognize that other people see objects from their point of view and
instead they think that the other person is seeing the object as s/he is seeing
it from his/her position. A child sitting in front of the room looking at object
in the middle of the room thinks that a person looking at the same object from
the back of the room has the same view of the object as himself/herself (the
child’s view). Ever heard of a child saying that the moon is following him/her?
Because of this characteristic child at this age may need company of other
children but normally each engage in his/her own play and monologue.
Centration
refers to child’s tendency of concentrating and focusing on only one aspect of
an object and disregarding the other aspects although they are important
features of the object. Give a child in this stage a collection of similar
objects but with different colours and shapes and tell her/him to put them in
groups. Most likely s/he will form groups by focusing only on the colours of
objects and ignore their shapes. Children in preoperational stage also lack conservation
i.e. the ability to realize that properties of an object remain the same
although its shape might change. For adults a volume of liquid remains the same
even when put into a container of different shape or size. Due to lack of
conservation a child thinks that water poured into a narrow container is more
than when it was in broad container. This is caused by irreversibility i.e. the
child being unable to reverse mentally the procedures or his/her thinking.
So
we have seen that in preoperational stage children learn by experiencing real
objects in their surroundings. They use symbols and images in constructing
knowledge about their world. Children are egocentric and cannot understand
other people’s point of view.
Concrete Operations stage
This
stage extends from 7 to 11 years. In this stage children overcome the
limitations of the preoperational stage by using reasoning that involves
concrete operations i.e. they can deal with real concrete situations but are
unable to deal with abstract situations. The child now has established
conservation since s/he can reverse mental actions and take into account
several aspects of the object or event instead of focusing only on one aspect.
Egocentric thinking diminishes too. A child in this stage makes addition by
counting real things, mostly fingers. The problem comes when the sum is more
than ten and they are wearing shoes! I
think you have seen children of this age carrying small sticks, or bottle tops
in a string to school for making calculations.
One
of the characteristics of this stage is classification i.e. to sort out
things from a big group and put them in sets or categories based on their
similarities. Also, they have the
ability to know that an object can be classified into different groups, e.g.
one woman at the same time can be a daughter, mother, sister, wife and
grandmother.
In
this stage a child can arrange things according to their relative sizes e.g.
from shortest to the tallest or from the smallest to the largest or vice versa.
Given ten sticks of different heights they are now able to arrange from the
shortest to the tallest. This is seriation, an ability lacking in the
preoperational stage where children cannot compare more than two objects at the
same time. Due to seriation they can reason about relationships and come up
with logical conclusions (transitivity). They can conclude
that object “C” is taller than object “A” upon realization that “B” is taller
than “A”, and “C” is taller than “B”.
Formal Operations Stage
This
is the fourth and last stage in Piaget’s cognitive theory. It starts at about
11 and 12 years (during adolescence). In the previous stage a child is only
able to conduct concrete operations by using real objects. However, in this
stage the adolescent demonstrates the ability to think in abstract, idealistic
and logical ways. They solve problems presented to them verbally and they can
express themselves without relying on concrete objects.
One
of their characteristics is that they can differentiate the real from the
possible, and can think about the future. They have developed hypothetical-deductive
reasoning whereby they think abstractly in a systematic manner that
involves developing hypothesis and means of testing them. In their plans they
gather all possible information and study possible combinations of solving the
problem.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE THEORY TO
TEACHERS
·
We have to acknowledge Piaget’s
contribution to developmental psychology, especially on cognitive development.
His theory demonstrates that pupils are actively involved in their learning.
This is proven so by the concept adaptation, organization, assimilation,
accommodation and equilibration among others.
·
Piaget’s theory implies that children
are mentally qualitatively different from adults and among themselves,
depending on their cognitive stage of development. They are always adapting to
their world, and the environment is also affecting their mental structures. The
role of the teacher is to understand the mental functioning of students and
create an environment that facilitates assimilation and accommodation.
·
We need to recognize and understand that
children’s answers are not ‘wrong’ or “weird” but statements indicating the
state of their mental functions. Just imaging your reactions to students’
answers before being introduced to Piaget’s theory!
·
Much of Piaget’s theory is based on
observation he made on his own three children. We can observe the mental
functions of our own children and students by knowing the important things to
look for. Children’s drawings, symbolic plays and answers should tell you
something about cognitive level of development and the appropriate tasks to be
given to respective ages. Don’t take the children’s responses casually but
rather have critical analysis on them.
·
The curriculum and learning tasks for
the children should be based on the cognitive developmental stages of the
students. Teaching should make the students move on to the next stage gradually.
According to Huitt (1997) in teaching preoperational pupils, teachers have to
use concrete properties, and visual aids to illustrate lessons; instructions
should be short of using combination of words and actions; give them physical
practice with facts and skills and encouraging them to manipulate objects that
can change in shape while maintaining a constant mass. For those in concrete
operations the above suggestions should be continued, but for children at a
higher levels teachers, should include activities requiring students to deal
with more than two variables at once, and also giving them opportunities to
classify and group objects and ideas on increasingly complex level; and present
them with problems which require logic, analytical thinking to solve. For those
beginning to use formal operations give them an opportunity to explore many
hypothetical questions and always encouraging them to explain how they solve
problems.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Language
is significant in the learning process. It is used in storing information in
the memory; communicating between learners and teacher and among learners; and
also in demonstrating that learning has taken place in form of writing, reading
and speaking. In short, language is paramount in teaching and learning
processes. Language changes in an individual’s development have to be taken
into account when dealing with students. Development of language makes it
possible for a child to interact with the people around him/her.
Just
what is language? Language is more than verbal communication. All languages
have three main properties, namely semantic, displacement, and productivity. Semantic
means the words represent an object or event, displacement means the
words represent objects that are not present in space and time; productivity
implies that language has limited vocabulary but can make an infinite
combination of words to present ideas.
In
developing language one also needs to eventually adhere to the following rules:
·
Phonology is the system of using
sounds to make words. It determines the way sounds are combined in a sequence
that has a specific meaning.
·
Syntax refers
to the way words are combined to make
meaningful phrases. In the statement “the lion ate the zebra” you know who ate
who or who was eaten by whom. Rearrangement of these words makes the statement
to have a different meaning or sometimes meaningless. Have you ever heard of a
zebra that ate a lion!
·
Pragmatics
involves the use of language in a socially correct way i.e. knowing how to
participate in conversation using proper language that takes into consideration
the social context prevailing.
Language
development stages
Language
development involves acquiring the ability to listen and speak. Before we look on the stages let’s discuss a
little about environment and language development. Noam Chomsky (1957) stated
that humans are biologically programmed to learn language since all children in
all parts of the world, and although living in different environments, develop
in more or less in the same rate and the sequence or steps involved are the
same. He believes language is very complex that children do not just copy from
their parents. It is difficult or impossible to teach children to speak; they
start to speak at a given stage of development. Does this mean that environment
has no role on child’s language development? The answer is definitely no.
Firstly, the language one develops is that of the care givers (internalizing
speech they hear). The quality of language spoken reflects that of people
around the child. The vocabulary of children at the age of three who have been
living in poverty stricken conditions is much lower than that of middle income
families (Farkas, 2001). So, language
development is a result of inheritance; and environment has a great influence
on the variation of the quality of children’s language.
Piaget
believed that language development is based on the existing cognitive structure
of the child and differs qualitatively in each of the four cognitive stages of
development. In the previous section we saw that language starts to develop in
the later part of sensorimotor stage, indicating the ability to connect sounds
and objects; and representation of world in language form. In the
preoperational stage children use egocentric speech i.e. communication is from
their point of view, they can have a monologue and speak to anyone. In the
concrete operations stage it is the beginning of the verbal understanding
related to concrete conditions. In the formal operations level the adolescent’s
language is free from concrete situations and has an ability to express
abstract issues.
Newborn
babies use crying and fussing as means of communication i.e.
conveying the message that s/has a need that needs to be attended. Between 3
months and 6 months babbling develops
when the child makes sounds that resemble speech. By age of 12 months they
produce sound patterns that indicate the child has started to associate certain
sounds and objects. Between 12 and 18 months first words are spoken referring
to specific objects or event. Normally the first words are nouns that may refer
to many objects and actions related, for example the word “mama” in one
situation means presence of mother, in another “mother come”, and while in
another setting it means “where is mother?”
By
the end of two years the child’s vocabulary increase to more than 200 words and
uses two-word combinations, a sign of acquiring morphology rules. In the
beginning of third year they use plural, past tense and some prepositions. The
use of rules is not yet perfect since they apply some rules incorrectly, e.g.
by overgeneralization
when they say “mama” instead of “lady”. Also in the third year they can talk
about things that are not around in terms of time and space (displacement). Now
they can talk about things that happened before or that are expected in the
near future.
Language
develops rapidly between 3 years and 11 years. By the age of 6 a child has a
vocabulary of more than 10,000 words. In this period they develop ability to
ask questions beginning with “yes/no” questions.
Loh
(2010) has suggested some of the simple ways and methods that help to
facilitate language development in children:
·
Reading nursery rhymes helps the child
to listen and later understand the flow of language.
·
Sing simple songs while using body as a
tool of conversation.
·
Name different objects and patterns and
describe their colours, size, format and shapes.
·
Create an environment that has
activities which promote communication and language skills. Ask open ended questions.
Use plays to learn series of language skills, both verbal and nonverbal.
Children should be given opportunity to talk about their day activities/special
occasions and describe the actions there are doing.
PSYCHOSOCIAL (SOCIO-EMOTIONAL)
DEVELOPMENT
We
have looked at the cognitive and language development of students. Now we turn
our focus to psychosocial development. Student’s learning in school is under
the influence of people around and his/her own emotions. Also, student’s
behaviour is to some degree guided by moral aspects.
The
process of internalizing societal values and behaviour acceptable in the
individual’s societal setting is called socialization.The main agents of the
socialization process are parents, siblings, peers, teachers and the media. To
explain the relationship between the student and the agents we will use Urie
Bronfenbrenner’s theory; and for describing social development we use
Erickson’s psychosocial theory.
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
Urie
Bronfenbrenner’s (1917-2005) ecological theory is based on the social forces
that have influence on the children’s life development. Bronfenbrenner
acknowledges the existence of five environmental systems that explain the
child’s interrelation with close people and that with the wide social
environment. This theory is used to study human beings and their environments.
We could ask ourselves a question maybe “Why do students in a certain location
perform so badly in the National Examinations.
The
systems he proposed are:
i.
Microsystems
include the immediate environments and the social settings that the child
spends most of his/her time. For most children these settings are their
families, neighborhood, schools and childcare centres. It is in this system the
child has many social interactions. In the family the student is influenced by
parents and siblings; in school s/he is influenced by teachers and other
students and in the neighborhood influenced by peers. (Parenting styles and peer influence to be discussed in later part of
this lecture). The child is not only influenced by the settings but s/he is
also an active force in constructing these settings. Recently this theory has
been called “Bio-Ecological Systems Theory” because one’s biology is considered
part of the Microsystems.
ii.
Mesosystem
refers to the linkage between the Microsystems. The students make connections
between their experiences at home and the experiences in school; and this to
some degree have influence on learning. If the school gives value and success
to hard work and the family has the same expectations then we can expect a
student to perform quite well; but if the teachers and the family do not value
education then we expect the student not to perform well. A child can take
church or mosque experiences to school/home or vice versa.
iii.
Exosystem
is based on experience of settings the student is not directly involved with
but have some influence on him/her. There is no direct link between the student
and parent’s work. However, the parent’s work may have effect on the experiences
of the student, e.g. salary used for fees and other school materials. For
example there is no direct connection between teachers’ salaries and students’
academic performance. In Tanzania there was a time when councils did not pay
teachers on time. Some of the teachers were demoralized or spent days chasing
their salaries and this had influence on the learning process of students. If
someone donates textbooks to a school this may lead to acquisition of more
learning materials and hence better student’s performance. In both cases the
students is not directly involved but s/he may be affected by the decisions and
actions of others.
iv.
Macrosystem
refers to the broad culture of the society. Culture includes gender roles,
socioeconomic structure, teachers and students’ lives, attitudes, ideologies,
sports, ethnicity, values and customs. Some societies do not value sending
girls to schools while others deliberately encourage and expect girls to excel
in school. Children from poor families, who are not sure of the next meal, may
be affected by this condition and we will not be surprised if they cannot
concentrate on their learning.
v.
Chronosystem
is the existing social and historical conditions of the student. Do you know
that many students today in Tanzania have access to computers while15 years ago
there were very few computers in the country? The same can be said of
television. In addition many secondary school students do not have to walk for
many kilometers to school every day now a day. Before 1980 nobody had ever
heard of HIV /AIDS. All these developments have a bearing on students learning
experiences.
Bronfenbrenner’s
ecological theory has shown us that social settings have major influence on the
development of the students. It tells us that we should look on different
social settings when determining or want to improve students’ performance. For
example, when considering students’ performance we have not only to rely on
classroom or school conditions but rather we have to think about and involve
the significant others. What’s the point of a teacher giving homework when the
parents do not value it; or at home parents will not give the student a chance
to do homework?
Erikson’s stages of development
Erik
H. Erikson (1902-1994) psychosocial development theory articulates eight stages
that human passes in forming one’s personality (Erikson, 1950). The theory
describes the role of social environment on the emotional development. In each
stage an individual faces challenges and conflicts that need to be resolved. If
these inner and external conflicts are resolved positively a healthy
personality emerges. However, if these conflicts are not successfully resolved
they create crisis that may lead to maladjustment behaviours in the future.
This theory helps to acknowledge that crises manifested in life may have their
roots in the earlier stages of development. Also, it can be applied to guide
teachers on the best practices of rearing students for a healthy emotional and
cognitive wellbeing.
The
stages of psychosocial development
There
are eight stages; however we are only focusing on the first four stages which
correspond to the ages of students in most schools.
i. Trust
versus Mistrust (Infants, birth to one year)
This
is the first stage and focuses on how the basic needs are met by parents. In
the first year of life all basic needs (food, water and security) are met with
the help of parents, and without this help none will survive. In this stage attachment
is established i.e. the emotional bond between child and parents (especially
mother). Children are actively reacting to the social environment by a process
called reciprocal interactions whereby they react in a particular
manner. When you smile at them they normally respond by smiling back and if you
are angry to them they respond accordingly. If parents create a regularly warm,
caring and secure environment the child will develop sense of security and also
trust his/her world. If the parents are neglectful or abusive when meeting the
child’s needs or ignore them, the child will learn to mistrust the world
believing that it is undependable, unreliable, and unpredictable; and a
dangerous place (Wikipedia, retrieved 2010).
ii. Autonomy
versus Shame and Doubt (Toddlers, 2 to 3years).
In
this stage children gain muscular coordination and mobility leading to ability
to physically explore their surroundings. Also, in many cultures children are
required to gain self control through toilet training. If the parents encourage and create safe
environment for exploring the environment, and encourage self-sufficient
behaviours in such things as dressing, eating and washing themselves, the child
develops sense of autonomy and confidence that s/he can deal with many things
by himself/herself. On the other hand if parents are very restrictive
(excessive control) or ridicule a child when trying to exercise self-control
s/he develops feeling of being shameful and doubting his/her abilities to
control himself/herself and in solving problems. In this stage the main
conflict to the child is whether s/he can do things for him/herself or s/he
must always rely on others.
iii.
Initiative versus Guilt (Preschool,
4 to 6 years).
In
this stage the child learns a lot about the world. They are more curious, have
mastered some principles about the world, can count and language skills have
advanced a great deal. They try doing new things and sometimes engage in
dangerous behaviour. So, they want to plan, initiate and engage in purposive
actions that if carried out end in child’s satisfaction. If the child is encouraged
to initiate doing things it develops sense of initiative. If the child is
frustrated and fails to reach the expected goal s/he feels guilty which may
lead to the development of unacceptable behaviours. The main focus is trying to
find out if they are good or bad in regard to the outcome of their actions. The
answer to this conflict brings positive or negative emotions to the child
iv.
Industry versus Inferiority
(Childhood, 7 to 12 years)
Most of children in this stage are in
primary/elementary schools. They gain a lot of new experiences in the new
school environment e.g. in interacting with many more children and teachers
with different experiences. According to Allen and Marotz (2003) children in
this stage have a logical understanding of the concepts of time and space, they
gain better understanding of cause and effect relationship, are eager to learn
and accomplish complex skills such as mastering knowledge and engaging in
intellectual skills. Due to spending more time in school, the school environment
and activities are used to prove one’s competence. If they are successful they
feel being industrious, but if they fail constantly they develop a sense of
being inferior. In this stage a child wants to find out if s/he is successful
or worthless.
v.Identity
and Role confusion (Adolescence, 13 to 19 years)
Many of the secondary students are in this
stage. They also develop sexual identity and are much more concerned on how
they appear before others. This is a transition period of moving from childhood
into adulthood. A student wants to identify his/her roles in the future as an
adult in relation to the many roles and chances available, which initially may
lead to confusion. In this stage they are figuring out who they are (identity)
and where they are going in respect to their future (pondering roles). If they
resolve this conflict they develop self identity. If they don’t then they may
remain confused about themselves and their future roles as adults.
Based
on Eriksson’s theory Santrock (2004) proposes the following teaching
strategies:
·
Encouraging initiative in young
children. Educational programmes should foster a great deal of freedom to
students to explore their world and in choosing some of the activities they
engage in.
·
Promote industry in primary school
children. The teacher should capture the students’ abilities and eagerness to
learn by creating a climate that promotes self learning based on intrinsic
motivation. The students should have a feeling that they can accomplish tasks.
·
Stimulate identity exploration in
adolescence. Teachers should recognize that adolescents are faced with
multidimensional related challenges. Students in this stage should be
encouraged to think independently and should be given freedom to explore
different alternatives available to them. The teacher should also be informed
on the availability of counseling services that can guide students in choosing
their careers.
PARENTING STYLES AND PEERS
Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Theory and Erikson’s psychosocial development theory highlight the
significance of parents’ and significant others influence on the development of
individual’s personality. Remember parents, siblings and peers are part of the
microsystem.
Children
spend most of their early years with families i.e. parents and siblings. Live
experiences in families vary widely. Causes of variation include parenting
styles, four of them are described below (Baumrind, 1971). Parenting style is a
psychological term referring to strategies that parents use in child rearing.
Rearing children include amount of time and effort invested on the child.
Styles used evolve over time influencing child’s personality development.
i.
Authoritarian parenting.
In
this style parents tell their children exactly what to do. Parents have high
expectations of conformity and compliance to rules they establish, but are less
responsive to their children’s needs. They are restrictive and use punishment
(without reasoning the problem with the child) to enforce children in the
household to follow regulations and directions. Children from such families
tend to have less social competence since they have not been given chance to
make their own choices (ERIC Digests, Retrieved 2010).
i.i
Authoritative
parenting
This
refers to parents who allow their children to operate independently but within
some limits on their actions. They provide the rules and guidance without
overbearing the children. The parents are supportive and verbal communication
is used to reason out in making decisions, even when using punishment
(Santrock, 2007). Children reared in such an environment tend to have high self
esteem, are self reliant, socially competent, happy and successful (Van Wagner,
2010).
i.i.i
Neglectful
parenting
These
are parents who neglect their children by not getting involved in their
children’s lives. They do not care where their children are or what they are
doing. They disregard the children, only focusing on their personal interests.
Children raised by such parents tend to exhibit same behaviors as that of their
neglectful parents, lack self-control and motivation to achieve, and are less
competent than their peers (Van Wagner, 2010).
i.v.
Indulgent
parenting
These
are parents who are highly involved in the lives of their children by giving
them too much freedom i.e. very few restrictions if any. They allow children to
do whatever they wish, including responding to all the needs and wishes of the
children. In short, the parents want to please their children at all times.
Children from such families grow up developing less self control on their
behaviours since they have not learnt to control their behaviours (Santrock,
2007).
Children
want to be in a group of other children. Peers are children of the same age
who interact in same area. Even in the playground children of the same age play
together. They play a major role on the psychosocial development of the child.
They interact in the neighborhood and school through play and classroom
activities and consequently share their attitudes and interests. Although most
of their conditions are similar, each has different characteristics and
backgrounds which influence their relationships and interactions. Peers are
source of information and a yard stick of making comparisons among themselves.
Peer
relationship can lead to a positive or negative development. A child is under
pressure to conform to the norms of the peer group so as to be accepted, and is
always in fear of being rejected by his/her mates. Positive peer pressure may
energize a child to engage in healthy behaviours while negative peer pressure
may lead to engaging in risky behaviours. Some students are introduced to using
drugs (Jenkins, 1996) or participating in unacceptable behaviours such as
bullying weak peers or younger children. On the other hands peer pressure can
contribute to individual’s learning in school (Johnson, 2000) through study
groups and/or encouragement when facing challenges. I think you know peers who
help mates from exacerbating bad situation, and others who make bad situation
even worse.
In
any human group each member has a status accorded to him/her by other members.
The way a child is held among peers indicates his/her status. There are four
types of peer status:
·
Popular children
are mostly liked by their peers and normally get nominated as leaders.
·
Neglected children
are liked by their peers but are unlikely to be nominated as leaders.
·
Rejected children
are disliked by peers and are unlikely to be nominated as leaders.
·
Controversial children
are likely to be both seen as a best friend but also as being disliked.
Santrock
(2004) suggests that teachers use the following strategies to improve
children’s social skills:
·
Help rejected students learn to listen
to peers and hear what they say instead of trying to dominate them.
·
Help neglected children attract
attention from others in positive ways and hold their attention.
·
Provide children low in social skills
with knowledge about how to improve these skills.
Unnamed
source (Retrieved 2010) also suggests that parents (I think this applies to the
teachers too) can encourage healthy and positive relationships among peers and
showing support by:
·
Having a positive relationship with your
children’s/students’ and their peers.
·
Being genuinely interested in your
children’s/students’ peer activities. This will allow the teacher to know your
children/students and misbehaviour when it occurs.
·
Encouraging independent thought and
expressions among peers.
DEVELOPMENT OF SELF
Self
is
the knowledge one has about himself/herself. Close your eyes and see the
picture of yourself in your imagination. That’s part of yourself concept. W.
Purkey (1988, retrieved 2010) stated that self-concept refers to the totality
of a complex, organized, and dynamic systems of learned beliefs, attitudes and
opinions that each person holds to be true about his/her personal
existence. So to begin with,
self-concept is a cognitive construct that is related to what one thinks about
himself/herself and the perceptions formed. This knowledge is acquired through
the use of the five senses.
Self-concept
is multi-dimensional as it includes a number of things such as perception of
one’s physical appearance, academic capabilities, skills, gender identity and
roles, ethnic and religious identify. Physical
perception aspects refer to one’s looks, height, sex and kind of clothes
worn. Academic self-concepts refer to
the level of one’s performance in school and ability to learn. One can at the same time have a positive
self-concept in some aspect of personality and negative on others e.g. feeling
that one is good in academics but poor in athletics.
Self-concept
is dynamic. It is not innate but rather learned; at birth we do not know about
ourselves or have a picture of ourselves. As the child develops cognitively it
learns about itself as a separate entity in the environment and in this process
develops self-concept. Self-concept is shaped through personal reflections on
perceived experiences, especially with significant others (Purkey, 1988).
Children acquire sense of self at around 18 months. As they develop cognitively
they understand themselves better and by the age of six years they include
abstract ideas when describing about themselves, e.g. being happy or angry.
Self-concept
is relatively permanent i.e. long period of time held perceptions that are
resistant to change. This aspect gives consistency to individual’s personality;
otherwise s/he will lack consistency. Although self-concept is resistant to
change, one can learn and modify his/her self-concept over a period of time
(Franken, 1994). The changes are a result of self-reflection based on his/her
interaction with the environment.
An
individual can have ideas on his/her future self-concepts, termed “possible
selves”. A student in secondary school can see himself/herself in the future as
being a tall handsome/beautiful married person holding a high position in an
institution and having all the best gadgets of the day. Also the possible
selves can be of what one is afraid of being in the future e.g. being drug
addict or failing in life. These possible selves have effect on the current and
future behaviour of the individual. Franken (1994) believes that the self
concept is the basis for motivated behaviour that leads to rise of possible
behaviours that in turn create motivation for behaviour.
The
evaluative and emotional aspect of self-concept is self-esteem. It is how a
person views himself/herself. A person
with high self-esteem regards himself/herself positively and has confidence.
The one with low self-esteem rates himself/herself very low, looks down upon
himself/herself. Periods of low esteem come and go, and their duration varies.
However, if the period persists for a long time it may lead to low achievement,
depression and delinquency (Harter, 1999). There is a relationship between
self-concept and school achievement (Marsh, 1992; Hamachek, 1994). However it
is not yet clear if self-concept produces school achievement or it is the
school achievement that produces aspects of self-concept.
Based
on research findings Santrock (2004) gave the following suggestions to teachers
on helping students improve their self-esteem:
·
Identifying the causes of low esteem and
the areas of competence important to the self.
·
Provide emotional support and social
approval.
·
Help students to achieve.
·
Develop student’s coping skills.
Springs
(2008) suggested the following on improving student self-concept through
student achievement:
·
Stimulating motivation by recognizing
student accomplishments daily. Show interest in their academic progress.
·
Teacher should involve parents to
participate in cultivating student motivation. Parents should know the
importance of instilling positive belief on their children.
·
Help students set high goals that relate
to motivation and help them to move from dependency to independence and self-sufficiency.
At the beginning of the year help them to set academic goals and steps
necessary to achieve them.
Summary
In
this topic we looked at different aspects that have influence on child
development namely role of inheritance, environment, parenting styles, and peer
relationships. Also, mentioned are different areas of development including
cognitive, language, physical and psychosocial. Lastly there are activities
that will help you to conceptualize the content better.