CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
The development of a child has been one of the most important topics in psychology. Child development study is a very complex field; human beings, and children, specifically, are very complex. Bjorklund and Pellegrini (1998) stated that developmental is a term used in many different ways specially those who are interested in children. In general term, the construct development is also of interest to those of interested in human development, psychology, and education. It is better to understand that the term developmental has broad and disparate uses. According to Mindes, Ireton and Mardell-Czudnowski (1996) assessing children’s functioning is an essential part of child care and education. Young children’s development is best appreciated by observing them in action in their everyday environments including social and cultural elements.
Primarily, the main goal of this paper is to provide insightful details regarding different sociological and psychological theories related to the development of a child and the impact of these theories from different cultures and diverse needs. In addition, this paper will also include the discussion of the application of these theories and knowledge through observations. And lastly, description of healthy development in childhood and through the use of developmental perspective, the discussion will also include the arguments regarding the development of child which is being interrupted by the child’ experiences such as changes, loss and disruption.
Sociological and Psychological Theories on Child Development
The study of a child begins with working among children. Herein, it first attempted to understand the way children develop, grow and learn in their daily living. Such knowledge is then utilized to design the environments for these children. Different theories have tried to explain the definition of the behavior and development of children, provide different approach to collect data and show how intervening in the lives of the children can facilitate maximum development. By its very nature, therefore, child study is interdisciplinary.
Such interdisciplinary method to study child have made the field stronger since in this study, children are viewed from various perspectives. Indeed, an interdisciplinary strategy is important so as to comprehend behavior of children. For instance, zoologist orientation is necessary to comprehend ontogenetic phylogenetic histories of children. These disciplines tried to draw images of children at various levels of specification. So psychologists have tried to characterize the normative behavior of children. One of the most important samples of a normative description of behavior can be found in Piaget (1970) stage theory.
The researches that Piaget’s made in line with developmental psychology were basically focussed in giving emphasis upon a theory of knowledge regarding cognitive development. According to him, the development of knowledge can be referred as progressive structure of rationally surrounded organization that intervenes with one another by a manner of insertion of less powerful reasonable means into more advanced and powerful ones until the individual grows. Hence, the logic and modes thinking of a certain individual is known to be initially and entirely distinct from other individuals.
Such stages are said to characterize children who are independent with their cultural backgrounds. Thus, this is a universalistic description of behavior. Such an approach to child study also assumes specific methods by which children can be studied. Normally, psychologist has formulated particular theory about the development of children and they are able to design tests as well as experimentations to elicit behaviours which are relevant to their theory. Observed behaviors are used as the data for inferences about children’s competence. More recently, however, such normative descriptions have often embedded children in various contexts that affect development (Lamb, 1999; Bronfenbrenner, 1979)
Another theory was developed by Vygotsky (1978), which mentioned that children’s development can be attributed to two factors (social level and individual level), social level refers to outside forces including the cultural aspects. These theories along with the others, affect different cultures of the society by letting each individual determine why children in ac certain culture behaves differently from other children who have another culture. Through these theories, many people would have knowledge that the development of a child not merely depends on the inner-self but also external environment such as culture. In addition, these theories influence child development in cultural perspective, in a way that it provides in-depth comprehension to understand better the behavior of children.
Furthermore, these sociological and psychological theories in child development affect diverse needs in a way that through the comprehension of culture, these theories can be helpful in determining the needs of children which develops in a certain society or culture. Through these, other individuals may understand the different needs which should be given to children in line with their cultural inheritance. Moreover, through these theories, children may be understood with regards to their needs. All in all, it can be said that sociological and psychological theories in child development has a great influence on both culture and needs of these individuals.
Application and Evaluation of Developmental Theory
Principally, the theory of Piaget (1970), regarding child development can be considered as a view of a constructivist. Herein, Piaget believed that the acquirement of a certain notion or knowledge is a continuous and permanent procedure of self-construction. In this manner, as the individual is constructing his or her knowledge, Piaget (1970), presumes that there is exist an interaction between the individuals’ environment and heredity which is known as the interactionism.
By merely observing the behaviour of children, Piaget has been able to formulate children’s development framework, in which he proposed four major stages of development: the sensory-motor period (birth to 2 years), preoperational thought (2 to 6/7 years), concrete operations (6/7 to 11/12 years) and formal operations (11/12 to adult). Through observation of an infant, the first child development aspect has been established in terms of child’s development; the cognitive system of infant is restricted to motor reflexes. However, children usually build on these reflexes to enable growth of a more refined process. During the second stage of children’s development, it has been observed that children have the ability to obtain figurative and emblematic abilities in terms of mental imagery, such as language and others. The children in this stage may be considered as very self-oriented, and have an insensitive standpoint.
The main argument of Piaget is that through observation of different stages of children’s growth the schema or logical construction of an individual transforms with age and can also be regarded as action-based (sensorimotor) and as the individual grow will have the tendency to a higher level which is known as the mental (operational) level. In addition, Piaget also believed that the cognitive performance in individual has a connection with the with the child development stage which they belong.
Vygotsky (1978) has been able to explain the importance of society in accordance with the child’s development. By observing the behavior of a child, it can be said that the theory of Vygotsky is a great contribution since it provides more explanation to know why children developed differently from each other. Accordingly, the theorist believed that an individual obtains certain ideas from the culture in which he or she belongs. The notion of Vygotsky is his belief that child development emerges from outside forces. In addition, Vygotsky (1978) also highlights the idea that the occurrence of development usually happens in instances where the individual’s is being guided by an adult or someone more experienced who have the ability to show examples. In the society today, there is a saying that a child imitates whatever he/she sees to adults. This means that by observing the behavior of children living in a society where adults have intense behavior, there is a possibility that the children will be developed having such behavior.
According to Vygotsky (1978), there are two instances in which the cultural development of an individual can be recognized. The first one is in the social level (interpsychological) and as life continues, development occurs in the individual level (intrapsychological). This means that as an individual interacts with a more experienced individual within the society, there is a possibility for development to happen. And as this situation continues, and as an individual grows, the development will then occur within oneself.
Generally, most individual think differently from the others. Hence, the development of a child is basically influenced by some outside forces, specifically society and culture. The other main tradition, strongly influenced by the work of Vygotsky (1978), has tended to emphasize wider cultural influences on development, particularly as mediated through interaction between participants of unequal intellectual status. This tradition has also generated a good deal of empirical research, much of it concerned with the nature and effectiveness of adult intervention in learning.
Development by imitation of role models, “observational learning”, and other principles of socialization, have also constituted broad associationist models, although, again, there has been little regard for actual cognitive aspects of the processes. On the other hand, Bandura (1989) has augmented his early “social learning theory” with an important role for cognitive regulations in the individual’s reactive self-control and guidance of his or her behavior. He now calls his theory “social cognitive theory” and describes social learning as “knowledge acquisition through cognitive processing of information” (1989), rejecting what he calls the “cognitive bypass operation”.
According Bandura (1977), most of the behavior of humans is being learned through observations. This means that by merely observing the work of others, some individuals are able to form a certain idea on how new behaviors can be performed. Then, in later instances, this coded idea eventually serves as a guide for such individual’s action. An important aspect of Bandura’s theory is the self-knowledge that children gain about themselves, by interaction with others. This includes perceptions of their competence in each of the various domains with which they have to deal. There may be a deep disjunction between what children can do and what they think they can do, and a number of studies have shown how this directly affects their behavior.
Jerome Bruner, as constructivist theorists, has been involved in studying the concept of cognition. It is said that most of the general framework for this was mostly linked and based on child development. In this manner, Bruner (1960) has been able to originally link this to math and science learning. He illustrated his notions in accordance with social science and mathematics programs for young children (Bruner, 1972). Primarily, the main concept of Bruner’s explanation about cognitive development is the idea that development is an active procedure. In this manner, individual is entitled to form new ideas from their past or current experiences. With this, individuals has the opportunity to choose and change the formed ideas, structures some new premised and eventually makes their decisions, by simply relying on a certain cognitive formation which comprises models and representations. These cognitive structures are the ones that provide meaning and organization to the experiences and permits individual to go beyond what was given in the information.
The theory of emotional development has its foundation in Piaget’s child development and the range of human feelings is a product of our autonomy, and the consequent need to make important decisions. Feelings guide us in those functions (Kagan, 1994). On the other hand, child care can strengthen or undermine children’s cognitive and social development. If child care quality is high, children learn rapidly, develop strong attachments to adults, and behave sociably toward other children. If quality is low, children learn more slowly, develop less secure attachments, and demonstrate less sociability and consideration for others (Gormley, 1995). It can be said that through observation method, the theories mentioned above can be proven to be true or not.
Healthy Development Childhood
The term behavior generally refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism/individual, usually in relation to the environment or surrounding world of stimuli. Behavior can be conscious or unconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary. Behavior controlled by the endocrine system, and the nervous system. Moreover, many researches reveal that proper or correct management in the preschool/nursery has something to do in child’s behavior (Allen, Benning, & Drummond, 1972; Bricker & Bricker, 1971).
On the other hand, in developmental management of children, the instruction of behavioral expectations occurs through how parents, teachers, and other individuals within the community influence the child. In a child development program, the instruction of behavioral expectations occurs within the activities or interactions of the children. Children who are developmentally young are not likely to understand a general rule that is presented to them out of context and have difficulty making meaning out of a list of information. For example, a child would be guided to respond to frustration calmly if given the redirection, “Say to me, I need help’” followed by the provision of help. The use of activity-embedded social guidance facilitates children to construct their own understanding of behavioral expectations. As children mature, behavioral expectations are more likely to be presented within whole group lessons or activities (e.g., reading a story about lying) and may be posted for children who are interested in print by using a combination of words and visuals. Furthermore, Bredekamp & Copple, (1997) argued that supporting the development of positive self-esteem in children and the ability to evaluate their own behavior is a critical element of quality early childhood programs. This is similar to the emphasis of school on acknowledging appropriate behaviors among children.
In order to have a positive or healthy development among children, it is important to discuss the concept of child care. Child care is defined as a regularly used arrangement for supervising young children that supplements care by one or both parents (Gormley, 1995). Child care can strengthen or undermine children’s cognitive and social development”. (Gormley, 1995, p.4) A well-equipped child care center can provide a suitable pace of learning, supervise social behavior, provide a sense of security to children up to the point where they develop an attachment to their caregivers. This is as much as an ideal compensation for the absence of the children’s parents.
In child development, the child often faces different changes, and these changes may influence the development of such individual. Although there are still strongholds on the belief that the best care for children, especially during the developmental stages, is maternal, there is still no denying the fact that the current economic and social movement continue to make this difficult for our family units to provide. As with every change that direct affects the family and a child’s well-being, the acceptance of child-care as an alternative to parental care is gradual and tenacious.
Children go through developmental changes that can be very confusing. The principles of children egocentrism tie this fascinating stage to children’s development. As egocentric children, children believe that others are always watching and evaluating them, and that they are special and unique. Children egocentrism is an interesting and important subject to study because it helps explain the general well-being of a child. Moreover, understanding its characteristics enables parents, psychologists, sociologists, teachers, and other concerned groups to respond and help children move successfully through this stage.
As a child experiences heightened self-consciousness, negative emotions such as fear, sadness, disgust, anxiety, and depression are activated. Many children are weathering numerous storms of negative emotion. Often these clouds of negativity trail them to a healthy development or the other way around. Bad things happen and they feel wounded. Some of the wounds heal, and others leave a psychic scar that never seems to leave them. In studying child development, it is necessary to focus negative emotions caused by egocentrism, self-exploration, and other transitional factors to understand the future well-being of a child and minimize the cases of depression among children.
Reference
Allen, K. E., Benning, P. M., & Drummond, W. T. (1972). Integration of normal and handicapped children in a behavior modification preschool: A case study. In G. Semb (Ed.), Behavior analysis and education (pp. 127-141).
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1989). Social Cognitive Theory. In Vasta, R. (Edition), Annals of Child Development, 6: 1-60. Greenwich, CT: Jai Press LTD.
Bjorklund, D.F. and Pellegrini, A.D. (1998). Applied Child Study: A Developmental Approach. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.). (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Bricker, D., & Bricker, W. (1971). Toddler Research and Intervention Project Report–Year I. IMRID Behavioral Science Monograph No. 20, Nashville, TN: Institute on Mental Retardation and Intellectual Development
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1976). “Who cares for America’s children”? In V. C. Vaughn & T. B. Brazelton (Eds.), The family: Can it be saved? (pp. 3-32). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bruner, J.S. (1960). The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bruner, J.S. (1972). Nature and uses of immaturity. American Psychologist, 27: 1-28.
Dupont, H. (1994). Theory of Emotional Development. Praeger.
Gormley, W.T. (1995). Everybody’s children: Child care as a public problem. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Kagan, J. (1994). On the nature of emotion Monographs for the society for research in Child development. Cambridge University Press.
Lamb, M.E. (1999). Parenting and Child Development in ‘Non-traditional” Families. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.
Mindes, G., Ireton, H, &Mardell-Czudnowski, C. (1996). Assessing Young Children. Albany, New York: Delmar Publishers.
Piaget, J. (1970). Piaget’s theory. In P.H. Mussen, ed. Carmichael’s Manual of Child Psychology: Volume. 1. New York: Wiley.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment