This essay is a continuation to a previous assignment which discussed how attitudes towards studying children have changed. In this child participation, child voice and consent were identified as three key principles researchers should aspire to when studying children. This essay therefore intends to extend upon these principles by identifying an approach and research tool which will effectively incorporate all principles within a research study.
The context of the research study is a male adult and male child sat at a potter’s wheel modelling clay. The aim of the study is to observe and assess the child’s level of cognitive development during an interactive period with an adult who is using the technique of ‘scaffolding’ (Wood, Bruner, Ross, 1976). This aim has been selected as scaffolding involves both adult interaction and child participation; an identified key principle. Consequently it would be of great interest to examine if the child’s voice was encouraged, listened and responded to. The use of scaffolding also helps to identify the gap between the current cognitive ability of the child and the level they can achieve when supported by a more knowledgeable being (Vygotsky, 1978). This is known as the zone of proximal development and once identified future activities can be tailored to the needs of the child in order to help promote their development.
As the research method is observational a video camera has been selected as the appropriate research tool, as it will provide a visual representation of a written narrative (Sharman, Cross, and Vennis, 2007). This method can be justified as language is a vital aspect of scaffolding and the use of a video camera is will accurately record both the language used (Hobart and Fr...
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...itative methods. In Christensen, P. and James, A. (ed.) Research with children perspectives and Practice. 2nd ed. Oxon: Falmer Press, pp.87-108.
Sharman, D., Cross, W. and Vennis, D. (2007) Observing children and oung people. 4th ed. London: Continuum.
Skanfors, L. (2009) Ethics in Child Research: Children’s Agency and Researchers’ ‘Ethical Radar’. Childhoods today: An online journal for childhood studies [online]. 3(1) pp.1-22 [Accessed 5 Dec 2011]. Available at: .
Tassoni, P. and Beith, K. (1999) Nursery nursing. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. and Ross. G. (1976) The role of tutoring in problem-solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry [online]. 17(2), pp.89-100 [Accessed 5 Dec 2011]. Available at: .
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.
When working with children it is vital we have a good understanding of the principles and values such as United Nations Children’s Rights Convention. The Foundation Phase curriculum promotes equality of opportunity and values, and celebrates diversity.’ (Foundation Phase revised curriculum, 2015) whereas the UNCRC focuses on the rights of the child, these rights underpins everything that practitioners do in the setting. Alternatively the Foundation Phase is a framework that is used to plan for children’s play and learning but gives us many opportunities to celebrate diversity and promote an inclusive and equal setting.
The dictionary definition of a child is a young human being, an immature person and offspring (Oxford, 1976). This idea is reflected in Mead’s statement ‘that children to adults are representative of something weak and helpless in need of protection, supervision, training, models, skills, beliefs and ‘character’’ (Montgomery et al, 2003, p vii). The emphasis is on the concept of the child by adults rather than the size or mentality raising the notion that a child, and therefore childhood, is not just a biological concept but also an ideological one (Falconer, 2009). This ideology makes an oxymoron of Children’s Literature according to Rose (Hunt, 2009a) as adults write, publish and purchase books with each set of adults having their own ideas about childh...
Scaffolding is a term that appears frequently in the field of psychology. It is a term that is used to describe a form of teaching. According to Firestone, it is a technique in which teachers show their students how to find a solution to a problem. The teacher then “steps back” and allows for the student to try it on their own. This process is done to teach independence in problem solving onto the students (Firestone n.d.). Through the use of scaffolding, students are able to work on problems on their own, without having to necessarily “hold hands” with their instructor or teacher. Scaffolding is worth examining in the field of psychology because it is useful to see the development in the growth and knowledge of a child. The results of scaffolding are worth examining as well in order to see what the most effective ways of teaching are. There are many different ways in which teachers or instructors can inform their students how to solve a problem. In other words, there are many different scaffolding techniques. Because of this, the question of “what is the most frequently used scaffolding technique?” arises.
Based on my observations, I have learnt that each child is remarkable and extraordinary and the biological, surroundings and the educational encounters impact a child's advancement. Along these lines, as a juvenile justice social work student, I have learned to abstain from summing up somebody's practices and/or behaviors solely based on my visual perceptions. I also have to think about how probable it is that young ones have their own qualities and unmistakable excellencies. Reasoning being, is because many practices and/or behaviors are greatly impacted by the system in which that individual grew up. While doing this assignment, I reflected on my past encounters as a kid, my beliefs, mentalities, my childhood guidelines furthermore inspected how they affected my development. By building up this self-awareness, it has set me up for against harsh practice and a consciousness of how I identify with individuals.
The study of children and their development is a new interdisciplinary field unifying research from sociology, anthropology, development psychology, law, and healthcare. Childhood studies emerged from the universal need to understand children’s development, their susceptibility to external factors, and what it means to be a child from the child 's perspective. Children differ depending on many factors, such as place, time, social status, religion, and tradition, and each of these aspects
While all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different, changes, both generationally and across cultures. “The essence of childhood studies is that childhood is a social and cultural phenomenon” (James, 1998). Evident that there are in fact multiple childhoods, a unifying theme of childhood studies is that childhood is a social construction and aims to explore the major implications on future outcomes and adulthood. Recognizing childhood as a social construction guides exploration through themes to a better understanding of multiple childhoods, particularly differences influencing individual perception and experience of childhood. Childhood is socially constructed according to parenting style by parents’ ability to create a secure parent-child relationship, embrace love in attitudes towards the child through acceptance in a prepared environment, fostering healthy development which results in evidence based, major impacts on the experience of childhood as well as for the child’s resiliency and ability to overcome any adversity in the environment to reach positive future outcomes and succeed.
Children are complex, and the way a child develops differs from individual to individual. The study of children is a field that researchers, scientists, theorists and educators have been exploring for decades. CHYS 1F90 studies the foundations of childhood development and allows the students to look at the way children develop through multiple lenses. Many conclusions have been drawn, observing how, when and why children develop the way they do. Jerry and Samantha are both grade one students who are unrelated. Although these two students are both the same age, they are different on a variety of accounts. Jerry is a shy and introverted boy who quickly becomes uncomfortable while talking to adults, teachers and peers, contrariwise Samantha is immensely confident and demonstrates extroversion around others. After analyzing both Jerry and Samantha through a biological, learning theorist and psychoanalytical lens, the reasons for the first-graders differences are clear. Depending on the lens in which an individual looks through when analyzing the development of children, interesting and intriguing conclusions can be drawn regarding the broad topic of understanding how children develop.
For 12 weeks I observed a young pre-schooler Child C aged 31/2 years old, through my account I would give an observer’s view of Child C, three theories peculiar to Child C and my the emotions evoked in me as an observer. My observation assisted in my understanding of the changes in Child C as the week progressed over the 12 weeks.
Fass, P. S. (2004). Children's rights. In Encyclopedia of children and childhood: In history and society (Vol. 1, pp. 186-187). New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA.
Scaffolding is metaphorical term which refers to the process through which teachers facilitate children’s learning by enabling them achieve a level of ability beyond the child’s current capacity. Through scaffolding, teachers play an active role by interacting with children to support their development by providing structures that support them to stretch their understanding or me...
Smith, P. K., Cowie, H., & Blades, M. (1998). Understanding children’s development, third edition. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
Spyrou, S. (2011) ‘The limits of children’s voices: From authenticity to critical, reflexive representation’, 18(2), pp.151-165, Childhood, [Online]. DOI: 10.1177/0907568210387834 (Accessed 10 May, 2014).
Observation is important as the practitioner can find out what the child is interested in and what motivates them to learn alongside their progress and how they behave in certain situations, additionally at the same time it identifies if children need assistance within certain areas of learning or socially (DCSF, 2008). Furthermore the observations check that the child is safe, contented, healthy and developing normally within the classroom or early years setting, over time the observations can be given to parents as they show a record of progress which helps to settle the parent and feel more comfortable about their child’s education. Observations are not only constructive within learning about an individual child, they can be used to see how different groups of children behave in the same situation and how adults communicate and deal with children’s behaviour (Meggitt and Walker, 2004). Overall observations should always look at the positives of what children can complete within education and not look at the negatives and all observations should become a fundamental part of all practitioners work alongside reflection (Smidt, 2009).
Parental permission has been verbally granted in order to perform this study and in line with the code of ethics and conduct of the British Psychological Society (BPS), with regard to safeguarding the subject in this study will be referred to as Child A. (British Psychological Society, 2009)
As I personally take the time to have a reflection over the course of “Child and Adolescent Development” I find myself intrigued with the amount of knowledge I gained during this course this semester. I wanted to take the time to concentrate on three specific areas in which I felt I had the most growth, but also came as a challenge to me as well. It is important when reflecting over a course that I look at what I found to be challenging, as this was an opportunity of growth for me individually. In this paper I will review some of the main topics that I found to be interesting but also resourceful for my future aspiration not only as a family life educator but also a mother one day.