Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
theories of child development and discuss how they contribute to our understanding of the developing child
different theories of child development
theories of child development and discuss how they contribute to our understanding of the developing child
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: theories of child development and discuss how they contribute to our understanding of the developing child
Social interaction plays an important role in people’s life starting from the early childhood as infants interact with their caregivers and build the emotional attachment that is the base for future relationships. By social interaction with others children learn how to communicate, play and behave in particular situation. Berk (2009) proposed the overview of the literature that concentrates upon the early attachment and its importance. Knowing the influence of social interaction on child development in the first few years, the essay is going to elaborate upon the implication of social interaction on the development of cognition. Cognitive development as Lee & Gupta (eds.) claimed is the term that refers to acquisition and development of knowledge and cognition, namely the processes such as memory, language, and problem – solving and drawing. When elaborating upon cognitive development, the three main aspects can be distinguished: the understanding of the objects by children, their ability to imitate caregivers and children’s ability to hold representations of the world (Oates, Wood & Grayson, 2005). All of the aspects play an important role in developing cognition of children and provide the explanation for the understanding of children’s learning influenced by social relationships and practices. In the essay there is going to be an emphasis on the social interaction between children and their caregivers and peer relations. To consider whether social interaction is a fundamental basis for cognitive development of children, there is going to be presented the overview of the literature that concentrates upon it. There are two fundamental theoretical frameworks that touch upon the subjects, namely the work of Piaget (1926) and Vygots... ... middle of paper ... ...interact with their caregivers and through interaction not only their cognitive abilities are shaped by also their personality and behaviour in later stage of their life (Triandis & Suh, 2002). The essay is considering the background that social relation flourishes, namely interaction child – adult and peer relations. Through their early experiences with others, children develop their understanding of the world. By simple activities that are carried out on daily basis between children and caregivers, children are able to gain the meaning of new techniques and learning strategies, they expand their existing knowledge and experience new things. The interesting aspect is to elaborate on social interaction within different groups of children. Although the cognitive abilities may not fully develop in every child, social interaction encourages and prompts the progress.
In this essay I will compare and contrast the theoretical approaches, Cognitive Development and Social Learning, to children’s development. Cognitive Development is the ability to think and understand. Many theorists based their research on cognitive development within children, one of the most common theorists being Jean Piaget, who formed his ‘theory of cognitive development’ (McLeod, 2009).
There are several aspects that shape children experience of childhood, such as environmental factors, biological factors and interpersonal relationship which includes parenting aspects. From the writer’s perception, environmental factors, mainly speak about the child surrounding while biological factors include everything about gender, physical and mental health of child and the upbringing of a child. Based on the writer’s understanding, interpersonal relationship is children relationship or communication with others. The writer chooses to focus and discuss the parenting and environmental factor that shape child’s experience of childhood throughout the essay.
What we come to see in our everyday lives and interaction with other people on a regular basis, has a much greater influence over us, particularly in our younger years, when we are constantly learning about our culture, environment and the people involved in our lives on a regular basis. Ken Plummer also highlights the great need and importance of this for a young child on early socialisation and the negative effects that an un-socialised individual may confront.
Swiss theorist Jean Piaget constructed the multi-stage cognitive-development theory, which suggests that as a child develops and explores their different environments, their brain is also developing, these advancements are characterised by different ways of thinking during the different stages (Lamdin & Lamdin-Hunter, 2012). Using John Bowlby’s theory of attachment in conjunction with Piaget’s cognitive-development theory, we can conclude that the secure environment formed from a child’s early caregiver type relationships allow them to explore these different environments safely allowing for cognitive development during early childhood and beyond. Between the ages of approximately two to seven years, a child enters the preoperational stage, a time in which symbolism is used to express sensorimotor discoveries and the development of language and the ability to pretend occurs (Berk, 2008). During this stage the child’s thinking lacks the logic that is typical of the concrete operational and formal operational stages (Berk 2008). To assist my own development my mother ensured I attended pre-school from the age of four to supplement my cognitive, social and physical development. This environment was stimulating with elements of play incorporated into each
There are few fields within the child development science. One of them is represented by the psychoanalytical theory, which looks at the child emotional development within the context of social interaction and early attachments. This framework is called psychosocial as it looks on the emotional and social aspects. Running in parallel and influencing each other there are two more main areas, cognitive and physical. Although I am focusing on the aspects of the psychosocial development, it is important to remember that all these areas are being affected one by the other, where the development of the emotional skills plays central role in a regular development of cognitive and physical skills.
Theorists such as Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, and Lawrence Kohlberg have studied and documented information about the stages of childhood development. The three main stages of childhood development are early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence. Each stage contains developmental behaviors and characteristics of different age groups. However, the childhood development stage that this paper is focus on is the middle childhood stage. During this phase in a child’s life, they go through a variety of changes. Such changes include; physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes. According to this course text, HDEV (2010), middle childhood comprises children between the ages of 6 to 12 years. In addition, in relation to the information that is presented in this text about the
These article are about parenting roles and the effect it has on raising our children and the development of a child. In fact, the author research has revealed that different parenting skills can influence a child’s social, cognitive, and psychological growth, which affects children both in the childhood years, and as an adult. The reason being is that children develop through a falling and the parent not rushing to make sure the child is okay this let the child know they will fall and it will hurt for a little while but it they are okay. The fact that parents are in a child’s life which will influence him/her either negatively or positively. This paper discusses some of the issues about being an overprotected parent and the effect it has on the child through adulthood.
Furthermore, Vygotsky declares that knowledge is constructed by social interactions with people who surround the child. The author also presents the concept of “zone of proximal development” as the distance between what children do without any supervision and what they are not able to achieve unless a more knowledgeable person guides them through it. In other words, the zone of proximal development refers to activities children cannot do, though they manage to fulfill with certain level of difficulty by following their better skilled fellows' suitable guidance. In the educational field, teachers play an essential role on their learners’ developmental process. Educators serve as models and provide a vast range of learning opportunities that enable their students reach their next level of development and become more autonomous each
Sociodramatic play is where a child recreates certain events or situations seen or experienced in the infant’s personal life. From this type of play, children learn from past and pick up the kind of amusement for oneself from his/her surroundings. Throughout a child’s life they pick up this type of play through a mesmerizing time, such as if a child plays as a cook, the child will pick up this quality through cognitive development. Through the cognitive development, the infant has picked up creativity and real scenarios throughout a human’s lifetime. Cognitive development is a huge aspect into development due to remembrance, decision-making and problem solving, all of which are necessary from adolescence to adulthood. Through the different
It is crucial for us to understand the fundamentals of the development of a child as there are countless ways to conduct a lessons and to understand why children would react differently at this timing to another timing when they are completing a certain task. Furthermore, children develop uniquely and their development milestones differs from one another. Thus, a teacher must be cognizant of each child’s progression before conducting the class. This will help the teacher to plan and organize the lesson materials and the lesson time appropriately. There are two theories I would like to share in regards to child development in peer social interaction and cognitive development.
Growing up, everyone has different upbringings and everyone develops in different ways or at different rates. Their social class, social background, and or gender identities play a large role in the way which they perceive the world and in the way that the world perceives them. According to Vgotsky social interactions play a crucial role in the development of cognition. This term refers to the mental processes that are involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension. These processes include thinking, knowing, remembering, judging
It discusses how children are born with that needs to connect with individuals around them. Teachers and providers create positive relationship with children from birth through the early years. The foundation for that healthy social and emotional development because it affects her children see the world, express themselves, manages their emotions, in establishing a positive relationship with others. There were several areas of development that included social interactions that focus on the relationship that we share and include relationship with adults and peers. Emotional awareness recognized and understands your feelings and actions of other people, and self-regulation where you have that ability to express your thoughts, feelings, and behavior in a socially appropriate way. There were many tips that were listed when working with infants from talking and reading, having that warm, responsive, and consistent care, maintaining predictable routines, and getting to know each child while following their lead. The importance of supporting children and developing social skills is critical for learning, happiness, and long-term. This development begins during infancy and can be supported through simple social games, emotional role model, and imitating an infant's facial expression and sounds. The importance of social-emotional development and toddlers makes an impact in a child life when these skills are developed starting in infancy. Encouraging positive behaviors and using positive discipline practices that helped to develop the ability to make good choices as well as recognizing the confidence that is built when these behaviors are repeated. This is a process for young children to learn these behaviors always remembering that a patient response will help especially when the behaviors are
Some factors that influence young children’s cognitive development are the environmental community in which they are engaged in. According to Vygotsky, he believed children’s thinking is affected by their knowledge of the social community. Engaging students in social groups is another factor that influence’s a child’s cognitive development, and it shows value of learning skills . According to the text, Vygotsky stated “that in order to measure a child’s intellectual skills and their changes through the course of learning and development, he believed that experiments should be conducted” (Driscoll, 2005).
However, the things that interest toddlers are greatly dependent on the social cultural activities the child has been exposed since birthday (Vygotsky, & Cole, 1978). Therefore, explaining why Vygotsky 's theories give special allegiance to social interaction between children and the environment to be key in cognition development, confirming the fact that community have major role in development of children and how they come on in making the central part behaviors and cognitive actions.
Social skills play a very crucial part in the existence of every individual. This is for the simple reason that the level unto which the social skills a person(s) has, generally describes the level of co-existence that prevail in that given environment (Sussman, 2012). The way a person describes scenarios, solves problems, analyzes situations as well as the overall communication, all form the basis of social skills. According to Jean Piaget’s theory of social (cognitive) development, it is expected that individuals should be mentally or physically prepared to face the realities of the world. It is also important to keep in mind that these skills would be effective when they are learned in early stages of life. Therefore, social skills should grow and develop when one is in the early years of life.