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Comparing and contrasting child development theories
Advantages and Disadvantages of play in the development of young children
Advantages and Disadvantages of play in the development of young children
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About the Author David Elkind is a child psychologist and now teaches Child Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He is an author of many different books about child development and even has written some children's books. The Power of Play was published in 2007. This book has been helping teachers and future teachers develop a better idea of the way children understand the world around them through play.
Summary of Chapter 2
In Chapter 2 Toys Aren’t Us Elkind explains how most children have too much and can not focus on what is important. “All of these changes have impacted the personal, and social skills, attitudes, and values children acquire from toy play” (Elkind, 15). When Elkind mentions changes he means how toys
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Elkind was asked to do a psychological evaluation on a girl named Jeannie. Jeannie was a thirteen year old girl and was not fully developed. She could not speak, could not walk right, and could not chew. Jeannie was locked in small room most of her life. “Jeannie had spent her day learning the way infants and young children do, through self-initiated exploration and discovery” (Elkind, 90). The time he spent with Jeannie made him think about how eager schools are to teach children today. They want them to learn to read before they know the alphabet. Parents are assuming they know how their children learn. This is causing the …show more content…
All of these theories have to do with the way children learn the instructions that are given to them. The “watch me” theory is when a teacher, parent, or caregiver say to the child that is learning “watch me” and shows them how to do the task. “ It is vitally important to support and encourage self-directed activities by the infant and young child. Even if those activities appear meaningless to us, they can have great purpose and significance for the child” (Elkind, 92). When a child is given an opportunity to create their own learning they will be able to understand more information around them. Next, is the “little sponge” theory is the idea that children can learn as fast as adults around them do. That is not true at all children learn at a lower level than adults and that is okay. They are pure to the world and are interested in the things that adults take for granted. Last, is the “look harder” theory which is pretty self explanatory. When children do not see what adults do, adults tell them to “look harder.” (Elkind, 99). Children see the world very differently then what adults see it. They have to learn so much when they are so young that they are becoming overstimulated and are wanting to give
The play that was chosen to be read for the actor’s analysis was, “The Norwegians” which was written by C. Denby Swanson. As there is no specific style for this play, it is known to be categorized as a contemporary comedy as well as a character driven play.
“I still collect toys.Toys are a reflection of society. They are the tools that society uses to teach and enculturate children into the adult world. Toys are not innocent.” (Burden). When you think of toys you probably think about dolls or Hot Wheels. What you probably don’t know is the toys can vary into anything. Toys are usually used to entertain yourself, but what if they represent more than just that. It can be a famous cite, make you question society, or just make you think about how we’re treating each other. Anything can be a toy. You just have to be creative to make it more than a toy. Chris Burden, an amazing artist, famously known for creating artwork that reflect on society, in most of his work he used toys to help him. Burden is famously known for two pieces of artwork, Shoot and Urban
As children begin to develop and grows, they all are curiosity and learning about the world around them that need to develop their thinking and learning more that included toys. Toys helps children to used their imagines and learning skills to play and imagines as heroes from the stories and children television show which Jean Piaget believe that toys can help and enhance the children’s cognitive development that is defined as the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Piaget also stated that there are four stages in his cognitive development theory which are the Sensorimotor Stage-Birth through about 2 years where children will learn about
The behaviorist and constructivist theories pose a significant debate in early childhood education that questions if curriculum should be based on the children’s natural childlike dispositions or should adults determine and decide every aspect of curriculum. The distinction between the two theories determine what and how young children learn. The behaviorist theory believes that people of all ages learn the same and that behavior is controlled by outside influences and rewards. Whereas, the constructivist theory believes young children develop cognitive structure based on interactions with other people and the environment. Most early childhood programs follow the constructivist theory and are child-centered. According to Freeney, Galper, and
The material a child is exposed to influences the way they learn. Many smart and educated students get bullied for wanting to stay in and study instead of going out to party. Because of the social environment the “nerds” and “geeks” become social outcasts and could begin to lose interest in education. Today’s society does not promote the importance of education. While standing in line at the grocery store, many magazines are headlining about another wild stunt from a famous person such as the Kardashians. The other handful of magazines is about food. “Because of television, by the age of six, a child will have learned how to pick a lock, elaborate a fairy tale bank robbery, prevent wetness all day, to keep laundry white, and kill people with a variety of armaments.” (Baker
...eir senses by playing with ‘pretty playthings’ and ‘glittery toys’ (Cleverly & Phillips 1986 p.29) as this would encourage their love of the world and imagination. Locke (1889 p.88) suggests that children should be encouraged to play, and that through play, they can be taught. Wesley (Cleverly & Phillips1986 p.30) believed that children should not be allowed to play at any time as children who played grew into adults who played.
The biological theory refers to the focus of genetic factors that assist the child in adjusting to their environment. The theory highlights the importance of maturation of children’s bodies and their motor skills. The restriction of the biological theory however, is that it discounts the impact of children’s experiences. Behaviorism theory concentrates on children’s behavioral and emotional responses to changes in the environment. The argument against behaviorism is that it focuses on children’s visible behavior and ignores their thought process. The social learning theory interprets children’s beliefs and goals as affecting their behavior by what they learn when they observe others. In the psychodynamic theory, emphasis is on the interaction between internal conflict, early childhood experiences and the environment. Theorists focus on the personality development and how these early experiences play a role later in life. In cognitive-development theories, the concentration is on how the thinking process changes over time. Although it promotes adults to recognize children as curious minds trying to make sense of their environment, the theories lack clear stages that a child’s thought process goes through. Cognitive process theories similarly, also focus on thought process but more so on how people decipher information they see and hear. Sociocultural theories emphasize the affect of social
A boy will not attain a muscular body if he picks up a Barbie doll and a girl will certainly grow chest hair if she plays with an action figurine. As ludicrous as this sounds, this is how our society thinks nowadays with children and their acceptable playtime behavior. But who made the decision that Girls can only play with dolls and boys can only play with trucks? Just as Barthes says in “Toys”, “All the toys one commonly sees are essentially microsomal objects of the adult world” (53). In the other words, toys are symbolisms of us humans. A majority of the boys are obsessed with superheroes and cars, which stand for power and speed.
An Article by Dr. Leong and Dr. Bodrova (2016) stated that play is beneficial to children’s learning especially when it reaches a certain degree of complexity. When they engage in play activities most of their early years, they learn to delay gratification and to prioritize their goals and actions. They also learn to consider the perspectives and needs of other people and to represent things significantly to regulate their behavior and actions in a cautious, intentional way.
Levine, L. E., & Munsch, J. (2011). Theories of development. In M. Masson & L. Gleason (Eds.),Child Deveopment (4th ed., pp. 33-34). London, England: Sage.
As I was reading the three theories I found out the following most compelling main of points of their theories. Jean Piaget developed the Theory of Cognitive Development with has four stages, sensimotor stage in the infant years, pre-operational stage that manifests during the toddler and early childhood years, concrete stage during the elementary and part of the adolescents years and the formal operational state during adolescence into adulthood (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). Lev Semenovich Vygostky developed the Theory of Social Development. The zones of proximal development are between the ability of the child’s ability to solve problems on his/her own and the capacity to solve them with assistant (Shultz, 2014). Erik Erickson states that we develop through predetermined unfolding of personalities in eight stages (Boeree, 2006).
As Eric Clark said, “play is the work of childhood and toys are the tools of that work” and by limiting what toys children are exposed to we are limited the amount of “tools” they have access to (Clark ix). By limiting these “tools”, we are limiting children’s development and learning because, “They are a vital part of our lives, our culture, and our children’s development,” and, “they are crucial for physical, emotional, intellectual, and social interaction” (Clark ix). Also by gendering toys we are limiting the who children play with. Girls are more likely to play with other girls so they can play with the toys designed for girls. A good example of this is brought up by Carrie Goldman in Grinberg’s article.
In “School is Bad for Children”, John Holt discusses the faults and failures of the education system. According to Holt traditional schooling stifles children’s curiosity and learning, causing them to be ill-equipped as adults. He believes children are smarter before they enter school, having already mastered what he says is the most important thing, language. Holt goes on to describe how children no longer learn for themselves in school. Their learning has become a passive process. Children then come to realize teachers are not there to satisfy their curiosity, and in turn, grow ashamed and accept what they think teachers wants them to believe. School also becomes a place where uncertainty and incorrect answers are forbidden. The students learn how to cheat and pretend to work when the teacher is looking. As a result, they only use a small portion of their brain, and soon they grow bored. Holt suggests this boredom shuts off their brain and is the reason why many students turn to drugs. Drugs he says is the only way many young people can find awareness in the world they once had when they were little. Children John Holt says, are very fascinated
The second developmental theory is the sociocultural theory. The major theorist for this theory is Lev Vygotsky. Who was born in 1896 and died in 1934. He was a Russian theorist whose work didn’t actually get out until after his death because of the communist nature of Russia. The biggest part of this theory is that it’s less trial and error learning and more a person with more knowledge teaching the child. It really puts an emphasis on the teacher. He does say though that a peer with more knowledge can teach the child too. The weakness of this theory is he basically ignores the biological side of development. Also he makes it seem like the child has no control over their own future. The biggest pro is that it shows adults, primarily educators, that the world around them heavily effects the child’s education and life. That pro is also affecting the way we use it from an education stand point. We have to realize that each kid has a different upbringing and different culture outside the classroom. While I am not saying make a lesson plan for each kid. just try to be more individual with each
Like stated before this theory does not fit into behaviorism. It fits into constructivism which is “[N]ot believe in innate ideas, but in knowledge that is constructed by each individual in interaction with his or her environment” (Pulaski, 1980, p). Cognitive Development Theory uses the environment help to construct knowledge. “[T]hrough their make-believe were assimilating and consolidating as part of their experience the customs and manners observed in their environment” (Pulaski, 1980, p. 28). In just playing make-believe the child had learned about manners and customs without knowing it at the time. As they get older, they go into the next stage and can understand more complex concepts. With constructivism, they need to be active learner and this is something that happens in Cognitive Development Theory. With that is a need to socialize with other people or students. At a young age “[C]hildren 's verbal interactions are primarily composed of collective monologue conversations”(Wadsworth, 1970, p.69). So at a young age they are becoming active learners so when older they can have better discussion about topic and go deeper into