Essay

Name: Sohini D Biswas
Units: CYP Core 3.1 Criterion 2.3
Date: 27.11.2013
Task 22

Give an explanation of how current practice is influenced by Theories of Development.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Piaget catagorised the cognitive development into four stages. They are:

The sensorimotor stage : This stage is from birth till the child acquires language development. In this stage the children explore their understanding of the world through their sensory development like hearing, seeing, tasting etc and physical gross motor skills. Slowly children develop the understanding of existence of objects even when they cannot be seen or heard.

The Pre-operational stage : This stage starts when the child starts to speak and lasts till the age 7. In this stage the child is yet to develop concrete logic and cannot mentally manipulate information or symbols. For the child the meaning of everything is quite literal and cannot have any symbolic value. The child is ego-centric and finds taking other’s viewpoints difficult.

The Concrete operational stage : This stage is from 7 till 11 years and in this stage a child can understand logic. At this stage a child’s thought process becomes more adult like and though hypothetical understanding has still not developed, the child can solve problems more logically.

The Formal operational stage : this is the final stage of the theory and it runs from adolescence to adulthood. In this stage a young person can understand the concept of abstract subjects and logical use of symbols.

In my pre-school this theory is carried out through the sensory activities that we do with the children to see their understanding of the world. We do activities involving clay, sand, toothpaste, shaving foam, jelly etc which helps the Sensorimotor stage. We also do lots of mark making, role plays etc that helps children in their Pre-operational stage.

Freud’s theory of psychoanalytic development

Sigmund Freud has divided his theory into different stages called the oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. According to his theory each stage explores through libidinal pleasure and will play a role in adult life of the child later on.

The Oral stage : This stage lasts from birth to 1 year and involves sucking, rooting etc and thus helping in the stimulation of pleasure derived from the mouth. In this stage the child is dependent on the care-givers. Freud believed that if this stage is ended pre-maturely then the child can later on have issues related to drinking, smoking etc.

The Anal stage : This stage revolves around the primary focus of the libido on anal functions like the bowel and bladder controls. When a child develops his sense of hygiene and toilet needs then he develops the sense of independence and confidence. The way a child is toilet trained can affect the child in adulthood. Freud believed that if a child is praised and rewarded then training outcomes are very positive where as if a child is shamed or ridiculed for accidents the child can later on become rigid, obsessive and stringent.

The Phallic stage : the primary focus in this stage in on the genitals as children like to explore most through them at this stage, often recognizing males from females. Freud believed that boys at this stage develop envy towards their fathers for sharing their mother’s affection and girls develop ‘penis envy’ or envy for not having the male genital. Other theorists like Karen Horney disputed this theory saying it’s demeaning to women.

The Latent stage : the development of ego and superego in this stage suppresses the libido, contributing to a stage of calm. This is the stage where children enter school and they start forming peer relationships, interests and develop hobbies. In this stage the sexual energy is directed into pursuit of intellectual goals and social interactions.

The Genital stage : This stage starts at puberty and stays for the rest of a person’s life and involves sexual attraction towards another person of opposite gender. Freud believed that if all the other stages have been completed successfully, then the individual by now have turned into a caring, warm sociable person and it reflects through the other areas of that person’s life.

In my preschool the children are praised and rewarded through sticker charts for using the toilets. They are also rewarded with kind and gentle words of encouragement if they had any bladder accidents. We also do many role play as well as other activities involving female and male recognition though we also promote non-stereotypical behaviour.

Maslow’s theory of humanist development

Maslow’s most well known contribution is the Hierarchy of Needs which gives an insight into common human psychology. According to his theory the levels start with very basic needs and move onto other needs and without completeing each stage no one can move onto the next stage successfully. There are 5 levels in the hierarchy.

Psychological needs – this is the basic level and the basic needs for survival consisting of food, water, oxygen, shelter and sleep , without which no one can survive and move up onto the next level.

Safety needs – once the basic survival needs are met then an individual will look for safety and security. A child can only feel safe and secure once all the goals of the first level is met in his/her life.

Belonging and love needs – once a child feels safe and secure only then he will move onto the next level and make new relationships with peers in order to achieve the sense of belonging.

Esteem needs – at this level an individual focuses on self esteem, confidence and sense of pride through various personal objectives and achievements.

Need for self actualisation – at this final level of hierarchy, one needs to master the understanding of self to achieve it. Hence Maslow believed that very few people have achieved this level in their lives.
We give a child a place where he/she can be happy, safe and content, thus helping them to gain the confidence, self esteem and sense of belonging. We also promote positive behaviour and peer relationships which help in the stages of hierarchy in their lives.

Bandura’s theory of Social learning

Bandura believed that social interactions play very important roles in a child’s development as he/she learns a lot through it. Bandura believed that a child imitates the actions and behaviours he/she sees. He identified 3 basic models of observational learning :

A live model or an individual who can demonstrate the ideal behaviour expected from the children.

A verbal instructional model which involves explanations and descriptions of the boundaries and expected behaviours.

A symbolic model which can be in forms of toys, stories, characters, online media etc that involves fictional characters who play role models.

At our setting all the adults try to be good role models and behave in ways that we expect our children to behave. We demonstrate individually as well as verbally the golden rules and the boundaries of the preschool.

Skinner’s theory of Operant conditioning/behaviourist

Skinner is considered as the father of Operant Conditioning. Operant conditioning means changing of behaviour by use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. He believed that 3 types of responses or operants can follow behaviour:

Neutral operant – this includes the reinforcements from the environment that don’t increase or decrease repetation of the behaviour.

Reinforcers – includes the reinforcements from the environment that increase the behaviour to be repeated in either a positive or a negative way.

Punishers – reinforcement from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour to be repeated and weakens behaviour.

In our setting we take the neutral operant mostly with the children who needs constant reminding of the behavioural boundaries set in the pre-school or that is expected from them. We believe that punishment or reinforcement will increase the repeatative behaviour and only take them as last resort.

Bowlby’s theory of Attachment

Bowlby believed that attachment behaviors are instinctive and will be activated by any conditions that seem to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as separation, insecurity and fear. The main points of his theory re :

A child has an innate need to attach to one attachment figure (monotropy) - Although Bowlby did not rule out the possibility of other attachment figures for a child, he did believe that there should be a primary bond which was much more important than any other (usually the mother).

A child should receive the continuous care of this single most important attachment figure for approximately the first two years of life – 2 years is the most critical time of a child’s life and if the attachment is broken before the critical term then the child will suffer irreversible consequences of maternal deprivation which can lead to aggression, reduced intelligence, depression, affection psychopathy etc.

We have key person system through which a child gets a sole dependable carer in the school as well where he/she spends a considerable part of his/her life. We share information with the parents to give the child personalised care.

**Reference – Researches done on the internet : Wikipedia, About and SimplyPsychology websites.