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Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice.
Ideas about social and emotional development can be divided into three schools of thought.
Biological theories – the genetic explanation of development. These argue that we are all born with a certain genetic make-up and that this causes us to respond and behave in a certain way. We all grow and develop according to a pre-set pattern, meaning everything about us comes from our biological parents – personality, reactions and intelligence.
Learning theories – this explains how children develop as a result of contact with other people and how this helps them to learn. These theories say that people learn by experience and that babies are not born with any preset social behaviour or personality meaning they learn from interacting with people and their environment rather than because their bodies are programmed to develop at certain stages. Learning theories say that as well as affecting how children learn to think and speak, they also learn social responses. This happens as a result of the rewards or punishments they receive, imitating other people and through interactions with their peers. Within this school of thought are those theorists that argue that the child uses their encounters with the environment to construct patterns of thinking.
Psychoanalytic theories – these are a combination of both biological and learning theories. The term refers to theories that explain human behaviour in terms of processes in people’s conscious and unconscious minds. These theories suggest the various stages we go through in our early years, affect how our personalities develop, as well as what we are like later on in life.
All the Key Stages throughout the school setting, including EYFS, are frameworks that support children’s development. It enables practitioners and settings to plan developmentally appropriate activities and opportunities. Although most of these theories were developed many years ago it is important to remember that research into child development is always an ongoing process. Important theorists in this field are:
Sigmund Freud – His theory was based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences/feelings shape their future. His theory was based on understanding how the unconscious mind can influence children’s behaviour. The psychoanalytical theory of Freud’s highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. This theory has not been scientifically agreed with but has helped those working with children understand that there is a link between our mind and our unconscious actions. For example when a child tells a lie they may smile or cover their mouths without realising that they are doing it. Freud’s theory was also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well they cope with these stages and experiences, their adult personality will be affected. In current practice, children’s expected stages of development reflect this detail and provide ways for practitioners to evidence them. In our school setting we would encourage the children to show and deal with their real emotions with the help of books, circle time and posters. We help the children gain an understanding of emotions by reflecting on something that may have happened to them and discussing how they felt. We aim to help the children identify the feelings attached to the emotion so hopefully they will be more able to cope with future incidents.
Levy Vygotsky – Vygotsky’s theory was formed around the thinking that children learn from hand on experiences and he claimed that timely and sensitive intervention by adults, when children are learning a new task, could help children to perfect new skills. He also stressed the importance of social interaction, he felt other children can guide each other’s development as well as adults. Vygotsky also thought that children needed to be active in their own learning and that play is important for holistic learning. He believed that every new scene or interaction was a learning experience to children and that they must be guided through until they know how to react correctly in certain situations. His theory was that children learn new skills by being guided by parents or carers, for example, when a parent claps their hands (perhaps to a song) and then helps the child clap their hands, in time the child should be able to clap their hands for themselves. Staff support this theory in school settings by giving support if children are having difficulty managing a particular task. We also give praise when children handle social interactions with good behaviour to prove that we are happy and that what they have done is the correct way to behave.
John Bowlby – His theory is that early relationships with caregivers plays a major role in child development and will influence how children react to social interactions with other people. He believed in the importance of strong attachments and that children who are securely attached to their main carers generally have high self-esteem and will be able to enjoy intimate relationships where the ability to share feelings will develop and that they will seek out social support. We support this theory nowadays by gradually easing children into situations which may change or have an effect on their everyday life. For example, when a child is starting primary the school usually have a few induction sessions to show them round the school, have them meet their teacher and introduce them to their new environment. Some settings will then have children complete either mornings or afternoons when actually starting to prevent separation anxiety, however some settings believe this may actually be more harmful and so start children full-time straight away so as not to prolong the new process.
B.F.Skinner – His theory was that if the main carers in a child’s life implemented behavioural modifications, the child would quickly learn the correct way to behave. Skinner’s theory was that through positive and negative reinforcement a child would develop better behaviour. We put this theory into practice in schools by the use of rewards/sanctions or consequences. Staff may praise a child for good behaviour or may give a child no attention for naughty behaviour. In the school setting we may use sticker’s charts to encourage a child’s good behaviour in hope that they will keep this up and receive more rewards in the future. However, staff are aware that behavioural modifications will only work effectively if parents/carers apply them at home as well.
Albert Bandura – He believed that people imitate and copy through observation. His theory is that children learn by observing how the main people in their life behave, this may by parents/carers/siblings/friends etc. For example, if a child is playing with another child they may mimic each other copy actions or even use the same expressions. His theory was that a child will repeat the behaviour they may have seen if it is rewarded with attention or praise, however if they see bad behaviour they may copy this as well. Children put this into practice in everyday ways now, usually through role-play in younger children, creating scenario’s they might have witnesses – playing mum’s and dad’s, pretending to go to the supermarket or reinacting school lessons at home with siblings/friends.
Jean Piaget – Piaget was a philosopher and psychologist, he spent much of his professional life listening to and watching children and his professional background influenced his theories and research of child development. Piaget’s theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures or mental “maps” and that these are based on children’s experiences of the world around them. Piaget suggested that as children develop so does their thinking. He grouped children’s cognitive development into four stages:
1. Sensorimotor (birth – 2 years) – The child builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works through physical interaction with the environment
2. Pre-operational (2 – 7 years) – The child is not yet able to conceptualise abstractly and needs concrete physical situations.
3. Concrete operations (7 – 11 years) – As a child’s physical experience accumulates, they start to conceptualise, creating logical structures that explain their physical experiences. At this stage abstract problem solving is also possible.
4. Formal operations (11 – 15 years) – By this stage the child’s cognitive structures are like those of an adult and include conceptual reasoning.
Piaget outlined several principles for building cognitive structures. During all development stages, the child experiences their environment using whatever mental maps they have constructed so far in their life. If the experience is a repeated one, it fits easily into the child’s cognitive structure so that they maintain mental “equilibrium”, if the experience is different or new, the child loses equilibrium and alters their cognitive structure to accommodate new conditions. By doing this the child constructs more and more cognitive structures. Piaget believed that children could not be given information that they immediately understand and that they have to construct their own knowledge.
Jean Piaget’s work is often thought to have influenced child-centred teaching in which teachers start by working out the needs of children and plan activities accordingly. He believed that children could not be given information that they immediately understand and that it takes time to construct their own knowledge.
We put this theory into practice in school settings by praising children when they have done something positive so that they will want to do and succeed more. As a child’s attention span is very short it is important to hold their attention so that they take in and learn from lessons. For example, if we were studying mathematical times tables, the lesson would be repeated many times to reinforce the concept to the children and we would bring in other ways to hold the child’s attention. Classrooms are structured to accommodate the needs of a range of children within different levels and so we may use uni-fix cubes for less able children when teaching times tables but number bonds for the more able.
A growing body of research indicates the first three years of life are especially critical to laying the foundations for future learning and these can hugely influence current practices. Some theorists think that to develop properly, the infant brain requires almost non-stop stimulation from birth to the age of three. They believe babies need to be talked to, sung to, cuddled, touched and kept warm and safe in order for their brains to develop properly.
Scientists and brain researchers have looked into and studied this for many years and so our own influences come from hearing, reading and studying their findings. They believe that:
* Babies are born with brain cell development virtually complete but the connections needed to allow learning to take place occur after birth at an incredible rate for the first few years of life.
* Some parts of the brain are “hard-wired” at birth but much of the brain is open to being shaped by its surroundings and by repeated experiences. The capacity for abstract learning and thinking is particularly amenable.
* The most rapid brain growth occurs in the first three years of a child’s life. By the age of two, a child’s brain has twice as many synapses (connections) as an adult’s. By the age of ten, this early growth spurt is complete and unstimulated synapses die off.
* A stimulating environment is essential to rapid brain growth. Reading, signing, talking and playing with the child can have a major impact on cognitive capacity and can even lead to higher IQ’s.
* The foetal brain and the young infant’s brain are especially vulnerable to damage from toxins and malnutrition, although damage may not show up until learning disabilities appear years later.
*Critical, relatively short periods exist in which the infant’s brain must have certain kinds of stimulation to develop properly, including areas such as vision, language and thinking.
All of these theories influence or may shape our way of thinking however the most recent is Emotional Intelligence Theory (EQ – Emotional Quotient). This is a relatively new behavioural model, rising to prominence with Daniel Goleman’s 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence”. The EQ concepts argues that IQ (Intelligence Quotient) or conventional intelligence is too narrow and that there are wider areas of emotional intelligence that dictate and enable how successful an individual is. Some theorists now believe that success requires more than IQ, which in the past tended to be the traditional measure of intelligence ignoring essential behavioural and character elements. EQ states that to be successful requires the effective awareness, control and management of one’s own emotions, and those of other people. In other words it requires a person to:
* Understand yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behaviour
* Understand others and their feelings.
Goleman identified the five domains of EQ as:
1. Knowing own emotions
2. Recognising and understating other people’s emotions
3. Managing own emotions
4. Motivating self
5. Managing relationships
Theories can differ from profession to profession however it is now widely accepted that an individual’s Emotional Intelligence enables them to appreciate and develop vital connections between themselves, others, purpose, meaning, existence, life and the world as a whole, and to help others do the same. Even though these theories may work in many case studies it is also agreed that this is not always the case for every individual.
GOOD LUCK!!!
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