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Theories on how children learn and develop
Theories on how children learn and develop
Child development differences in culture
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“For young children, there is no distinction between play and learning; they are one and the same. Playing is a priority in early childhood, yet not all play is the same” (Butler, 2008, p. 1). Since the beginning of mankind children have imitated adults and learned to survive through play. Evidence of this includes toys and board games from 6,000 years ago that have been found in Egypt and Asia (Dollinger, 2000). In the last two centuries, child’s play has been observed and studied by theorists and recognized as an important tool for adult life. Three theorists that studied children and spent their lives researching how children develop were Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These theorists agreed that from the time a child is two years old, play, communication, and social development set the foundations for their future. These psychologists each have agreeable theories and each had theories that have been challenged by modern day researchers. Play, culture, and society were placed in a different order of importance for each. The toddler years impact adults in both positive and negative ways, depending on what type of reinforcement a child receives. These reinforcements, either positive or negative, influence an individual mentally, physically, emotionally and socially. Erik Erikson believed that there were eight stages of human development; the age for preschool age children (age three to six) is the third stage in Erikson’s developmental theory. This stage is also known as the Initiative versus Guilt stage. Erickson believed that children are naturally curious and want to learn. He also believed that children learn most from self discovery and play. Children are imaginative, repetitive and highly formable at t... ... middle of paper ... ...ything and everyone around them. For me, every moment I spend with BriarRose, I see learning and exploration developing. My job as a parent is to give her the support and feedback she needs now and one day she will become a contributing member of society. Works Cited Berk, L. E. (2010). Development Through the Lifespan. Boston: Pearson. Butler, S. (2008). Learning Through Play. Retrieved 07 15, 2011, from Earlychildhood NEWS: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleId=591 Dollinger, A. (2000, 12 01). Play. Retrieved 08 07, 2011, from Anceint Egypt: http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/games.htm Mcleod, S. (2007). Vygotsky. Retrieved 08 05, 2011, from Simply Psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html Nursing Resource Admin. (2010, 06 06). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychological Development.
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
The second section will evaluate the importance of play on different aspects of social development and in various stages of an individual. The third section will analyze how viewpoints on function of play on development are shaped by historical and contextual factors such as culture and economy. Developmental psychologists use various research methods such as naturalistic observations, interviews, experimental research and examining the natural context of children’s everyday interaction within the family to study the role of play in children’s development. They apply different approaches to study different types of play. Play by nature, creates a natural learning environment for the child.
However, Erikson understood that external factors, parents, and society affect the personality development of a person from childhood to adulthood. This reasoning let him to develop the psychosocial stages of development, in which an individual must pass through a series of eight interconnected stages over that person’s lifetime. Just like Piaget cognitive stages of development Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development have age specifics for each group. The 5 year old boy, falls under the Initiative vs. Guilt Stage, which is based for children who are in preschool from ages three to five. In this stage “children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment” (Cherry, 2010). During my interview of the 5 year old, I ask him if he knew his ABC, he automatically tried to take control of the conversation by singing the ABC, when he mistakenly made a mistake, I corrected him at which he said “no you are wrong, it’s like this.” I could clearly see how the child tried to take control of most of the conversation we had throughout the whole interview. The 10 year old girl, falls under the Industry vs. Inferiority stage, based for children who are in school from age six to eleven. This stages focus on children coping with new social and academics demands. If they are successful this lead them to have some sense of capability, where as if they encounter failure, it could leave them with feelings of inferiority. During my interview during with the ten year old I ask her, how she was dealing with school, she said she likes it very much, but she is always doing a lots of homework, and she doesn’t play as much as she likes. I ask her if making friends its easy or hard, but she said is very easy to make friends, while she is answering this questions you can clearly see the confidence and cleverness of
Mathur and Parameswaran (2015) posed many of the questions that early-childhood educators have regarding the role of play in child development. The questions primarily focused on how play amongst children is affected by development, biology, nurture, gender and culture. The authors cite other research, which concludes that though play is universal and cross-cultural, theoretical and empirical evidence support the notion that there are gender differences in the play of children. Citing the social learning theory, Mathur and Parameswaran (2015) argue that children learn gender roles at a very young age due to the positive reinforcement they receive from their parents. The positive reinforcement is indicative of the parents rewarding their children’s
Ginsburg, K. R. (2006). "The Species of the World. " The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent–Child Bonds. USA: American Academy of Pediatrics.
Erikson 's stages of psychosocial development consists of different ages, the stage in which they are going through and what strength is developed, Erikson created 8 different stages, the first stage is for 0-1 year old and Erikson believed that they go through a stage of ‘trust vs mistrust’ this is when the child is beginning to trust the people around them and trust the environment around them, at this age Erikson believed that children create attachment with individual adults (usually their parents). In Erikson’s stages he believes that children the age of 6-12 go through a stage of industry vs. inferiority, at this age children usually begin to compare themselves to their peers and may feel a sense of failure if compared to other children their age and feel inferior to them. Children can lack empathy if they are competent therefore it is important for the child’s social worker and foster carer to boost the child’s confidence in order for them
Harder, A. F. (2002 (revised 2009)). The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from Learing Place Online.com: http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm
The second stage is autonomy verses shame and doubt. This occurs from about 18 months of age to 3 years old. The basic virtue of this stage is will; can they do things on their own or do they require the help of others? Erikson believed that children around this age wanted to develop a greater sense...
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.
Erikson believes a person’s personality changes throughout their lifespan and primarily focuses on ego. Furthermore, ego is a person’s sense of self-importance or self- acceptance. This is a major factor when discussing personality because how we perceive ourselves, reflects onto others. Erikson’s eight stages of psychological development consist of infancy, early childhood, preschool, middle school, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age and old age. He indicates that during each stage of life a person experiences a psychological crisis, which could aid in a negative or positive result. During the infancy stage, the psychological crisis is trust vs. mistrust, meaning total dependence on the mother or father. If either or both parents show love and attention, then the child will develop trust, or otherwise mistrust if neglected. Early childhood, around the ages two to three years old a child becomes more mobile and shows signs of independence. The caregivers will either assist the child in all their needs or wait patiently as they figure them out on their own. Erikson distinguishes the importance of allowing children to face their own challenges with the tolerance of failure. This will provide the willingness to push through hard times and overcome adversity. Stage 3, initiative vs. guilt describes the interaction between other children and their ability to make decisions. A child will initiate activity with others continuously when he or she feels secure. Nevertheless, when children are told ‘no’ they react with feelings of guilt. The fourth stage of Erikson’s theory begins to explain inferiority. In this stage, a student will be introduced to teachers who become a major part of a child’s psychological development. With encouragement, children will feel confident in themselves, whereas negative reinforcement may cause self-doubt. Identity vs.
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
Children develop normally when they are exposed to different types of play that allow them to express themselves while using their imaginations and being physically active. According to the Center for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness, “Play is child’s work”; this is true because it is a child’s job to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play. Not only is playing a child’s full time job, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights listed play as a right of every child. Through their full time job of play, the children develop emotionally, socially, physically, and creatively. Children need to participate in child-led play in order to facilitate healthy development of their minds, body, and creativity.
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
In Preschool years, ages three to five years old. Also, preschool is an early childhood program in which children combine learning with play in a program run by professionally trained adults. These programs are known by other names, including child care, day care, and nursery school. Children engages to long period of playing and somehow will have opportunities to learn in many different ways. This includes active learning such as play-based and enquiry-based approaches. They make decisions, solve problems, develop thinking skills, collaborate, communicate and develop a positive sense of self. According to theory of Erick Erikson on Psychosocial Theory of Development, Preschool stage of development is the play age. Erikson believed
In Kindergarten school, some parent believes play is the best way for young children to learn the conceptions, skills, and set a solid foundation for later school and life success. In the other hand, many parents disagree and believe play is a waste of time, messy, noisy, and uneducationall. I believe play is not waste of time, but it something worth to fight for, in this presentation I would show parent the main importance of some of the numerous kinds of play, and why play is a fundamental basis for improving children’s ability to succeed in school and life.