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The significance of attachment on children’s development
John Bowlby's attachment theory emphasized
Strengths of attachment theory
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When having a key worker John Bowlby is a good theorist to use as a guideline to promote the child in development and to make the child feel more secure within the setting. The attachment theory is one of the main aspects within the child’s settling in process and their ability to interact and form positive relationships with others around them. Bowlby’s and Maslow’s theory are both used in childcare settings and in Curriculum: For children from birth up to 18 months of age in New Zealand there is a curriculum called Te Whariki. The first 18 months of life must be established by an infant to form responsive intimate and trusting relationships with a minimum of one person in order to be able to thrive and learn. (Duffy A, et al). Te Whariki
The strength of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that it has influenced practice in childcare settings as it aids in the understanding of the child more clearly and children and young people can be helped in ensuring that their basic needs are met in order or them to learn and make the correct choices about their health, safety and well-being. However a weakness of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that it cannot be tested or measured precisely if one need has been fulfilled before the next need has to be achieved.
Overall both theorists want to establish the influence they believe will help these infants later as they progress over time. Either it is helping children create learned behaviors or instill protective factors through secure attachments with their primary caregivers. Although most general views are conflicting it is important to notice the main motivation is on the infant and their development. Both theorists attempt to compensate through the techniques of daycare they execute to ensure the child is receiving satisfactory care and developing appropriately. The views on how caregivers should react and interact contrast but both theories still look to protect and care for the child.
This essay will discuss the Key Person approach and its impact on children and their families. It will critically analyse some of the benefits, challenges and barriers that the key person system may have on an early years setting, its provision, the children and their families. It will discuss transitions that children may experience, and how practitioners can help to support them and their families during this process. This will have reference to appropriate theorists such as John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Supporting references will be shown throughout this essay to support the writing.
Bowlby 's attachment theory is used a lot in settings as children gain strong bonds with the teachers and key workers in the setting. Having a secure attachment in the setting can have a variety of positive or negative impacts on the child depending on how emotionally attached they are. A strength of the attachment theory is that by children gaining attachment with their key worker it can help the practitioner support the child and meet their needs in the setting. By a child having an attachment to their key worker it can help their development as they are more engaged with the staff. Again research has shown that the quality of a child’s learning and the development of resilience can depend on the quality of their relationships both with their
Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver. The theory proved that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social and emotional development in an infant. It is critical for this to occur in the child’s early infant years. However, failed to prove that this nurturing can only be given by a mother (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Many aspects of this theory grew out of psychoanalyst, John Bowlby’s research. There are several other factors that needed to be taken into account before the social worker reached a conclusion; such as issues surrounding poverty, social class and temperament. These factors, as well as an explanation of insecure attachment will be further explored in this paper.
Maslow, created a pyramid that would describe each level of a humans need to survive, to grow, develop and become successful; he believed that the drive to accomplish each level becomes stronger when a level is not being fulfilled. One lever must be mastered or accomplished before an individual can move on to the next level. Each level, has an interdependency, each setting the stage for the next level; physiological, safety, emotional, esteem and self-actualization are the five stages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The needs of each level are the “unconscious desires”’ (McLeod, 2014) that drive an individual to success.
Te Whᾱriki is the New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, which was developed in 1996. Compared with Reggio Emilia Approach, they have similarities as focus on children’s interests; develop children’s learning though interacting in relationship with others, emphasise the importance of environment and adults’ active responding. They also differ in many ways, such as teacher’s role, culture background and documentation and Assessment.
Attachment can be formed with adults who meet the needs of the child and is seen as reliable and available. Bowlby (1988) suggested that children see as someone who they are attached to to be “stronger and wiser” than themselves and can be securely relied on. If the attachment is positive and secure, the child is likelier to develop in a positive manner in the long term. (Bowlby, 1969)
Humans have a need. They have basic needs like water, food and shelter, and they have more advanced needs like safety, belonging/love and self-esteem. However, not all humans meet all of those needs. Some don’t even have the basic needs. So Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a theory created decades ago by Abraham Maslow, is a tool used to identify if the needs of a person have been fulfilled, and based on those needs they are placed on a level of the pyramid.
(McLeod 2007) To understand the lessons that are learned in these early relationships, Bowlby developed the concept of ‘internal working models'. An internal working model is a set of expectations and beliefs about the self, others and the relationship between the self and others. Thus, the internal working model of an individual will contain particular expectations and beliefs about their own and other people's behaviour. (Howe 2011). According to Bowlby (1969), “the primary caregiver acts as an example for future relationships through the internal working model for the child”. (McLeod 2007). There are three main features of the internal working model: a model of others as being trustworthy, a model of the self as valuable, and a model of the self as active when interacting with others. (McLeod 2007). It is this mental representation that guides future social and emotional behaviour as the child’s internal working model guides their responsiveness to others in general. (McLeod 2007). The parent’s childhood experiences relate to the type of attachment the child will experience. It is central to attachment theory. Bowlby explained that through early experiences of attachment, children develop a sense of self and a sense of
In addition to the above, it is worth noticing that children in day-care tend to be better adjusted people, due to spending time with people outside their own families. This teaches them how to interact with others. It is the interactions between the parents and other caregivers that actually affect the way a baby’s brain is wired for later learning, as has been sug...
McMillan, M. B. (1921). The nursery school. (p. 365). New York: Dutton & CO.Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books
Abraham Maslow was a pioneering psychologist who created Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The first concept under this is Biological and Physiological needs for air, food, water, shelter, warmth, sex and sleep. The 2nd concept in this theory is Safety needs - protection from essentials, security, order, law, solidity, freedom from fear. The next step in this principle is the need for Love and belongingness friendship, intimacy and affection. The 4th concept is to build esteem needs - accomplishment, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from
Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who had a humanistic approach to human development. Maslow believed that humans are internally motivated to achieve certain needs before others, this theory became known as the hierarchy of needs. The earliest and most widespread version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs emerged in 1943 and includes five motivational needs. These needs were placed inside a pyramid to illustrate that one need must be fulfilled to climb to the next. This five stage model can be divided into two categories, deficiency and growth needs.
University Preschool & Childcare Centre Inc. 2013. Policy Handbook. Retrieved from http://preschool.weblogs.anu.edu.au/files/2012/08/Policy-Handbook-August2012.pdf [accessed 20 Dec 2013]