I recommend that the adult, in this situation AB’s mother, set a good example of listening to her and enjoying the conversation they are having. Some adults have the opinion that children have nothing to say worth listening to, this is untrue as children have a right to express how they are feeling and they have the right to tell people and have they’re feelings and thoughts accounted for. I recommend again to the adult in the situation that if the appearance of a word e.g. a swear word (even though may not know the meaning) need it explained to them that it is not nice and maybe insulting to someone if they repeat it again and that his is why they must not say it. I recommend that role-play games would get AB to promote her own language skills by herself without knowing it. This will happen because she may use different voices, showing that she understands that some people have different accents and languages, I find it quite common that when children play with dolls (for example Barbie's and others resembling them) they tend to put on an accent that sounds slightly American. It also promotes the range of vocabulary she uses. Learning new nursery rhymes would help her to learn and remember new words.
SOCIAL -AB’s stage of social interaction and self concept were shown in observation three, where she acted disappointed when she thought her friend wasn't coming, but she acted very happy when her friend turned up. This is usual for a child her age, as Tassoni and Beith (2002 p244) state, that between the ages of four and seven years a child can sometimes get upset if they do not see their friend when expected, it also explains on this page that children want to spend time with their friends at this stage. AB proved capable of this; there fore I could suggest that she is at the expected stage of social interaction for her age. She would benefit by getting other children as her friends she would not be so focused on missing one person if she was playing with other children at the time. AB also showed in this observation that she could share and take turns well. Again this is usual for a child of her age, as Tassoni and Beith (2002 P244) State, a child between the ages of four and seven years “shares well and shows that it is important to them to have friends. In this observation she showed this, to help her further her skills in this area she would need to participate in a variety of group and paired activities. AB said the following during observation three “I don't play with boys at school they play boring, old games!” This is usual for a child of AB’s age as Tassoni and Beith (2002 p244) state that between the ages of four and seven a child will normally be “starting to choose same-sex friends” AB showed that she prefers to play mostly with female friends at school. Again this shows me that she is at the correct stage of social interaction for her age. I think AB needs to do some group and pair work with boys and girls, she is not totally against playing with boys just at school she prefers to play with girls so this would not be hard. I feel that she only doesn't play with boys when it is her own free choice, which is usual for a child of her age. AB also gave a full and very detailed description of herself, by doing this she also showed that she was thinking about what she was saying. Again this is usual for a child of AB’s age as Tassoni and Beith (2002 p248) state that between the ages of five and seven years “Children are able to give a full description of themselves - e.g. ‘My name is...’ ‘I have a brother.’” This shows that she is at the correct stage of self-concept for her age (five years five months). Also in observation three AB showed that has a close friendship with her friend who was visiting, I think that I could positively say that they have known each other for a while either that or they see a lot of each other. She needs plenty of opportunities to describe herself such as in a story or up in front of the class as a sort of show and tell, that everyone will do, will help improve her already well progressed descriptive skills. The curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage (Early Learning Goal for making relationships p36) towards the end of the Foundation Stage a child “forms good relationships with adults and peers” this leads me to suggest that she is slightly further ahead than a child of her age would normally be, because it is at the end of the Foundation Stage therefore the end of the reception year. The stage criteria for social interaction and self concept have a vague age range i.e. four to seven (a three year difference) so it is hard to deter whether AB is at the correct stage for her age. I can tell however she is slightly further advanced than a normal child of her age, I can tell this from the information from the curriculum guidance for the Foundation stage. I would say that her actions again interpret the skills of a six-year-old.
Again I recommend that setting a good example to AB would prevent her from becoming upset or disappointed when one of her friends is not there or is late, she should be encouraged to play with other children on recurrent occasions so there is another child to play with if they are away. AB should also be encouraged to carry on sharing well; maybe she could be in charge of sharing out e.g. in a card game AB as the dealer. Encouragement to think from more than one point of view and involve her in-groups that have an even number of boys and girls. She could be placed in front of a group and describing herself would improve her confidence. She should be given rule making and following responsibilities and asked to describe herself in this situation during and recalling it later would help to promote her stage of self-concept.
The role of the child care and education worker in this situation would be to involve AB in the everyday running of the setting as she is well developed for her age and acts particularly grown up it would also encourage the other children to follow her example. The child care and education worker has to provide a hygienic, safe, stimulating, reassuring and secure environment. The worker needs to cater for AB’s individual needs which are slightly different to a normal child's needs as she is further ahead than developmental norms would state in this situation a plan would normally be outlined with AB’s best interests at heart which will be continually reviewed over a set period of time to deter whether or not this plan of action is still appropriate to her.
I have used norms throughout the three observations I have carried out. Tassoni and Beith (2002 p38) “comparing children's behaviour and development to the normative development or milestones. ‘Normative development’ means development that is expected of children at certain ages” The advantages of using developmental norms is that it is a guideline for the basis of the observation, it tells me what is normal for a child of a certain age. A disadvantage is that the criteria can be vague with large ranges e.g. four to eight. Another is that all children follow a similar pattern in development but they all develop at different rates for example one child may begin to walk at twelve months and another may begin at fifteen months but both will be at the correct stage for they’re age. All children are individuals and are unique in they’re own way so it is slightly unfair to judge them solely from this.
There are many factors that affect children's behaviour throughout their child hood. Some that may affect children on a long-term basis; factors that have adverse affects for the future and some that may only affect them for a short time.
Factors affecting children's behaviour
It depends on the individual as to how the child reacts to certain changes whether it is parent problems (divorce, separation or remarriage), moving house, a new baby, death or illness in the family, change in class or school or having a new carer.
Abuse towards children can greatly affect them in the long term in the following ways:
- Poor achievement through out their school life
- Unemployment in later life
- Difficulties with there own children (bonding, treating them correctly)
- Difficulty in forming all types of relationships
- Crime
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Prostitution
Abuse appears as physical, sexual, and emotional and neglect.
Tassoni and Beith (2002 p291) “quite often the way that children behave reflects how they feel about themselves or what is happening in their lives. Most early years practitioners will notice children becoming more boisterous around certain times of the year. A change in a child's behaviour can indicate a change in their circumstances and this is why it is important to exchange information with parents. Occasionally, a change in a child’s behaviour may indicate child abuse.”
For example, a child who has just started school who spent all day with his mother. The child may protest, crying, struggling and showing anger, the child may also show despair- comfort behaviour (thumb sucking, rocking). A child who has just had a baby arrive into the family may believe that the other child is there to replace them therefore showing attention seeking behaviour and becoming clingy. A child about to partake in examinations may show comfort behaviour such as thumb sucking and rocking. If there was a death in the child’s family the child may show disbelief and shock (numbness/denial); they may show a wide range of feelings when they begin to understand what has happened i.e. anger, inconsolable sobbing and despair. A child whose parents have divorced or separated. Tassoni and Beith (2002 p271) “the effects of divorce and separation on children have been shown to be quite considerable. A significant number of children from divorced or separated families have lower self-esteem and confidence and are less likely to achieve later on in their school life. There are several reasons why children may be affected by family breakdowns, but some children are able to adapt well, so it is important not to assume all children will have difficulties.
Reasons why children may be affected include:
- Missing and grieving for the absent parent
- Continuing conflict between parents
- Difficulties for the remaining parent in coping alone
- Effects of living in poverty - many families become reliant on state benefits after divorce or separation.”
Ways to promote and encourage positive behaviour:
- Positive reinforcement (e.g. star charts)
- Learning from others (social learning theory, Albert Bandura)
- Good role models
- Attention as a positive reinforcer
- Praise and encouragement
- Support
- Setting boundaries and goals
- Consistencies
- Intervening when children show unwanted behaviour
Strategies that may be used when dealing with unwanted behaviour and the role of the child care and education worker:
- NO! - Said loudly and firmly with eye contact but remaining calm from the practitioner will often work the best in stopping inappropriate behaviour. It is essential to make sure the child does not carry on the behaviour.
- Distraction -Often if a child is distracted from what they are doing they will forget about it. E.g. if a child wants another child’s toy it can be offered another toy to take their attention away.
- Explanation - a practitioner would give an explanation that their behaviour is not appropriate will help the children to realise why it is wrong, it may also help to present the consequences if they do not stop.
- Sanctions - Carefully threatened sanctions will normally stop a child. Although it is a negative approach to stopping behaviour there may be better ways of dealing with it. The practitioner has to think of a sanction and carry it out if necessary. It is important to carry it out otherwise the children may think that they will get away with anything they do.
- Facial expressions and body language- Giving children a ‘look’ will normally control behaviour if they understand that the practitioner is unhappy. Also the practitioner can praise the child afterwards if they do stop.
- Removal of equipment -the practitioner will remove the equipment after trying to use different strategies first of all. Most often used when a child is putting their self or others in danger as a last resort, it has to be explained to the child why the items are being removed.
- Time out - a period of time where the child in question sits separately from the rest of the group after instruction from the practitioner, to think about what they have done and why they have been given a time out, not for a long period of time.
The adult in any childcare related setting has to be a good role model, they have to set and carry out the rules for the setting and encourage and stimulate the children. They also have the ability to influence the children in different ways, for example the way the children think about cultural variations. The childcare worker needs to be neutral to all races, religions, cultures, sexes, abilities and beliefs. They have to focus on the individual needs of every child. The social learning theory (developed by Albert Bandura 1925-) showed that children learn through watching others. The people who care for and work with children are very powerful role models and their personality and behaviour has great influence over the behaviour and learning of the children. Operant conditioning -behavioural theory (B F Skinner 1904-1990) is where a child is encouraged by being told they have something to look forward to e.g. after we have cleaned up we can go outside and play. B F Skinner also shows that children learn through positive (pleasant experiences) and negative (bad experiences) reinforcement. He also suggested that if a practitioner was to ignore a certain type of behaviour might disappear.
References
Tassoni. P, Beith. K, Eldridge. E and Gough. G. (2002) Diploma Child Care and Education. Heinemann Child Care, Oxford.
QCA Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage
Bibliography
Andreski, R. 1997 Managing Children’s Behaviour: A Practical Guide for Nursery Professionals, London, Nursery World Ltd.
Derman-Sparks, L. 1989, Anti-Bias Curriculum, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington DC.
Lee, V. and Das Gupta, P. 1995 Children’s Cognitive and Language Development, Oxford, Blackwell.
Oates, J. (ed.) 1995 The Foundations of Child Development, Oxford, Blackwell.
Schaffer, R. 1995 Early Socialization, Leicester, BPS Books.
Warden, D. and Christie, D. 1997 Teaching Social Behaviour, London, David Fulton Publishers.
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