Child development from 0-3 years. Evidence from placement observations.

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E1 + E2]        “Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought processes. It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with the world. Children think differently than adults. Piaget then proposed a theory of cognitive development to account for the steps and sequence of children's intellectual development.” http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentecourse/a/dev_cognitive.htm 08/02/12

Cognitive development for children aged 0-3 years is very important for the child’s overall development. By this age children are learning by watching others and exploring the world through different objects around them by simply placing them in their mouth, holding them and also by using their other senses such as their hearing and sight. As children develop they learn by observing and listening to others around them; children at the age of 3-5 years begin to ask many questions such as ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ due to curiosity and being concerned about everything and anything that is happening around them.

Social and emotional development for children aged 3-5 years is also very important for every child’s development at this stage as it starts to have an effect on their overall health and wellbeing; this is due to the child becoming aware of whom they call friends and their friendship groups but also family and familiar faces. They begin to show empathy for others around them in their day-to-day lifestyle. An example of this is children at this age usually like to play along side others; this is known as parallel play. A child is happy to play in company of another child however they are not playing together, this may be due to children not being able to co-operate with others properly yet and because they may not have mastered sharing with those around or in the child’s company. However by the age of 5 years children begin to find friendships important and begin to seek to play with others rather than along side or alone.

During the concrete operational stage the thought process becomes more rational, mature and adult like. Although this process begins roughly at the age of 7 years it continues throughout childhood. Piaget theorised that before the concrete operational stage the ideas in which children have about different objects are formed and dominated by the appearance of the object. An example of this is the conservation of number, volume or mass; this is when you have the same amount of an object, you show the child in which you are working with and change the object as many times until the child agrees that both objects have the same amount. You then change the shape of one and ask the child “which has the most?”; usually the child will pick the object that has been changed slightly as having the most, this is an easy way for practitioners to observe a child’s conservation.

Placement example needed

E3]        There are many different theorist who studied social and cognitive development in children and young adults. The two theorists I am going to talk about are Vygotsky for cognitive development and Bandura for social development.

Vygotsky theorised that when a child is at the zone of proximal development for a particular task, providing the appropriate assistance known as scaffolding will give the child enough confidence to achieve the particular task. Once the child, with the benefit of scaffolding, masters the task with appropriate help the scaffolding can then be removed in order for the child to attempt the task alone and being able to complete the task for themselves. The child is storing information and using it when appropriate, this is cognitive development. Vygotsky also stated that language is the tool needed for thinking, play and imagination as these were important for overall development and cognition; he also stated that language was used with social interaction among other children in order for their vocabulary to increase which lead on to the child being able to ask question, form ideas and to also name objects and people around them. If a child has good language/vocabulary they will be able to use these skills to work things out, ask questions and understand abstract concepts.

The distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers" http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html  06/02/12

Bandura theorised that children learn best when observing and imitating those around them; he called this modelling. Not only did he state that children learn best by modelling the behaviour of others but also by the child’s own mental state. He believed that this type of learning could be used in order to explain different behavioural activity amongst children.

“In his famous "Bobo doll" studies, Bandura demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people. The children in Bandura’s studies observed an adult acting violently toward a Bobo doll. When the children were later allowed to play in a room with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the aggressive actions they had previously observed.
Bandura identified three basic models of observational learning:

  1. A live model, which involves an actual individual demonstrating or acting out a behavior.
  2. A verbal instructional model, which involves descriptions and explanations of a behavior.
  3. A symbolic model, which involves real or fictional characters displaying behaviors in books, films, television programs, or online media”
    http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm 07/02/12

If we are used as good role models children will understand good behaviour and continue to do this because of the praise they receive.

"Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action."
-Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory, 1977
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm 06/02/12

In placement we have many activities and toys to support children’s overall development. We have a set rota which states certain toys or activities that we have to carry out either morning or afternoon. This is put in place so that we can maintain the support for every child’s overall development. Some of the activities we have are building blocks, musical instruments, farm animals and many more. We try and get all the children involved when certain toys are out so that they can all come together which in turn will improve their social development but also their cognition as the children are able to work out problems for themselves; this may be how many bricks they can stack before the tower falls down.

E4]        See appendix for observations.

        

E6]        When completing my observations in placement, I will write a letter to all parents asking for permission in order to carry out the observations. I will state that all confidentiality will be maintained and to do so I will not identify the child in which I am observing; this will be done by referring to the child as a letter, a number, and not identifying personal or medical details.

Another way in which I can maintain confidentiality when observing the child in nursery is by not making the observation noticeable to others. In order for this to be done I can sit in the room around every child so that it is not made obvious to whom I am observing; this is useful for if parents or visitors came in as they would not know which child was under observation. This is important in order to maintain the child’s health and well being and also due to child protection legislations such as data protection, human rights and child protection.

When carrying out an observation I will not take any photographs of the children I am observing in order to maintain their identity. I am however able to take photographs of the child from behind as I will not be identifying facial features. If I was to take any photographs I would write a letter to parents explaining what the photographs would be used for and if they are willing to give permission.

I will also make sure all the notes made during observations are kept with myself at all times and that no-one other than my supervisor has access to them. At the end of each observation I will ask my supervisor to read through the notes I have obtained in order to check that confidentiality has been maintained throughout; once my supervisor has checked through all observations I will ask her to sign to say I have had permission from both herself and the child’s parents to do the observations. This will also state that all confidentiality has been maintained and the child has not been put at risk due to a breakdown in confidentiality.

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“As the primary carer and guardians of their children, parents have the right to decide what personal information is collected and recorded about their child. It is essential that practitioners obtain written permission from parents authorising them to carry out observations and to keep relevant documentations on record…

…Any personal information about children or families should be treated as confidential unless withholding information would affect the well being of the child.” [Beaver et al, 2008, page: 68]

D1]        In observation 1 (written descriptive) I saw Child J imitate the noises of a toy car “brum, brum, toot, ...

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