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CDE3701
Theories of child development
What is child development?
Refers to the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human being between birth
and the end of adolesence (19 reas), as the individual progresses form dependency to increasing
autonomy. Develoopmental changes may occur as a result of genetically controlled processes known as
maturaion or as a result of environmental factors.
What are the stages of development of the young child?
All the different stages and milestones can be explained as part of the Brain House:
The foundation: Physical Development, conception to 14 months -
Regulating sensory input and motor output to provide a stable neurological base for all other skills to be
build on. It includes everything that the child needs to survive:
Active senses = The inside senses (body) and the outside senses (environment)
Responsive reflex brain = The primitive brain can only do what is needed to ssurvive.
Sensing and breathing are not enough themselves to survive, so the brain uses
primitive reflexes to activate muscles into action. Each primitive refelx guides the body
to move in a different way, using different muscles. When a child can move their own
body the primitive reflexes goes to rest and and she starts to reach each motor
milestone in a specific sequence.
The prime time during which the brain and body develop the most is between
conception and 14 months. The brain and body continue to develop and change
throughout life, but not at the same rapid pace as it does in this period.
Strong muscles > see physical development.
The walls: Emotional development: 14 months to 3 years –
Early in life touch, sucking, familiar smells, rocking and moving are the mainn actions that
keep the brain happy. It also includes energy levels, immunity, health, memory, self-worth and
confidence.
As the child develops it runs into selfish and demands: My needs, My wants, NOW. There is
no concept of sharing, waiting or understanding. This is the transition and maturation phase in
child development from dependent to independent. This stage forms an important building
block for integrated and personality development.
Emotional development starts before birth and continues during bonding with the mother,
father and extended family and peaks between 14 months and 3 years. At age 2 emotional
development peaks with temper tantrums. This is why babies and toddlers need physical, but
appropriate affection the most when their behaviour are deserving thereof. The best
emotional booster is to be loved for who you are and not what you do: unconditional love and
acceptance, regardless whether the child has physical or pshycological challenges.
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The windows and doors: Social development 3 to 4 years –
shifting from me to we and with it comes a sense of belonging
If the child had enough opportunities to position himself/herself in the world, with enough
me time and security, the windows and doors can be added. This will enable the child to
invite others into the house, to reach out and connect spontaneously with friends.
The time when the brain is ready for social development happens around the 3 rd birthday.
Often children enter play school at this stage. The children show readiness to engage
socially with others and to play with friends at the same age. As you come to learn there
are different types of play for different aged children. The ideal ratio for emotional
development is one adult to one baby, but in S.A it is one adult to 6 babies. This also flips
the natural development of the (ME) emotional before (WE) social to the unnatrual WE
first and ME second.
The roof: Cognitive development: Reasoning (spatial, verbal and non-verbal) 4 to 11 years –
The different levels of the brain house are connected by a lift which could only be reached to
the roof if the foundation and walls are solid. The lift symbolises the soine and needs to be
straight if it has to reach the roof. The roof symbolises the clever part/neo-cortex that has a
STOP button to control movement and emotions and represents cognitive development. It
coincides with language development because only the roof holds words and ability to reason
and name things.
While the lower levels of the brain house tends to need multi or integrated sensory
experiences and real or concrete objects in order to learn, the roof brain is more comfortable
with thinking and numerous concepts. These include: colours, shapes, numbers, days of the
week, nakmes for positions in space, mathematical concepts, perception, and the names
given to all the sensations that skin, nose, mouth, ears, eyes send the brain and enable them
to say:” The yellow lemon is sour “.
The thinking brain is present long before birth, but it goes through an intrense growth spurt
th th
netween the 4 and 11 birthday. Children wire their lift and thinking brain while engaging in
motor development and integrating all their senses – like hopping on one leg, running,
skipping with a rope. In doing so, the gross-motor movement prepares them to have more
control over their fine motor movement, making them ready for more accurate drawings,
painting, stringing beads, picking up small objects and various creative expressions. It
happens before learning to write and read. Cognitive development grows rapidly once a child
has learnt to regulate sensory input, to STOP moving and concentrate for an age related time
and to speak clearly.
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With the brain house in mind the following table depicts warning signs that we will refer to as
SOS signals that they may point to building blocks in the brain house that need support:
(De JAGER, 2008) Emotional SOS Social SOS Cognitive SOS
Physical SOS
Clumsy Overly emotional Cannot wait or share Poor language
development
Low muscle tone Clingy Battles to make Avoids school/school
friends of own age work would rather
play/watch tv
Poor coordination Thumb sucking Bully/victim Problems with
beyond 3 years perception
Cannot sit still Bite nails The clown in the Letter recognition
class and formation
Battle to concentrate Chew clothes or hair Emotional outburst Spelling
Dislike physical Bedwetting beyong 5 Throw tantrums Reading
games and sport years beyond 2 years
Hyper or Hypoactive Constantly need Poor self-regulation Maths
reassurance and impulse control
Cannot tell left from Poor impulse control Memory
right
Problem with Wants to play and Concetration and
balance not to work task completion
Eye-hand- Does not accept NO
coordination
Crossing midline,
Pencil grip, Ball
skills, cutting, writing,
Task completion,
complains of sore
tummy
Describe the terms “folk psychologies” and “folk pedagogies”:
Both of these terms refer to cultural beliefs held by an individual about how the worldd
workks according to that individuual. A teacher’s “folk psychologies” are ideas about how
children learn and develop, that flow into their” folk pedagogies ”. These are their ideas
about how to help children learn, which steer their teaching activities.Folk pedagogies are
seen as activities that are “deeply embedded in cultural beliefs about how children learn and
how teachers should teach”.
Explain why it is important for teachers to be aware of their own “folk theories”:
A teacher’s folk theories create cultural contexts in the classsroom, which can eitheer
support or hinder children’s learning. depending on their own cultures. When teachers are
aware of the differences between cultural contexts they can adapt their methods and provide
better support to children. It can help them identify the differences in goals of child
development held by differeent cultures, which can broaden their perspectives of child
development and education.
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Identify factors influencing child developmen and critically discuss them:
Disruptions in family functioning: General family influences that are experienced by
children all over the world have significant efects on on their development are
divorce, single parent families, childheaded households and homelessness. May lead
to a lack of love, acceeptance, interpersonal communicatuion and relationships, and
senso of belonging which may negatively influence their physical, cognitive as well as
social and emotional development. Urbanisation = people moving to cities in search
of employment oppurtonities. This can affect children in various ways, depending if
the whole family is moving or only a single parent and breaking up the household and
turning it into a single parent household, or when both parents move often leaving
children with grandparents or other family members. It can result in poor quality living
conditions in informal settings near cities. unstable famiily relationships which can
result in varios health problems and social emotional difficulties. High-density living =
threats health, diseases may spread quickly and a lack of proper sanitation.
Poverty: Root cause of poor child development. Affects their health, nutrition,
housing, access to various services, education, exposure to language and
devlopmental stimulation and also their self-esteem andd mental health. Affects on
all domains of child development = limited to acces to basic resources such as health
annd physical development , access to basic heaalth caare, affects children’s health
and physical development. Social and emotional development can also be influenced
= low self-esteem, self-confidence, drug abuse and mental disorders such as
depression.
Malnurtrition: Undernutrion (nutritional deficiencies, poverty) and overnutrition
(obesity). When mothers are malnourished during pregnancy significant structural
damages may occur in the development of the foetus. Can lead to permanent
stunting and deevelopmental delays. Stuntiing = form of chronic malnutrition, children
being short for their age as well as delays in brain development. Obese children are
subject to emotional and social challengees such as restriction to gross motor
activities.
Abuse: Neglect, sexual, physical and emotional. Effects: low self-image, self-blame,
violent behaviour, physical damage including brain damage, academic achievement
and socialising. Physical abuse refers to act of physical aggression and is associated
with delays in cognitive development, academic problems, difficulties in moral
reasoning, aggressive behaviour and poor social functioning.. Sexual abuse refers to
any illegal sexual acts committed against a child, effects include: fatigue, anxiety,
depression, passivity, difficulty concentrationg, withdrawal from usual activities. In
middle-childhood: low-self-esteem, feelings of huilt, self-blame, eating disorders, anti-
social behaviour (drug abuse, criminal behaviour). Emotional abuse includes verbal
put-downs, humiliation, rejection, and lack of provison off children’s emotional needs
of love, affection, and support. Emotional abuse is usually present in all other types
of abuse and most ccommon form of child abuse. Overly aggressive parents,
shouiting and threating, manupilating and ignoring children’s needs. Teachers who
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