The Theory Of Child Development

Anyone who works with children can use a little guidance. Things that they need to know about are they ways that children develop. They need to know how to nurture the children they are taking care of. There are certain ways to do everything. Some programs tell you how to recognize how children are progressing and how to help them to progress in their development. This article gives tips on all those subject including what to do when a child is not developing the way it is expected to.

Developmental theory, with Piaget as the most prominent theorist, presents the idea that children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore the world around them. Development is seen to take place in broad stages from birth through to adulthood, with each stage characterized by qualitatively distinct ways of thinking. However, some developmental theorists, in contrast to Piaget, place more emphasis on personal, social and emotional development rather than cognitive development and prefer to delay ‘academic’ experiences until later, for instance after the age of seven years in Steiner’s theory.

Nature and nurture both play a significant role in language development. Language development refers to how children understand, organise, speak and use words in order to communicate at an effective, age-appropriate level (Karen Kearns, 2013, P.105). For centuries, theorists have been debating the roles of nature versus nurture. Although, each child’s language will develop at their own pace and there will be many individual differences based on culture, ethnicity, health and ability. As well as physical, social, emotional and cognitive development in which will contribute to a child’s language development.

There is a plethora of child development theories that have a degree of influence over current practice. Each of which both have criticism and contrasting theories.

The developmental theories can not be more evident than during the out of class assignment at the daycare facility. During this independent assignment, I was able to observe and interact with pre-school children in an environment that is both encouraging and facilitating to a child’s developmental growth. So, just as Piaget in his developmental theory believed that children takes an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world; the pre-school teachers allowed them to do just that. Indeed, the teachers at the day care provided room for the child to learn and explore while at the same time adhering to a structure that set boundaries and limitations. Thus, the pre-school children, begrudgingly, learns to follow a meticulous schedule of activities and rest.

From the day they are born, children are immersed in a social world. Rapid learning takes place and is supported not only by parents, siblings, teachers and friends but also the important values and beliefs within their culture. All of this provides the foundations for cognitive development. As trainee teachers, it is fundamental that we have a deeper understanding of how children learn and how we can support learning. In order to do this we must first look at some of the theories of learning.

As you begin this module, identify and write a short account of your aims and aspirations. Elaborate on the strengths and personal qualities, which you bring to this module and outline those areas where you hope your learning and development will occur. (300 words)

Developmental psychology is viewed as different approaches which aims to look at how children and adults develop. Theories such as Bowlby 's attachment theory can explain how a child 's development can be altered by their attachment, thus leading to the ideology of the nature vs nurture debate, nature referring to the process of biological maturation while nurture is referring to the impact of the environment or surroundings, which involves the idea that a person learns through experiences. (McLeod, S. A, 2012)

The guiding principle surrounding psychodynamic theory is that it perceives development as a continuous process with tenets in both the subconscious and conscious and a focus on inherent biological motivations and social safeguards (Hoffnung et al 2013:36). As a result of these concepts, several theorists have hypothesised psychodynamic theory in healthy development.

The different theories and different developmental stages of the child, should allow educator’s to be able to provide a rich & positive learning environment in which, it allows the children to make most of their own potential & also to their best ability in order for them to meet the different development stages from birth and not be rushed. Sociocultural theorists believe that the family, education, religion and educators (Kearns, K. 2013) all play important roles in the development of the children and also help to enable cognitive growth, also that the child themselves are unique in their own ways of development. Listed above, they are influenced by them which means that they’re learning through their different social cultural environment

Childhood development encompasses the cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional changes from birth until the end of adolescence (White, Hayes & Livesey, 2013). Throughout childhood, environment and genetics promote or discourage growth and development. This essay will analyse the cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional domains in relativity to my own development from the prenatal stage until adolescence. Psychological and environmental theories are used to develop the understanding and connection between each domain and stage of development. Lastly, this essay will address the controversial nature verses nurture debate and its relevance to my childhood development.

From a baby 's first word to their first complete sentence, there 's a lot to debate with their language development. The average child has a vocabulary of up to six-thousand words by the time they turn five years old (Brighthubcom, 2016). Language development is one of the most critical roles for an educator in both early childhood and primary settings. It is this ability of language development that is particularly interesting in the nature vs nurture debate. In order for educators to provide effective communication, it is important that they have the knowledge and understanding of the four key concepts of language, such as phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic development and the underlying theoretical perspectives that explain the processes of language acquisition and development.

There has always been a considerable debate over many of the developmental areas for early childhood, however throughout this essay it is going to discuss the roles of Nature versus Nurture in children’s language development. Language development can be understood by in which the way children will learn to communicate language in early childhood. Nature and nurture both play vital roles for learning language in young children, as it is fundamental skill to learn language. Thames and York’s (2004, p. 603) reference states there are a range of factors that are involved in developing literacy; suggesting that both nature and nurture contribute together in language development. To dig a little deeper, we need to understand that there are four main components to language development: Phonology, Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics.

According to Freud, the needs of a child during the first 18 months of her life are basically oral. The ability of a child to progress into the next developmental stage in his/her life is dependent on the type of care he/she receives during the early childhood stage. If the child receives consistent care and his/her individual experiences promote safety and security, he/she progresses to the next stage without a remainder of unsatisfied needs. However, if the individual does not receive this type of care, he/she becomes fixated at early childhood and develops oral fixated behaviors.

A common conundrum for many psycholinguistics over the past number of years has been the way in which children acquire their first language. Linguists cannot come to an agreement as to whether a child has an innate ability within them from which the language develops or whether the language acquired is a result of adults helping to guide and correct their child. In this essay I will attempt to present both arguments, discussing the different stages of language development that a child goes through.