All of us have our own views about Middle Childhood Years brought by the different experiences we had when we were still at this stage. It just so happen that whenever there will be a discussion with regards to this matter, it is often associated with the word maturity. It seems inevitable that for every people who had undergone this stage, somehow tends to provide an attribute for this stage as the Transition stage. Though some of us would insist however, the obvious answer to the question, when does a person usually begin exhibiting attitudes that will soon reflect his/her personality is reflected on this stage. Not all of us can exactly elaborate the changes we had undertaken before but it is important however, while we were trying to pursue …show more content…
In support of my perspective, I synthesized the ideas of the following theorists who were able to help me understand on how does a child’s thinking develops and how can we address to them the ways in order to fully understand their condition: Erik Erikson’s Industry vs. Inferiority which is under the psychosocial theory, Jean Piaget’s concrete operational and formal operational under cognitive development, Lawrence Kohlberg’s Preconventional and Conventional under moral development theory, Lev Vgotsky’s zone of proximal development and B.F Skinner’s Social Learning Theory. It is quite surprising that all the theorists mentioned above have different explanations with regards to Middle Childhood years but they all agree at a certain point, that is having the child being exposed to various activities, events and circumstances would guarantee a development on child’s thinking as it tries to condition the mind of the child on a particular aspect which is the environment that in turn will dictate to him/her to think and ponder
In this essay I will analyse major theories and compare the major theorists of, and influences on the development of young children during the first eight years of life which includes physical, social, emotional, cognitive, sensory, and language development. The three theorists I have chosen to compare are Piaget, Bowlby and Vygotsky. Piaget Jean Piaget was seen as having a cognitive constructivist approach in his work. He believed that humans build their own knowledge through their life experiences and they will learn better by doing this than being told information. Piaget gave little attention to the emotional or social aspects of children’s development but was particularly interested in the cognitive aspect, focusing on how children think and make sense of their world.
Many factors influence children’s development as well as that massive amount of development theories that elaborate on why children do certain things, why children have developmental disorders, or even why some children have developmental delays. Although there are many theories regarding children development and how they are influences, theorist make some great points in the child development but with any theory come flaws such as developmental issues. Famous theorists Freud, Erikson, and Piaget all have different ideas on this topic. Freud was a psychiatrist who believed in unconscious activity of the mind. Erikson was a developmental psychologist who believed that the mind developed in a series of stages, and Piaget was a clinical psychologist who believed in cognitive development. Theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, and Erik Erikson discusses how their individual theory influences the make-up of the development of children.
The Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development is also known as the stage theory. It introduces that, in the expansion of our thinking, we act through an organized and certain sequence of steps. However, the theory focuses not only on compassionate how the children obtain knowledge, but likewise on the discernment of the substance of intelligence. According to the Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, there are two stages in the thinking pattern of a 3-year old preschooler and 9-year-old student. They are the preoperational stage for the 2 to 7 year old and the concrete operations stage for the 9 year old. The preoperational stage (three years old preschooler), this is where a new child can intellectually perform and signify to the objects and issues with the quarrel or the images, and they can act. The concrete operations (nine year old student), where a child is at the stage and deliver the ability to maintain, reserve their thinking, and analyze the objects in conditions of their many parts. However, they can also assume logically and understand comparison, but only about the concrete events.
Theories of development are very important as these theories and frameworks can heavily influence current practice and help us to understand the complexities of children’s behaviours their reactions and can also help us figure out different and new ways of learning. Starting with the constructivist approach (piaget). Piaget worked
There are various cognitive aspects and socio-cultural aspects vital for shaping the adolescence journey to the adulthood. Hoffnung et al., (2016) explained that cognitive aspects include the development of formal operational thoughts which originates from early adolescence, more advanced in middle adolescence and late adolescence. Due to the immature frontal lobe of the brain, temporal lobe does the decision making and logical reactions in adolescence (Barkway, 2013). Hypothetical thinking develops and do not worry about the consequences and are more perspective takers. In the middle years, they start to think logically by identifying and rejecting the hypothesis and trying to find possible outcomes based on logic (Barkway, 2013). Abstract thinking develops in late adolescence,
Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that young children actively learn from their hands-on, day-to-day experiences. Jean Piaget portrayed children as "little scientists" who go about actively constructing their understanding of the world. His theories hold the essence of developmentally appropriate curriculum since Piaget believed that children undergo cognitive development in a stage-based manner, such that a very young child would not think about things the same way that an adult might. He referred to the knowledge and the manner in which the knowledge is gained as a schema. In order to build on the cognitive stages that children experience, informal learning opportunities, formal instructional sessions, and the utilized curriculum must all dovetail with a child's current cognitive stage so that assimilation of the new knowledge may occur. Working with what the child knows and experiences, parents and teachers create bridges to the next cognitive stage that are characterized by the child's accommodation. Piaget argued that optimal learning took place in this manner and that adults should avoid thinking that they can accelerate a child's development through the age-based, maturity-referenced stages. This is because a child works toward establishing an equilibrium between the assimilation and application of new knowledge and changing their behavior to accommodate their newly adopted schemas.
There are multiple theories explaining how cognitive development occurs. Piaget’s stage theory, for example, focuses on whether children progress qualitatively through stages of development (Diener 2017). A theory based in nature vs. nurture, Piaget believed a child’s cognition develops biologically as they grow, based on their interactions with the environment. Sociocultural theory, on the other hand, believes children are influenced by the beliefs, values, perceptions, and opinions of those around them. Finally, information processing theories suggest that children process the information they receive and do not merely react to stimulus.
The centers I created focus on physical development and social development. The first center I created is a center for fine/gross motor skills. This center included a Sand and Water Table. This center has many benefits such as socially, cognitively and physically. Physically fine and gross motor skills are improved through water and sand play. Socially playing with the sand and water table encourages sharing, and taking turns. This activity also benefits cognitively by encouraging investigation and problem solving skills. The second center I created is a center for creative development. This center is an art center where kids can put on an art show with their play-dough creations. Having an art center in the classroom is very beneficial. Having
Main theory – development takes place in distinctive stages of cognitive development. Adults influence but the child is building their own thinking systems.
The sensorimotor stage infants develop their schemas through sensory and motor activities. Followed by the preoperational stage where children begin to think symbolically using words, to represent concepts. Next concrete operational stage children display many important thinking skills, like ability to think logically. Finally, formal operational stage young adolescences formulate their operations by abstract and hypothetical thinking. Piaget’s theory provides ample and insightful perspectives, so it remains the central factor of contemporary
The middle childhood is to leave the play years to start maturing years to start adolescence (Berk, 2010). During the middle childhood, children began to have a lot physical changes. As well as, they begin to discover there identify that they are. For example, secondary sexual organs begin to develop in the boys and girls, they will confuse about identify. The puberty is the cycle when children are out of control because they will transition to leave the children to enter adolescence. For instance, physical and behavioral changes will have some consequences if pre-adolescences do not deal well with them. Middle childhood is divided into two categories 6 to 8 and 9 to 12 years that reflects on children’s behavior (Nuru-Jeter et al., 2010). For instance, children learn to interact with other children, and how they will manage emotions and behaviors. Also, how they have to act with adults and children that totally different it. Also, the girl and boy have different physical and behavior changes for the gender difference. Middle childhood development makes for some factors that influence on physical changes, brain and nervous system, and social and emotional changes.
The Critique of Piaget's Theories Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was a constructivist theorist. He saw children as constructing their own world, playing an active part in their own development. Piaget’s insight opened up a new window into the inner working of the mind and as a result he carried out some remarkable studies on children that had a powerful influence on theories of child thought. This essay is going to explain the main features and principles of the Piagetian theory and then provide criticism against this theory. Cognitive development refers to way in which a person’s style of thinking changes with age.
Focusing on children’s development and developing a proper classroom and lesson plan well help you to properly prepare and help each student in your center. Throughout this paper we will summarize Piaget’s Stage Theory, identify and describe the developmental characteristics of the age group of 2-4 years old, design and describe the physical layout of facility or classroom that aligns with Piaget’s Stage Theory, and create an activity for each developmental domain.
The essay is going to introduce short overviews of Piaget (1926) and Vygotsky’s (1978) theories to indicate their different approaches when considering cognitive development. Piaget (1926) developed a constructivist theory which is the basis for the other cognitive development theories that followed. He proposed the definition of schema which refers to children’s construction of shaping their thought and actions through the set of cognitive processes as assimilation, disequilibriums and accommodation. When encountering new experiences, children try to interpret them in terms of known cognitive schemas. In case of failing, they need to adjust their interpretation to the reality (Schaffter & Kipp,8th ed). Based on his assumptions, Piaget (1926) proposed that child as a lone individual progress through four main stages of cognitive development. On the other hand, Vygotsky (1978) presented sociocultural theory. Vygotsky (1978) concentrated on the social interaction between child and adult considering
The second domain that describes children in middle childhood is cognitive development. Unlike physical characteristics, cognitive development emphasizes on mental development of children. Cognitive development consists of information processing and language (Santrock, 2008). In the aspect of information processing, developments of memory, thinking and metacognition are experienced by children in middle childhood (Santrock, 2008). According to Papalia et al. (2009), the efficiency of working memory of children during this stage improves substantially. This means that they are able to make calculation, organize information into groups, and repeat and reverse at 5 or more numbers that they heard. Besides, children in middle childhood are able to think critically, deeply, and think in different dimension of the task during middle and late childhood (Eccles, 1999). According to the concrete operational stage in Jean Piaget’s theory, operational thinking of children in middle childhood includes four aspects which are logic, decentration,