Child Development Reflection

Piaget asserts, children are born with inherited scripts, called schema, these schema are building blocks for cognitive development. As a child grows, he acquires more of these building blocks; moreover, these building blocks become more complex as the child progresses through different stages in development (Huitt, Hummel 2003). Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development are as follows. First, The sensorimotor stage where an infant has rudimentary motor skills, and can eventually

This assignment is in two parts. The first part of this assignment would attempt to use the theories of human development to explain the child behaviours observed during child observation at the preschool while the second part of this assignment would propose an intervention on a scenario at my practice placement. I would demonstrate my critical understanding of the theories and evaluate their relevance for evidence-informed and value-based practice. I would conclude by articulating my critical appreciation of the use of theory to inform professional social work practice based on my experience from the child observation and my placement experience. The notes taken from the child observations and a chosen case from my placement,

Several themes are demonstrated in the course of lifespan development. Although each child develops individually, common themes can be seen throughout the development. The following are explanations of four universal themes of human development, including the continuity-discontinuity issue, nature versus nurture, the active-passive issue, and the development across domains issue, and how my personal experiences relate to the understanding of each theme.

The famous Swiss developmental psychologist, Jean Piaget in his theory also become our main source of theory to study about child development and changed the way we think about how children develop. His theory was important because he saw children as an active participants in their own learning. Between the four stages that have been stated in this Piaget theory, it is important to know which are the main stage that playing a crucial role because from there we know which one is shaping the most of development of a child.

During this developmental interview, I chose to conduct an observation/interview study with my one of my cousin’s child. This child is a 4 year old girl and will be identified as “child K” in relation to her first name. Her parents had no problem letting me interview her, but I had them stay in the same room as us. The purpose of this interview was to observe the child’s physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. I observed her behavior and gave her several tests to show how well she has progressed.

Piaget and Vygotsky provide their distinct differences in their theories; however they share many similarities. These two theorists expanded their beliefs in how they thought a child would progress throughout the years of growing. This brought many different opinions as well as some advantages to each of their theories. Some of the differences between the two theorists are derived from the theoretical experiences and language, culture, and education. Piaget and Vygotsky both shared a common knowledge from either having training or background as biologists. Also, they both had some interest in philosophy. Their views help enhance the similarities and differences providing in their theories.

Jean Piaget used observations of his own children to develop the four stages that we know he created today. Piaget developed a stage theory of intellectual development that included four distinct stages: the sensorimotor stage, from birth to age 2; the preoperational stage, from age 2 to about age 7; the concrete operational stage, from age 7 to 11; and the formal operational stage, which begins in adolescence and spans into adulthood. He believed that there were four necessary ingredients for cognitive development which included: “maturation of the nervous system, experiences gained through interaction with physical world, social environment, and child’s active participation in adapting to environment & constructing knowledge from experience.” (Sullivan, 2014, Slide 3)

Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian born American, he was born on 29 April 1917 and died on 25 September 2005. Urie was a developmental psychologist and was very well known for his ecological systems theory on child’s development. This theory basically states that there are different levels that influence a child’s development. Each level of this system has its own advantages and disadvantages and each level is of the same importance as the other.

The environment where a child is been raised plays a huge role on its psychological development. There are a lot of environmental influences that might affect their overall development and behavior. These influences might come from a prenatal environment, physical environment, social environment, cultural environment, learning environment, economic environment, emotional environment and family environment. All these environments are important for the success and for the happiness throughout their lifecourse. According to the World Health Organization, the first 8 years of life will affect a child’s health, education and economic participation for the rest of its life.

What are socio-economic factors? According to Chase (n.d.) “Socioeconomic factors are the social and economic experiences and realities that help mold one 's personality, attitudes, and lifestyle.” The environment in which we live can shape a child’s growth. For instance, Genie’s story provides a great example of how the environment impacts physical and mental growth in children. “Genie 's case was one of the first to put the critical period theory to the test” (Genie: The Story of the Wild Child, 2015). This essay will analyze Genie’s circumstances and identify the socio-economical factors that impact physical and motor development.

One of the most well known theories in cognitive development is Piaget 's theory. The psychologist Jean Piaget theorized that as children 's minds development, they pass through distinct stages marked by transitions in understanding followed by stability. Piaget describes four different stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operation, and formal operations. Each stage describes the thinking patterns of a child depending on his or her age. In order to compare the thinking processes of a three-year old and a nine-year old using Piaget 's theory, you must compare two sequential stages of cognitive development: preoperational and concrete operations.

It stresses on learning through thinking. It studies how people treat, organize, and transform information to affect their behavior. The most representative theorist of cognitive theory is Jean Piaget (1896-1980). He was born in Switzerland, and he has three children. It is impressive that most of his research is based on observation and studying of his own children. Cognitive development stages are the central part of Piaget’s theory, which demonstrate the development stages of children’s ability to think from infancy to adolescence, how to gain knowledge, self-awareness, awareness of the others and the environment. These stages are respectively relative to 4 ranges of age. It consists of characteristics of each stage and phenomena of each. The first stage between birth to 2 years old, children learn the external through senses and action, instinctively. They sense object permanently and they usually show anxiety to strangers. The second stage is between age of 2 to 6 years old, children form ideas with words and images, which is tend to be over generalizing. Developmental phenomena of this stage include pretending play, egocentrism and language development. And then the third stage from 7 to 11 years old, children think logically about concrete events and understand similar events. In this period, abilities of conversation and mathematical transformation get to be developed. Last stage, 12

Jean Piaget, known for his interest in the Epistemology in children is seen as the pioneer of Developmental Psychology. Piaget 's Cognitive development theory led to a great deal of research work in the field of educational philosophy . But in the discipline of Psychology, every theory has been faced with a counter theory or an alternative. So is the case with Piaget 's theory. Lev Vygotsky, a soviet psychologist came up with the socio-cultural theory, which is another strong theory emphasizing child development and is seen as a major counter theory to Piaget 's work (Saul McLeod, 2004). Theories of these two cognitive psychologists have been compared and contrasted on different levels. This essay will look into the differences and similarities between their theories.

The 1800’s marked the foundation of modern era studies of child development. Prior, children were viewed as inherently evil (original sin view) and at some point as “a blank blanket” that inherits characteristics through child experiences (tabula rasa view) (Santrock, 2011). Comprehending child development is a pivotal aspect of Child and Youth Development (CYD). With an understanding of child development, Child and Youth Care (CYC) workers can improve their approaches to children. For the purpose of this essay, a child developmental theory will be referred to as an approach and development will be defined as “the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the life span” (Santrock, 2011, pp.6). This essay

Having the right knowledge, skills and experience in understanding how children or young people develop are very important tools for early years practitioners. We must put to mind that each child born to this world is unique; they are born with different characters and their personalities and behaviours are formed and influenced by variety of factors. These factors may affect their ways of interacting to the environment and community or setting in which they live in.