Linking theory with practical
Task (1200 words):
The Scenario below was chosen, and my response follows that draws on the following three themes:
· Cognitive development
· Moral development
· Social and emotional well-being
My response is in two parts. The first part describes the scenario in terms of the above three themes. The second part details what my response as a teacher would be as informed by the three themes above.
Scenario One:
Kyla is eight years old. She is often late for school, she is sleepy in class and often doesn’t seem to comprehend what is being said. She never finishes any class activities. Other students think that she is weird and say she has an ‘unusual’ look about her.
The Scenario below was chosen, and my response follows that draws on the following three themes:
· Cognitive development
· Moral development
· Social and emotional well-being
My response is in two parts. The first part describes the scenario in terms of the above three themes. The second part details what my response as a teacher would be as informed by the three themes above.
Scenario One:
Kyla is eight years old. She is often late for school, she is sleepy in class and often doesn’t seem to comprehend what is being said. She never finishes any class activities. Other students think that she is weird and say she has an ‘unusual’ look about her.
The Scenario
Eight years old is the first year of the seven year stage after 0-7 years, and a turning point in cognitive development. It is a time of school, where children are moving from more of an ‘imitate and learn’ scenario into becoming more independent in their thinking and acting.
Being late for school on a regular basis is a concern for any child at any year level, but at this young age it is difficult to place the blame on the student. There are most likely to be reasons in Kyla’s home life that are causing her to be late. Disorganisation, or family chaos, is commonly linked to economic disadvantage (Berk, 2013, pp.29).
Moral development involves children learning how to tell the difference between right and wrong; to use this knowledge to arrive at the appropriate decisions when faced with complicated choices; and to have the strength and independence to act in accordance with that right decision despite the fact that it may not be a convenient thing to do. Children’s interpersonal experiences with family, peers and other adults influence their moral development (Dombeck, 2004).
The fact that she is sleepy in class would indicate that she is not getting enough sleep, likely going to bed too late and struggling to get up on time in the morning. She may have no strong role models in her family that recognise the importance of routine and rhythm in life, including going to school every day. Children from low socioeconomic families are affected by their living conditions, no heating, no clean clothes or not enough clothes or no carer attention, not enough food or nutritious meals, feeling unsafe or insecure (Berk, 2013, pp.572).
Kyla is described as not seeming to comprehend what is being said in class. It would be important to find out whether it just ‘seems’ this way or whether or not this is what is happening. If Kyla is tired and unengaged in class she has quite likely tuned and not listening, so would not comprehend what is going on. Being unengaged with the class and not having either heard or understood the instructions for an activity would likely be the reason for her not completing class activities. A lack of concentration, being unable to remember what to do, being unorganised, lacking in motivation – these could all be behaviours modelled on the role models in her home life.
Inattentiveness, as noted in Kyla, is a characteristic that makes the child more challenging to raise and more likely to become a target of abuse (Berk, 2013, pp.599). Low income, low education, unemployment, alcohol and drug use, marital conflict, domestic violence, overcrowded living conditions, frequent moves, household disorganisation are common traits in abusive homes.
Vygotsky viewed human development as historically situated and culturally determined. The child develops by internalising the social interactions that they experience. Psychological function can only be explained by considering the role of social interaction, which has a fundamental influence on the child’s development of high mental functions (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2103).
The concept of being weird from the perspective on an eight year old may not necessarily agree with the clinical definition of being weird. If Kyla is unable to engage and participate she would feel left out and perhaps afraid of making friends with her classmates. She may keep to herself. This would often be enough for many eight year olds to label her as weird.
The systematic, ongoing education to enhance the social and emotional skills of children provides a firm foundation for their successful cognitive and behavioural development (Elias, Zins, Weissberg, Frey, Greenberg, Haynes, Kessler, Schwar-Stone & Shriver, 1997).
If Kyla comes from a low socio-economic background she may not be as well groomed as her classmates. Perhaps her hair is unwashed and not styled the way other girls in the class have theirs. She may have old or second hand uniforms that may or may not fit her properly. These things alone would be enough for many eight year olds to say that another child looked unusual.
Psychological consequences of child abuse and neglect range from chronic low self-esteem to severe dissociative sates. The cognitive effects of abuse range for attention problems and learning disorders to sever organic brain syndromes. Behaviourally, the consequences of abuse range from poor peer relations to extraordinarily violent behaviours (National Research Council, 1993).
Berk (2013, pp.572) asserts that children living in these poor conditions are at especially high risk of instances of family violence, child abuse, neglect and antisocial activity. When parents are already struggling under daily pressure from bills, debt, jobs, groceries, rent they are more likely to become stressed, depressed, irritable and distracted. This can lead to parenting harshness and inconsistency and an increase in hostile interactions and as a result the child’s well-being and development suffers (Berk, 2013, pp.581).
The challenge of raising knowledgeable, responsible, and caring children is recognised by nearly everyone. Few realise, however, that each element of this challenge can be enhanced by thoughtful, sustained, and systematic attention to children’s social and emotional learning. Some would say that promoting social and emotional development in children can be the piece missing from improving schooling (Elias et al., 1997).
The more Kyla’s classmates see her as weird or unusual, the less likely she is to get along with them and make friends. She is likely to have low self-confidence or even mild depression. If this is the situation and unless there is some sort of intervention, the cycle is likely to continue and spiral downwards.
Social and emotional competence is the ability to understand, manage and express oneself in ways that enable the successful management of life tasks including learning (Elias et al., 1997).
Social and emotional skills are essential for the successful development of thinking and learning activities that are traditionally considered cognitive. What we may have previously considered pure “thinking” is now seen as phenomena in which the cognitive and emotional aspects work synergistically (Elias et al., 1997).
Parents’ behaviour, both with their partner and with their child, may go beyond failing to stimulate moral growth and actually undermine their development. Marital conflict, inter-spousal and parent-child abuse and inconsistent discipline are related to aggressive and antisocial behaviour in children and need to be directly addressed before there can be any reasonable expectation that children will exhibit more moral behaviour. For some families, attention to promoting moral development begins with changing destructive behaviour in the family (Berkowitz & Grych, 1998).
My Response
There are several levels to what my response as a teacher to a situation with a young student such as Kyla. I would talk to the student to see what she had to say. It is surprising what you can find out by taking the time to ask and lend a sympathetic ear to a child who may be getting none of this at home. I would do more listening than talking and use small prompts to get her talking. This would have to be done in a situation that would not embarrass Kyla or make her feel uncomfortable.
During class time I would do some informal testing to establish the level of comprehension and understanding that Kyla has. I would want to draw some conclusions as to the level of inattention, tiredness, and whether she was capable of understanding but just tuned out.
I would tell some stories and have some class discussions around image and the notion that it is what is inside people and their personalities and hearts that are what we should be concentrating on and not what people look like. Children of eight years old are at a perfect stage of life to benefit from this type of learning. I would also introduce several games that would promote participation, acceptance and inclusion by everyone.
Having conversations with Kyla’s parents or guardians is something to be taken carefully and slowly. It is important to build up a relationship and a level of trust with carers, but if the home situation involves little support for a young child due to bad relationships, violence, lack of education, lack of money, unemployment or other factors, one must tread carefully. Unless there is a situation of mandatory reporting, the teacher should spend much of their time and energy on building a safe, trusting and supportive environment for the student at school, rather than trying to intervene with a home situation. This serves to make the child want to come to school and to do the best they can when they are there because it is their safe place.
Eight years old is the first year of the seven year stage after 0-7 years, and a turning point in cognitive development. It is a time of school, where children are moving from more of an ‘imitate and learn’ scenario into becoming more independent in their thinking and acting.
Being late for school on a regular basis is a concern for any child at any year level, but at this young age it is difficult to place the blame on the student. There are most likely to be reasons in Kyla’s home life that are causing her to be late. Disorganisation, or family chaos, is commonly linked to economic disadvantage (Berk, 2013, pp.29).
Moral development involves children learning how to tell the difference between right and wrong; to use this knowledge to arrive at the appropriate decisions when faced with complicated choices; and to have the strength and independence to act in accordance with that right decision despite the fact that it may not be a convenient thing to do. Children’s interpersonal experiences with family, peers and other adults influence their moral development (Dombeck, 2004).
The fact that she is sleepy in class would indicate that she is not getting enough sleep, likely going to bed too late and struggling to get up on time in the morning. She may have no strong role models in her family that recognise the importance of routine and rhythm in life, including going to school every day. Children from low socioeconomic families are affected by their living conditions, no heating, no clean clothes or not enough clothes or no carer attention, not enough food or nutritious meals, feeling unsafe or insecure (Berk, 2013, pp.572).
Kyla is described as not seeming to comprehend what is being said in class. It would be important to find out whether it just ‘seems’ this way or whether or not this is what is happening. If Kyla is tired and unengaged in class she has quite likely tuned and not listening, so would not comprehend what is going on. Being unengaged with the class and not having either heard or understood the instructions for an activity would likely be the reason for her not completing class activities. A lack of concentration, being unable to remember what to do, being unorganised, lacking in motivation – these could all be behaviours modelled on the role models in her home life.
Inattentiveness, as noted in Kyla, is a characteristic that makes the child more challenging to raise and more likely to become a target of abuse (Berk, 2013, pp.599). Low income, low education, unemployment, alcohol and drug use, marital conflict, domestic violence, overcrowded living conditions, frequent moves, household disorganisation are common traits in abusive homes.
Vygotsky viewed human development as historically situated and culturally determined. The child develops by internalising the social interactions that they experience. Psychological function can only be explained by considering the role of social interaction, which has a fundamental influence on the child’s development of high mental functions (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2103).
The concept of being weird from the perspective on an eight year old may not necessarily agree with the clinical definition of being weird. If Kyla is unable to engage and participate she would feel left out and perhaps afraid of making friends with her classmates. She may keep to herself. This would often be enough for many eight year olds to label her as weird.
The systematic, ongoing education to enhance the social and emotional skills of children provides a firm foundation for their successful cognitive and behavioural development (Elias, Zins, Weissberg, Frey, Greenberg, Haynes, Kessler, Schwar-Stone & Shriver, 1997).
If Kyla comes from a low socio-economic background she may not be as well groomed as her classmates. Perhaps her hair is unwashed and not styled the way other girls in the class have theirs. She may have old or second hand uniforms that may or may not fit her properly. These things alone would be enough for many eight year olds to say that another child looked unusual.
Psychological consequences of child abuse and neglect range from chronic low self-esteem to severe dissociative sates. The cognitive effects of abuse range for attention problems and learning disorders to sever organic brain syndromes. Behaviourally, the consequences of abuse range from poor peer relations to extraordinarily violent behaviours (National Research Council, 1993).
Berk (2013, pp.572) asserts that children living in these poor conditions are at especially high risk of instances of family violence, child abuse, neglect and antisocial activity. When parents are already struggling under daily pressure from bills, debt, jobs, groceries, rent they are more likely to become stressed, depressed, irritable and distracted. This can lead to parenting harshness and inconsistency and an increase in hostile interactions and as a result the child’s well-being and development suffers (Berk, 2013, pp.581).
The challenge of raising knowledgeable, responsible, and caring children is recognised by nearly everyone. Few realise, however, that each element of this challenge can be enhanced by thoughtful, sustained, and systematic attention to children’s social and emotional learning. Some would say that promoting social and emotional development in children can be the piece missing from improving schooling (Elias et al., 1997).
The more Kyla’s classmates see her as weird or unusual, the less likely she is to get along with them and make friends. She is likely to have low self-confidence or even mild depression. If this is the situation and unless there is some sort of intervention, the cycle is likely to continue and spiral downwards.
Social and emotional competence is the ability to understand, manage and express oneself in ways that enable the successful management of life tasks including learning (Elias et al., 1997).
Social and emotional skills are essential for the successful development of thinking and learning activities that are traditionally considered cognitive. What we may have previously considered pure “thinking” is now seen as phenomena in which the cognitive and emotional aspects work synergistically (Elias et al., 1997).
Parents’ behaviour, both with their partner and with their child, may go beyond failing to stimulate moral growth and actually undermine their development. Marital conflict, inter-spousal and parent-child abuse and inconsistent discipline are related to aggressive and antisocial behaviour in children and need to be directly addressed before there can be any reasonable expectation that children will exhibit more moral behaviour. For some families, attention to promoting moral development begins with changing destructive behaviour in the family (Berkowitz & Grych, 1998).
My Response
There are several levels to what my response as a teacher to a situation with a young student such as Kyla. I would talk to the student to see what she had to say. It is surprising what you can find out by taking the time to ask and lend a sympathetic ear to a child who may be getting none of this at home. I would do more listening than talking and use small prompts to get her talking. This would have to be done in a situation that would not embarrass Kyla or make her feel uncomfortable.
During class time I would do some informal testing to establish the level of comprehension and understanding that Kyla has. I would want to draw some conclusions as to the level of inattention, tiredness, and whether she was capable of understanding but just tuned out.
I would tell some stories and have some class discussions around image and the notion that it is what is inside people and their personalities and hearts that are what we should be concentrating on and not what people look like. Children of eight years old are at a perfect stage of life to benefit from this type of learning. I would also introduce several games that would promote participation, acceptance and inclusion by everyone.
Having conversations with Kyla’s parents or guardians is something to be taken carefully and slowly. It is important to build up a relationship and a level of trust with carers, but if the home situation involves little support for a young child due to bad relationships, violence, lack of education, lack of money, unemployment or other factors, one must tread carefully. Unless there is a situation of mandatory reporting, the teacher should spend much of their time and energy on building a safe, trusting and supportive environment for the student at school, rather than trying to intervene with a home situation. This serves to make the child want to come to school and to do the best they can when they are there because it is their safe place.