Childhood Development Theories - Essay Example

Analyze Childhood Development Theories Introduction Child development is the enhancement of the physical, social and psychological growth of an individual from birth to their adulthood. The optimal enhancement of children is important for the progress of society. Therefore, social, emotional, cognitive and educational growth of the children is an important aspect. Child development theory evaluates about the nature of growth and learning, heredity and environment responsibility and supportive behavior of adults, other children, communities along with schools. In this study five prominent child development theories are taken into account to elaborate the different stages of a child development from birth to the adulthood. The theories elaborated are maturationist theory, psychoanalytical, behaviorist theory, cognitive development theory and socio-cultural theory (Armstrong, 2014). Identification of Child Development Theories Maturationist Theory Maturationist Theory reveals about the maturity and influence of the environment on the individual from the stage of birth to its adulthood. This shows that as a child grows and matures they reveal their character, personality and behavior as per the influence of the environment. It is crucial for parents to build and execute plans towards their child development at particular age levels. It is evident that learning is every evolving process and as per the maturationist theory every child learns from their environment in a slow and steady manner. This theory explains about the regular learning that a child gets on a continuous basis from the environment (Department of Community Services, 2002; The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc, n.d.). Behaviorist Theory Behaviorist Theory is about the variant in behavior and abilities at specific levels from childhood to adulthood with the changing environment. Positive strengthening in the learning and development helps to shape the performance and capabilities of children. Child development can be done by expressing a kind behavior and appreciation towards them through rewards and gifts to make them feel happy and valued. The change in behavior in a child occurs due to standard of living and culture of the society, where the child lives. The level of wealth and status of parents affects the child behavior to a considerable extent. In this regard, poor children generally get obstruct due to this level and show variant behavioral attitudes towards their parents. However, with strong development of learning and guidance the change in behavior is observed to a great extent (Department of Community Services, 2002; The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc, n.d.). Psychoanalytical Theory Psychoanalytical Theory explains that personality development is a process which consistently enhances from the birth of a child to their parenthood. The personality development depends upon interaction with variant characteristics people and also through supportive behavior of the environment. According to psychoanalytical theory there also rises conflict behavior among children up to the age of 6 years. This behavior arises due to lack of faith and mistrust in their parents as the need of children is sometimes not fulfilled. Furthermore, conflict behavior is witnessed amid children due to strictness and restrictions by the parents regarding various aspects. This affects the behavior and learning process of every child Children who are abused in their early childhood are unable to build the trust in the later periods of emotional development because of the hardship faced (Department of Community Services, 2002; The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc, n.d.). Cognitive Development Theory Cognitive Development theory is about the growth and development of an individual with respect to perspective. The theory emphasizes on the mental growth, which is an essential factor in child development. An individual leads to progress through four phases of cognitive development. According to the Piagets theory of cognitive development, sensorimotor implies to the initial stage of infants age between 0 to 2 years. The stage of sensorimotor implies that child is gaining knowledge through sight, touch, taste, sound and smell. The second stage is the Preoperational, which defines the child age between 2 to 7 years. The preoperational stage child learns to talk and take measures to play and develop thoughts, which are not critical. The guardians need to focus towards their children thoughts by listening carefully to their words and understanding. They should assist them with constructive ideas and knowledge to solve the problems. Whereas, Concrete operational means age from 7 to 11 age years. In this stage logical thinking generates about concrete events but they faced difficulties in hypothetical concepts. Formal operational is the stage, which lies between 11 years to parenthood. In this stage, various skills are emerged such as logical thought, systematic planning and deductive reasoning (Department of Community Services, 2002; The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc, n.d.). Socio-cultural Theory Socio-cultural theory describes about cultural effect on the behavior and development of children. The social interaction, language and society play a major function in the growth and development of child. The child also needs to be active, constructive and independent regarding their thought and cultural aspect. For the development of child parents must deliver energetic involvement towards child by asking questions and providing hints to solve the problems. This will help in their development to a large extent. Children can build up their knowledge through proper communication in affluent languages and peer interactions with people in society (Department of Community Services, 2002; The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc, n.d.). Critical Concepts And Strategies For Child Development Theories Maturationist Theory Maturationist theory reveals that after the birth of a child, the behavior and capabilities of the child starts developing as they moves towards the level of maturity. Parents and teachers are usually aware of the fact that characteristics of some children varies from others in relation to their heredity birth. Children must always be encouraged and appreciated in their work by their parents for their development. This will help them to deliver better performance in their behavior and capabilities in future. Teachers must build adaptive classrooms for the infant children to increase their effectiveness and wellbeing in the changing environment (Cook & Cook, 2005; Asiaeuniversity, n.d.). Behaviorist Theory Behaviorist theory describes about the change in behavior and abilities from birth to adulthood according to the change in the environment. It can be strategized that teachers and guardians must provide rewards, modeling and show kind behavior towards children, so that they develop the same. Moreover, this behavior will provide positive support to inherit the knowledge and capabilities towards the development of child. Teachers and parents need to behave nicely if they expect the same behavior from the children. Children learn from their surrounding and a positive behavior by the surrounding people will help in the developing the same behavior (Cook & Cook, 2005; Asiaeuniversity, n.d.). Psychoanalytical Theory Psychoanalytical theory depicts about the development of individual through interaction with various range of people and the surrounding environment. The psychological behavior of an individual changes to conflicts and quarrels due to unsatisfying desire and demands. In this regard, teachers and guardians should be well acquainted and responsive towards the needs of the children specially the infants and toddlers who require more trust and faith from their parents. Teachers and parents also need to encourage children to be self-dependent to gain success in this competitive world. They will allow self expression and exploration and create the need to avoid restrictions and punishment towards children (Cook & Cook, 2005; Asiaeuniversity, n.d.). Cognitive Development Theory Cognitive Development theory explains about procedural growth of a child to adulthood. In this regard, the strategy is that teachers and guardians should share experiences, generate questions and build challenges, which helps in creating a better understanding and ability to resolve problems. They must also give some hints to questions, which are above the ability of the children to enhance their power of thinking and understanding the problems (Cook & Cook, 2005; Asiaeuniversity, n.d.). Socio-cultural Theory Socio-cultural theory describes about the cultural effect on the behavior and development of children. Teachers should organize various cultural programs and activities in their schools for the development of children. They encourage children to participate in these programs. This will enhance knowledge and ideas about the tradition and culture of various languages amid them. This will also help to generate fluency in various languages through interaction with different culture people among children. Parents must also encourage and support them by attending their programs, which would help to build confidence and positive behavior within their children. Children will be able to learn more about equality and understand the importance of diversity, from the surrounding environment (Cook & Cook, 2005; Asiaeuniversity, n.d.). Childhood Theories Apply To The Classroom Setting The various childhood theories play a vital role in classroom setting. Different theories are applied in diverse learning aspects of classrooms. Behavioral theories are perfect examples for some type of learning. A better learning process is through information acquisition, enhancement in mental and physical skills and also enrichment of behaviors. The focus of the classroom learning is towards performing behavioral actions rather than structuring and understanding about learning. Activities of classroom are traditional, where teacher guides every child. They dictate and provide the material needed for learning. Different classrooms are segregated for different philosophical perspectives. The students who gain knowledge and idea from social environment should lead in the groups. The theories of learning signify the level of learning of the children classrooms (Austin et al., 2001). Conclusion The above study clearly reveals about various childhood development theories implemented in the growth and development of an individual from birth to parenthood. The theories are maturationist, behaviorist, psychoanalytical, cognitive development and socio-cultural theory for the proper development of children. It also describes about the concepts and strategies required to be implemented towards the child growth and development. It also describes about the application of childhood theories in operating the classroom sessions by the teachers in schools. Hence, it may be concluded that if parents and teachers follow these child development theories while dealing with their children, then it would lead to a positive growth and development. References Armstrong, K.H. (2014). Early childhood development theories. Evidence-Based Interventions For Children With Challenging Behavior, 21-28. Asiaeuniversity. (n.d.). Learning theories - cognitive 5learning theories. Chapter 5, 104-141. Austin, K., Orcutt, S., & Rosso, J. (2001). How people learn: Introduction to learning theories. Episode #1 Introduction Chapter, 1-22. Cook, J.L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development. Principles & Perspectives, 5-37. Department of Community Services. (2002). A basic introduction to child development theories. Developmental Perspectives, 1-16. The Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. (n.d.). Child development principles and theories. Child Development, 68-87. Read More