The Important Child Skills and the Influencing Environments - Essay Example

Human Development and Learning Abstract In society, the children are the most cradled sector of society because they are fragile. Turning them to become good adults needs a lot of knowledge, special skills, patience, and love. Much less to say, it is the obligation of the adults to raise children properly so that when they grow up they either become good leaders of their country or of an organization or they simply become productive citizens who contribute positively in their own way to build-up their nation. Child development may be one of the complex, much researched frontiers in the fields of sociology, psychology, social work, among others. A child is a very fragile being who needs to be encapsulated with the basic physical, socio-emotional needs in order to attain a balanced and fine-tuned development. Each child has his or her won niche and uniqueness which sometimes are reconcilable with the others while others are not. This simply means that not all can be taught generally in the same way or manner for all kids. This paper is being written to explore, within limited boundaries, the social-emotional learning dimensions of a child as well as capture some lessons learned which might be further used in future research undertakings. The Important Child Skills and the Influencing Environments “Social-emotional learning is sometimes called ‘the missing piece’, because it represents a part of education that links academic knowledge with a specific set of skills important to success in schools, families, communities, workplaces and life in general. As recent world events have taught, there is a danger to each of us—locally and globally—when children grow up with knowledge but without social-emotional skills and a strong moral compass. Hence, a combination of academic and social-emotional learning is the true standard for effective education in the world today and for the foreseeable future. ” (“Why Is Social...” 2011) Among the many skills a child should learn, Dewar, G. identifies three (3) basic preschool social skills, namely: communication, empathy, emotional self-control (Dewar, 2009). Such social skills would relate or belong to the “Belongingness and Love” Needs of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. But Piaget’s adds the ability to reason or logic (Piaget). Verbal communication is important because a child needs to let others know what he needs, feels, wants, etc. “Empathy is usually not taught in school” (“27 Skills”...) But it is important to learn this skill in order to enable the child to understand what is suffering, and have a feel of other emotional impacts and to know how it is to “be in the shoes of others” (“27 skills”…). Some children deliberately often go into tantrums just to get what they want from the adults and some overdo this. For some reason or another, tantrums may also be a sign of a child’s unseen emotional need for catching adult’s attention. Letting the child go through “Emotional self- control” supervised training and exercises, is usually the key to temper, if not totally, resolving this child misbehavior. Finally, to exercise the child’s “ability to reason” would later establish a good foundation for child’s verbal self-defense, achieving excellent self-articulation as well as correlating things and actions. There are two environments that will determine the quality of social-emotional development of a child: the family (home) environment and school environments. It is rare nowadays to find all the requirements for a healthy family environment present in an actual family setting. Of the many conditions, “good communication” and the “spiritual-being” are deemed foremost factors in a healthy family environment. “Good family communication is a crucial factor in a family. It creates sense of belonging, determines the degree of togetherness, reduces frustration and avoids redundancy. Communication also includes the “listening” part of communication. Communication runs in both ways “sending and listening” (Lin, 1994). On the other hand, “Spiritual well-being aspect of the family lifestyle refers to a common shared faith which reassures mutual support. Religious families tend to be more patient, forgiving and broadly accepting each other. It not only provides value orientation but also provides life goals, mission and meaning. “Faith” promotes family members’ mutual dependency and cohesiveness” (Lin, 1994) as can be witnessed mostly in clannish Chinese families. An important element of a healthy family environment which when taken away would create chaos within the family and that would be the element of “Good Communication”. Once an avenue of communication is barred, the family would inevitably raise feelings of insecurities and other unpleasant scenarios are most likely to arise. For example if a functional role becomes unclear to the members in the family such as father leaving the family to work abroad; mother and eldest son take the role of the father in the family; if this remains unexplained to the minors , there will be instant confusion among them. This is where the eight (8) theories of Erik Erikson’s stages of crisis in social development must be studied and carefully applied like most likely results to no. 3 and no.4 Erikson’s Psychosocial stages find suitable match with variables represented in #3 and #4, respectively. (Refer to Attachment 1). Moving to the school or classroom environment, two foremost qualities of a classroom environment that contributes to the crucial development of the child’s skills and capabilities are: teacher competency skills and attitude as well as the overall physical environment of the classroom to include seats and sitting arrangement, educational tool facilities like visibility, lightning, library and internet facilities, among others. (“Classroom Quality…2000)”, “Teachers are important and make a difference. The quality of teaching is a crucial factor in promoting effective learning in schools. William Cosbie (1996) says what happens in the classroom determines the quality of a school. In other words, the teacher’s role goes well beyond information giving” (Ilukena, 1998). “It would seem evident that teacher behavior has an effect on student behavior. Knowledge and behavior of a teacher determine the motivation and responsiveness of a student in a teacher-student relationship.” (Ripple, n.d.) Teachers are very crucial in the mental development of a child. (Ripple, n.d.) Hence, if there are signs of incompetency on the student’s mentors, most likely this would be a good reason for inhibiting further advancement of a child’s skills and capabilities development. “This situation applies with Erikson’s theory grid (Kindly refer to Attachment 2) on “issues on schools and teachers” that creates crisis on individual’s “industry and inferiority” as pointed out by Erikson and as related, Erikson's elements of social order cover technological elements which levels off with Maslow’s “esteem” hierarchy of needs. ” (Erikson, n.d.) Conclusion Child’s social-emotional development is the “missing piece” in education because the elements required of this kind of development are not taught formally in school. These are acquired through experiential dimensions of a child’s activities like intermingling with peers, building relationships with acquaintances and family members and encountering simple daily manageable problems like toilet training, for example. However, it must be understood by adults that not all conditions demanded from them by the child can always be provided. Thus, it is important for the adults to explain to the child why that anticipated gap cannot be filled in by what is really expected by the child ( for example, the child expects the father to attend the grade school graduation when actually the father cannot because he works abroad). In this example, it must be explained to the child that why the gap cannot be filled in and that whatever substitute were made to fill in the gap must be fully accepted with no qualms. It is also proper to once in a while consult Erikson’s and Maslow’s theories or any other applicable sociologist’s theories for that matter, to better understand what goes on, become aware of the stages, processes, requirements and outcomes. It must be further emphasized that cognizant of these theories adults must always be alert in determining hidden signals manifested in child actions, instead of verbally communicated by disturbed children. Finally, learn from Erikson’s remarks: “The better that people come through each crisis, the better they will tend to deal with what lies ahead, but this is not to say that all is lost and never to be recovered if a person has had a negative experience during any particular crisis stage. Lessons can be revisited successfully when they recur, if we recognize and welcome them. Everyone can change and grow, no matter what has gone before. And as ever, understanding why we are like we are - gaining meaningful self-awareness - is always a useful and important step forward. Erikson's theory, along with many other concepts featured, is just one of the tools that help to enable this meaningful understanding and personal growth.” (Erikson, n.d.) “Beyond the clinical and counseling professions, Erikson's psychosocial theory should be taught to everyone … to greatly assist all people of all ages to understand the connections between life experiences and human behavior - and particularly how grown-ups can help rather than hinder children's development into rounded emotionally mature people.” (Erikson, n.d.) WORKS CITED Classroom Environment: Classroom Quality Standards  (2000). Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/facilities/classrm/standards.htm Dewar Gwen, Preschool Social Skills: A guide for the science-minded parent. (2009) Retrieved from http://www.parentingscience.com/preschool-social-skills.html Erikson, Erik. Erik Erikson's psychosocial crisis life cycle model - the eight stages of human development (Erikson and Maslow correlations?). n.d. Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/erik_erikson_psychosocial_theory.htm#erikson's_basic_virtues Ilukena, A. Qualities and Competencies of the Professional Teacher (July, 1998) PDF File. Retrieved from http://www.nied.edu.na/publications/journals/journal7/Journal%207%20Article%206.pdf Lin, Philis Lan. Characteristics of a Healthy Family. (1994) PDF file. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED377097.pdf Piaget, Jean. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development .(n.d.) Retrieved from http://telacommunications.com/nutshell/stages.htm Ripple, Richard E. Affective Factors Influence Classroom Learning ( n.d.) PDF File Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_196504_ripple.pdf Why Is Social Emotional Learning So Important? (2011), Retrieved from http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=16304&&PHPSESSID=6b79e853c4a67a2d9b4ae44b83a5b5d3 27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She’s Not Getting In School. n.d. ,Retrieved from http://zenhabits.net/27-skills-your-child-needs-to-know-that-shes-not-getting-in-school/ ATTACHMENT 1 Erikson's eight psychosocial stages  Psychosocial Crisis Stage Life Stage age range, other descriptions  1. Trust v Mistrust Infancy 0-1½ yrs, baby, birth to walking  2. Autonomy v Shame and Doubt Early Childhood 1-3 yrs, toddler, toilet training  3. Initiative v Guilt Play Age 3-6 yrs, pre-school, nursery  4. Industry v Inferiority School Age 5-12 yrs, early school  5. Identity v Role Confusion Adolescence 9-18 yrs, puberty, teens*  6. Intimacy v Isolation Young Adult 18-40, courting, early parenthood  7. Generativity v Stagnation Adulthood 30-65, middle age, parenting  8. Integrity v Despair Mature Age 50+, old age, grandparents Attachment 2 Erikson and Maslow’s Correlations and Perspectives life stage / relationships / issues Crisis virtue outcomes Erikson's 'related elements of social order' Maslow Hierarchy of Needs stage - primary correlation infant / mother / feeding and being comforted, teething, sleeping 1. Trust v Mistrust Hope & Drive 'cosmic order' biological & physiological toddler / parents / bodily functions, toilet training, muscular control, walking 2. Autonomy v Shame & Doubt Willpower & Self-Control 'law and order' Safety preschool / family / exploration and discovery, adventure and play 3. Initiative v Guilt Purpose & Direction 'ideal prototypes' belongingness & love schoolchild / school, teachers, friends, neighbourhood / achievement and accomplishment 4. Industry v Inferiority Competence & Method 'technological elements' Esteem adolescent / peers, groups, influences / resolving identity and direction, becoming a grown-up 5. Identity v Role Confusion Fidelity & Devotion 'ideological perspectives' Esteem young adult / lovers, friends, work connections / intimate relationships, work and social life 6. Intimacy v Isolation Love & Affiliation 'patterns of cooperation and competition' Esteem mid-adult / children, community / 'giving back', helping, contributing 7. Generativity v Stagnation Care & Production 'currents of education and training' self-actualisation late adult / society, the world, life / meaning and purpose, life achievements, acceptance  8. Integrity v Despair Wisdom & Renunciation 'wisdom' self-actualisation Source: http://www.businessballs.com/erik_erikson_psychosocial_theory.htm#erikson's_basic_virtues Read More