Developmental Level of a Little Three-Year-Old Girl - Research Paper Example

Developmental Level of a Little Three-Year-Old Girl Cover Page: Good day! I am here to present my observations on a little three year old girl named Trish. Slide 2: I observed Trish in a playgroup class in a daycare centre in London and was instantly drawn to her not only because she is so cute and smart, but she stood out from among her peers because like me, she is also a foreigner. Slide 3: The theory I chose to use in analyzing my observations of Trish is Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development. The initial stage is the Sensorimotor Stage of babies and toddlers. The task of this period is to develop the concept of object permanence, the idea that objects exist even when they cannot be seen or heard. (Brewer, 2001). The Preoperational Period (two to seven years) marks the time when a child becomes able to represent objects and knowledge through imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental images and spoken language. The ages of seven to eleven or twelve years falls under the Concrete Operational Period. Children at this age begin to think more operationally. They have moved on from being egocentric and consider that others may come to conclusions that differ from theirs. Slide 4: It is interesting that the theorist that kept on critiquing Piaget’s theories is also a prominent scholar in the field of human development. Lev Vygotsky was actually impressed with Piaget’s theories and so he kept challenging him while also developing his own theoretical framework that later on complemented Piaget’s. Slide 5: The combined forces of Piaget and Vygotsky proved to be a strong alliance that benefited the field of Education. Teachers today refer to their theories in planning developmentally-appropriate programs for their students. Slide 6: Trish’s behaviours and skills reflect her developmental level. Her cognitive stage is Pre-operational. Slide 7: In Trish’s imaginative play with toys, her schemas were active in her mind. Piaget defined a schema as 'a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning'. This means, while playing, she imagined the schemas and expressed it in her play. While she was being read to, she was building her schemas of the story-reading experience. Slide 8: Trish’s pretend play with Bernice involved assimilation as she pretended to hand a ticket to Bernice even when there was nothing. This was her way of expressing her understanding of what a ticket is for based from her previous experiences. In her discovery of new colours, Trish accommodated the change of the colour yellow when she dipped her brush in it but realized it has changed colours. She had an idea that the yellow was still there but may be hiding from the mixed colours. Slide 9: Piaget’s theories have earned the respect of educators especially because he took pains in thoroughly studying children’s thinking processes. Slide 10: Piaget kept emphasizing the importance of experiential learning. Children need to have a variety of meaningful and relevant hands-on learning experiences. Slide 11: Piaget respected children so much that he advocated that they are capable of constructing their own learning processes if they are allowed to actively explore and discover whatever interests them. Slide 12: With regards to my own reflection, Schon’s reflective framework was very useful for me in understanding the process of my own learning while observing Trish. Slide 13: The Tavistock Model of observation was very effective for me when I observed Trish with my full attention. Slide 14: My being a mother of young children helped me in my own reflections on observing Trish. Slide 15: At the same time, I am able to use my knowledge in evaluating Trish better and in a more objective manner Slide 16: Like any other child, Trish was very curious and may see differences in things and people, but she is also quick to dismiss it, showing that she is free from any judgment against anyone. Slide 17: Here’s what I learned from the observation exercises that I can apply to social work practice. Slide 18: Observing while noting all the details can be exhausting but really worth it in the end. Slide 19: This exercise is effective in making me a better reflective practitioner which is essential to social work practice. Read More