Early Childhood Issues - Literature review Example

Critical Analysis of Early Childhood issues Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 29, 11, 2010 Introduction Early childhood is a critical development stage of a human being that needs proper support and guidance. Early childhood has been treated differently by several cultures and this has resulted in social construction of childhood which is critical to our beliefs on children. The different treatments to children at different ages and the interaction between children themselves and the community are also issues of early childhood that affect the behaviour and outlook of a child. This report analyses the construction of childhood, transition from childhood and the interaction with the families and community as critical issues of childhood. This analysis will also assess and give the impact of these issues on the conduct of early childhood professional and experts. Construction of childhood According to Benson & Haith (2009) construction of childhood is beliefs of what it entails childhood as perceived by different communities. In essence, it entails rules and regulations on childhood, cultural perceptions on childhood and the childhood age brackets and finally values placed on a child. Construction of childhood is therefore a societal view of rights and concepts around childhood. More so, it is a creation of the regulations and values of a community and it therefore varies from one society to another. Culture is one of the influential constructions of childhood; it affects the whole aspects of children upbringing, from feeding, treatment, parental responsibilities and peer interactions amongst children. Different cultures will have different construction of childhood ranging from the general perception that a child is innocent, others perceive children as a threat and others as an embryo adult (Robinson & Fitzgerald 2002). The perception of a child as innocent ignites a construction of childhood as a stage of weakness and disability. This denies children the opportunity to express themselves with authority especially where their rights are involved. As stated by Rodger and Ziviani (2006) children in a society under this construction will not even be allowed the opportunity to question moral injustices on them and even comment of community issues, consequently establishing power differentials between adults and children. The second construction of childhood is based on the child as threat to the society as upheld by different schooling rituals and even community values. Children are perceived as non-conformist to societal rules and regulations hence they need to have uniforms, time in and time out sessions and rewarding schemes for conformity. This social construction of children also denies the child the right to grow in a natural way as they need to conform to rules in order to be rewarded. Adults under this construction are given powers and responsibilities of maintaining order using different reward schemes (Thomas 2005). The social construction of childhood based on the perception of a child as an adult embryo is mainly used on national policy documents accepting that the difference between childhood and adulthood is just time. The perception promotes capacity development in children as important national resources and also allows children to enjoy natural growth with teacher and adults playing a facilitating role in their growth. The understanding of different constructions of childhood will assist early childhood professionals to appreciate children based on the social background. They will also be capable of developing policies that will uphold constructions that will ensure holistic upbringing of a child while enhancing their rights. Early childhood professions from their speeches and general conduct will be able to imply a construction that will be widely accepted by the society at the same time impacting relevant skills and lessons to children. Readiness and transition Transition from early year’s services to schools by children can be a challenging phase in life. As stated by Steinberg and Kincheloe (2011) this is one of the issues in early childhood that requires the attention of early year carers, teachers and families. The nature of transition may affect the children’s attitude towards learning, competencies, behaviours and even the overall comfort at school. It is therefore imperative that the transition to school is well managed so as ignite the right impressions and attitude of chid towards school. Learning excellence, harmonious schooling and strong stakeholder relationships will be enhanced in a balanced transition. Challenges in the transition that requires concerted efforts by teachers, families and educational officers are transition discontinuities. These are major differences mainly in the teaching strategy and curricula in early year services and the school. Other discontinuities include; changes in peer group, physical environment, numbers, gender and relationship between children and adults. These discontinuities shall always be inherent in any transition; it should therefore be managed to avoid its consequences being an impediment to education process. Readiness for the transition is an element that should be enhanced through inbuilt transition activities into early year’s services and school curricula. Stakeholders’ collaborations and exchange of information will enhance their relationships and ease the transition (Damon & Lerner 2006). Early childhood professionals require in-depth understanding of the readiness and transition challenges and issues so that they can provide an environment where a child’s transition is enhanced by provision of necessary antidotes to different discontinuities. The professional being the policy makers will also be able to develop policies and regulations that will ease the transition for the children form early childhood services to schools and even to adulthood. Working with families and community Early childhood is an experience which shapes the life of an individual into the future. It is through the family that the child acquires the basic physical, emotional, social and spiritual orientation. The family being the first point of interaction in the early childhood is the first community of practice for the child where material; verbal and action artefacts are acquired. The family’s influence is great and forms the foundation for social integration in the society for the child (McCartney & Phillips 2006). It is therefore indispensable that the family provides the necessary environment for the child to develop the right artefacts. The community is a very large and segregated association in the society. The community of practise entails members that have a common behaving, clothing, attitudes, language and even perceptions on different issues. Community of practice affects early childhood development ranging from the family, early care services, and schools. These are areas where different knowledge orientations are transferred to a child consciously and unconsciously leading to identification and behaviour change. As explained by Bowden and Greenberg (2009) the family and community provide a socialisation environment for the child where moral and competency training are facilitated. The child through these institutions is enriched with different values and beliefs. Understanding the partnerships between early childhood, the family and community is an important aspect that contributes to the social construction of early childhood and socialisation. By putting the right environment for constructive partnerships, family and the community will be imparting the required social and cultural artefacts to the child therefore joining them with ease. The professions understanding of this will be an important input to policy formulation process and training. Link amongst issues Early childhood being a social occurrence has a lot of dynamism hence requiring a wider view and understanding of different issues affecting it. The social construction of early childhood will form the basic perception of the family and community on the child. This means that the community of practise will be influencing children by creating an environment where they can constructively grow. Without relevant social construction of early childhood and positive contributions of the family and the community, transition of children from early year’s services to schools will be full of discontinuities (Rodger & Ziviani 2006). Transition therefore requires the effort of a community of practice with a similar perception regarding education and encompassing the teachers, parents and guidance. Conclusion This analysis has discussed some of the most imperative steps involved in the development and growth of a child during childhood stages. This discussion focused mainly on the construction of childhood, transition from childhood and interaction with the family and the community as some of the childhood issues. Experts and professional contribution to these childhood issues are considered because of their role in policy formulation and contribution that will be able to help child development to adulthood. References Benson, JB & Haith, MM 2009, Language, Memory, and Cognition in Infancy and Early Childhood, Academic Press, Cambridge. Bowden, VR & Greenberg, CS 2009, Children and Their Families: The Continuum of Care, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Boston. Damon, W & Lerner, RM 2006, Handbook of Child Psychology: Theoretical models of human development, John Wiley and Sons, Thousand Oaks, CA. McCartney, K & Phillips, D 2006, Blackwell handbook of early childhood development, Wiley-Blackwell, Thousand Oaks. Robinson, JL & Fitzgerald, HE 2002, Early Head Start: Contemporary perspective and promise, Infant Mental Health Journal, vol. 23, no. 12. Pp. 250-257. Rodger, S & Ziviani, J 2006, Occupational therapy with children: understanding children's occupations and enabling participation, Wiley-Blackwell, Canberra. Steinberg, SR & Kincheloe, JL 2011, Kinder culture: The Corporate Construction of Childhood, Westview Press, Sydney. Thomas, RM 2005, Comparing theories of child development, Thomson/Wadsworth, Thousand Oaks, CA. Read More