Module 4 - Learner Guide - Check

Learner Guide – Module 4
Facilitate and monitor the development of

babies, toddlers and young children
244484 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of babies, toddlers

and young children
Level 4 Credits 8
244480 Facilitate the holistic development of babies, toddlers and young children
Level 4 Credits 16
244475 Observe and report on child development

Level 4 Credits 6
242819 Motivate and Build a Team

Level 4 Credits 10
NPO 084-926
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Further Education and Training Certificate: Early Childhood Development Learner Guide – Module 4
TABLE OF CONTENT
TABLE OF CONTENT .................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgment............................................................................................................................ 16
Learner Support.............................................................................................................................. 16
Assessment ..................................................................................................................................... 17
Formative Assessment ................................................................................................................... 17
Summative Assessment.................................................................................................................. 17
Navigating the Learner Guide ........................................................................................................ 17
Note to learners ............................................................................................................................. 20
Learner’s class room rules .............................................................................................................. 21
Learner’s materials ......................................................................................................................... 21
Learning Map: .......................................................................................................................... 21
244484 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of babies, toddlers and
young children ......................................................................................................................... 22
Background Knowledge .................................................................................................................. 22
AC3 Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories .......................................................................... 22
Sigmund Freud......................................................................................................................................... 22
Erik Erikson .............................................................................................................................................. 23
Cognitive Child Development Theories ................................................................................................... 23
Behavioral Child Development Theories ................................................................................................. 23
Social Child Development Theories ......................................................................................................... 23
Final Thoughts ......................................................................................................................................... 24
Physical includes gross-motor and fine-motor development ........................................................ 24
Cognitive Development: .......................................................................................................................... 27
Social/Emotional Development: .............................................................................................................. 28
Language Linguistic Development: .......................................................................................................... 28
Gross Motor Development: ..................................................................................................................... 29
Growth in All Areas of Development:...................................................................................................... 29
Special Needs ................................................................................................................................. 29
Minuses and Pluses: ................................................................................................................................ 29
Different Concerns: ................................................................................................................................. 29
Medical Issues: ........................................................................................................................................ 30
Behavior Issues: ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Developmental Issues:............................................................................................................................. 30
Learning Issues: ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Mental Health Issues: .............................................................................................................................. 30
Common Concerns: ................................................................................................................................. 30
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SO1: Knowledge and understanding of ways of seeing the development of babies, toddlers and
young children ......................................................................................................................... 31
Social Development ........................................................................................................................ 31
Newborn to 1 month ............................................................................................................................... 31
6 to 9 months .......................................................................................................................................... 31
12 to 18 months ...................................................................................................................................... 31
18 to 24 months ...................................................................................................................................... 31
2 years ..................................................................................................................................................... 31
3 years ..................................................................................................................................................... 32
4 years ..................................................................................................................................................... 32
5 years ..................................................................................................................................................... 32
6 years ..................................................................................................................................................... 32
Activity: Work in pairs ............................................................................................................................. 32
AC1 Teaching and early childhood development .......................................................................... 33
Toddlers ................................................................................................................................................... 33
Physical development.............................................................................................................................. 33
Social and emotional development ......................................................................................................... 34
Intellectual development ........................................................................................................................ 35
Activities to try......................................................................................................................................... 35
The Well-Designed Classroom ................................................................................................................. 37
Private Spaces .......................................................................................................................................... 37
Lofts ......................................................................................................................................................... 38
Defined Space .......................................................................................................................................... 38
Space for Movement ............................................................................................................................... 38
Other Equipment ..................................................................................................................................... 39
Risers ....................................................................................................................................................... 39
Ubuntu and rights........................................................................................................................... 40
New enthusiasm for game playing .......................................................................................................... 40
Her individual style is developing ............................................................................................................ 40
Awareness of self..................................................................................................................................... 41
Pair Activity .............................................................................................................................................. 41
AC2.Different ways of seeing the development of young children are compared to highlight key
similarities and differences in the theories .................................................................................... 41
Muscles and Motor Skills ......................................................................................................................... 41
Physical development.............................................................................................................................. 41
Patterns of Physical Development .......................................................................................................... 42
Individual Activity: ................................................................................................................................... 43
How Children's Bodies Grow .......................................................................................................... 44
Directional Growth .................................................................................................................................. 44
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General to Specific Growth...................................................................................................................... 44

Differentiation and Integration in Growth .............................................................................................. 44
Variations in Growth................................................................................................................................ 44
Optimal Tendency in Growth .................................................................................................................. 45
Sequential Growth ................................................................................................................................... 45
Growth During Critical Periods ................................................................................................................ 45
Individual Activity .................................................................................................................................... 45
Types of Movement and Their Benefits for Children ..................................................................... 45
Locomotor Movement............................................................................................................................. 46
Nonlocomotor Movement....................................................................................................................... 46
Manipulative Movement ......................................................................................................................... 46
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development ..................................................................................... 46
Stages of Moral Development........................................................................................................ 46
"The Heinz Dilemma" .............................................................................................................................. 46
"Heinz Steals the Drug ............................................................................................................................. 46
Level 1. Preconventional Morality ........................................................................................................... 47
Level 2. Conventional Morality ................................................................................................................ 47
Level 3. Postconventional Morality ......................................................................................................... 47
Criticisms of Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development: ........................................................................ 48
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial crisis life cycle model - the eight stages of human development ................ 48
Erik Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development .............................................................. 49
Erikson's psychosocial theory - summary diagram ........................................................................ 49
Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory overview .................................................................................. 51
Erikson's Psychosocial Theory In More Detail ......................................................................................... 53
Freud's Psychosexual Stages - Overview ................................................................................................. 54
Erikson's eight psychosocial crisis stages ....................................................................................... 56
Erikson's eight psychosocial stages ......................................................................................................... 56
Erikson's psychosocial crisis stages - meanings and interpretations ............................................. 58
Erikson's basic psychosocial virtues or strengths (positive outcomes) ......................................... 63
Basic virtues and other strengths ............................................................................................................ 63
Erikson and Maslow correlations? ................................................................................................. 65
Erikson's Model - Maladaptations And Malignancies (Negative Outcomes) ................................. 66
Maladaptations and malignancies........................................................................................................... 66
Maladaptations and malignancies - examples and interpretations ........................................................ 67
Erikson’s terminology ..................................................................................................................... 68
In conclusion................................................................................................................................... 69
SO2 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of babies, toddlers and
young children within each domain of development. ................................................................ 70
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AC1.Stages in the development of children in each domain are described in line with existing
theories........................................................................................................................................... 70
Understanding Ages & Stages ................................................................................................................. 70
The Domains of Growth........................................................................................................................... 70
Applying Child Development Concepts ................................................................................................... 71
AC2: Factors that enable the development of children in each domain are identified in line with
relevant existing theories. .............................................................................................................. 71
Physical growth........................................................................................................................................ 72
Motor development ................................................................................................................................ 72
Cognitive/Intellectual development ........................................................................................................ 74
Social-emotional development ............................................................................................................... 74
Language.................................................................................................................................................. 75
Pair Activity .............................................................................................................................................. 77
AC3: Explanations of how gender, socio-economic background, age, environment and special
needs impact on the development of children in each domain are consistent with established
theories or literature and the principles of inclusion and anti-bias. ............................................. 77
Prenatal Development............................................................................................................................. 78
Infancy ..................................................................................................................................................... 78
Early Childhood........................................................................................................................................ 79
Middle Childhood .................................................................................................................................... 79
Adolescence............................................................................................................................................. 80
Socioeconomic Status .............................................................................................................................. 81
Beliefs, values and practices; inter-personal relationships; and relationships with the environment. .. 87
Nineteen propositions ............................................................................................................................. 88
Development of the personality.............................................................................................................. 89
The fully functioning person .................................................................................................................... 90
Incongruence ........................................................................................................................................... 90
Psychopathology...................................................................................................................................... 90
Individual Activity .................................................................................................................................... 91
AC5.Descriptions are provided to show how development within each domain is linked to and
affected by development in other domains................................................................................... 91
Theoretical perspective ........................................................................................................................... 91
History ..................................................................................................................................................... 92
Psychometric measurement of affect ..................................................................................................... 92
Non-conscious affect and perception ..................................................................................................... 92
Arousal ..................................................................................................................................................... 93
Affect and mood ...................................................................................................................................... 93
Social interaction ..................................................................................................................................... 94
Meanings in art ........................................................................................................................................ 95
Portfolio Activity ...................................................................................................................................... 95
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Group Activity .......................................................................................................................................... 96

Self Assessment ....................................................................................................................................... 96
244480 Facilitate the holistic development of babies, toddlers and young children ................... 97
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 97
Categories of play .................................................................................................................................... 98
Functions of play ..................................................................................................................................... 99
Age-related play .................................................................................................................................... 100
Common problems ................................................................................................................................ 100
Assessing child health through play ...................................................................................................... 101
Play in a medical setting ........................................................................................................................ 101
Therapeutic play .................................................................................................................................... 101
Parental concerns .................................................................................................................................. 102
Play for the sick child ............................................................................................................................. 102
Safety issues .......................................................................................................................................... 103
Indoor toys............................................................................................................................................. 103
When to call the doctor ......................................................................................................................... 103
Music, movement, dance ...................................................................................................................... 104
Song, rhymes, stories, language activities............................................................................................. 104
Respond warmly and quickly to a child's cues for support and attention ............................................ 104
Hold, touch and snuggle with your child ............................................................................................... 105
Beware of overstimulating your child ................................................................................................... 105
Create a safe environment and reduce your child's stress by removing any physical threats (i.e., unsafe
toys, abusive people, etc.). .................................................................................................................... 106
Opening the Windows of Learning - an Enriched Learning Environment.................................... 106
Provide an interesting variety of brain-building activities and experiences on a regular basis ............ 106
Give time each day to practice and encourage repetition of songs, stories and other experiences .... 107
Talk, laugh, sing, play peek-a-boo - children need to hear language .................................................... 107
Provide opportunities that challenge and stretch a child's abilities ..................................................... 108
Questions and Answers on Brain Development .................................................................................... 108
The brain of a child is a developing miracle. ......................................................................................... 110
Creative activities such as imitative play; drama, fantasy play. ............................................................ 110
Protect your Group ................................................................................................................................ 110
Categories of play .................................................................................................................................. 111
Functions of play ................................................................................................................................... 112
Age-related play .................................................................................................................................... 113
Common problems ....................................................................................................................... 113
Assessing child health through play ...................................................................................................... 113
Play in a medical setting ........................................................................................................................ 114
Therapeutic play .................................................................................................................................... 114
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Gross-motor play. ......................................................................................................................... 114

Gross-motor Skills in Early Childhood.................................................................................................... 114
Fine-motor Skills in Early Childhood ...................................................................................................... 115
Balance and Coordination Skills in Early Childhood .............................................................................. 116
Individual Activity: ................................................................................................................................. 116
Checklist A: Gross-motor Skills in Early Childhood....................................................................... 117
0 to 3 Months ........................................................................................................................................ 117
3 to 6 Months ........................................................................................................................................ 117
6 to 12 Months ...................................................................................................................................... 117
12 to 18 Months .................................................................................................................................... 117
18 to 24 Months .................................................................................................................................... 118
2 to 3 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 118
3 to 5 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 118
5 to 7 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 118
Checklist B: Fine-motor Skills in Early Childhood ......................................................................... 118
0 to 3 Months ........................................................................................................................................ 118
3 to 6 Months ........................................................................................................................................ 118
6 to 12 Months ...................................................................................................................................... 119
12 to 18 Months .................................................................................................................................... 119
18 to 24 Months .................................................................................................................................... 119
2 to 3 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 119
3 to 5 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 119
5 to 7 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 119
Checklist C: Balance and Coordination Skills in Early Childhood ................................................. 120
0 to 3 Months ........................................................................................................................................ 120
3 to 6 Months ........................................................................................................................................ 120
6 to 12 Months ...................................................................................................................................... 120
12 to 18 Months .................................................................................................................................... 120
18 to 24 Months .................................................................................................................................... 120
2 to 3 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 120
3 to 5 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 121
5 to 7 Years ............................................................................................................................................ 121
Enhancing Physical Growth and Development ............................................................................ 121
The M-O-V-E Formula for Physical Growth in Children ......................................................................... 121
Motivation ............................................................................................................................................. 121
Opportunity ........................................................................................................................................... 122
Variety ................................................................................................................................................... 122
Equipment, Encouragement and Enthusiasm ....................................................................................... 122
Holistic development of a child .................................................................................................... 122
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Holistic Approach................................................................................................................................... 122

We enable children to develop in five major categories: ..................................................................... 122
SO1 Facilitate development of babies, toddlers and/or young children ................................... 124
AC1.Facilitation uses developmentally appropriate activities that are fun, relevant and
meaningful to the life-world of the children. ............................................................................... 124
Characteristics of Constructivist Teaching ............................................................................................ 124
Examples of constructivist activities...................................................................................................... 124
Role of teachers ..................................................................................................................................... 124
Constructivist Learning Environments (CLEs) ........................................................................................ 125
Constructivist assessment ..................................................................................................................... 125
Constructivism for Adults ...................................................................................................................... 126
Specific approaches ............................................................................................................................... 128
AC2.The facilitation approach responds to cues provided by the children, while providing
structure and experiences for their own development. .............................................................. 128
Affective and cognitive processes--how traits relate to states ............................................................. 129
Life satisfaction, identity, and death ..................................................................................................... 130
Situational based differences and similarities ....................................................................................... 130
Trait by Situation Interactions ............................................................................................................... 130
Establishing objectives for communication ........................................................................................... 132
Intervention strategies .......................................................................................................................... 132
Augmented communication .................................................................................................................. 133
Speech ................................................................................................................................................... 134
Sign Language ........................................................................................................................................ 134
Communication Boards ......................................................................................................................... 134
Computers ............................................................................................................................................. 137
Facilitated Communication.................................................................................................................... 137
Word Cards ............................................................................................................................................ 137
Group Activity ........................................................................................................................................ 137
AC3.The facilitation approach is multi-cultural, avoids bias and is sensitive to the existing
knowledge, experiences and needs of the children. ................................................................... 138
Multicultural Education for Exceptional Children ................................................................................. 138
Purpose of multicultural education ....................................................................................................... 138
Textbooks and instructional materials .................................................................................................. 139
Making curriculum multicultural ........................................................................................................... 139
Attitudes and teaching styles ................................................................................................................ 140
Positive school climate .......................................................................................................................... 140
Pair activity ............................................................................................................................................ 140
AC4.The facilitation approach takes advantage of teachable moments. .................................... 141
The Working Systemically Approach in Action ...................................................................................... 141
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Phase I Scanning the System ................................................................................................................. 144

Phase II Analyzing the System ............................................................................................................... 144
Phase III Planning Action ....................................................................................................................... 144
Phase IV Taking Action and Monitoring Progress.................................................................................. 145
Phase V Assessing and Reflecting on Outcomes ................................................................................... 145
AC5.Children are managed in a manner that promotes development and is sensitive to the
needs of individual children. ........................................................................................................ 145
What Are The Main Goals Of Behavior Management? ......................................................................... 145
Developmental Stages Of Children's Social Development .................................................................... 146
What Is The Relationship Between Curriculum And Discipline? ........................................................... 148
Responding To Emotional Outbursts ..................................................................................................... 148
AC6.Communication is responsive and promotes development in general, and language
development in particular. Questioning techniques, where applicable, are open, positive and
responsive, promote child development and help to make learning explicit where appropriate.
...................................................................................................................................................... 149
Early brain development ....................................................................................................................... 149
Risk factors ............................................................................................................................................ 149
Interventions ......................................................................................................................................... 150
Economic impact ................................................................................................................................... 150
WHO response ....................................................................................................................................... 150
AC7.Verbal and non-verbal interactions value the children ........................................................ 152
Defining Nonverbal Communication ..................................................................................................... 152
Differences Between Verbal and Nonverbal Communication .............................................................. 153
Functions of Nonverbal Communication ............................................................................................... 156
AC9.Facilitation is carried out such that behaviour and life-skills are modelled in a
developmentally appropriate manner. ........................................................................................ 159
Five criteria for positive discipline ......................................................................................................... 159
AC10.Facilitation ensures the holistic development of children. ................................................ 160
Philosophical Framework ...................................................................................................................... 160
Ultimacy ................................................................................................................................................. 160
Sagacious Competence .......................................................................................................................... 160
Curriculum ............................................................................................................................................. 161
Tools/Teaching Strategies of Holistic Education ................................................................................... 161
Teacher’s Role ....................................................................................................................................... 162
Alternative Schools ................................................................................................................................ 162
AC11.Behaviour and conflict management is positive, sympathetic, constructive, supportive,
respectful and in line with current legislation. ............................................................................ 162
A model of the factors influencing a child's chice of conflict resolution strategies in family purchase
decision making ..................................................................................................................................... 163
Five-fold typology of conflict resolution stratgies ................................................................................. 164
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Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 169

Group Activity ........................................................................................................................................ 170
SO2 Reflect on own facilitation............................................................................................... 170
AC1.The reflection considers own facilitation approach in relation to the developmental aims.
...................................................................................................................................................... 170
Trouble Shooting for Facilitators .................................................................................................. 172
AC2.Feedback is obtained from a variety of relevant sources on the value and success of the
facilitation approach. Such sources include colleagues and parents. ......................................... 173
Principles of Effective Facilitation ......................................................................................................... 173
AC3The reflection reveals strengths and weaknesses of the way in which development is
facilitated. ..................................................................................................................................... 175
Attitude.................................................................................................................................................. 175
Communication ..................................................................................................................................... 176
AC4.The reflection. ....................................................................................................................... 180
Key Areas for Self-Awareness ................................................................................................................ 180
How Self-Awareness Makes You More Effective................................................................................... 181
Practicing This Management Skill .......................................................................................................... 182
In Summary ... ........................................................................................................................................ 183
AC5.Recommendations are provided to build on strengths and address identified weaknesses,
thereby helping to improve future facilitation. ........................................................................... 183
AC6.Findings and recommendations are recorded clearly to support future facilitation. .......... 185
The Teacher's Role................................................................................................................................. 185
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 186
Group Activity: ....................................................................................................................................... 186
Portfolio Activity: ................................................................................................................................... 186
Self-Assessment ..................................................................................................................................... 187
Module 3: 244475 Observe and report on child development ................................................. 188
SO1. Observe babies, toddlers and young children.................................................................. 188
No Interruptions ........................................................................................................................... 188
Use and Observe Body Language ................................................................................................. 188
Responding ................................................................................................................................... 188
AC1 Observations contribute towards assessment of individual development. ......................... 196
Types of observation ............................................................................................................................. 196
Using observations to plan for children’s needs ................................................................................... 197
Daily childminding plan ......................................................................................................................... 198
Behavior observation checklist (Kindergarten to grade 1) .................................................................... 199
AC2: Observations are carried out in a way that minimise bias and subjectivity. ....................... 200
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development ........................................................................................... 200
Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development ....................................................................................... 201
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Information Processing Theories of Cognitive Development................................................................ 201

Latest Perspectives on Cognitive Development .................................................................................... 201
Social Cognition ..................................................................................................................................... 202
The Development of Logical Reasoning ................................................................................................ 203
Identifying and Avoiding Bias ................................................................................................................ 204
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 204
AC3. Observations are guided by given frameworks, assessment guidelines or instruments .... 205
Theories ................................................................................................................................................. 205
Ecological Systems Theory..................................................................................................................... 205
Piaget ..................................................................................................................................................... 206
Vygotsky ................................................................................................................................................ 206
Attachment theory ................................................................................................................................ 207
Erik Erikson ............................................................................................................................................ 207
Behavioral Theories ............................................................................................................................... 207
Other theories ....................................................................................................................................... 207
Continuity and discontinuity in development ....................................................................................... 208
Mechanisms of development ................................................................................................................ 208
Research issues and methods ............................................................................................................... 209
Developmental milestones .................................................................................................................... 210
Aspects of child development ............................................................................................................... 210
Physical growth...................................................................................................................................... 210
Motor development .............................................................................................................................. 211
Cognitive/Intellectual development ...................................................................................................... 212
Social-emotional development ............................................................................................................. 213
Language................................................................................................................................................ 214
AC3 Observations are continuous, based on daily activities and provide sufficient information to
establish patterns of development. ............................................................................................. 216
Developing good practice in observing children ................................................................................... 217
Parents, dialogue, and documentation ................................................................................................. 217
Creating a picture of learning ................................................................................................................ 218
Mapping the learning journey ............................................................................................................... 218
Considerations of summative assessment ............................................................................................ 219
To summarise... ..................................................................................................................................... 219
AC5.Observations cover the full spectrum of activities in the routine or daily programme. ...... 219
Observations can record the baby's language development: ............................................................... 220
SO2 Record observations........................................................................................................ 220
AC1 The records accurately reflect the observations and are culturally sensitive and bias free.
...................................................................................................................................................... 220
Communication ..................................................................................................................................... 221
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Discipline................................................................................................................................................ 221
Attitude.................................................................................................................................................. 221
Infant Development Checklist for Infant Caregivers ............................................................................. 221
AC2.The records are structured in a clear and systematic manner ............................................. 223
Anecdotal Records ................................................................................................................................. 223
Checklists ............................................................................................................................................... 223
Time Samples......................................................................................................................................... 223
Event Observations................................................................................................................................ 224
AC3.Records are useful for contributing towards assessment of individual development,
referrals, design of programmes and activities, and evaluation of activities and programmes. 224
What does the Preschool COR assess? .................................................................................................. 224
How does the Preschool COR work? ..................................................................................................... 224
What do I need to get started? ............................................................................................................. 225
So how can a Childminder do observations? ........................................................................................ 225
Group Activity / Pair Activity ................................................................................................................. 226
SO3 Give feedback on observations. ....................................................................................... 226
AC1 Feedback is given using appropriate feedback mechanisms and in accordance with
confidentiality requirements........................................................................................................ 226
How to give and receive feedback ........................................................................................................ 226
Parents who give feedback increase their child's confidence ............................................................... 227
Common Types of childcare .................................................................................................................. 228
Effects on child development ................................................................................................................ 229
The value of unpaid child care............................................................................................................... 230
AC2.Feedback is clear and relevant to the child's development. ................................................ 231
Note Regarding Language...................................................................................................................... 232
Pediatric Patient at Preventive Care Visit.............................................................................................. 232
Eliciting and Attending to the Parents' Concerns .................................................................................. 232
Maintaining a Developmental History................................................................................................... 233
Making Accurate and Informed Observations of the Child ................................................................... 233
Identifying the Presence of Risk and Protective Factors ....................................................................... 233
Documenting the Process and Findings ................................................................................................ 233
AC4: Feedback is given with appropriate sensitivity to diversity and emotions. ........................ 239
Observing and Assessing Young Children .............................................................................................. 239
Intervention Strategies and Recommendations.................................................................................... 239
AC4: The type and manner of feedback is constructive and meaningful .................................... 240
Why get parents involved? .................................................................................................................... 240
Communicating with parents ................................................................................................................ 241
Learning at home ................................................................................................................................... 241
Home-school partnerships .................................................................................................................... 241
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AC5 Sufficient information is provided to enable the purpose of the observation to be met, and
to enable further decision-making. .............................................................................................. 244
How Curriculum Frameworks Respond to Developmental Stages: Birth through Age 8 ...................... 244
A Curriculum Framework for Infants and Toddlers ............................................................................... 245
Caregivers/Teachers .............................................................................................................................. 246
Daily Routines ........................................................................................................................................ 246
Activities ................................................................................................................................................ 246
A Curriculum Framework for Preschool and Kindergarten ................................................................... 246
How Children Learn ............................................................................................................................... 248
What Children Learn .............................................................................................................................. 248
The Physical Environment ..................................................................................................................... 249
The Teacher’s Role................................................................................................................................. 249
The Parent’s Role ................................................................................................................................... 249
Interest Areas ........................................................................................................................................ 249
A Curriculum Framework for First, Second, and Third Grades .............................................................. 250
Knowing the Children ............................................................................................................................ 251
Building a Classroom Community .......................................................................................................... 251
Establishing a Structure for the Classroom ........................................................................................... 251
Guiding Children’s Learning................................................................................................................... 252
Assessing Children’s Learning ................................................................................................................ 252
Building a Partnership with Families ..................................................................................................... 252
Portfolio Activity .................................................................................................................................... 253
Self Assessment ..................................................................................................................................... 254
Learning Unit 3: Motivation and Leadership ........................................................................... 255
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 255
SO1: Explaining the importance of motivating a team ............................................................. 255
AC1: Reasons why motivation is important ................................................................................. 255
Informed Acquiescence vs. Value-Based Self-Governance ................................................................... 257
AC2: Indicators of motivation ...................................................................................................... 257
Counselling ............................................................................................................................................ 257
Counselling Steps................................................................................................................................... 258
Hints for counselling sessions:............................................................................................................... 259
SO2: Demonstrate an understanding of self and team members ............................................. 259
AC1: Character and Traits in Leadership ...................................................................................... 259
Building Excellence ................................................................................................................................ 259
AC2: Strengths and areas of development of team ..................................................................... 261
Traits of a Good Leader ......................................................................................................................... 261
Attributes ............................................................................................................................................... 261
Perspectives of Character and Traits ..................................................................................................... 262
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SO3: Apply theories of motivation and group dynamics .......................................................... 262

AC1: The Image of Leadership — John School land ..................................................................... 262
The Eleven Leadership Principles .......................................................................................................... 263
Organizations consist of three components: ........................................................................................ 263
23 Traits of Character ............................................................................................................................ 263
Are manager’s leaders? Are leader’s managers? .................................................................................. 263
Is Character Developed Via Nature or Nurture ..................................................................................... 264
What is a Team? .................................................................................................................................... 265
AC2: Elements of group dynamics................................................................................................ 265
Shared Mental Models .......................................................................................................................... 265
Major Benefits of Teams ....................................................................................................................... 266
AC3: Plan to strengthen the team ................................................................................................ 266
From Group to Team—Getting There ................................................................................................... 266
Be Enthusiastic—it's Contagious ........................................................................................................... 266
Develop a Sense of Urgency .................................................................................................................. 266
Set Clear Rules of Behaviour ................................................................................................................. 266
Keep Them Informed ............................................................................................................................. 267
Grow Together....................................................................................................................................... 267
SO4: Implement a plan of action to strengthen a team ........................................................... 267
AC1: Reinforcement Works Wonders .......................................................................................... 267
Other methods include: ........................................................................................................................ 267
Team Elements ...................................................................................................................................... 268
AC2: Common Elements ............................................................................................................... 268
AC3: Steps to Team Problem Solving ........................................................................................... 268
Team Leadership ................................................................................................................................... 269
SO5: Provide feedback and recognise achievements ............................................................... 270
AC1: Manage relationships with outsiders .................................................................................. 270
Create opportunities for others ............................................................................................................ 270
Create a vision ....................................................................................................................................... 270
Are You Ready to be a Team Leader? .................................................................................................... 270
Common Problems ................................................................................................................................ 270
AC2: Leadership and Developing Diversity .................................................................................. 271
Why Must We Embrace Diversity? ........................................................................................................ 271
Why Is Embracing Diversity A Challenge? ............................................................................................. 272
Why Do We Need To Become The Best?............................................................................................... 272
What Has This To Do With Human Resource Development (HRD)? ..................................................... 273
What Exactly Does Diversity Include? ................................................................................................... 273
Why Does Culture Matter? .................................................................................................................... 273
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What Goals Does HRD Need? ................................................................................................................ 274

How Does One Go About Developing Diversity? ................................................................................... 274
Attitudes ................................................................................................................................................ 275
Training Techniques............................................................................................................................... 277
AC3: Evaluating Diversity Training ............................................................................................... 279
Working with Others ............................................................................................................................. 279
AC4: Behaviours That Are Essential To High Level Human Relations .......................................... 280
Scoring ................................................................................................................................................... 281
Portfolio Activity .................................................................................................................................... 281
Self Assessment ..................................................................................................................................... 281
Portfolio Activities ................................................................................................................................. 282
Learner Evaluation Form ........................................................................................................ 283
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Acknowledgment
Many people have contributed in various ways to help develop and produce the original version and the
later edition of this manual. We wish to thank all those who have contributed in one way or another
Lastly, we offer our regards and blessings to all of those who supported us in any respect during the
compilation of this Manual, especially ETDP SETA, for the practical support and resources required to put
up this manual.
Other sources
National Department of Education South African Police Service (SAPS

South African Qualification Authority (SAQA Department of Justice
LG SETA The constitutional Court
ETDP SETA University of Pretoria (Faculty of Law
Department of labour Faculty of Law Stellenbosch University
The DTI Judith Colbert, PhD
Wikipedia
Learner Tip
The modular structure illustrated above will contain a grouping of unit standards
that pertains to the exit level outcome and related assessment criteria.
The following table illustrates the unit standard alignment in the 4 modules.
Learning Unit 4: Facilitate and monitor the development of

ELO US Type NLRD US Title Level Credits

ELO4 Core 244484 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding Level 4 8
of the development of babies, toddlers and
young children
Core 244480 Facilitate the holistic development of Level 4 16
Core 244475 Observe and report on child development Level 4 6
Elective 242819 Motivate and Build a Team Level 4 10
TOTAL CREDIT VALUE 40
Learner Support
Please remember that as the programme is outcomes based – this implies the following:
You are responsible for your own learning – make sure you manage your study, practical, workplace and
portfolio time responsibly.
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Learning activities are learner driven – make sure you use the Learner Guide and Portfolio Guide in the
manner intended, and are familiar with the Portfolio requirements.
The Facilitator is there to reasonably assist you during contact, practical and workplace time of this
programme – make sure that you have his/her contact details.
Assessment
Learning Outcomes:
Please refer to the beginning of each module for the learning outcomes that will
be covered per module.
Formative Assessment
In each Learner Guide, several activities are spaced within the content to assist you in understanding the
material through application. Please make sure that you complete ALL activities in the Learner Guide,
whether it was done during the contact session, or not!
Summative Assessment
You will be required to complete a Portfolio of Evidence for summative assessment purposes. A portfolio is
a collection of different types of evidence relating to the work being assessed. It can include a variety of
work samples.
The Portfolio Guide will assist you in identifying the portfolio and evidence requirements for final
assessment purposes. You will be required to complete Portfolio activities on your own time, using real life
projects in your workplace environment in preparing evidence towards your portfolio.
Portfolio Activity:
DO NOT WAIT until the end – the programme is designed to assist you in
evidence preparation as you go along – make use of the opportunity!
Remember:
If it is not documented, it did not happen!
In some evidence, the process you followed is more important than actual
outcome / end-product.
Therefore …
Please make sure all steps for the Portfolio Activities are shown where required.
Navigating the Learner Guide

4.1 Use of Icons
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Throughout the learning programme icons are used to focus your attention on important aspects of the
learning programme. The following icons are used in this learning programme to direct your attention in
using at as a reference guide.
Group Activity / Pair Activity:

You will be required to complete an activity in your group or in pairs with fellow
colleagues / programme participants, and provide feedback to the participants in
a report back or presentation session.
Individual Activity:
You will be required to complete an activity on your own that relates to the
outcomes covered in the module.
Portfolio Activity:
Complete the assessment activity that will be assessed as part of your Portfolio of
Evidence for the particular module.
Self Reflection:
Reflect on the question(s) asked to identify the relevance of learning outcomes in
your own working environment.
Learner Tip:
A useful tip or essential element regarding the concept under discussion is given
as a basis to further discussion.
Resources:
Possible sources for further research and study is listed under this icon. Resources
may include additional reading, handouts, web-sites, multimedia
Facilitators Note:
Content matter that is critical to the understanding of the module. The learner
must pay careful attention to this section.
Mentored Discussion:
Refer to your Mentor or Workplace Supervisor to assist in this activity, as they will
conduct the assessment or sign off of the activity once completed.
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Learning Outcomes:
Please refer to the beginning of each module for the learning outcomes that will
be covered per module.
Self Assessment:
You have come to the end of this module – please take the time to review what
you have learnt to date, and conduct a self assessment against the learning
outcomes of this module
2. Learner Administration
Learner Tip:
The following Learner Administration is critical in assisting your provider in
managing this programme effectively.
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the requirements.
Attendance Register
You are required to sign the Attendance Register every day of attendance. Please make sure you sign daily!
Learner Registration Form
Pease refer to the end of the Learner Guide for the Learner Registration Form. Make sure you complete it
using the Key Document, and submit to your Facilitator before the end of the contact session with a copy of
your ID document.
Learner Tip/Truths:
Without the Learner Registration and ID Documents we will not be able to register
you with SETA for certification purposes.
Programme Evaluation Form
At the end of the Learning Guide is a Learning programme Evaluation Form. Please complete the form
before the end of the contact sessions, as this will assist us in improving our service and programme
material. Your assistance is highly appreciated!
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Note to learners
Dear Learner,
Welcome to this Learning programme. We trust that this Learning programme

will be of great value to you during your studies and in your New Venture as
now a skilled facilitator. To succeed in anything in life requires a lot of hard
work. It will be expected of you to work through this study guide with a great
deal of attention. It provides you with information on how to work through the
material; the guide expresses exactly what will be expected of you and what
objectives you need to achieve during the study of this Learning programme.
Emphasis
 Complete your assignments with dedication and submit them in time.
 Complete the self-study sections for your own benefit. The self-study
sections provide you with the opportunity to practice what you have
learnt.
This Learning programme provides you with a step-by-step method that you
must apply to all Modules.
 Plan a research assignment

 Review relevant literature
 Construct a basic research design
 Gather and organise data
 Compile research findings
 Produce a final, written research report
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Learner’s class room rules

Dos Don’ts
Participate actively
NO answering calls in class
Ask Questions for clarity No eating or Drinking in class
Give constructive criticism No discrimination is allowed in class
Maintain confidentiality Avoid unnecessary movement in class
Have a pen and pencil at hand Unnecessary noise is prohibited
Use the note pad provided for Do not steal other fellows equipments
Keep your valuables safe
Learner’s materials
Make sure you have the following before the commencement of the lesson
 Learner’s guide

 Pens and pencils
 Highlighter
 Name tag
 Ruler
 Note pad
Learning Map:
Unit standard/ Module Learning outcomes
Module 1 1. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of ways of seeing

Demonstrate knowledge and the development of babies, toddlers and young children.
understanding of the 2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development
development of babies, of babies, toddlers and young children within each domain of
toddlers and young children development.
Module 2 1. Facilitating development of babies, toddlers and young children.
Facilitate the holistic 2. Reflecting on own facilitation.
development of babies,
toddlers and young children
Module 3 1. Observing babies, toddlers and young children.
Observe and report on child 2. Recording observations.
development 3. Giving feedback on observations.
Module 4 1. Explaining the importance of motivating a team.
Motivate and Build a Team 2. Demonstrating an understanding of self and team members in a
workplace.
3. Applying theories of motivation and group dynamics.
4. Implementing a plan of action to strengthen a team.
5. Providing feedback and recognising achievements.
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244484 Demonstrate knowledge and

understanding of the development of babies,
Learning Outcomes:
The following learning outcomes are covered in this module.
 Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of ways of seeing the

development of babies, toddlers and young children.
 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of
babies, toddlers and young children within each domain of development.
Background Knowledge
Child development that occurs from birth to adulthood was largely ignored throughout much of history.
Children were often viewed simply as small versions of adults and little attention was paid to the many
advances in cognitive abilities, language usage, and physical growth. Interest in the field of child
development finally began to emerge early in the 20th-century, but it tended to focus on abnormal
behavior.
An understanding of child development is essential, allowing us to understand the cognitive, emotional,

physical, social and educational growth that children go through from birth and into early adulthood. Some
of the major theories of child development are known as grand theories; they attempt to describe every
aspect of development, often using a stage approach. Others are known as mini-theories; they instead
focus only on a fairly limited aspect of development, such as cognitive or social growth.
The following are just a few of the many child development theories that have been proposed by theorists
and researchers. More recent theories outline the developmental stages of children and identify the typical
ages at which these growth milestones occur.
AC3 Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories

Sigmund Freud
The theories proposed by Sigmund Freud stressed the importance of childhood events and experiences, but
almost exclusively focused on mental disorders rather that normal functioning.
According to Freud, child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual stages.' In "Three Essays on
Sexuality" (1915), Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Each stage involves
the satisfaction of a libidinal desire and can later play a role in adult personality. If a child does not
successfully complete a stage, Freud suggested that he or she would develop a fixation that would later
influence adult personality and behavior. Learn more in this article on Freud’s stages of psychosexual
development.
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Erik Erikson
Theorist < Erik Erikson also proposed a stage theory of development, but his theory encompassed
development throughout the entire human lifespan. Erikson believed that each stage of development was
focused on overcoming a conflict. For example, the primary conflict during the adolescent period involves
establishing a sense of personal identity. Success or failure in dealing with the conflicts at each stage can
impact overall functioning. During the adolescent stage, for example, failure to develop an identity results
in role confusion. Learn more about this theory in this article on Erikson’s stages of psychosocial
development.
Cognitive Child Development Theories
Theorist Jean Piaget suggested that children think differently than adults and proposed a stage theory of
cognitive development. He was the first to note that children play an active role in gaining knowledge of
the world. According to his theory, children can be thought of as "little scientists" who actively construct
their knowledge and understanding of the world. Learn more in this article on Piaget’s stages of cognitive
development.
Behavioral Child Development Theories
Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction influences behavior and
are based upon the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner. These
theories deal only with observable behaviors. Development is considered a reaction to rewards,
punishments, stimuli and reinforcement. This theory differs considerably from other child development
theories because it gives no consideration to internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, it focuses purely on how
experience shapes who we are. Learn more about these behavioral theories in these articles on classical
conditioning and operant conditioning.
Social Child Development Theories

John Bowlby
There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly proposed one of the
earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play a
major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life. Learn more
in this overview of attachment theory.
Albert Bandura
Psychologist Albert Bandura proposed what is known as social learning theory. According to this theory of
child development, children learn new behaviors from observing other people. Unlike behavioral theories,
Bandura believed that external reinforcement was not the only way that people learned new things.
Instead, intrinsic reinforcements such as a sense of pride, satisfaction and accomplishment could also lead
to learning. By observing the actions of others, including parents and peers, children develop new skills and
acquire new information.
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Lev Vygotsky
Another psychologist named Lev Vygotsky proposed a seminal learning theory that has gone on to become
very influential, especially in the field of education. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children learn
actively and through hands-on experiences. His sociocultural theory also suggested that parents, caregivers,
peers and the culture at large were responsible for the development of higher order functions.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, some of psychology's best known thinkers have developed theories to help explore and
explain different aspects of child development. Today, contemporary psychologists often draw on a variety
of theories and perspectives in order to understand how kids grow, behave and think.
Physical includes gross-motor and fine-motor

development
Development is often divided into specific domains, such as gross motor, fine motor, language, cognition,
and social/emotional growth. These designations are useful, but substantial overlap exists. Studies have
established average ages at which specific milestones are reached, as well as ranges of normality. In a
normal child, progress within the different domains varies, as in the toddler who walks late but speaks in
sentences early (see Table 2: Physical Growth and Development: Developmental Milestones* ).
Table 2
Developmental Milestones*
Age Behavior
Birth Sleeps much of the time
Sucks
Clears airway
Responds with crying to discomforts and intrusions
4 wk Brings hands toward eyes and mouth

Moves head from side to side when lying on stomach
Follows an object moved in an arc about 15 cm above face to the midline
Responds to a noise in some way (eg, startling, crying, quieting)
May turn toward familiar sounds and voices
6 wk Regards objects in the line of vision

Begins to smile when spoken to
Lies flat on abdomen
Head lags when pulled to a sitting position
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3 mo Holds head steady on sitting

Raises head 45° when lying on stomach
Opens and shuts hands
Pushes down when feet are placed on a flat surface
Swings at and reaches for dangling toys
Follows an object moved in an arc above face from one side to the other
Watches faces intently
Smiles at sound of caretaker's voice
Vocalizes sounds
5–6 mo Holds head steady when upright
Sits with support
Rolls over, usually from stomach to back
Supports self in a standing position
Reaches for objects
Recognizes people at a distance
Listens intently to human voices
Smiles spontaneously
Squeals in delight
Babbles to toys
7 mo Sits without support
Bears some weight on legs when held upright
Transfers objects from hand to hand
Holds own bottle
Looks for dropped object
Responds to own name
Responds to being told “no”
Combines vowels and consonants to babble
Moves body with excitement in anticipation of playing
Plays peek-a-boo
9 mo Sits well
Crawls or creeps on hands and knees
Pulls self up to standing position
Works to get a toy that is out of reach; objects if toy is taken away
Gets into a sitting position from stomach
Stands holding on to someone or something
Says “mama” or “dada” appropriately in reference to parents
Plays pat-a-cake
Waves bye-bye
12 mo Walks by holding furniture (“cruising”) or hands
May walk 1 or 2 steps without support
Stands for a few moments at a time
Drinks from a cup
Speaks several words
Helps dress self
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18 mo Walks well
Can climb stairs holding on
Turns several book pages at a time
Speaks about 10 words
Pulls toys on strings
Partially feeds self
2 yr Runs well
Climbs up and down stairs alone
Turns single book pages
Puts on simple clothing
Makes 2- or 3-word sentences
Verbalizes toilet needs
3 yr Rides a tricycle
Dresses well except for buttons and laces
Counts to 10 and uses plurals
Recognizes at least 3 colors
Questions constantly
Feeds self well
Can take care of toilet needs (in about half of children)
4 yr Alternates feet going up and down stairs
Throws a ball overhand
Hops on one foot
Copies a cross
Washes hands and face
5 yr Skips
Catches a bounced ball
Copies a triangle
Knows 4 colors
Dresses and undresses without help
*The sequence is fairly consistent, but the timing of milestones varies; times above represent median
values.
Environmental influences, ranging from nutrition to stimulation and from the impact of disease to the
effects of psychologic factors, interact with genetic factors to determine the pace and pattern of
development.
Assessment of development occurs constantly as parents, school personnel, and clinicians evaluate
children. Many tools are available for monitoring development more specifically. The Denver
Developmental Screening Test facilitates evaluation in several domains. The scoring sheet indicates the
average ages for achieving certain milestones and nicely shows the critical concept of a range of normality.
Other tools can also be used
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Motor development: Motor development includes fine motor (eg, picking up small objects, drawing) and
gross motor (eg, walking, climbing stairs) skills. It is a continuous process that depends on familial patterns,
environmental factors (eg, when activity is limited by prolonged illness), and specific disorders (eg, cerebral
palsy, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy). Children typically begin to walk at 12 mo, can climb stairs
at 21 mo, and run well at 2 yr, but the age at which these milestones are achieved by normal children varies
widely. Motor development cannot be significantly accelerated by applying increased stimulation.
Language development: The ability to understand language precedes the ability to speak; children with
few words usually can understand a great deal. Although delays in expressive speech are typically not
accompanied by other developmental delays, all children with excessive language delays should be
evaluated for the presence of other delays in development. Children who have delays in both receptive and
expressive speech more often have additional developmental problems. Evaluation of any delay should
start with an assessment of hearing. Most children who experience speech delay have normal intelligence.
In contrast, children with accelerated speech development are often of above-average intelligence.
Speech progresses from the utterance of vowel sounds (cooing) to the introduction of syllables that start
with consonants (ba-ba-ba). Most children can say “Dada” and “Mama” specifically by 12 mo, use several
words by 18 mo, and combine words into some sentences by 2 yr. The average 3-yr-old can carry on a
conversation. These milestones are highly variable.
Cognitive and social/emotional development: Cognitive and social/emotional development refers to the
intellectual and psychologic maturation of children as their physical development allows them to interact
more with other people and the external world. There are multiple theories of these forms of development
in children and adolescents; the oldest and most famous are those proposed by Freud, Piaget, and Erikson.
All are based on clinical observations, but none has been tested in large groups of children. In general,
these models are considered useful for describing aspects of development in some children, but none is
universally applicable. Increasingly, appropriate attachments and nurturing in infancy and early childhood
are recognized as critical factors in cognitive growth and emotional health. For example, reading to children
from an early age, providing intellectually stimulating experiences, and providing warm and nurturing
relationships all have a major impact on growth in these domains. Intellect is appraised in young children
by observations of language skills, curiosity, and problem-solving abilities. As children become more verbal,
intellectual functioning becomes easier to assess using a number of specialized clinical tools. Once children
start school, they undergo constant monitoring as part of the academic process.
Emotional growth and the acquisition of social skills are assessed by watching children interact with others
in everyday situations. When children acquire speech, the understanding of their emotional state becomes
much more accurate. As with intellect, emotional functioning can be delineated more precisely with
specialized tool
Cognitive Development:
Cognitive Skills are appropriate to the school situation, for they are concerned with knowing and thinking.
Cognitive development focuses on how children learn and process information. It is the development of the
thinking and organizing systems of the mind. It involves language, mental imagery, thinking, reasoning,
problem solving, and memory development. A child enters this world very poorly equipped. The knowledge
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a child needs to become an individual is not dormant, it is not lurking in them. Everything the child
eventually knows, or can do, must be learned. This of course excludes natural body functions, such as
breathing, as well as the reflexes, for example the involuntary closing of the eye when an object
approaches it. Everything else, however, must be learned. Remember cognitive development is not an
automatic process.
Example toys: puzzles, blocks, pegs, etc...
Social/Emotional Development:
An estimated 6–10 percent of all children develop serious emotional or personality problems at some
point. These problems tend to fall into two groups: those characterized by symptoms of extreme anxiety,
withdrawal, and fearfulness, on the one hand, and by disobedience, aggression, and destruction of
property on the other. Give your child the opportunity to interact with other children and adults in an
active environment.
Example: mirrors, active play-pretend play games, etc...
Language Linguistic Development:
Many definitions of language have been proposed. Henry Sweet, an English phonetician and language
scholar, stated: “Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words.
Words are combined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts.”
Fine Motor Development:

Fine motor skills can be defined as small muscle movements: those that occur in the finger, in coordination
with the eyes. Teaching fine motor skills requires patience and understanding.
Fine motor skills won't develop over-night, but with time and practice. All fine motor activities are built
upon four important skills. They are: Grasping objects, reaching out to objects, releasing objects
deliberately, and turning the wrist in various directions. The term “skill” denotes a movement that is
reasonably complex and the execution of which requires at least a minimal amount of practice. Thus skill
excludes reflex acts. One does not become skilled at sneezing or at blinking the eyes when an object
approaches.
Children benefit from activities that help achieve gross and fine motor control.
The following are some activity ideas that can be used in the home or classroom environment:
 Puzzles with small pieces
 peg board games
 painting, drawing, cutting
 Stringing and lacing activities
 Construction and building sets like Bristle Blocks

 Buttons, snaps, tying, and other fasteners
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Gross Motor Development:
Gross Motor skills involve the larger muscles in the arms, legs and torso. Gross motor activities include
walking, running, throwing, lifting, kicking, etc. These skills also relate to body awareness, reaction speed,
balance and strength. Gross motor development gives your child the ability to move in a variety of ways,
the ability to control their body and helps promote your child's self-esteem. Different gross motor activities
make multiple demands beyond muscle movements.
The following are some activity ideas that can be used in the home or classroom environment:
 Walk on toes, heels, toes pointed in or out
 Animal walks – inch worm, crab walk, bear walk, bunny hop, frog leap, elephant walk
 Kickball, tetherball, balloon volleyball, basketball
 Playground – swings, slides, monkey bars, tire swing
 Balancing Games – walk on 2x4’s (on the flat side), curbs – forward, backwards, sideways, heel-to-
toe, while balancing a beanbag on your head
Jumping and hopping patterns – i.e. around obstacles, over things, Jumping jacks, snow angels
Growth in All Areas of Development:

Cognitive, social, language and physical are stimulated through the use of appropriate practices for young
children. Involving active learning and active play is the process by which young children explore their
world.
Examples: observing, smelling, tasting, listening, touching and playing.
Special Needs
Special Needs" is an umbrella underneath which a staggering array of diagnoses can be wedged. Children
with special needs may have mild learning disabilities or profound mental retardation; food allergies or
terminal illness; developmental delays that catch up quickly or remain entrenched; occasional panic attacks
or serious psychiatric problems. The designation is useful for getting needed services, setting appropriate
goals, and gaining understanding for a child and stressed family.
Minuses and Pluses:

"Special needs" are commonly defined by what a child can't do -- by milestones unmet, foods banned,
activities avoided, experiences denied. These minuses hit families hard, and may make "special needs"
seem like a tragic designation. Some parents will always mourn their child's lost potential, and many
conditions become more troubling with time. Other families may find that their child's challenges make
triumphs sweeter, and that weaknesses are often accompanied by amazing strengths.
Different Concerns:
Pick any two families of children with special needs, and they may seem to have little in common. A family
dealing with developmental delays will have different concerns than one dealing with chronic illness, which
will have different concerns than one dealing with mental illness or learning problems or behavioral
challenges. This Parenting Special Needs site devotes sections to the following specific issues: medical,
behavioral, developmental, learning, and mental health.
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Medical Issues:
Medical issues for children include serious conditions like cancer and heart defects, muscular dystrophy and
cystic fibrosis; chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes; congenital conditions like cerebral palsy and
dwarfism; and health threats like food allergies and obesity. Children with medical issues may require
numerous tests, long hospital stays, expensive equipment, and accommodations for disabilities. Their
families have to deal with frequent crises, uncertainty, and worry.
Behavior Issues:
Children with behavior issues don't respond to traditional discipline. With diagnoses like ADHD, Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Dysfunction of Sensory Integration, and Tourette Syndrome, they require
specialized strategies that are tailored to their specific abilities and disabilities. If those strategies are not
developed and used, kids with behavior issues throw their families into chaos and are seriously at risk for
school problems. Their parents need to be flexible and creative.
Developmental Issues:
Developmental disabilities are some of the most devestating for a family to deal with, changing visions of
the future and providing immediate difficulties in caring for and educating a child. Diagnoses like autism,
Down syndrome and mental retardation often cause children to be removed from the mainstream, and
parents must be fierce advocates to make sure their children receive the services, therapy, schooling, and
inclusion they need and deserve.
Learning Issues:
Children with learning disabilities like dyslexia and Central Auditory Processing Disorder struggle with
schoolwork regardless of their intellectual abilities. They require specialized learning strategies to meet
their potential and avoid self-esteem problems and behavioral difficulties. Parents of learning-challenged
kids need to be persistent both in working with their reluctant learners and with the schools that must
provide the help these children need.
Mental Health Issues:

A child's problems with anxiety or depression can sneak up on parents; problems with attachment may
smack them right in the face. Living with a child with mental health issues can put family members on a
roller coaster of mood swings and crises and defiance. Parents have to find the right professionals to help,
and make hard decisions about therapy, medications, and hospitalization. The consequences of missed
clues and wrong guesses can be significant.
Common Concerns:
Although every special-needs child is different and every family is unique, there are some common
concerns that link parents of challenged kids, including getting appropriate care and accommodations;
promoting acceptance in the extended family, school and community; planning for an uncertain future; and
adjusting routines and expectations. Parents of children with special needs are often more flexible,
compassionate, stubborn and resilient than other parents. They have to be.
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SO1: Knowledge and understanding of ways of

seeing the development of babies, toddlers and
young children
Own views about the meaning and use of key terms are compared to the views of others, showing how
such views influence our ways of seeing and working with children.
Social Development
Newborn to 1 month
Newborns begin to smile in their first month. The first smile you see may well be while your baby is
sleeping, but by the end of the first month, you will likely find yourself rewarded with smiles specifically
directed at you.
6 to 9 months
Along with an increased awareness of their surroundings, some infants this age also develop what is
commonly referred to as stranger anxiety. While some 6- to 9-month-olds start showing increased fear of
strangers and distress when their parents leave the room, others may not react this way until well after
their first birthday.
While such reactions are embarrassing to some parents, you should instead consider your baby's actions to
be a normal and healthy — albeit frustrating — part of growing up.
12 to 18 months
Kids begin to explore independently. Being a 12- to 15-month-old typically involves beginning to venture
out on one's own more. Toddlers at this age often feel comfortable exploring away from their parents
when in familiar surroundings. That's not to say that some don't still show signs of stranger anxiety and a
strong affinity for their parents, but rest assured that this phase of development will soon give way to more
independent exploration in the months to come, if it hasn't already.
As your toddler becomes more independent, don't be surprised if she also develops an attachment to a
comfort object, something that gives her a constant sense of security.
18 to 24 months
At this age, toddlers learn to deal with new emotions. Many 18- to 24-month-olds show anxiety around
other toddlers, especially if they are unfamiliar, and also become anxious in anticipation of unpleasant
events. And while temper tantrums are not necessarily a new phenomenon at this age, toddlers often
perfect them as they approach 2 years of age.
2 years
The typical 2-year-old has also learned how to soothe himself and starts to become more aware of other
people's emotions, reacting to anger and affection among other family members.
One major area of social development is playing. Play is an important way for your toddler to try out new
skills and imitate the things she sees around her. Through some kinds of games — such as puzzles and
shape sorters — they refine their developing motor skills. Through others — games of pretend with dolls
and other children — they sort out emotional conflicts and make sense of their place in the world.
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Most 2-year-old toddlers engage in what is known as parallel play. They stay close together and imitate
each other, but their actual interactions are limited. Even if there seems to be little give-and-take in these
sessions, they are valuable because they lay the groundwork for later, more cooperative play.
If your child is not regularly exposed to other children in a play group or day care setting, now is a good
time to build his circle of friends. As you do so, aim to keep organized playtime short (an hour or so for
younger toddlers; two hours for older ones) and be prepared for more than a little pushing, shoving, and
grabbing of toys. These struggles are not necessarily hostile; toddlers have a limited range of social
behavior, but they usually manage to work things out without much interference from parents — and learn
valuable skills in the process.
3 years
While attending to the physical care of your preschooler, you will also find she thrives on a great deal of
emotional and intellectual nourishment, and much of this comes from play. While manipulating simple
household objects such as cardboard tubes and empty cartons, children give themselves valuable lessons in
counting, cause and effect, and problem solving. And by finding new purposes for ordinary objects, they
learn to think creatively.
4 years
Between 3 and 4 years of age, children make a big transition when it comes to play, moving away from
parallel play towards a much more interactive form of play with others. When engaging in pretend play
with other children, your child will learn about cooperation and sharing.
Role-playing is an important way for preschoolers to attempt to understand the adult world. Talking aloud
as they direct their own actions or those of other children is a way of sharpening their language skills.
Devising their own pastimes and accomplishing the tasks they set forth for themselves are real confidence
builders.
Play also affords children the opportunity to act out their feelings. Young preschoolers often act out
common household scenes. A parent's role in play begins with offering a variety of experiences. Outings as
simple as a trip to the post office can be a source of fascination to a preschooler.
Even more important is your participation in your child's games. If you suggest a tea party, for example, and
hold a cup to the doll's mouth, the child is likely to mimic you, then go on from there. Your praise of your
child's efforts is very important. Display their creations whenever possible, whether by magnet on the
refrigerator or framed and hung on the wall.
5 years
At 5 years old, your child might start school. Adjusting to kindergarten and all that goes along with school is
perhaps one of the biggest accomplishments of most 5-year-olds.
6 years
While some 6-year-olds are just preparing to enter kindergarten, the majority have successfully adjusted to
"real" school and are now ready to conquer first grade as they thrive on new friendships, figure out how
the world works, and become independent.
Activity: Work in pairs

In your own words, describe the social development of children from newborn to
6 years.
Share your answers with the rest of the group and make corrections where
needed
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AC1 Teaching and early childhood development

Toddlers
When children learn to walk, they are called toddlers. Usually this term is applied to one and two-year-old
children. This is a stage in the growth of a child and not a specific age. The toddler stage is very important in
a child's life. It is the time between infancy and childhood when a child learns and grows in many ways.
Everything that happens to the toddler is meaningful. With each stage or skill the child masters, a new
stage begins. This growth is unique to each child. Children have their own time-table. During the toddler
stage, most children learn to walk, talk, solve problems, relate to others, and more. One major task for the
toddler is to learn to be independent. That is why toddlers want to do things for themselves, have their
own ideas about how things should happen, and use "no" many times each day.
The toddler stage is characterized by much growth and change, mood swings, and some negativity.
Toddlers are long on will and short on skill. This is why they are often frustrated and "misbehave." Some
adults call the toddler stage "the terrible twos." Toddlers, bursting with energy and ideas, need to explore
their environment and begin defining themselves as separate people. They want to be independent and yet
they are still very dependent. One of the family day care provider's greatest challenges is to balance
toddlers' need for in-dependence with their need for discipline. Toddlers are very concerned with their own
needs and ideas. This is why we cannot expect them to share.
Toddlers sometimes get frustrated because they do not have the language skills to express themselves.
Often they have difficulty separating themselves from their parents and other people who are important to
them. Adults who work with toddlers often find it helpful to appreciate toddlers' need to do things their
way.
Usually between two and one half and three years of age, children begin to take an interest in being toilet
trained, and by age three they are ready to be known as preschoolers. By this age, most children are toilet
trained, have developed verbal skills, are continuing to be more independent, and are taking an active
interest in the world around them.
The toddler stage can be a difficult for adults and toddlers. An understanding of this stage of development
can make it more fun for everyone. This fact sheet lists some of the characteristics of toddlers. These
characteristics are listed for three main areas: physical (body), social (getting along with others) and
emotional (feelings), and intellectual (thinking and language) development. Remember that all toddlers are
different and reach the various stages at different times.
Physical development
One-year-old children
 They may grow less quickly than during infancy.
 They may eat less, but they tend to eat frequently throughout the day.
 Most walk without support by 14 months.
 Most walk backward and up steps by 22 months.
 They get better at feeding themselves, although spills should still be expected.
 They drink from a cup with help.
 They can stack blocks.
 They can scribble.
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Two-year-old children
 Children are generally more active than at any other point in their lives.
 They walk, run, climb, walk up and down stairs alone, and dig.
 They throw balls and kick them forward.
 They jump with two feet together.
 They stand on tip toes.
 They take things apart and put them back together. They like to screw and unscrew lids.
 They feel discomfort with wet or soiled diapers.
 They start to show an interest in toilet training.
Social and emotional development

 They want to do things independently.
 Temper tantrums are common.
 They enjoy playing by themselves or beside (not with) other children.
 They have difficulty sharing toys. They may be possessive.
 They cannot remember rules.
 They view themselves as the center of the world.
 They become increasingly more self-aware. They begin to express new emotions such as jealousy,
affection, pride, and shame.
 They show increasing fears.
 They may continuously ask for their parents.
 They have rapid mood shifts. Their emotions are usually very intense but short-lived.
 Routines are very important.
 They begin to play simple pretend games. Their fantasy play is very short and simple. It does not
involve others.
 They are generally very self-centered and sharing is still difficult. They enjoy playing near other
children.
 They try to assert themselves by saying "no."
 They sometimes do the opposite of what is asked.
 They like to imitate the behavior of adults and others. They want to help with household tasks.
 They become frustrated easily.
 They refuse help.
 They still need security.
 They are more sure of themselves than one-year-old children.
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Intellectual development
 They are curious.
 They point to objects that they want.
 They imitate animal sounds.
 They name familiar people and objects.
 They combine two words to form a basic sentence.
 They use the pronouns me and mine.
 They use "no" frequently.
 They name body parts and familiar pictures.
 They use objects for their intended purpose.
 They begin to include a second person in pretend play.
 Their attention span is short.
 They can hold a pencil and scribble.
 They are very active.
 Because of their developing imagination, they have trouble knowing what is real and what is
pretend.
 They follow simple directions.
 They use three or more words in combination.
 They express their feelings and wishes.
 They use objects to represent other objects.
 They still have a very limited attention span.
 They can memorize short rhymes.
 They join in simple songs.
 They begin to think about doing something before doing it.
 They have trouble making choices, but they want to make choices.
Activities to try
1. Take some time to watch your toddlers playing. Notice the differences in their physical
development: height, weight, how they relate to you and to other children, and their energy levels.
Some children seem to never sit still, while others seem happy to sit down with a book.
2. Toddlers learn by exploring and experimenting. They love to do things over and over. Some
activities that toddlers enjoy are listed below.
 Roll a ball to them to catch.
 Provide blocks for them to build with.
 Provide safe mirrors for them to look at themselves in. Talk with them about their reflections in the
mirror.
 Let them fill containers over and over again.
 Have them listen and move to music.
 Play hide and seek.
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 Let them push or pull a favourite toy.

 Provide wheeled toys without pedals.
 Look at picture books with them and talk about the pictures.
 Talk about the size, shape, and texture of everyday objects.
 Make comparisons such as "this ball is bigger than that ball."
 Talk about cause-and-effect relationships such as "if you push this block, the whole pile of blocks
will fall over."
 Encourage toddlers to run, jump, and climb outside.
 Sing simple songs with them.
 Sing and act out songs with simple movements.
 Play pat-a-cake.
 Teach them simple finger plays.
 Tell them simple, short stories (especially those about themselves or other two-year-old children).
 Let them pound a toy workbench.
 Let them play in a sandbox. Give them water to measure and pour.
 Let them stack blocks and other objects.
 Provide things that can be taken apart and put back together (such as pop beads).
 Ask children to name things in the pictures of picture books. Give them the correct word if they
cannot think of it.
 Give them simple directions to follow.
 Play matching games and use simple puzzles with them.
 Encourage pretending by providing dolls, housekeeping toys, dress-up clothes, and toy telephones.
 Introduce art activities such as scribbling and/or painting with crayons, chalk, and paint.
 Provide play dough and finger paint.
 Begin toilet training when the toddler is ready. Also, begin teaching hand washing and tooth
brushing.
 Encourage the development of routines.
Well-being and toddler development: The physical environment in a group care setting powerfully affects
children, caregivers, and their interactions. In infant/toddler classrooms without a design specifically aimed
at supporting children's development, young children spend much of their time either aimlessly wandering
about the room or engaged in teacher-directed activities. In poorly designed classrooms, children's
engagement in self-directed exploration and focused play is impaired. When children are not appropriately
engaged, aggressive behaviour increases. The caregiver finds herself saying "no" to the children far too
often. In such an environment, she needs to act as police officer and custodian, managing behaviour
instead of facilitating individual and group needs.
Exploring their physical environment comprises a great deal of the "curriculum" for mobile infants and
toddlers. We must, therefore, consider the impact of environment on children and caregivers, and learn to
design spaces that contribute appropriately to children's development. Many classrooms are simply not
designed to meet the developmental needs of infants and toddlers in group care, nor do they support
teachers in their role as facilitators of children's learning and self-directed play. By contrast, a well-designed
environment can have enormous positive impact on the well-being of both children and teachers.
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The Well-Designed Classroom
A well-designed environment is, of course, safe for infants and toddlers but, more than that, it supports
their emotional well-being, stimulates their senses, and challenges their motor skills. A quality design aims
to create a classroom that is highly functional, aesthetically attractive, age-appropriate, child-directed, and
teacher-supported. A well-designed group care environment promotes children's individual and social
development. The setting, layout, and equipment all give infants many opportunities to challenge
themselves through seeing, touching, feeling, and moving. In surroundings that are safe to explore freely,
infants learn to map their environment cognitively, to manipulate it, and to master it. We call such an
appropriate and challenging environment a Landscape for Learning.
A Landscape for Learning can be built into the design or renovation of any classroom. Through the use of
platforms, lofts, recessed areas, low walls, and canopies, all placed along the periphery of the classroom,
the room can be sculpted to provide a variety of age-appropriate activity areas. The walls frame the activity
areas, while the center of the classroom remains fairly open, allowing for the circulation of children and
adults, as well as providing flexible space that can change depending on the teachers' observations of the
children's interests. Children play under natural sunlight next to the windows and can look outside,
maintaining a visual connection with the outdoor environment while indoors.
Private Spaces
Sculpting the classroom into defined multilevel activity areas encourages individual and small-group play
without herding all the children from one activity to the next. While easily supervised by the caregiver,
these semi-enclosed activity areas provide for private and semi-private environments which are critical to
the development of the young child's self-concept and personal identity. Much of the aggression and
breakdowns that children experience in group care can be traced to the stress of being in a large group for
upwards of ten hours a day, five days a week. Creating spaces where children can retreat in privacy can
help to alleviate this stress.
Private spaces can also be achieved by incorporating into the classroom a tunnel; a carpeted, built-in
cabinet with the doors removed; a cozy loft space; or a few risers enclosing a small corner of the room.
Instead of experiencing the stress of being in a large group all day, the infant can withdraw to a private
space to rest, observe, and recharge emotionally. With access to these small-group activity areas, two
toddlers who are just beginning to develop a relationship can go off together.
The Planning Process

When undertaking a major remodel or designing a new child care facility, you have the opportunity to
create classroom and building layouts that will add to, rather than detract from, a developmentally
designed program. Visiting existing child care centers can be an important part of the design process;
however, creating a formal and deliberate written program for the space provides assurance that the goals
for the center will be addressed and incorporated into the design. A well-thought-out program provides a
set of criteria-pertaining to age groups, group size, ratios, child and adult activity areas, room sizes, and
other specifics-on which the design is based and by which it is later evaluated. It allows for the clarification
of objectives and the definition of expectations about the child development program, addressing
questions and concerns before construction takes place.
Incorporating some relatively simple features into a classroom can result in significant improvement in the
way the spaces are used by children and caregivers. Careful consideration of the needs of infants and
toddlers-to move, to change activities at will, to rest and observe-suggests additions and changes that can
strongly influence the atmosphere of the classroom.
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Lofts
An appropriately designed loft can be a wonderful addition to an infant/toddler classroom. Along with
supporting motor exploration, it provides a "get-away" place for a child, where he can watch the rest of the
group yet be by himself. It is also a place where an infant can snuggle with a caregiver. As well as creating
the feeling of more space in the classroom, an appropriately placed loft can help define two additional
activity areas.
Defined Space
The construction of low walls (24"-30" high) and carpeted platform areas (5" high) along the edge of the
room creates several different environments. Low partitions allow children to feel that they are in a
discrete space. This layout also allows the child care provider to supervise children easily. Children can
engage in extended individual and small-group play, while the child care provider supervises two or three
of these activity areas simultaneously.
Activities that work best when contained within a defined space, such as blocks, books, or small
manipulatives, benefit from the incorporation of a platform into the classroom. If a child is playing with
blocks on a raised platform, the strong definition of the space naturally confines the block building to its
own area instead of letting it spill into the adjacent activity area or circulation space where it might be
trampled on and knocked over.
Space for Movement
Movement is essential to a child's physical and emotional development. Once an infant can crawl and pull
herself up, moving becomes a mjor focus of her day. Even if there is nothing safe in the classroom to climb
on, she will find a way to climb-onto tables and shelves, rocking chairs and high chairs. Because these
activities are unsafe, the teacher will redirect the child off the piece of equipment. The message the child
receives is that what she is doing is not okay. Self-initiated exploration, a primary focus for healthy
development, is prevented instead of promoted. Creating a classroom that supports appropriate
movement is a fundamental component in designing a developmentally appropriate environment. Motor
competence and emotional competence are closely linked in infants and toddlers. Feeding oneself,
crawling to a desired toy and picking it up, climbing to the top of a loft, and going down a slide are all
activities that help the infant develop a sense of self, a feeling that he is capable, that he can achieve, that
he can master.
The indoor environment must support a child's need to crawl, climb, run, and jump. Most (though not all!)
four-year-olds can accept a teacher's saying to them, "We're going outside in 20 minutes and then you can
run. Until then, you can play at the water table, paint, build with blocks, or read a book." A 16-month-old
cannot grasp such limitations. She needs to crawl now' she needs to climb now; she needs to move now.
Her environment must support and encourage this fundamental need.
Appropriate equipment is essential in order to meet the developmental needs of infants and toddlers in
group care. Equipment that is ideal for individual development may cause conflict in a group care setting.
For instance, a step/slide unit which only one child at a time can use leads to conflict, whereas a step/slide
wide enough for at least two children allows toddlers to be more actively involved in motor exploration,
and gives them an opportunity for positive peer interaction. Rather than controlling and redirecting, the
caregiver spends her time facilitating children's extended prosocial play, supporting a child-directed
learning experience.
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Nancy, a teacher in a toddler classroom, has a wooden step-and-slide unit in her classroom. Toddlers love
to climb and slide, so this is a popular and well-used item. Unfortunately, the steps and the slide are only
wide enough to allow one child at a time to use them. Since toddlers find it difficult to wait their turn, the
children in back inevitably try to push their way around the child in front-with predictable results.
Other Equipment
Additional equipment and materials can include pillows (attractive and washable), hanging plants, fish,
natural wood toy shelves (24" high, secured to wall), photographs of children and family members (covered
with clear contact paper, laminated, or Plexiglas framed), wide full-length Plexiglas mirrors, and hammocks
for rocking infants. (Hammocks are preferable to rocking chairs because they allow the caregiver to rock
more than one infant at a time if necessary. Rocking chairs can seriously hurt an infant who crawls behind
one in motion; they also take up floor space, while hammocks can be taken off their hooks and stored
when not in use.)
Risers
Carpeted risers are an indispensable piece of equipment. They can be used to create "safe spaces" for
young infants while older infants are crawling and moving about. They can also be used to define activity
and circulation areas, or as a toy shelf, a safe balance beam, or a jumping platform. A 12"-high riser
provides a comfortable seating area for caregivers, allowing them to observe and interact at eye level with
the children, without having to spend their whole day sitting on the floor.
Classroom Design Guidelines

The following guidelines provide a starting point for the design or renovation of a child care environment:
Group Size. The number of children cared for in one classroom affects infants' health and wellbeing, as
does the adult:child ratio. Large group size means that children get sick more often, and general noise and
activity levels increase. Infants should be cared for in groups of no more than six to eight children; toddlers,
in groups of no more than eight to 12 children (APHA & AAP, 1992; Lally et al., 1995; Ruopp et al, 1979).
Room Size. Children in group care environments require adequate space in order to move, grow, and learn.
In classrooms that are too small, children behave more aggressively and have a higher incidence of illness.
They are less focused, engage in more aimless wandering, and interact less with others (Ruopp et al., 1979).
For a group size of six or fewer, the classroom should incorporate a minimum of 350 square feet of usable
space (Zero to Three, 1992). For more than six children, 50 feet of usable space per child should be
provided (APHA & AAP, 1992). Usable space does not include cribs, nap rooms, kitchens, bathrooms,
diapering areas, adult storage, or other space that is not accessible to children.
Flooring. lnfants and toddlers spend much of their time on the floor. For safety and comfort, the majority of
the classroom should be carpeted, with the exception of the entrance, diapering and bathroom areas, and
eating and messy play (water play/painting) areas. Use low-pile, neutral-colored, anti-microbial carpeting
(to prevent the growth of fungus and mold).
Ventilation. A well-designed child care facility provides appropriate natural and mechanical ventilation,
such as windows that open, ceiling fans to circulate the air, operable skylights, and central air that uses
mostly fresh, rather than recirculated, air. Because children love to observe, each classroom should have
several child-height windows, allowing children to feel visually connected with the outside, and engaging
them throughout the day.
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Lighting. Poor lighting can negatively affect the general atmosphere of the classroom. Lighting that is either
too bright or too dim can strain the eyes. Incandescent lighting is preferable to fluorescent, which can make
a classroom feel like a hospital or office instead of a place to play. Incandescent lighting helps the classroom
look and feel more like a home.
Pools of light for specific activity areas can be created using pendant lights and track lights. Add indirect
lighting using recessed lights or wall sconces. Dimmer switches allow the lighting to be adjusted according
to the brightness needed at different times of day and in support of varying activities.
Sinks. Hand washing is essential to reduce the spread of illness among children. Separate sinks should be
provided for food preparation and diapering. Toddlers should have their own child-height sinks in the
classroom. Trough sinks, which have two or three faucets, are especially useful to minimize waiting as well
as to encourage prosocial interaction and to model appropriate behavior.
Color. The choice of classroom colors plays an important role in creating a rich and home-like environment.
Bright primary color schemes can create an environment which feels over-stimulating to the children as
well as to adults. A neutral colored background, such as ivory/eggshell-colored walls, and furniture made
out of natural wood will provide a calming atmosphere in the classroom. Colorful toys, materials, and
pictures on the wall stand out on a warm, neutral background, helping children to focus and visually to
discriminate the object from the background.
Storage. A developmentally designed environment depends on adequate, easily accessible storage located
within the classroom. Wall storage adjacent to every activity area allows caregivers to change play
materials without leaving the classroom under-supervised. Storage located on the walls does not take up
valuable, usable play space.
Ease of Supervision. A well-designed environment allows teachers to supervise children from anywhere in
the classroom. Place activity areas along the walls, leaving the center of the room open, with diapering and
food-prep areas separated from the classroom by half-height walls. Separate nap rooms can incorporate
low windows (30"-34" high) to allow teachers easy visual access.
Conclusion
A developmentally designed environment supports children's individual and social development. It

encourages exploration, focused play, and cooperation. It provides choices for children and supports self-
directed learning. A developmentally designed environment also supports the caregiver-child relationship.
It minimizes management and custodial activities, allowing caregivers more time for interaction,
observation, and facilitation of children's development.
Ubuntu and rights

New enthusiasm for game playing
By now your toddler is probably pretty good at walking, has a handful of words in her vocabulary, and likes
to push and pull toys while walking. She can most likely use a spoon or fork and might be able to walk
backwards. She probably likes playing games with you, like pointing to body parts or pictures when asked.
She also likes taking objects in and out of containers. She's beginning to get a sense of how things fit --
she'll try matching lids and stacking blocks.
Her individual style is developing
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Every child is born with a particular way of interacting with the world. This is her temperament. As she
grows, these inborn inclinations will begin to show. While one child might tend to be flexible and adapt
easily to change, another prefers a more predictable schedule. Work out how your child is likely to respond
and how you can modify her environment to help her succeed. Adults can seek out the circumstances that
make them most comfortable, but your toddler depends completely on you. Respecting your child's innate
characteristics will help her develop her fullest potential.
Awareness of self
At 15 months, your toddler recognises herself in the mirror -- no longer will she reach out and try to touch
the "other" baby. She's beginning to experience herself as an autonomous entity, not merely as an
extension of you.
Just saying "no!"

Beginning as early as a few months after their first birthday, most toddlers go through a period of adamant
no-saying. It's their way of asserting their new sense of self. You might be able to reduce her "no" usage by
keeping yours to a minimum. Instead of saying "No, don't touch that," you could try "I'd like you to play
over here."
Pair Activity:
Explain the following types of development of toddler: physical,
emotional and intellectual development. Check your answers with the
rest of the group/class
AC2.Different ways of seeing the development of young

children are compared to highlight key similarities and
differences in the theories
Muscles and Motor Skills
The growth of a young child's physical abilities is truly amazing. Think of all the physical abilities a child
must develop to adjust to the world: learning to see and recognize others, rolling over, holding a bottle or
cup, crawling around objects and more.
These are all complex physical tasks that require strength, coordination and perception. They also are
developmental moments, those windows of time when parents or caregivers can see the ways in which a
young child is growing and developing new skills and abilities.
Physical development
provides children with the abilities they need to explore and interact with the world around them.
A young child's physical growth first begins as muscles gain strength with use and children gradually
develop coordination. The development of muscular control is the first step in this process.
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Think about the words physical development. They encompass so many different tasks and abilities. What
are some of them and what role do they play? For example, crawling across the floor is a task young
children engage in that involves physical development.
It also involves activities such as running around outside, jumping on the bed, grasping a parent's finger or
using a pencil to draw in a coloring book.
Where do these tasks all fit in the world of physical growth and development?
Patterns of Physical Development

The findings of a variety of research efforts suggest parents' goals for their children related to physical
development often vary across cultures and socioeconomic groups. The expectations parents have for a
child's physical development thus will depend on culture, family status or the presence of physical
limitations.
For example, in a culture where a sport such as soccer is played early and very competitively, a parent's
assessment of a child's physical abilities may be linked to performance on the soccer field. But the basic
patterns of physical development in children are universal.
The concept of development includes two major categories: normative development and dynamic
development. Each of these is defined as follows:
• Normative development concerns the typical (normal) capabilities, as well as limitations, of most
children of a given age within a given cultural group. It indicates a typical range of what children can and
cannot be expected to do and learn at a given time.
• Dynamic development concerns the sequence and physical changes that occur in all aspects of a child's
functioning with the passage of time and increasing experience, and how these changes interact.
Normative development is important because it allows parents and other adults to understand what to
expect of a child physically at different ages. For example, expecting a 3-year-old child to zip her own coat
would be unrealistic because she still is developing the physical ability to use fingers in that way.
How do you know what a child should be able to do physically? Typically, we refer to developmental
milestones to indicate steps in physical ability for a child that should be reflected at different ages, such as
during the 3- to 6-month period or between 2 and 3 years.
Charts indicating common developmental milestones in physical abilities are included with the NDSU
Extension Service publication "Supporting Physical Growth and Development in Young Children," which is
available at your local Extension office or on the Internet at the NDSU Extension Service Web site.
The term motor development refers to physical growth, or growth in the ability of children to use their
bodies and physical skills. Motor development often has been defined as the process by which a child
acquires movement patterns and skills.
Genetics, size at birth, body build and composition, nutrition, rearing and birth order, social class,
temperament, ethnicity and culture influence motor development. Physical growth follows several basic
principles.
Many times in thinking about physical development, we think most about large-muscle or gross-motor
development. This type of development refers to the use of large-muscle groups in the legs (running) or
arms (throwing).
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However, small-muscle or fine-motor development also is included in the physical development of a child,
and deals with such areas as smiling, picking up a fork or tying a shoe.
Small-muscle development is evident as infants grasp cereal to put in their mouths and is enhanced by
activities such as picking up blocks or drawing with crayons.
Activity No. 1 - Thinking About Outdoor Activities

Outdoor activities are important for children to learn and develop their physical
abilities as they grow older. Brainstorm and list responses to the following
questions related to outdoor activities. Discuss them with a spouse, friend, family
member or group.
• What was your favorite outdoor activity as a child?
• What is one thing you enjoy doing outside now that could include your child?
• What are the benefits of outdoor play?
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• What are some barriers to outdoor play for children and possible solutions?
How Children's Bodies Grow

A number of principles regarding physical growth can be helpful in understanding a child's physical
development.
Directional Growth
First, the growth of a child's body follows a directional pattern in three ways. Knowing this is important so
expectations of a child's physical abilities are appropriate. The patterns of development are:
1. Large to small muscle or gross to fine motor development _ Large- to small- muscle
development means large muscles develop in the neck, trunk, arms and legs before the
small muscles in the fingers, hands, wrists and eyes develop. Children can walk before they
can write or scribble.
2. Head to toe or top to bottom _ A second pattern is children's muscles develop from head
to toe. This is why babies can hold up their heads long before they can walk.
3. Inside to outside or center to outside _ A third pattern is muscles develop from the center
of the body first and then toward the outside of the body. Muscles around the trunk of the
body develop earlier and are stronger than muscles in the hands, feet, etc.
General to Specific Growth

Large-muscle movement begins with waving of the arms and legs of infants, and it then develops into the
more specific movements of an older child who can walk and draw a picture. So, muscle growth begins with
more general abilities and becomes more specific and defined as children get older.
Differentiation and Integration in Growth

Differentiation is the process that a child's muscles go through as he or she gains control over specific parts
of the body and head. Once children have found (differentiated) the parts of their body, they can integrate
the movements and combine specific movements to perform more complex physical activities, such as
walking, building a block tower or riding a bike.
Variations in Growth
Children vary in their physical abilities at different ages. Different parts of the body grow at different rates.
The range of physical skills to be expected in gross- or fine-motor development will be very different for
infants versus preschoolers. Further information on variations in physical abilities among children at
different ages is explored in a separate publication.
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Optimal Tendency in Growth

In children, growth generally tries to fulfill its potential. If growth is slowed for a particular reason, such as
malnutrition, the body will try to catch up when it is able to do so. This is one reason why children may
develop skills in later years even if delays occurred at an earlier point in their development.
Sequential Growth
Different areas of a child's body will grow at different times. In other words, development is orderly and
occurs in a pattern. Children must be able to stand before they can walk. This pattern is evident in a
number of ways, such as rolling over before sitting up, sitting up before crawling and crawling before
walking, etc.
Growth During Critical Periods

Growth in certain areas of a child's physical development may be more important at particular times during
childhood. For example, recent brain research indicates the first few years of life are very important in the
development of the brain's growth and for intellectual competence. Similarly, the critical time for the
development of motor skills is between 18 and 60 months of age (1 to 5 years).
Research suggests children go through four physical growth cycles: two of slow growth and two of rapid
growth. The first period of rapid physical growth goes from conception to the age of 6 months. The rate of
growth gradually slows during the toddler and preschool periods. The second period of rapid growth is
during puberty in the years of preadolescence and adolescence. Another period of levelling off occurs after
puberty until adult growth is achieved.
Activity No. 2 - Brainstorming Activities for Physical Development
Brainstorm ideas for the use of materials to promote physical development through
different activities. Record activity ideas, identify materials needed and highlight the
areas of physical development addressed. Share with a family member, friend or group.
Record activity ideas Identify materials Describe the areas of physical
needed for the development addressed (fine
activity motor, hand-eye
coordination, etc.)
• Example - Rolling a ball back Soft plastic ball Gross-motor skills - arm
and forth with a toddler or muscles, fine-motor skills -
preschooler. hands, hand-eye coordination
Types of Movement and Their Benefits for Children

Children need to move and be active in many different ways to reach their full physical development.
Remember the following points:
 Children grow and mature at individual rates.

 Children's motor development progresses through a sequence.
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 Children need to build on what they know, going from simple to complex.
Different types of physical movement are important in a child's physical development. Parents and
caregivers can benefit from learning the importance of patterns of physical development to support
children as they learn to move and develop physical abilities.
The types of physical movement that children engage in and are important to their physical development
include the following categories:
Locomotor Movement
Movement of the body from place to place is involved in locomotor movement. Physical abilities such as
crawling, walking, hopping, jumping, running, leaping, galloping and skipping are examples of locomotor
movement. This type of movement helps develop gross-motor skills.
Nonlocomotor Movement
Movement of the body while staying in one place is involved in nonlocomotor movement. Physical abilities
such as pushing, pulling, twisting, turning, wiggling, sitting and rising are examples of nonlocomotor
movement. This type of movement helps develop balance and coordination skills.
Manipulative Movement
Movement that involves controlled use of the hands and feet is reflected in manipulative movement.
Physical abilities such as grasping, opening and closing hands, waving, throwing and catching are examples
of manipulative movement. This type of movement helps develop fine-motor skills and hand-eye
coordination.
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Stages of Moral Development
Moral development is a topic of interest in both psychology and education. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg
modified and expanded upon Jean Piaget's work to form a theory that explained the development of moral
reasoning. Piaget described a two-stage process of moral development, while Kohlberg theory of moral
development outlined six stages within three different levels. Kohlberg extended Piaget’s theory, proposing
that moral development is a continual process that occurs throughout the lifespan.
"The Heinz Dilemma"

Kohlberg based his theory upon research and interviews with groups of young children. A series of moral
dilemmas were presented to children, who were then interviewed to determine the reasoning behind their
judgments of each scenario. The following is one example of the dilemmas Kohlberg presented.
"Heinz Steals the Drug

In South Africa, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the
doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently
discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost
him to make. He paid R200 for the radium and charged R2,000 for a small dose of the drug.
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The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get
together about R 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked
him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to
make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife.
Should the husband have done that? (Kohlberg, 1963)."
Kohlberg was not interested so much in the answer to the question of whether Heinz was wrong or right,
but in the reasoning for each participant's decision. The responses were then classified into various stages
of reasoning in his theory of moral development.
Level 1. Preconventional Morality

 Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment
The earliest stage of moral development is especially common in young children, but adults are also
capable of expressing this type of reasoning. At this stage, children see rules as fixed and absolute.
Obeying the rules is important because it is a means to avoid punishment.
 Stage 2 - Individualism and Exchange
At this stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions
based on how they serve individual needs. In the Heinz dilemma, children argued that the best course of
action was the choice that best-served Heinz’s needs. Reciprocity is possible, but only if it serves one's
own interests.
Level 2. Conventional Morality

 Stage 3 - Interpersonal Relationships
Often referred to as the "good boy-good girl" orientation, this stage of moral development is focused on
living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being "nice," and
consideration of how choices influence relationships.
 Stage 4 - Maintaining Social Order
At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole when making
judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one’s duty and
respecting authority.
Level 3. Postconventional Morality

 Stage 5 - Social Contract and Individual Rights
At this stage, people begin to account for the differing values, opinions and beliefs of other people. Rules
of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the society should agree upon these
standards.
 Stage 6 - Universal Principles
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Kolhberg’s final level of moral reasoning is based upon universal ethical principles and abstract
reasoning. At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with
laws and rules.
Criticisms of Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development:

 Does moral reasoning necessarily lead to moral behavior? Kohlberg's theory is concerned with
moral thinking, but there is a big difference between knowing what we ought to do versus our
actual actions.
 Is justice the only aspect of moral reasoning we should consider? Critics have pointed out that
Kohlberg's theory of moral development overemphasizes the concept as justice when making
moral choices. Factors such as compassion, caring and other interpersonal feelings may play an
important part in moral reasoning.
 Does Kohlberg's theory overemphasize Western philosophy? Individualistic cultures emphasize
personal rights while collectivist cultures stress the importance of society and community. Eastern
cultures may have different moral outlooks that Kohlberg's theory does not account for.
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial crisis life cycle model - the eight

stages of human development
Erikson's model of psychosocial development is a very significant, highly regarded and meaningful concept.
Life is a series of lessons and challenges which help us to grow. Erikson's wonderful theory helps to tell us
why.
The theory is helpful for child development, and adults too.
For the 'lite' version, here's a quick diagram and summary. Extra details follow the initial overview.
For more information than appears on this page, read Erikson's books; he was an award-winning writer and
this review does not convey the richness of Erikson's own explanations. It's also interesting to see how his
ideas develop over time, perhaps aided by his own journey through the 'psychosocial crisis' stages model
that underpinned his work.
Erik Erikson first published his eight stage theory of human development in his 1950 book Childhood and
Society. The chapter featuring the model was titled 'The Eight Ages of Man'. He expanded and refined his
theory in later books and revisions, notably: Identity and the Life Cycle (1959); Insight and Responsibility
(1964); The Life Cycle Completed: A Review (1982, revised 1996 by Joan Erikson); and Vital Involvement in
Old Age (1989). Erikson's biography lists more books.
Various terms are used to describe Erikson's model, for example Erikson's biopsychosocial or bio-psycho-
social theory (bio refers to biological, which in this context means life); Erikson's human development cycle
or life cycle, and variations of these. All refer to the same eight stages psychosocial theory, it being
Erikson's most distinct work and remarkable model.
The word 'psychosocial' is Erikson's term, effectively from the words psychological (mind) and social
(relationships).
Erikson believed that his psychosocial principle is genetically inevitable in shaping human development. It
occurs in all people.
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He also referred to his theory as 'epigenesis' and the 'epigenetic principle', which signified the concept's
relevance to evolution (past and future) and genetics.
Erikson explained his use of the word 'epigenesis' thus: "...epi can mean 'above' in space as well as 'before'
in time, and in connection with genesis can well represent the space-time nature of all development..."
(from Vital Involvement in Old Age, 1989).
In Erikson's theory, Epigenetic therefore does not refer to individual genetic make-up and its influence on
individual development. This was not central to Erikson's ideas.
Erikson, like Freud, was largely concerned with how personality and behaviour is influenced after birth - not
before birth - and especially during childhood. In the 'nature v nurture' (genes v experience) debate,
Erikson was firmly focused on nurture and experience.
Erik Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development

Like other seminal concepts, Erikson's model is simple and elegant, yet very sophisticated. The theory is a
basis for broad or complex discussion and analysis of personality and behaviour, and also for understanding
and for facilitating personal development - of self and others.
The main elements of the theory covered in this explanation are:
 Erikson theory overview - a diagram and concise explanation of the main features of model.
 The Freudian stages of psychosexual development, which influenced Erikson's approach to the
psychosocial model.
 Erikson's 'psychosocial crises' (or crisis stages) - meanings and interpretations.
 'Basic virtues' (basic strengths) - the potential positive outcomes arising from each of the crisis stages.
 'Maladapations' and 'Malignancies' - potential negative outcomes (one or the other) arising from each
crisis stage.
 Erikson terminology - variations and refinements to names and headings, etc.
 Erik Erikson biography (briefly)
N.B. This summary occasionally uses the terms 'positive' and 'negative' to identify the first or second factors
in each crisis (e.g., Trust = positive; Mistrust = negative) however no crisis factor (disposition or emotional
force - whatever you choose to call them - descriptions are quite tricky as even Erikson found) is actually
wholly positive or wholly negative. Healthy personality development is based on a sensible balance
between 'positive' and 'negative' dispositions at each crisis stage. Erikson didn't use the words positive and
negative in this sense. He tended to use 'syntonic' and 'dystonic' to differentiate between the two sides of
each crisis, which is why I occasionally use the more recognisable 'positive' and 'negative' terms, despite
them being potentially misleading. You should also qualify your use of these terms if using them in relation
to the crisis stages.
Erikson's psychosocial theory - summary diagram

Here's a broad introduction to the main features of Erikson's model. Various people have produced
different interpretations like this grid below. Erikson produced a few charts of his own too, from different
perspectives, but he seems never to have produced a fully definitive matrix. To aid explanation and use of
his theory he produced several perspectives in grid format, some of which he advocated be used as
worksheets. He viewed his concept as an evolving work in progress. This summary attempts to show the
main points of the Erikson psychosocial crisis theory of human development. More detail follows this
overview.
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Erikson's Freudian life stage / relationships / basic virtue maladaptation /

psychosocial crisis psycho- issues and second malignancy (potential
stages sexual named negative outcome -
(syntonic v dystonic) stages strength one or the other -
(potential from unhelpful
positive experience during
outcomes from each crisis)
each crisis)
1. Trust v Mistrust Oral infant / mother / feeding and Hope and Sensory Distortion /
being comforted, teething, Drive Withdrawal
sleeping
2. Autonomy v Anal toddler / parents / bodily Willpower and Impulsivity /

Shame & Doubt functions, toilet training, Self-Control Compulsion
muscular control, walking
3. Initiative v Guilt Phallic preschool / family / Purpose and Ruthlessness /

exploration and discovery, Direction Inhibition
adventure and play
4. Industry v Latency schoolchild / school, Competence Narrow Virtuosity /

Inferiority teachers, friends, and Method Inertia
neighbourhood /
achievement and
accomplishment
5. Identity v Role Puberty adolescent / peers, groups, Fidelity and Fanaticism /

Confusion and influences / resolving identity Devotion Repudiation
Genitality and direction, becoming a
grown-up
6. Intimacy v (Genitality) young adult / lovers, friends, Love and Promiscuity /

Isolation work connections / intimate Affiliation Exclusivity
relationships, work and social
life
7. Generativity v n/a mid-adult / children, Care and Overextension /

Stagnation community / 'giving back', Production Rejectivity
helping, contributing
8. Integrity v Despair n/a late adult / society, the Wisdom and Presumption / Disdain
world, life / meaning and Renunciation
purpose, life achievements
The colours are merely to help presentation and do not signify any relationships between factors. This chart
attempts to capture and present concisely the major elements of Erikson's theory, drawn from various
Erikson books, diagrams and other references, including Childhood and Society (1950); Identity and the Life
Cycle (1959); The Life Cycle Completed: A Review (1982, revised 1996 by Joan Erikson); and Vital
Involvement in Old Age (1989). Erikson later suggested psychosexual stages 7 and 8, but they are not
typically part of Freud's scheme which extended only to Puberty/Genitality. See Freud's psychosexual
stages below.
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Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory overview

Erikson's psychosocial theory is widely and highly regarded. As with any concept there are critics, but
generally Erikson's theory is considered fundamentally significant. Erikson was a psychoanalyst and also a
humanitarian. So his theory is useful far beyond psychoanalysis - it's useful for any application involving
personal awareness and development - of oneself or others.
There is a strong, but not essential, Freudian element in Erikson's work and model. Fans of Freud will find
the influence useful. People who disagree with Freud, and especially his psychosexual theory, can ignore
the Freudian aspect and still find Erikson's ideas useful. Erikson's theory stands alone and does not depend
on Freud for its robustness and relevance.
Aside from Freudian psychoanalysis, Erikson developed his theory mainly from his extensive practical field
research, initially with Native American communities, and then also from his clinical therapy work attached
to leading mental health centres and universities. He actively pioneered psychoanalytical development
from the late 1940's until the 1990's.
Erikson's concept crucially incorporated cultural and social aspects into Freud's biological and sexually
oriented theory.
Erikson was able to do this because of his strong interest and compassion for people, especially young
people, and also because his research was carried out among human societies far removed from the more
inward-looking world of the psychoanalyst's couch, which was essentially Freud's approach.
This helps Erikson's eight stages theory to be a tremendously powerful model: it is very accessible and
obviously relevant to modern life, from several different perspectives, for understanding and explaining
how personality and behaviour develops in people. As such Erikson's theory is useful for teaching,
parenting, self-awareness, managing and coaching, dealing with conflict, and generally for understanding
self and others.
Both Erikson and his wife Joan, who collaborated as psychoanalysts and writers, were passionately
interested in childhood development, and its effects on adult society. Eriksons' work is as relevant today as
when he first outlined his original theory, in fact given the modern pressures on society, family and
relationships - and the quest for personal development and fulfilment - his ideas are probably more
relevant now than ever.
Erikson's psychosocial theory basically asserts that people experience eight 'psychosocial crisis stages'
which significantly affect each person's development and personality. Joan Erikson described a 'ninth' stage
after Erik's death, but the eight stage model is most commonly referenced and is regarded as the standard.
(Joan Erikson's work on the 'ninth stage' appears in her 1996 revisions to The Life Cycle Completed: A
Review, and will in the future be summarised on this page.)
Erikson's theory refers to 'psychosocial crisis' (or psychosocial crises, being the plural). This term is an
extension of Sigmund Freud's use of the word 'crisis', which represents internal emotional conflict. You
might also describe this sort of crisis as an internal struggle or challenge which a person must negotiate and
deal with in order to grow and develop.
Erikson's 'psychosocial' term is derived from the two source words - namely psychological (or the root,
'psycho' relating to the mind, brain, personality, etc) and social (external relationships and environment),
both at the heart of Erikson's theory. Occasionally you'll see the term extended to biopsychosocial, in which
bio refers to life, as in biological.
51 | P a g e
Each stage involves a crisis of two opposing emotional forces. A helpful term used by Erikson for these
opposing forces is 'contrary dispositions'. Each crisis stage relates to a corresponding life stage and its
inherent challenges. Erikson used the words 'syntonic' for the first-listed 'positive' disposition in each crisis
(e.g., Trust) and 'dystonic' for the second-listed 'negative' disposition (e.g., Mistrust). To signify the
opposing or conflicting relationship between each pair of forces or dispositions Erikson connected them
with the word 'versus', which he abbreviated to 'v'. (Versus is Latin, meaning turned towards or against.)
The actual definitions of the syntonic and dystonic words (see Erikson's terminology below) are mainly
irrelevant unless you have a passion for the detailed history of Erikson's ideas.
Successfully passing through each crisis involves 'achieving' a healthy ratio or balance between the two
opposing dispositions that represent each crisis. For example a healthy balance at crisis stage stage one
(Trust v Mistrust) might be described as experiencing and growing through the crisis 'Trust' (of people, life
and one's future development) and also experiencing and growing a suitable capacity for 'Mistrust' where
appropriate, so as not to be hopelessly unrealistic or gullible, nor to be mistrustful of everything. Or
experiencing and growing through stage two (Autonomy v Shame & Doubt) to be essentially 'Autonomous'
(to be one's own person and not a mindless or quivering follower) but to have sufficient capacity for
'Shame and Doubt', so as to be free-thinking and independent, while also being ethical and considerate and
responsible, etc.
Erikson called these successful balanced outcomes 'Basic Virtues' or 'Basic Strengths'. He identified one
particular word to represent the fundamental strength gained at each stage, which appear commonly in
Erikson's diagrams and written theory, and other explanations of his work. Erikson also identified a second
supporting 'strength' word at each stage, which along with the basic virtue emphasised the main healthy
outcome at each stage, and helped convey simple meaning in summaries and charts. Examples of basic
virtues and supporting strengths words are 'Hope and Drive' (from stage one, Trust v Mistrust) and
'Willpower and Self-Control' (from stage two, Autonomy v Shame & Doubt). It's very useful however to gain
a more detailed understanding of the meaning behind these words because although Erikson's choice these
words is very clever, and the words are very symbolic, using just one or two words alone is not adequate
for truly conveying the depth of the theory, and particularly the emotional and behavioural strengths that
arise from healthy progression through each crisis. More detail about basic virtues and strengths is in the
Basic Virtues section.
Erikson was sparing in his use of the word 'achieve' in the context of successful outcomes, because it
implied gaining something clear-cut and permanent. Psychosocial development is not clear-cut and is not
irreversible: any previous crisis can effectively revisit anyone, albeit in a different guise, with successful or
unsuccessful results. This perhaps helps explain how 'high achievers' can fall from grace, and how 'hopeless
failures' can ultimately achieve great things. No-one should become complacent, and there is hope for us
all.
Later in his life Erikson was keen to warn against interpreting his theory into an 'achievement scale', in
which the crisis stages represent single safe achievement or target of the extreme 'positive' option, secured
once and for ever. Erikson said (in Identity and the Life Cycle):
"...What the child acquires at a given stage is a certain ratio between the positive and negative, which if the
balance is toward the positive, will help him to meet later crises with a better chance for unimpaired total
development..."
He continued (in rather complicated language, hence paraphrasing) that at no stage can a 'goodness' be
achieved which is impervious to new conflicts, and that to believe so is dangerous and inept.
The crisis stages are not sharply defined steps. Elements tend to overlap and mingle from one stage to the
next and to the preceding stages. It's a broad framework and concept, not a mathematical formula which
replicates precisely across all people and situations.
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Erikson was keen to point out that the transition between stages is 'overlapping'. Crisis stages connect with
each other like inter-laced fingers, not like a series of neatly stacked boxes. People don't suddenly wake up
one morning and be in a new life stage. Changes don't happen in regimented clear-cut steps. Changes are
graduated, mixed-together and organic. In this respect the 'feel' of the model is similar to other flexible
human development frameworks (for example, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's 'Grief Cycle', and Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs).
Where a person passes unsuccessfully through a psychosocial crisis stage they develop a tendency towards
one or other of the opposing forces (either to the syntonic or the dystonic, in Erikson's language), which
then becomes a behavioural tendency, or even a mental problem. In crude terms we might call this
'baggage' or a 'hang-up', although perhaps avoid such terms in serious work. I use them here to illustrate
that Erikson's ideas are very much related to real life and the way ordinary people think and wonder about
things.
Erikson called an extreme tendency towards the syntonic (first disposition) a 'maladapation', and he
identified specific words to represent the maladapation at each stage. He called an extreme tendency
towards the dystonic (second disposition) a 'malignancy', and again he identified specific words to
represent the malignancy at each stage. More under 'Maladapations' and 'Malignancies'.
Erikson emphasised the significance of and 'mutuality' and 'generativity' in his theory. The terms are linked.
Mutuality reflects the effect of generations on each other, especially among families, and particularly
between parents and children and grandchildren. Everyone potentially affects everyone else's experiences
as they pass through the different crisis stages. Generativity, actually a named disposition within one of the
crisis stages (Generativity v Stagnation, stage seven), reflects the significant relationship between adults
and the best interests of children - one's own children, and in a way everyone else's children - the next
generation, and all following generations.
Generations affect each other. A parent obviously affects the child's psychosocial development, but in turn
the parent's psychosocial development is affected by their experience of dealing with the child and the
pressures produced. Same for grandparents. Again this helps explain why as parents (or teachers or siblings
or grandparents) we can often struggle to deal well with a young person when it's as much as we can do to
deal with our own emotional challenges.
In some ways the development actually peaks at stage seven, since stage eight is more about taking stock
and coming to terms with how one has made use of life, and ideally preparing to leave it feeling at peace.
The perspective of giving and making a positive difference for future generations echoes Erikson's
humanitarian philosophy, and it's this perhaps more than anything else that enabled him to develop such a
powerful concept.
Erikson's Psychosocial Theory In More Detail

Freud's Influence On Erikson's Theory
Erikson's psychosocial theory of the 'eight stages of human development' drew from and extended the
ideas of Sigmund Freud and Freud's daughter Anna Freud, and particularly the four (or five, depending on
interpretation) Freudian stages of development, known as Freud's psychosexual stages or Freud's sexual
theory. These concepts are fundamental to Freudian thinking and are outlined below in basic terms relating
to Erikson's psychosocial stages.
Freud's concepts, while influential on Erikson, are not however fundamental to Erikson's theory, which
stands up perfectly well in its own right.
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It is not necessary therefore to understand or agree with Freud's ideas in order to appreciate and use
Erikson's theory. If you naturally relate to Freud's ideas fine, otherwise leave them to one side.
Part of Erikson's appeal is that he built on Freud's ideas in a socially meaningful and accessible way - and in
a way that did not wholly rely on adherence to fundamental Freudian thinking. Some of Freud's theories by
their nature tend attract a lot of attention and criticism - sex, breasts, genitals, and bodily functions
generally do - and if you are distracted or put off by these references then ignore them, because they are
not crucial for understanding and using Erikson's model.
Freud's Psychosexual Stages - Overview

Age guide is a broad approximation, hence the overlaps. The stages happen in this sequence, but not to a
fixed timetable.
Freudian psychosexual stages - overview Erikson's psychosocial age guide

crisis stages
1. Oral Stage - Feeding, crying, teething, biting, 1. Trust v Mistrust 0-1½ yrs, baby, birth
thumb-sucking, weaning - the mouth and the breast to walking
are the centre of all experience. The infant's actual
experiences and attachments to mum (or maternal
equivalent) through this stage have a fundamental
effect on the unconscious mind and thereby on
deeply rooted feelings, which along with the next two
stages affect all sorts of behaviours and (sexually
powered) drives and aims - Freud's 'libido' - and
preferences in later life.
2. Anal Stage - It's a lot to do with pooh - 'holding on' 2. Autonomy v Shame and 1-3 yrs, toddler, toilet
or 'letting go' - the pleasure and control. Is it dirty? Is Doubt training
it okay? Bodily expulsions are the centre of the world,
and the pivot around which early character is formed.
Am I pleasing my mum and dad? Are they making me
feel good or bad about my bottom? Am I okay or
naughty? Again the young child's actual experiences
through this stage have a deep effect on the
unconscious and behaviours and preferences in later
life.
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3. Phallic Stage - Phallic is not restricted to boys. This 3. Initiative v Guilt 3-6 yrs, pre-school,
stage is focused on resolving reproductive issues. This nursery
is a sort of dry run before the real game starts in
adolescence. Where do babies come from? Can I have
a baby? Why has dad got a willy and I've not? Why
have I got a willy and mum hasn't? Why do they tell
me off for touching my bits and pieces down there?
(Boys) I'm going to marry mum (and maybe kill dad).
(Girls) I'm in love with my dad. Oedipus Complex,
Penis envy, Castration Anxiety, etc. "If you touch
yourself down there it'll fall off/heal up.." Inevitably
once more, experiences in this stage have a profound
effect on feelings and behaviour and libido in later
life. If you want to know more about all this I
recommend you read about Freud, not Erikson, and I
repeat that understanding Freud's psychosexual
theory is not required for understanding and using
Erikson's concepts.
4. Latency Stage - Sexual dormancy or repression. The 4. Industry v Inferiority 5-12 yrs, early school
focus is on learning, skills, schoolwork. This is actually
not a psychosexual stage because basically normally
nothing formative happens sexually. Experiences,
fears and conditioning from the previous stages have
already shaped many of the child's feelings and
attitudes and these will re-surface in the next stage.
5. Genital stage - Puberty in other words. Glandular, 5. Identity v Role 11-18 yrs, puberty,
hormonal, and physical changes in the adolescent Confusion teens
child's body cause a resurgence of sexual thoughts,
feelings and behaviours. Boys start treating their
mothers like woman-servants and challenge their
fathers (Freud's 'Oedipus'). Girls flirt with their fathers
and argue with their mums (Freud's 'Electra'). All earlier for girls
become highly agitated if away from a mirror for
more than half an hour (Freud's Narcissus or
Narcissism). Dating and fondling quickly push
schoolwork and sports (and anything else encouraged
by parents and figures of authority) into second place.
Basically everyone is in turmoil and it's mostly to do
with growing up, which entails more sexual
undercurrents than parents would ever believe, even
though these same parents went through exactly the
same struggles themselves just a few years before. It's
a wonder anyone ever makes it to adulthood, but of
course they do, and mostly it's all perfectly normal.
This is the final Freudian psychosexual stage. Erikson's
model, which from the start offers a different and
more socially oriented perspective, continues through
to old age, and re-interprets Freudian sexual theory
into the adult life stages equating to Erikson's crisis
stages. This incorporation of Freudian sexual stages
into the adult crisis stages is not especially significant.
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Arguably no direct equivalent Freudian stage, 6. Intimacy v Isolation 18-40, courting, early
although as from Identity and the Life Cycle (1969) parenthood
Erikson clearly separated Puberty and Genitality
(Freud's Genital stage) , and related each respectively
to Identity v Role Confusion, and Intimacy v Isolation.
No direct equivalent Freudian stage, although Erikson 7. Generativity v 30-65, middle age,
later interpreted this as being a psychosexual stage of Stagnation parenting
'Procreativity'.
Again no direct equivalent Freudian stage. Erikson 8. Integrity v Despair 50+, old age,
later called this the psychosexual stage of grandparents
'Generalization of Sensual Modes'.
N.B. This is a quick light overview of Freud's sexual theory and where it equates to Erikson's crisis stages.
It's not meant to be a serious detailed analysis of Freud's psychosexual ideas. That said, I'm open to
suggestions from any Freud experts out there who would like to offer improved (quick, easy, down-to-
earth) pointers to the Freudian psychosexual theory.
Erikson's eight psychosocial crisis stages

Here's a more detailed interpretation of Erikson's psychosocial crisis stages.
Remember age range is just a very rough guide, especially through the later levels when parenthood timing
and influences vary. Hence the overlap between the age ranges in the interpretation below. Interpretations
of age range vary among writers and academics. Erikson intentionally did not stipulate clear fixed age
stages, and it's impossible for anyone to do so. Below is a reminder of the crisis stages, using the crisis
terminology of the original 1950 model aside from the shorter terminology that Erikson later preferred for
stages one and eight. The 'Life Stage' names were suggested in later writings by Erikson and did not appear
so clearly in the 1950 model. Age range and other descriptions are general interpretations and were not
shown specifically like this by Erikson. Erikson's main terminology changes are explained below.
Crisis stages are driven by physical and sexual growth, which then prompts the life issues which create the
crises. The crises are therefore not driven by age precisely. Erikson never showed precise ages, and I prefer
to state wider age ranges than many other common interpretations. The final three (adult) stages happen
at particularly variable ages. It's worth noting also that these days there's a lot more 'life' and complexity in
the final (old age) stage than when the eight stages were originally outlined, which no doubt fuelled Joan
Erikson's ideas on a 'ninth stage' after Erik's death.
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
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7. Generativity v Stagnation Adulthood 30-65, middle age, parenting
8. Integrity v Despair Mature Age 50+, old age, grandparents
* Other interpretations of the Adolescence stage commonly suggest stage 5 begins around 12 years of age.
This is reasonable for most boys, but given that Erikson and Freud cite the onset of puberty as the start of
this stage, stage 5 can begin for girls as early as age nine.
Erikson's psychosocial theory essentially states that each person experiences eight 'psychosocial crises'
(internal conflicts linked to life's key stages) which help to define his or her growth and personality.
People experience these 'psychosocial crisis' stages in a fixed sequence, but timings vary according to
people and circumstances.
This is why the stages and the model are represented primarily by the names of the crises or emotional
conflicts themselves (e.g., Trust v Mistrust) rather than strict age or life stage definitions. Age and life
stages do feature in the model, but as related rather than pivotal factors, and age ranges are increasingly
variable as the stages unfold.
Each of the eight 'psychosocial crises' is characterised by a conflict between two opposing positions or
attitudes (or dispositions or emotional forces). Erikson never really settled on a firm recognisable
description for the two components of each crisis, although in later works the first disposition is formally
referred to as the 'Adaptive Strength'. He also used the terms 'syntonic' and 'dystonic' for respectively the
first and second dispositions in each crisis, but not surprisingly these esoteric words never featured strongly
in interpretations of Erikson's terminology, and their usual meanings are not very helpful in understanding
what Erikson meant in this context.
The difficulty in 'labeling' the first and second dispositions in each crisis is a reflection that neither is
actually wholly good or bad, or wholly positive or negative. The first disposition is certainly the preferable
tendency, but an ideal outcome is achieved only when it is counter-balanced with a degree of the second
disposition.
Successful development through each crisis is requires a balance and ratio between the two dispositions,
not total adoption of the apparent 'positive' disposition, which if happens can produce almost as much
difficulty as a strong or undiluted tendency towards the second 'negative' disposition.
Some of the crisis stages are easier to understand than others. Each stage contains far more meaning than
can be conveyed in just two or three words. Crisis stage one is 'Trust versus Mistrust', which is easier to
understand than some of the others. Stage four 'Industry versus Inferiority' is a little trickier. You could say
instead 'usefulness versus uselessness' in more modern common language. Erikson later refined 'Industry'
to 'Industriousness', which probably conveys a fuller meaning. See the more detailed crisis stages
descriptions below for a clearer understanding.
Successful passage through each stage is dependent on striking the right balance between the conflicting
extremes rather than entirely focusing on (or being guided towards) the 'ideal' or 'preferable' extreme in
each crisis. In this respect Erikson's theory goes a long way to explaining why too much of anything is not
helpful for developing a well-balanced personality.
A well-balanced positive experience during each stage develops a corresponding 'basic virtue' (or 'basic
strength - a helpful personality development), each of which enables a range of other related emotional
and psychological strengths. For example passing successfully through the Industry versus Inferiority crisis
(stage four, between 6-12 years of age for most people) produces the 'basic psychosocial virtue' of
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'competence' (plus related strengths such as 'method', skills, techniques, ability to work with processes and
collaborations, etc). More detail is under 'Basic virtues'.
Where passage through a crisis stage is less successful (in other words not well-balanced, or worse still,
psychologically damaging) then to a varying extent the personality acquires an unhelpful emotional or
psychological tendency, which corresponds to one of the two opposite extremes of the crisis concerned.
Neglect and failure at any stage is is problematical, but so is too much emphasis on the apparent 'good'
extreme.
For example unsuccessful experiences during the Industry versus Inferiority crisis would produce a
tendency towards being overly focused on learning and work, or the opposite tendency towards
uselessness and apathy. Describing these unhelpful outcomes, Erikson later introduced the terms
'maladaptation' (overly adopting 'positive' extreme) and 'malignancy' (adopting the 'negative' extreme).
More detail is under 'Maladaptations' and 'Malignancies'. In the most extreme cases the tendency can
amount to serious mental problems.
Here is each crisis stage in more detail.
Erikson's psychosocial crisis stages - meanings and

interpretations
Erikson used particular words to represent each psychosocial crisis. As ever, single words can be misleading
and rarely convey much meaning. Here is more explanation of what lies behind these terms.
Erikson reinforced these crisis explanations with a perspective called 'psychosocial modalities', which in the
earlier stages reflect Freudian theory, and which are paraphrased below. They are not crucial to the model,
but they do provide a useful additional viewpoint.
'psychosocial crisis' / meaning and interpretation

'psychosocial modality'
1. Trust v Mistrust The infant will develop a healthy balance between trust and mistrust if
fed and cared for and not over-indulged or over-protected. Abuse or
neglect or cruelty will destroy trust and foster mistrust. Mistrust increases
a person's resistance to risk-exposure and exploration. "Once bitten twice
'To get'
shy" is an apt analogy. On the other hand, if the infant is insulated from all
and any feelings of surprise and normality, or unfailingly indulged, this will
'To give in return' create a false sense of trust amounting to sensory distortion, in other
words a failure to appreciate reality. Infants who grow up to trust are
more able to hope and have faith that 'things will generally be okay'. This
(To receive and to give in crisis stage incorporates Freud's psychosexual Oral stage, in which the
return. Trust is reciprocal - infant's crucial relationships and experiences are defined by oral matters,
maybe karma even..) notably feeding and relationship with mum. Erikson later shortened 'Basic
Trust v Basic Mistrust' to simply Trust v Mistrust, especially in tables and
headings.
2. Autonomy v Shame & Autonomy means self-reliance. This is independence of thought, and a
Doubt basic confidence to think and act for oneself. Shame and Doubt mean
what they say, and obviously inhibit self-expression and developing one's
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own ideas, opinions and sense of self. Toilet and potty training is a
'To hold on' significant part of this crisis, as in Freud's psychosexual Anal stage, where
parental reactions, encouragement and patience play an important role in
shaping the young child's experience and successful progression through
'To let go'
this period. The significance of parental reaction is not limited to bottoms
and pooh - it concerns all aspects of toddler exploration and discovery
(To direct behaviour outward while small children struggle to find their feet - almost literally - as little
or be retentive. Of course people in their own right. The 'terrible twos' and 'toddler tantrums' are a
very Freudian...) couple of obvious analogies which represent these internal struggles and
parental battles. The parental balancing act is a challenging one,
especially since parents themselves are having to deal with their own
particular psychosocial crisis, and of course deal with the influence of
their own emotional triggers which were conditioned when they
themselves passed through earlier formative crisis stages. What are the
odds that whenever a parent berates a child, "That's dirty.." it will be an
echo from their own past experience at this very stage?
3. Initiative v Guilt Initiative is the capability to devise actions or projects, and a confidence
and belief that it is okay to do so, even with a risk of failure or making
mistakes. Guilt means what it says, and in this context is the feeling that it
is wrong or inappropriate to instigate something of one's own design.
Guilt results from being admonished or believing that something is wrong
or likely to attract disapproval. Initiative flourishes when adventure and
game-playing is encouraged, irrespective of how daft and silly it seems to
the grown-up in charge. Suppressing adventure and experimentation, or
preventing young children doing things for themselves because of time,
mess or a bit of risk will inhibit the development of confidence to initiate,
replacing it instead with an unhelpful fear of being wrong or unapproved.
The fear of being admonished or accused of being stupid becomes a part
of the personality. "If I don't initiate or stick my neck out I'll be safe.."
(from feeling guilty and bad). Parents, carers and older siblings have a
challenge to get the balance right between giving young children enough
space and encouragement so as to foster a sense of purpose and
confidence, but to protect against danger, and also to enable a sensible
exposure to trail and error, and to the consequences of mistakes, without
which an irresponsible or reckless tendency can develop.
'To make (= going after)' This crisis stage correlates with Freud's psychosexual Phallic stage,
characterised by a perfectly natural interest in genitals, where babies
come from, and as Freud asserted, an attachment to the opposite sex
parent, and the murky mysteries of the Oedipus Complex, Penis Envy and
Castration Anxiety, about which further explanation and understanding is
not critical to appreciating Erikson's theory.
'To "make like" (= playing)' What's more essential is to recognise that children of this age are not
wicked or bad or naughty, they are exploring and
(To make and complete

things, and to make things
together. To pursue ideas,
plans)
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4. Industry v Inferiority Industry here refers to purposeful or meaningful activity. It's the
development of competence and skills, and a confidence to use a
'method', and is a crucial aspect of school years experience. Erikson
described this stage as a sort of 'entrance to life'. This correlates with
Freud's psychosexual Latency stage, when sexual motives and concerns
are largely repressed while the young person concentrates on work and
skills development. A child who experiences the satisfaction of
achievement - of anything positive - will move towards successful
negotiation of this crisis stage. A child who experiences failure at school
tasks and work, or worse still who is denied the opportunity to discover
and develop their own capabilities and strengths and unique potential,
quite naturally is prone to feeling inferior and useless. Engaging with
others and using tools or technology are also important aspects of this
stage. It is like a rehearsal for being productive and being valued at work
in later life. Inferiority is feeling useless; unable to contribute, unable to
cooperate or work in a team to create something, with the low self-
esteem that accompanies such feelings.
'To make (= going after)' Erikson knew this over fifty years ago. How is it that the people in charge
of children's education still fail to realise this? Develop the child from
within. Help them to find and excel at what they are naturally good at,
and then they will achieve the sense of purpose and industry on which
everything else can then be built.
'To "make like" and complete

things, and to make things
together'
(To initiate projects or ideas,

and to collaborate and
cooperate with others to
produce something.)
5. Identity v Role Confusion Identity means essentially how a person sees themselves in relation to
their world. It's a sense of self or individuality in the context of life and
what lies ahead. Role Confusion is the negative perspective - an absence
of identity - meaning that the person cannot see clearly or at all who they
are and how they can relate positively with their environment. This stage
coincides with puberty or adolescence, and the reawakening of the sexual
urge whose dormancy typically characterises the previous stage.
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'To be oneself (or not to be)' Young people struggle to belong and to be accepted and affirmed, and yet
also to become individuals. In itself this is a big dilemma, aside from all
the other distractions and confusions experienced at this life stage.
'To share being oneself' Erikson later replaced the term 'Role Confusion' with 'Identity Diffusion'.
In essence they mean the same.
(To be yourself and to share

this with others. Affirmation
or otherwise of how you see
yourself.)
6. Intimacy v Isolation Intimacy means the process of achieving relationships with family and
marital or mating partner(s). Erikson explained this stage also in terms of
sexual mutuality - the giving and receiving of physical and emotional
connection, support, love, comfort, trust, and all the other elements that
we would typically associate with healthy adult relationships conducive to
mating and child-rearing. There is a strong reciprocal feature in the
intimacy experienced during this stage - giving and receiving - especially
between sexual or marital partners.
'To lose and find oneself in Isolation conversely means being and feeling excluded from the usual life
another' experiences of dating and mating and mutually loving relationships. This
logically is characterised by feelings of loneliness, alienation, social
withdrawal or non-participation.
(Reciprocal love for and with Erikson also later correlated this stage with the Freudian Genitality sexual
another person.) stage, which illustrates the difficulty in equating Freudian psychosexual
theory precisely to Erikson's model. There is a correlation but it is not an
exact fit.
7. Generativity v Stagnation Generativity derives from the word generation, as in parents and children,
and specifically the unconditional giving that characterises positive
parental love and care for their offspring. Erikson acknowledged that this
stage also extends to other productive activities - work and creativity for
example - but given his focus on childhood development, and probably
the influence of Freudian theory, Erikson's analysis of this stage was
strongly oriented towards parenting. Generativity potentially extends
beyond one's own children, and also to all future generations, which gives
the model ultimately a very modern globally responsible perspective.
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'To make be' Positive outcomes from this crisis stage depend on contributing positively
and unconditionally. We might also see this as an end of self-interest.
Having children is not a prerequisite for Generativity, just as being a
parent is no guarantee that Generativity will be achieved. Caring for
children is the common Generativity scenario, but success at this stage
actually depends on giving and caring - putting something back into life, to
the best of one's capabilities.
'To take care of' Stagnation is an extension of intimacy which turns inward in the form of
self-interest and self-absorption. It's the disposition that represents
feelings of selfishness, self-indulgence, greed, lack of interest in young
people and future generations, and the wider world.
(Unconditional, non- Erikson later used the term 'Self-Absorption' instead of 'Stagnation' and
reciprocating care of one's then seems to have settled in later work with the original 'Stagnation'.
children, or other altruistic
outlets)
Stagnation and/or Self-Absorption result from not having an outlet or

opportunity for contributing to the good or growth of children and others,
and potentially to the wider world.
8. Integrity v Despair This is a review and closing stage. The previous stage is actually a
culmination of one's achievement and contribution to descendents, and
potentially future generations everywhere.
'To be, through having been Later Erikson dropped the word 'Ego' (from 'Ego Integrity') and extended
the whole term to 'Integrity v Disgust and Despair'. He also continued to
use the shorter form 'Integrity v Despair'.
To face not being' Integrity means feeling at peace with oneself and the world. No regrets or
recriminations. The linking between the stages is perhaps clearer here
than anywhere: people are more likely to look back on their lives
positively and happily if they have left the world a better place than they
found it - in whatever way, to whatever extent. There lies Integrity and
acceptance.
(To be peaceful and satisfied Despair and/or 'Disgust' (i.e., rejective denial, or 'sour grapes' feeling
with one's life and efforts, towards what life might have been) represent the opposite disposition:
and to be accepting that life feelings of wasted opportunities, regrets, wishing to be able to turn back
will end.) the clock and have a second chance.
This stage is a powerful lens through which to view one's life - even before
old age is reached.
To bring this idea to life look at the 'obituaries' exercise.
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Erikson had a profound interest in humanity and society's well-being in

general. This crisis stage highlights the issue very meaningfully.
Happily these days for many people it's often possible to put something
back, even in the depths of despair. When this happens people are
effectively rebuilding wreckage from the previous stage, which is fine.
Erikson's basic psychosocial virtues or strengths

(positive outcomes)
The chart below identifies the 'basic psychosocial virtues' - and related strengths - which result from
successfully passing through each crisis. Erikson described success as a 'favourable ratio' (between the two
extremes) at each crisis stage.
A basic virtue is not the result of simply achieving the positive extreme of each crisis. Basic virtue is attained
by a helpful balance, albeit towards the 'positive', between the two extremes. Helpfully balanced
experience leads to positive growth.
Chief life stage issues and relationships are also re-stated as a reminder as to when things happen.
'Basic psychological virtue' and 'basic virtue' (same thing), are Erikson's terminology.
Erikson identified one basic virtue, plus another virtue (described below a 'secondary virtue') for each
stage. At times he referred to 'basic virtues' as 'basic strengths'.
A bit confusing, but the main point is that based on what observed for each stage he identified one clear
basic virtue and one secondary virtue. From this he was able to (and we can too - he encouraged people to
do so) extrapolate other related strengths.
Bear in mind also that the first disposition in each crisis is also inevitably a related strength that comes from
successfully experiencing each stage.
Erikson recognised this by later referring to the first disposition (e.g., Trust, Autonomy, etc) as an 'Adaptive
Strength'.
Basic virtues and other strengths

crisis including
basic virtue & secondary virtue (and related
adaptive life stage / relationships / issues
strengths)
strength
Hope & Drive (faith, inner calm, grounding, infant / mother / feeding and being
1. Trust v basic feeling that everything will be okay - comforted, teething, sleeping
Mistrust enabling exposure to risk, a trust in life and self
and others, inner resolve and strength in the
face of uncertainty and risk)
Willpower & Self-Control (self-determination, toddler / parents / bodily functions,

2. Autonomy v self-belief, self-reliance, confidence in self to toilet training, muscular control,
Shame & decide things, having a voice, being one's own walking
Doubt person, persistence, self-discipline,
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independence of thought, responsibility,

judgement)
3. Initiative v Purpose & Direction (sense of purpose, preschool / family / exploration and
Guilt decision-making, working with and leading discovery, adventure and play
others, initiating projects and ideas, courage to
instigate, ability to define personal direction
and aims and goals, able to take initiative and
appropriate risks)
4. Industry v Competence & Method (making things, schoolchild / school, teachers, friends,
Inferiority producing results, applying skills and processes neighbourhood / achievement and
productively, feeling valued and capable of accomplishment
contributing, ability to apply method and
process in pursuit of ideas or objectives,
confidence to seek and respond to challenge
and learning, active busy productive outlook)
5. Identity v Fidelity & Devotion (self-confidence and self- adolescent / peers, groups, influences /
Role Confusion esteem necessary to freely associate with resolving identity and direction,
people and ideas based on merit, loyalty, social becoming a grown-up
and interpersonal integrity, discretion, personal
standards and dignity, pride and personal
identity, seeing useful personal role(s) and
purpose(s) in life)
6. Intimacy v Love & Affiliation (capacity to give and receive young adult / lovers, friends, work
Isolation love - emotionally and physically, connectivity connections / intimate relationships,
with others, socially and inter-personally work and social life
comfortable, ability to form honest
reciprocating relationships and friendships,
capacity to bond and commit with others for
mutual satisfaction - for work and personal life,
reciprocity - give and take - towards good)
7. Generativity Care & Production (giving unconditionally in mid-adult / children, community /

v Stagnation support of children and/or for others, 'giving back', helping, contributing
community, society and the wider world where
possible and applicable, altruism, contributing
for the greater good, making a positive
difference, building a good legacy, helping
others through their own crisis stages
8. Integrity v Wisdom & Renunciation (calmness, tolerance, late adult / society, the world, life /
Despair appropriate emotional detachment - non- meaning and purpose, life
projection, no regrets, peace of mind, non- achievements, acceptance
judgemental, spiritual or universal
reconciliation, acceptance of inevitably
departing)
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Erikson and Maslow correlations?

As an aside, there are significant parallels between the growth outcomes of the Erikson psychosocial
model, and the growth aspects Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's not a precise fit obviously because the
Erikson and Maslow perspectives are different, but the correlations are clear and fascinating. Erikson
separately listed a series of 'Related Elements of Social Order' within his psychosocial model, which
although quite obscure in this context, might aid the comparison. You might have your own views on this.
For what it's worth here's mine:
life stage / relationships / crisis virtue Erikson's 'related Maslow Hierarchy

issues outcomes elements of of Needs stage -
social order' primary correlation
infant / mother / feeding and 1. Trust v Hope & Drive 'cosmic order' biological &
being comforted, teething, Mistrust physiological
sleeping
toddler / parents / bodily Willpower & 'law and order' safety

functions, toilet training, 2. Autonomy Self-Control
muscular control, walking v Shame &
Doubt
preschool / family / exploration 3. Initiative v Purpose & 'ideal prototypes' belongingness &
and discovery, adventure and Guilt Direction love
play
schoolchild / school, teachers, 4. Industry v Competence & 'technological esteem

friends, neighbourhood / Inferiority Method elements'
achievement and
accomplishment
adolescent / peers, groups, 5. Identity v Fidelity & 'ideological esteem

influences / resolving identity Role Devotion perspectives'
and direction, becoming a Confusion
grown-up
young adult / lovers, friends, 6. Intimacy v Love & 'patterns of esteem

work connections / intimate Isolation Affiliation cooperation and
relationships, work and social competition'
life
mid-adult / children, 7. Care & 'currents of self-actualisation

community / 'giving back', Generativity v Production education and
helping, contributing Stagnation training'
late adult / society, the world, 8. Integrity v Wisdom & 'wisdom' self-actualisation
life / meaning and purpose, life Despair Renunciation
achievements, acceptance
N.B. I'm not suggesting a direct fit between Erikson's and Maslow's models. Rather, this simply puts the two
perspectives alongside each other to show how similar aspects could could inter-relate. Judge for yourself.
We might also use the Erikson model to help explain what happens in Maslow's theory when a particular
trauma sweeps away a part of someone's life (perhaps due to redundancy, divorce, social exclusion,
bankruptcy, homelessness), which causes the person to revisit certain needs and internal conflicts (crises)
65 | P a g e
which were once satisfied earlier but are no longer met. According to both Erikson's and Maslow's theories,
anyone can find themselves revisiting and having to resolve needs (or crisis feelings or experiences) from
earlier years.
Further thoughts and suggestions about correlations between Maslow and Erikson are welcome.
Erikson's Model - Maladaptations And Malignancies

(Negative Outcomes)
Later Erikson developed clearer ideas and terminology - notably 'Maladaptations' and 'Malignancies' - to
represent the negative outcomes arising from an unhelpful experience through each of the crisis stages.
In crude modern terms these negative outcomes might be referred to as 'baggage', which although
somewhat unscientific, is actually a very apt metaphor, since people tend to carry with them through life
the psychological outcomes of previously unhelpful experiences. Psychoanalysis, the particular therapeutic
science from which Erikson approached these issues, is a way to help people understand where the
baggage came from, and thereby to assist the process of dumping it.
To an extent these negative outcomes can also arise from repeating or revisiting a crisis, or more
realistically the essential aspects of a crisis, since we don't actually regress to a younger age, instead we
revisit the experiences and feelings associated with earlier life.
This chart is laid out with the crisis in the centre to aid appreciation that 'maladaptations' develop from
tending towards the extreme of the first ('positive') disposition in each crisis, and 'malignancies' develop
from tending towards the extreme of the second ('negative') disposition in each crisis.
A maladaptation could be seen as 'too much of a good thing'. A malignancy could be seen as not enough.
In later writings malignancies were also referred to as 'antipathies'.
Maladaptations and malignancies

Maladaptation Crisis Malignancy
Sensory Distortion
Trust v Mistrust Withdrawal
(later Sensory Maladjustment)
Impulsivity
Autonomy v Shame/Doubt Compulsion
(later Shameless Willfulness)
Ruthlessness Initiative v Guilt Inhibition
Narrow Virtuosity Industry v Inferiority Inertia
Fanaticism Identity v Role Confusion Repudiation
Promiscuity Intimacy v Isolation Exclusivity
Overextension Generativity v Stagnation Rejectivity
Presumption Integrity v Despair Disdain
Erikson was careful to choose words for the maladaptations and malignancies which convey a lot of
meaning and are very symbolic of the emotional outcomes that are relevant to each stage.
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In each case the maladaptation or malignancy corresponds to an extreme extension of the relevant crisis
disposition (for example, 'Withdrawal' results from an extreme extension of 'Mistrust'). Thinking about this
helps to understand what these outcomes entail, and interestingly helps to identify the traits in people - or
oneself - when you encounter the behavioural tendency concerned.
Malignancies and maladaptations can manifest in various ways. Here are examples, using more modern
and common language, to help understand and interpret the meaning and possible attitudes, tendencies,
behaviours, etc., within the various malignancies and malapdations. In each case the examples can
manifest as more extreme mental difficulties, in which case the terms would be more extreme too. These
examples are open to additional interpretation and are intended to be a guide, not scientific certainties.
Neither do these examples suggest that anyone experiencing any of these behavioural tendencies is
suffering from mental problems. Erikson never established any absolute measurement of emotional
difficulty or tendency as to be defined as a malignancy or maladaptation.
In truth each of us is subject to emotional feelings and and extremes of various sorts, and it is always a
matter of opinion as to what actually constitutes a problem. All people possess a degree of maladaptation
or malignancy from each crisis experience. Not to do so would not be human, since none of us is perfect.
It's always a question of degree. It's also a matter of understanding our weaknesses, maybe understanding
where they come from too, and thereby better understanding how we might become stronger, more
productive and happier.
Maladaptations and malignancies - examples and

interpretations
examples maladaptation crisis malignancy examples
unrealistic, spoilt, Sensory neurotic, depressive,

Trust v Mistrust Withdrawal
deluded Distortion afraid
reckless, inconsiderate, Autonomy v anal, constrained, self-

Impulsivity Compulsion
thoughtless Shame/Doubt limiting
exploitative, uncaring, risk-averse,

Ruthlessness Initiative v Guilt Inhibition
dispassionate unadventurous
workaholic, obsessive Narrow Industry v lazy, apathetic,

Inertia
specialist Virtuosity Inferiority purposeless
Identity v Role socially disconnected,

self-important, extremist Fanaticism Repudiation
Confusion cut-off
sexually needy, loner, cold, self-

Promiscuity Intimacy v Isolation Exclusivity
vulnerable contained
do-gooder, busy-body, Generativity v

Overextension Rejectivity disinterested, cynical
meddling Stagnation
conceited, pompous, miserable, unfulfilled,

Presumption Integrity v Despair Disdain
arrogant blaming
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Erikson’s terminology
This section explains how some of the model's terminology altered as Erikson developed his theory, and is
not crucial to understanding the model at a simple level.
Erikson was continually refining and re-evaluating his psychosocial theory, and he encouraged his readers
and followers to do likewise. This developmental approach enabled the useful extension of the model to its
current format. Some of what is summarised here did not initially appear clearly in Childhood and Society in
1950, which marked the establishment of the basic theory, not its completion. Several aspects of Erikson's
theory were clarified in subsequent books decades later, including work focusing on old age by Joan
Erikson, Erik's wife and collaborator, notably in the 1996 revised edition of The Life Cycle Completed: A
Review.
The Eriksons' refinements also involved alterations - some would say complications - to the terminology,
which (although presumably aiming for scientific precision) do not necessarily aid understanding, especially
at a basic working level.
For clarity therefore this page sticks mostly with Erikson's original 1950 and other commonly used
terminology. Basic Trust v Basic Mistrust (1950) is however shortened here to Trust v Mistrust, and Ego
Integrity (1950) is shortened to Integrity, because these seem to be more consistent Erikson preferences.
The terms used on this page are perfectly adequate, and perhaps easier too, for grasping what the theory
means and making use of it.
Here are the main examples of alternative terminology that Erikson used in later works to describe the
crisis stages and other aspects, which will help you recognise and understand their meaning if you see them
elsewhere.
 Erikson used the terms 'syntonic' and 'dystonic' to describe the contrary dispositions and effects within
each crisis stage - 'syntonic' being the 'positive' first-listed factor (e.g., Trust) and 'dystonic' being the
'negative' second-listed word (e.g., Mistrust). Again realise that a balance between syntonic and
dystonic tendencies is required for healthy outcomes. Extreme tendency in either direction is not
helpful. Syntonic extremes equate to maladaptations. Dystonic extremes equate to malignancies. The
words syntonic and dystonic outside of Erikson's theory have quite specific scientific medical meanings
which are not easy to equate to Erikson's essential ideas. Syntonic conventionally refers to a high
degree of emotional response to one's environment; dystonic conventionally refers to abnormal
muscular responsiveness. See what I mean?.. neither literal definition particularly aids understanding of
Erikson's theory and as such they are not very helpful in using the model.
 Erikson later used 'Adaptive Strength' as a firm description of the first disposition in each crisis, e.g.,
Trust, Autonomy, Initiative. He used the description loosely early in his work but seems to have settled
on it as a firm heading in later work, (notably in Vital Involvement in Old Age, 1986).
 'Basic Virtues' Erikson also called 'Basic Strengths' (the word 'basic' generally identified the single main
virtue or strength that potentially arose from each crisis, which would be accompanied by various other
related strengths).
 Erikson (or maybe Joan Erikson) later used the term 'Antipathy' as an alternative for 'Malignancy' (being
the negative tendency towards the second resulting from unsuccessful experience during a crisis stage).
 'Sensory Distortion' was later referred to as 'Sensory Maladjustment', being the maladaptive tendency
arising at stage one (Trust v Mistrust).
 'Impulsivity' he later changed to 'Shameless Willfulness', being the maladaptive tendency arising at
stage two (Autonomy v Shame & Doubt)
 Erikson generally used the simpler 'Trust v Mistrust' instead of 'Basic Trust v Basic Mistrust' which first
appeared in the 1950 model.
 Erikson later refined 'Industry' to 'Industriousness'.
 Erikson later referred to 'Role Confusion' as 'Identity Diffusion' and 'Identity Confusion'.
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 He later referred to 'Intimacy' also as 'Intimacy and Distantiation'. (Distantiation means the ability to
bring objectivity - emotional detachment - to personal decision-making.)
 'Ego Integrity' he also simplified at times to simply 'Integrity'.
 'Stagnation' was later shown alternatively as 'Self-Absorption', and later still reverted to 'Stagnation'.
 At times he extended 'Despair' to 'Despair and Disgust' (Disgust here being a sort of 'sour grapes'
reaction or rejective denial).
In conclusion
Erikson's psychosocial theory very powerful for self-awareness and improvement, and for teaching and
helping others.
While Erikson's model emphasises the sequential significance of the eight character-forming crisis stages,
the concept also asserts that humans continue to change and develop throughout their lives, and that
personality is not exclusively formed during early childhood years. This is a helpful and optimistic idea, and
many believe it is realistic too. It is certainly a view that greatly assists encouraging oneself and others to
see the future as an opportunity for positive change and development, instead of looking back with blame
and regret.
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 recognise 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 on this website, helps to enable this meaningful
understanding and personal growth.
Erikson's psychosocial theory should be taught to everyone - especially to school children, teachers and
parents - it's certainly accessible enough, and would greatly assist all people of all ages to understand the
connections between life experiences and human behaviour - and particularly how grown-ups can help
rather than hinder children's development into rounded emotionally mature people.
Erikson was keen to improve the way children and young people are taught and nurtured, and it would be
appropriate for his ideas to be more widely known and used in day-to-day life, beyond the clinical and
counselling professions.
Hopefully this page explains Erikson's psychosocial theory in reasonable simple terms. I'm always open to
suggestions of improvements, especially for a challenging and potent area like this one.
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SO2 Demonstrate knowledge and

understanding of the development of babies,
toddlers and young children within each
domain of development.
AC1.Stages in the development of children in each
domain are described in line with existing theories
Understanding Ages & Stages
You don't need a doctorate in psychology to help children, but a little background on child development
will help you build programs and activities that are more effective and appropriate. Understanding a few
basic concepts will help build your relationships with the children and set the stage for learning.
For example, working with groups of pre-readers or kids at the early stages of reading (typically ages 3 to 8)
requires exposure to specialized teaching methods. The lack of such training often results in children
"acting out" in classes when inexperienced instructors try to engage them in activities that do not meet
their developmental needs. As children grow older, they become more sophisticated and better able to
master more and different learning skills, but that growth is only one aspect of the process of maturing into
a complete and capable adult.
Most important, an understanding of child development will help you think about each child's strengths,
resources and challenges; the expectations you should have; and how you can help them best.
The Domains of Growth

Kids mature in three domains of growth: cognitive, physical and socio-emotional.
The cognitive domain includes intellectual and academic skills, such as math, language and science; the
physical domain involves factors such as dexterity and being comfortable with one's body as it changes and
matures; and the socio-emotional domain is the realm of emotions, psychology and social skills.
Traditional educational environments tend to focus almost exclusively on the cognitive domain, paying less
attention to the other two, but it's important that your program take a "whole child" approach,
incorporating age-appropriate learning in all three domains. For example, if you are doing a project on
dance, don't just study it in books or watch a video—get the kids up and moving. For the socio-emotional
domain, try having them talk about how they danced in a way that reinforces positive interaction.
One of the many reasons we are advocates for inquiry-based learning is that it is better at incorporating the
whole child approach.
Different age groups reach milestones in each domain at different times. Most physical competencies are
achieved in the early ages, and most of the basic "hardwiring" of adult logic and thinking skills begin to
appear around age 12. Match your skills components accordingly. One particular challenge for youth
workers in underserved communities is that children may be lagging in one or more domains. Observe your
children with an open mind and see where their specific needs and strengths lie. Also remember that other
factors, such as gender, nutrition and home environment, influence the age at which kids master certain
skills.
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Although it's important to get a complete picture of each child's strengths, challenges and competencies in
each domain, avoid thinking in terms of buzz words and pop psychology. Labels can become self-fulfilling
prophecies. Even if kids never hear you say words like "at risk" or "ADD," they'll respond to how you treat
them and the expectations you show.
Applying Child Development Concepts

In general, you'll create much more effective programs by grouping kids of the same age range together.
Although you sometimes might want to match younger children with older ones for tutoring or mentoring
relationships, keeping children of similar ages together will let you focus on common needs and will enable
them to interact with each other on the basis of common experiences. Working with children across even
modest age ranges can be demanding. Chip Wood, the author of Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages
4-14: A Resource for Parents and Teachers, notes that "the maximum range for even the most talented
teachers is about a three-year chronological and two-year grade spread."
How you implement these guidelines will change according to your goals and resources, but consider the
following rules of thumb:
 At ages 5 to 7, skills in all domains are emerging.

 At ages 6 to 8, kids are beginning to consolidate their growth in all domains. They're still
learning fundamental communication, math and problem-solving skills, and their social and
community awareness is expanding.
 At ages 9 to 11, kids are well coordinated in large and fine motor skills and they now have
an increased attention span. Their developing self esteem requires positive reinforcement
and it is important for them to be part of a group.
 At ages 12 to 14, kids start looking at art and music more seriously. They are more
sophisticated at conceptualization and abstract thinking, and they start making the shift
from learning to read to reading to learn.
Here's an exercise to try with other members of your center's staff. Collect a number of children's books
and examine them. If they specify a recommended reading age, do you agree? Even if you do, are they right
for your kids? What domains of growth does each explore? What developmental themes are addressed?
Compare thoughts with your colleagues and see if you get any ideas for how to use some of the books in
your sessions.
How you group kids by age will be a key factor in your planning, affecting everything including how you
schedule sessions in your center to the activities you choose to pursue in those sessions. Although you
always want to offer kids high expectations for achievement in order to build their skills and self-esteem,
nothing will be more frustrating or demoralizing than setting goals that are beyond them developmentally
AC2: Factors that enable the development of children in

each domain are identified in line with relevant existing
theories.
Child development is not a matter of a single topic, but progresses somewhat differently for different
aspects of the individual. Here are descriptions of the development of a number of physical and mental
characteristics.
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Physical growth
What develops?
Physical growth in stature and weight occurs over the 15–20 years following birth, as the individual changes
from the average weight of 3.5 kg and length of 50 cm at full-term birth to full adult size. As stature and
weight increase, the individual's proportions also change, from the relatively large head and small torso and
limbs of the neonate, to the adult's relatively small head and long torso and limbs.[21] [21]
Speed and pattern of development

The speed of physical growth is rapid in the months after birth, and then slows, so birth weight is doubled
in the first four months, tripled by age 12 months, but not quadrupled until 24 months. Growth then
proceeds at a slow rate until shortly before puberty (between about 9 and 15 years of age), when a period
of rapid growth occurs. Growth is not uniform in rate and timing across all body parts. At birth, head size is
already relatively near to that of an adult, but the lower parts of the body are much smaller than adult size.
In the course of development, then, the head grows relatively little, and torso and limbs undergo a great
deal of growth.[21]
Mechanisms of developmental change

Genetic factors play a major role in determining the growth rate, and particularly the changes in proportion
characteristic of early human development. However, genetic factors can produce the maximum growth
only if environmental conditions are adequate. Poor nutrition and frequent injury and disease can reduce
the individual's adult stature, but the best environment cannot cause growth to a greater stature than is
determined by heredity.[21]
Population differences
Population differences in growth are largely related to adult stature. Ethnic groups that are quite tall in
adulthood are also longer at birth and throughout childhood, as compared to groups that have short adult
stature. Males are also somewhat taller, although this is more apparent in ethnic groups with strong sexual
dimorphism in adulthood. Populations that are characteristically malnourished are also shorter throughout
life. However, there are few population differences in growth rates or patterns, except that poor
environmental conditions may delay puberty and the associated growth spurt. The markedly different age
at puberty of boys and girls means that boys and girls of age 11 or 12 are at very different points in
maturation and may reverse the usual sex difference in physical size.[21]
Individual differences
Individual differences in height and weight during childhood are considerable. Some of these differences
are due to family genetic factors, others to environmental
factors, but at some points in development they may be strongly
influenced by individual differences in reproductive
maturation.[21]
Motor development
A child while learning to walk
Abilities for physical movement change through childhood from
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the largely reflexive (unlearned, involuntary) movement patterns of the young infant to the highly skilled
voluntary movements characteristic of later childhood and adolescence. (Of course, older children and
adolescents retain some reflex movements in addition to developing voluntary movement.)[15]

The speed of motor development is rapid in early life, as many of the reflexes of the newborn alter or
disappear within the first year, and slows later. Like physical growth, motor development shows predictable
patterns of cephalocaudal (head to foot) and proximodistal (torso to extremities) development, with
movements at the head end and in the more central areas coming under control before those of the lower
part of the body or the hands and feet. Types of movement develop in stage-like sequences; for example,
locomotion at 6–8 months involves creeping on all fours, then proceeds to pulling to stand, "cruising" while
holding on to an object, walking while holding an adult's hand, and finally walking independently. Older
children continue the sequence by walking sideways or backward, galloping, hopping, skipping with one
foot and walking with the other, and finally skipping. By middle childhood and adolescence, new motor
skills are acquired by instruction or observation rather than in a predictable sequence.[15]
Mechanisms of motor development

The mechanisms involved in motor development involve some genetic components that determine the
physical size of body parts at a given age, as well as aspects of muscle and bone strength. Nutrition and
exercise also determine strength and therefore the ease and accuracy with which a body part can be
moved.[15] It has also been shown that the frontal lobe develops posterio-anteriorally (from back to front).
This is significant in motor development because the hind portion of the frontal lobe is known to control
motor functions. This form of development is known as "Portional Development" and explains why motor
functions develop relatively quickly during normal childhood development, while logic, which is controlled
by the middle and front portions of the frontal lobe, usually will not develop until late adolescence and
early childhood.[22] Opportunities to carry out movements help establish the abilities to flex (move toward
the trunk) and extend body parts, both capacities being needed for good motor ability. Skilled voluntary
movements develop as a result of practice and learning.[15]
Normal individual in motor ability are common and depend in part on the child's weight and build.
However, after the infant period, normal individual differences are strongly affected by opportunities to
practice, observe, and be instructed on specific movements. Atypical motor development may be an
indication of developmental delays or problems such as autism or cerebral palsy.[15] and the child may be
retarded which would then imply that the development would not be the same.
There are some population differences in motor development, with girls showing some advantages in small
muscle usage, including articulation of sounds with lips and tongue. Ethnic differences in reflex movements
of newborn infants have been reported, suggesting that some biological factor is at work. Cultural
differences may encourage learning of motor skills like using the left hand only for sanitary purposes and
the right hand for all other uses, producing a population difference. Cultural factors are also seen at work in
practiced voluntary movements such as the use of the foot to dribble a soccer ball or the hand to dribble a
basketball.[15]
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Cognitive/Intellectual development
What develops?
The capacity to learn, remember, and symbolize information, and to solve problems, exists at a simple level
in young infants, who can perform cognitive tasks such as discriminating animate and inanimate beings or
recognizing small numbers of objects. During childhood, learning and information-processing increase in
speed, memory becomes increasingly longer, and symbol use and the capacity for abstraction develop until
a near-adult level is reached by adolescence.[15]
Mechanisms of cognitive development

Cognitive development has genetic and other biological mechanisms, as is seen in the many genetic causes
of mental retardation. However, although it is assumed that brain functions cause cognitive events, it has
not been possible to measure specific brain changes and show that they cause cognitive change.
Developmental advances in cognition are also related to experience and learning, and this is particularly the
case for higher-level abilities like abstraction, which depend to a considerable extent on formal
education.[15]
There are normal individual differences in the ages at which specific cognitive abilities are achieved, but
schooling for children in industrialized countries is based on the assumption that these differences are not
large. Atypical delays in cognitive development are problematic for children in cultures that demand
advanced cognitive skills for work and for independent living.[15]
There are few population differences in cognitive development. Boys and girls show some differences in
their skills and preferences, but there is a great deal of overlap between the groups. Differences in
cognitive achievement of different ethnic groups appears to result from cultural or other environmental
factors.[15]
Social-emotional development
What develops?
Newborn infants do not seem to experience fear or have preferences for contact with any specific people.
In the first few months they only experience happiness, sadness, and anger. A baby’s first smile usually
occurs between 6 and 10 weeks. It is called a ‘social smile’ because is usually occurs during social
interactions. By about 8–12 months, they go through a fairly rapid change and become fearful of perceived
threats; they also begin to prefer familiar people and show anxiety and distress when separated from them
or approached by strangers. The capacity for empathy and the understanding of social rules begin in the
preschool period and continue to develop into adulthood. Middle childhood is characterized by friendships
with age-mates, and adolescence by emotions connected with sexuality and the beginnings of romantic
love. Anger seems most intense during the toddler and early preschool period and during adolescence.[15]
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Some aspects of social-emotional development, like empathy, develop gradually, but others, like
fearfulness, seem to involve a rather sudden reorganization of the child's experience of emotion. Sexual
and romantic emotions develop in connection with physical maturation.[15]
Mechanisms of social and emotional development

Genetic factors appear to regulate some social-emotional developments that occur at predictable ages,
such as fearfulness, and attachment to familiar people. Experience plays a role in determining which people
are familiar, which social rules are obeyed,and how anger is expressed.[15]
Individual differences in the sequence of social-emotional development are unusual, but the intensity or
expressiveness of emotions can vary greatly from one normal child to another. Individual tendencies to
various types of reactivity are probably constitutional, and they are referred to as temperamental
differences. Atypical development of social-emotional characteristics may be mildly unusual, or may be so
extreme as to indicate mental illness.[15] Temperamental traits are thought to be stable and enduring
throughout the life span. Children who are active and angry as infants can be expected to be active and
angry as older children, adolescents and adults.[citation needed]
Population differences may occur in older children, if, for example they have learned that it is appropriate
for boys to express emotion or behave differently than girls, or if customs learned by children of one ethnic
group are different from those learned in another. Social and emotional differences between boys and girls
of a given age may also be associated with differences in the timing of puberty characteristic of the two
sexes.[15]
Language
What develops?
In addition to acquiring a large spoken vocabulary, there are four main areas in which the child must attain
competence, regardless of the language or dialect spoken. These are referred to as phonology or sounds,
semantics or the encoded meanings, syntax or the way in which words are combined and pragmatics or
knowledge of how language is used in different contexts.[3]

Receptive language, the understanding of others' speech, has a gradual development beginning at about 6
months. However, expressive language, the production of words, moves rapidly after its beginning at about
a year of age, with a "vocabulary explosion" of rapid word acquisition occurring in the middle of the second
year. This vocabulary expansion is closely linked to the ability to repeat spoken words and enables the rapid
acquisition of skill in their pronunciation.[23][24] Grammatical rules and word combinations appear at about
age two. Mastery of vocabulary and grammar continue gradually through the preschool and school years.
Adolescents still have smaller vocabularies than adults and experience more difficulty with constructions
like the passive voice.
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Babies from one month old can produce "ooh" sounds which appear to grow out of pleasurable
interactions with caregivers in a mutual "dialogue". According to Stern, this process is communication of
affect between adult and infant in a mutual, rhythmic interaction. The attunement and "gaze-coupling" in
which infant and adult take different roles is thought to anticipate the give-and-take of later dialogue.[25]
From about 6 to 9 months babies produce more vowels, some consonants and "echolalia", or the frequent
repetition of sounds like "dadadada" which appear to have some phonetic characteristics of later speech. It
is thought that a crucial part of the development of speech is the time caregivers spend "guessing" what
their infants are trying to communicate thus integrating the child into their social world. The attribution of
intentionality to the infant's utterances has been called "shared memory" and forms a complex series of
actions, intentions and actions in response in an improvised way.[3]
It has been argued that children's phonological systems develop in ways that are parallel to adult
languages, even if they are using unrecognisable "words".[26] First words have the function of naming or
labelling but also condense meaning as in "milk" meaning "I want milk". Vocabulary typically grows from
about 20 words at 18 months to around 200 words at 21 months. From around 18 months the child starts
to combine words into two word sentences. Typically the adult expands it to clarify meaning. By 24–27
months the child is producing three or four word sentences using a logical, if not strictly correct, syntax.
The theory is that children apply a basic set of rules such as adding 's' for plurals or inventing simpler words
out of words too complicated to repeat like "choskit" for chocolate biscuit. Following this there is a rapid
appearance of grammatical rules and ordering of sentences. There is often an interest in rhyme, and
imaginative play frequently includes conversations.[3] Children's recorded monologues give insight into the
development of the process of organising information into meaningful units.[27]
By three years the child is beginning to use complex sentences, including relative clauses, although still
perfecting various linguistic systems. By five years of age the child's use of language is very similar to that of
an adult.[3] From the age of about three children can indicate fantasy or make-believe linguistically, produce
coherent personal stories and fictional narrative with beginnings and endings.[3] It is argued that children
devise narrative as a way of understanding their own experience and as a medium for communicating their
meaning to others.[28] The ability to engage in extended discourse emerges over time from regular
conversation with adults and peers. For this the child needs to learn to combine his perspective with that of
others and with outside events and learn to use linguistic indicators to show he is doing this. They also
learn to adjust their language depending on to whom they are speaking. Typically by the age of about 9 a
child can recount other narratives in addition to their own experiences, from the perspectives of the
author, the characters in the story and their own views.[29]
Mechanisms of language development

Although the role of adult discourse is important in facilitating the child's learning, there is considerable
disagreement amongst theorists about the extent to which children's early meanings and expressive words
arises directly from adult input as opposed to intrinsic factors relating to the child's cognitive functions.
Findings about the initial mapping of new words, the ability to decontextualise words and refine meaning
are diverse.[3] One hypothesis is known as the syntactic bootstrapping hypothesis, referring to the child's
ability to infer meaning from cues, using grammatical information from the structure of sentences. [30]
Another is the multi-route model in which it is argued that context-bound words and referential words
follow different routes; the first being mapped onto event representations and the latter onto mental
representations. In this model, although parental input has a critical role,children rely on cognitive
processing to establish subsequent use of words.[31] However, naturalistic research on language
development has indicated that preschoolers' vocabularies are strongly associated with the number of
words addressed to them by adults.
There is as yet no single accepted theory of language acquisition. Current explanations vary in emphasis
from learning theory, with its emphasis on reinforcement and imitation (Skinner), to biological, nativist
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theories, with innate underlying mechanisms (Chomsky and Pinker), to a more interactive approach within
a social context (Piaget and Tomasello). Behaviorists argue that given the universal presence of a physical
environment and, usually, a social environment, any theory of language must account for the effects of the
contingent relations of these on an individuals development of language behaviour.[33][34][35] Pinker argues
that complex language is universal and has an innate basis. Pinker's argument is partly based on the
development of creole languages from pidgins. The children of parents who communicate, without
grammatical structures, in pidgin, develop a creole language of their own accord, complete with
standardised word orders, markers for present, future and past tenses and subordinate clauses.[36] There is
some support for this from the development of sign language amongst deaf children thrown together at a
young age in special schools in Nicaragua who spontaneously developed a pidgin which was then
developed into a creole by a younger generation of children coming into the schools, (ISN).
Pair Activity:
Summarise the following factors that enable the development of children in each
domain Physical growth; Motor development; Cognitive/Intellectual
development; Social-emotional development; Language
Share your answers with the rest of the group and make corrections where
needed
AC3: Explanations of how gender, socio-economic

background, age, environment and special needs impact
on the development of children in each domain are
consistent with established theories or literature and
the principles of inclusion and anti-bias.
Gender-role development is one of the most important areas of human development. In fact, the sex of a
newborn sets the agenda for a whole array of developmental experiences that will influence the person
throughout his or her life.
The often controversial study of the development of gender is a topic that is inherently interesting to
parents, students, researchers, and scholars for several reasons. First and foremost, one's sex is one of the
most salient characteristics that is presented to other people. Second, who one is as a male or a female
becomes a significant part of one's overall identity; it is one of the first descriptors people use about
themselves. Labeling oneself as a "boy" or "girl" can begin as early as age eighteen months. Third, gender is
an important mediator of human experiences and the way in which individuals interact with each other and
the physical environment. Individuals' choices of friends, toys, classes taken in middle school, and vocation
all are influenced by sex. Finally, the study of sex, gender development, and sex differences becomes the
focal point of an age-old controversy that has influenced the field of developmental psychology: the
nature-nurture controversy. Are gender roles and sex differences biologically determined? What are the
effects of society and culture on gender and sex? How do biology (nature) and environment (nurture)
interact and mutually influence each other in this significant dimension of human development?
When discussing gender-role development, the definitions of the terms "sex" and "gender" need to be
understood. Referring to the nature-nurture controversy, scholars have found it important to distinguish
those aspects of males and females that can be attributed to biology and those that can be attributed to
social influences. The term "sex" denotes the actual physical makeup of individuals that define them as
male or female. Sex is determined by genetic makeup, internal reproductive organs, the organization of the
brain (such as in the control of hormone production), and external genitalia. By contrast, the behavior of
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individuals as males or females, the types of roles they assume, and their personality characteristics, may
be as much a function of social expectations and interactions as their biological makeup. For example, in
American culture, females are expected to be nurturing, and males aggressive. These behaviors and
characteristics are dependent upon the social context. In order to differentiate social roles and behaviors
from biological features, scholars refer to these as "gender" and "gender roles." Obviously, sex and gender
are intertwined. Social expectations usually are enacted once body parts reveal the biological makeup of
the individual.
Both sex and gender have a developmental story to tell that begins before birth (prenatal) and continues
throughout the lifespan. Important developmental changes occur from conception through the
adolescence years, and there are important theoretical perspectives and research studies that have tried to
shed light on these developmental accomplishments.
Prenatal Development
Gender-role development begins at conception. If the fertilized cell has an XY chromosomal pattern, the
baby will become a genetic male; an XX chromosomal pattern will lead to a genetic female. There cannot
be a genetic male without that Y chromosome. Sometimes there are aberrations to these patterns, which
can ultimately lead to a number of syndromes such as females with only one X chromosome (Turner's
syndrome) or males with two Xs and one Y (Klinefelter's syndrome). Frequently these syndromes result in
some form of cognitive and physical impairment.
At around week six of gestation, the hormone testosterone will stimulate the tissues into developing into
the male internal organs; otherwise, the organs will become part of the female reproductive system. Then,
by around three or four months, the external genitalia are formed. It is also during early prenatal
development that the brain, bathed by the male and female hormones, may differentiate into a "female" or
"male" brain (for example, female brains may be more symmetrically organized), but most of this research
is still inconclusive.
Prenatal sex differentiation culminates at birth. When the proclamation of "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" is
made, the complex process of socialization begins. It is important to recognize that the path of prenatal
development may take significant deviations. Aside from the chromosomal abnormalities already
mentioned, there are instances during prenatal development when females are bathed by the male
hormones (androgens), and situations where male genital tissues are insensitive to the differentiating
function of the male hormones. Both situations can lead to a baby born with ambiguous genitalia. In such
situations, parents face agonizing decisions: whether to surgically "correct" the condition and whether to
raise the baby as a female or as a male.
Infancy
Overall, the sex differences between boys and girls in the first year of life are minimal. Boys may be a bit
more active or fussier and girls more physically mature and less prone to physical problems, but that may
be the extent of the significant differences. Yet, baby boys are bounced and roughhoused, whereas girls are
talked to more. Mothers tend to ignore the emotional expressions of their infant sons, while fathers spend
more time with their boys than with their girls. Even during infancy, their names, their clothing, the "sugar
and spice" messages in baby congratulation cards, and their room furnishings shape girls and boys.
According to Marilyn Stern and Katherine H. Karraker, adults will characterize the same baby as strong and
hardy if they think it is a male, and delicate and soft if they think it is a female. In these and other ways,
gender-role socialization has already begun in earnest.
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Early Childhood
The years from about age two to age six are crucial years in the development of gender roles. It is during
these years that children become aware ofThe years from about age two to age six are crucial in the
development of gender roles. During these years, children become aware of their gender, where play styles
and behaviors begin to crystallize around that core identity of "I am a girl" or "I am a boy." (Reflection
Photolibrary/Corbis)their gender, where play styles and behaviors begin to crystallize around that core
identity of "I am a girl" or "I am a boy," and that the social context of family, school, the peer group, and
the media exert potent messages in stereotyped ways. Because of the centrality of gender-role
development during these years, most theories of social and personality development highlight the early
childhood years. For example, in the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, in the third stage of
psychosexual development a male child encounters the Oedipal Crisis, a time when the only way in which
he can cope with his desire for his mother and fear of his father is to completely identify and incorporate
his father's characteristics within himself. Freud posited a similar process for girls' desires for their fathers
(the Electra complex). Although many contemporary psychologists do not agree with this theory in general,
Freud is credited with highlighting the development of gender and gender-role behaviors very early in
childhood and their link to identification with parents.
Social learning theory, developed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the importance of children's imitation of
the behavior of others (models). The theory posits that boys learn how to behave as boys from observing
and imitating masculine behaviors, especially from their fathers, and girls learn from imitating females,
especially their mothers. When children imitate same-sex behaviors, they are rewarded, but imitating the
other sex may carry the threat of punishment. Although the research indicates that most parents value the
same behaviors for their sons and daughters, some rewards or punishments are given on the basis of
gender typing, particularly during play. This is even more true for boys than for girls, with fathers being the
most punitive if, for example, they observe their sons playing with Barbie dolls or sporting red fingernail
polish.
Finally, cognitive developmental theory underscores the importance of understanding what it means to be
a boy or girl in the development of gender roles. In 1966 Lawrence Kohlberg conceived of gender
development as a three-stage process in which children first learn their identity ("I am a boy"), then gender
stability ("I will always be a boy and grow up to be a man"), and finally gender constancy ("Even if I wore a
dress, I would still be a boy"), all by about six years of age. A newer version of this approach, formulated by
Carol Martin and Charles Halverson in 1981, emphasized the development of gender schemas— children's
ideas of gender that help them categorize experiences as relevant to one sex or the other.
Regardless of which theoretical explanation of gender roles is used, the early acquisitions of such ideas and
behaviors make for very stereotyped youngsters. Because young children see the world in black- and-white
terms, they may go as far as to insist that only men could be physicians, even when their own pediatrician
is a woman!
Middle Childhood
Whereas parents play a significant role in gender socialization when their children are very young, when
most Western boys and girls enter school they separate into gender-segregated groups that seem to
operate by their own set of peer-driven rules. Gender segregation is such a widespread phenomenon that
boys and girls seem to work and play together only when there is a coercive adult present. During
unstructured free time, the lapse into the "two cultures of childhood" (Maccoby 1998, p. 32) is quite
obvious—the other sex becomes "toxic." A typical boys' group is large, competitive, hierarchical, with one
or two boys at the top of the pecking order, and organized around large group outdoor activities such as
sports. Rough-and-tumble play and displays of strength and toughness frequently occur. In contrast, girls'
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groups tend to be smaller and dependent on intense, intimate conversations where the emphasis is upon
maintaining group cohesion. Girls try very hard to be "nice" to one another, even as they attempt to
covertly promote their own agenda. In her 1998 book The Two Sexes, Eleanor Maccoby stated her belief
that this segregation, hints of which may be seen as early as age four or five, begins when girls shy away
from their exuberant, active male playmates, who do not rely as much upon language for persuasion and
influence. The boys' groups ultimately evolve into a strict order that avoids anything perceived as feminine.
Girls have much greater latitude in American society to cross that sacred border. Maccoby contended that
these interaction styles, to some extent, continue throughout adolescence and adulthood.
Adolescence
Erik H. Erikson believed that adolescence represented a crucial turning point in the development of a sense
of identity. All of the physical, social, and cognitive changes of these years lead to frequent soul-searching
about "Who am I?" Such uncertainty and insecurity also can further promote conformity into one's gender
role, or "gender intensification." During early adolescence, boys may emulate "macho" role models and be
quite homophobic; girls may adhere to strict dress codes (e.g., that which is "in") and play down their
intellectual talents and abilities. The timing of puberty may also have significant implications for adolescent
gender development. Girls are more likely to encounter social difficulties when they mature early, but for
boys the opposite is true.
For many adolescents, the uncertainties, conflicting demands, and withdrawal of adult and community
support are predictors of significant problems. Much has been written about how difficult the adolescent
years are for girls, as they are more likely than boys to experience depression, eating disorders, and low
self-esteem. This may vary, however, according to the ethnicity of the girl, as African-American teenagers
do not seem to express such negative views about themselves. In his 1998 book Real Boys, William Pollack
emphasized the realization that gender-role socialization makes life hard for boys. Because Western culture
provides boys little opportunity for self-expression and close emotional relationships, the suicide rate and
rate of violence in teenage boys is far greater than for girls.
By the end of adolescence, both sexes usually become more tolerant of themselves and others in terms of
their consideration of gender-related behaviors. Individuals' evolution as men and women continues
throughout the lifespan, however, as each person encounters major life transitions such as marriage,
parenthood, middle age, and old age. It is important to recognize that although humans emphasize the
differential paths of boys and girls in the development of gender roles, the fundamental dimensions of
humanity—male and female—are more similar than different
Children, according to their genetics, environmental and social influences, will develop differently from one
another; no two children will have the same characteristic make up due to similar upbringing and
influences but one thing for certain is that a child will develop poorly if he/she does not receive the proper
nourishment and nurture within the first few years of life.
If a child is neglected of nourishment and/or nurture in the early years, it may not be of the parents will
that this takes place. For whatever reason though that nourishment and nurture is missing, the parents
should be concerned as to their child's developmental process. It has been researched and become a
known aspect of child development in the field. Let us now take a look at a few of the reasons why
nourishment and nurture, two of the most significant influences, are missing in some children's lives.
In today's world, it often takes both parents working to financially support the family needs. If this is the
case, many children will spend their days in a daycare facility or with an individual babysitter. The
babysitter situation is usually the better of the two if the parents are looking for a more one-on-one,
nurturing atmosphere for their child but being in the care of a sitter does have it downfalls as well. The
child looked after by a sitter may not receive the proper social learning nourishment needed to prepare
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him for the early school years of interacting with and acceptance of other children. Even if the sitter has
more than one child to look after, which allows for the children to interact with one another, the sitter may
lack in the necessary skills to properly teach the children other important social and educational skills
needed to be learned in the early years.
Day care facilities on the other hand, often provide an adequate amount of nutrition, social skills, and
education that children need to take in at that age. Most day care facilities have state guidelines to follow if
they wish to operate legally. More often than not though, day care facilities lack in the nurture department
due to the child to adult ratio being too high. Many facilities have 10-12 children to one adult; this number
of children is far too great for any one adult to pay the amount of one-on-one attention to each child that is
needed to aid in their proper development
Socioeconomic Status
A family's socioeconomic status is based on family income, parental education level, parental occupation,
and social status in the community (such as contacts within the community, group associations, and the
community's perception of the family), note Demarest, Reisner, Anderson, Humphrey, Farquhar, and Stein
(1993). Families with high socioeconomic status often have more success in preparing their young children
for school because they typically have access to a wide range of resources to promote and support young
children's development. They are able to provide their young children with high-quality child care, books,
and toys to encourage children in various learning activities at home. Also, they have easy access to
information regarding their children's health, as well as social, emotional, and cognitive development. In
addition, families with high socioeconomic status often seek out information to help them better prepare
their young children for school.
Crnic and Lamberty (1994) discuss the impact of socioeconomic status on children's readiness for school:
"The segregating nature of social class, ethnicity, and race may well reduce the variety of enriching
experiences thought to be prerequisite for creating readiness to learn among children. Social class,
ethnicity, and race entail a set of 'contextual givens' that dictate neighborhood, housing, and access
to resources that affect enrichment or deprivation as well as the acquisition of specific value
systems."
Ramey and Ramey (1994) describe the relationship of family socioeconomic status to children's readiness
for school:
"Across all socioeconomic groups, parents face major challenges when it comes to providing
optimal care and education for their children. For families in poverty, these challenges can be
formidable. Sometimes, when basic necessities are lacking, parents must place top priority on
housing, food, clothing, and health care. Educational toys, games, and books may appear to be
luxuries, and parents may not have the time, energy, or knowledge to find innovative and less-
expensive ways to foster young children's development.
Even in families with above-average incomes, parents often lack the time and energy to invest fully
in their children's preparation for school, and they sometimes face a limited array of options for
high-quality child care--both before their children start school and during the early school years.
Kindergarten teachers throughout the country report that children are increasingly arriving at
school inadequately prepared." (p. 195)
Families with low socioeconomic status often lack the financial, social, and educational supports that
characterize families with high socioeconomic status. Poor families also may have inadequate or limited
access to community resources that promote and support children's development and school readiness.
Parents may have inadequate skills for such activities as reading to and with their children, and they may
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lack information about childhood immunizations and nutrition. Zill, Collins, West, and Hausken (1995) state
that "low maternal education and minority-language status are most consistently associated with fewer
signs of emerging literacy and a greater number of difficulties in preschoolers." Having inadequate
resources and limited access to available resources can negatively affect families' decisions regarding their
young children's development and learning. As a result, children from families with low socioeconomic
status are at greater risk of entering kindergarten unprepared than their peers from families with median
or high socioeconomic status.
What is a developmental delay?

Child development refers to the process in which children go through changes in skill development during
predictable time periods, called developmental milestones. Developmental delay occurs when children
have not reached these milestones by the expected time period. For example, if the normal range for
learning to walk is between 9 and 15 months, and a 20-month-old child has still not begun walking, this
would be considered a developmental delay.
Developmental delays can occur in all five areas of development or may just happen in one or more of
those areas (to read about the five areas of development. Additionally, growth in each area of development
is related to growth in the other areas. So if there is a difficulty in one area (e.g., speech and language), it is
likely to influence development in other areas (e.g., social and emotional).
What are the risk factors for developmental delay?

Risk factors for developmental problems fall into two categories:
 Genetic
 Environmental
Children are placed at genetic risk by being born with a genetic or chromosomal abnormality. A good
example of a genetic risk is Down syndrome, a disorder that causes developmental delay because of an
abnormal chromosome. Environmental risk results from exposure to harmful agents either before or after
birth, and can include things like poor maternal nutrition or exposure to toxins (e.g. lead or drugs) or
infections that are passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy (e.g., measles or HIV).
Environmental risk also includes a child's life experiences. For example, children who are born prematurely,
face severe poverty, mother's depression, poor nutrition, or lack of care are at increased risk for
developmental delays.
Risk factors have a cumulative impact upon development. As the number of risk factors increases, a child is
put at greater risk for developmental delay.
What are the warning signs of a developmental delay?

There are several general "warning signs" of possible delay. These include:
 Behavioral Warning Signs

o Does not pay attention or stay focused on an activity for as long a time as other children of
the same age
o Focuses on unusual objects for long periods of time; enjoys this more than interacting with
others
o Avoids or rarely makes eye contact with others
o Gets unusually frustrated when trying to do simple tasks that most children of the same
age can do
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o Shows aggressive behaviors and acting out and appears to be very stubborn compared with
other children
o Displays violent behaviors on a daily basis
o Stares into space, rocks body, or talks to self more often than other children of the same
age
o Does not seek love and approval from a caregiver or parent
 Gross Motor Warning Signs

o Has stiff arms and/or legs
o Has a floppy or limp body posture compared to other children of the same age
o Uses one side of body more than the other
o Has a very clumsy manner compared with other children of the same age
 Vision Warning Signs

o Seems to have difficulty following objects or people with her eyes
o Rubs eyes frequently
o Turns, tilts or holds head in a strained or unusual position when trying to look at an object
o Seems to have difficulty finding or picking up small objects dropped on the floor (after the
age of 12 months)
o Has difficulty focusing or making eye contact
o Closes one eye when trying to look at distant objects
o Eyes appear to be crossed or turned
o Brings objects too close to eyes to see
o One or both eyes appear abnormal in size or coloring
 Hearing Warning Signs

o Talks in a very loud or very soft voice
o Seems to have difficulty responding when called from across the room, even when it is for
something interesting
o Turns body so that the same ear is always turned toward sound
o Has difficulty understanding what has been said or following directions after once she has
turned 3 years of age
o Doesn't startle to loud noises
o Ears appear small or deformed
o Fails to develop sounds or words that would be appropriate at her age
In addition, because children usually acquire developmental milestones or skills during a specific time
frame or "window", we can predict when most children will learn different skills. If a child is not learning a
skill that other children are learning at the same age, that may be a "warning sign" that the child may be at
risk for developmental delay. If you want to read about typical developmental milestones children learn at
different ages. If a child has not learned these skills during a specific time frame, it does not mean your
child is delayed. We would recommend, though, that you let your child's doctor know about your concerns.
How is a developmental delay identified?

Developmental delay is identified through two types of play-based assessments:
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 Developmental Screening
 Developmental Evaluation
A developmental screening test is a quick and general measurement of skills. Its purpose is to identify
children who are in need of further evaluation. A screening test can be in one of two formats, either a
questionnaire that is handed to a parent or childcare provider that asks about developmental milestones or
a test that is given to your child by a health or educational professional.
A screening test is only meant to identify children who might have a problem. The screening test may either
over-identify or under-identify children with delay. As a result, a diagnosis cannot be made simply by using
a screening test. If the results of a screening test suggest a child may have a developmental delay, the child
should be referred for a developmental evaluation.
A developmental evaluation is a long, in-depth assessment of a child's skills and should be administered by
a highly trained professional, such as a psychologist. Evaluation tests are used to create a profile of a child's
strengths and weaknesses in all developmental areas. The results of a developmental evaluation are used
to determine if the child is in need of early intervention services and/or a treatment plan.
What are early intervention services?

Early intervention services include a variety of different resources and programs that provide support to
families to enhance a child's development. These services are specifically tailored to meet a child's
individual needs. Services include:
 Assistive technology (devices a child might need)

 Audiology or hearing services
 Counseling and training for a family
 Educational programs
 Medical services
 Nursing services
 Nutrition services
 Occupational therapy
 Physical therapy
 Psychological services
 Respite services
 Speech/Language
These services are provided by public agencies and private organizations for children who are found to be
eligible for these services after a developmental evaluation.
Why is early intervention important?

If a child is found on a developmental evaluation to have some developmental delays, it is important that
intervention occurs early on in childhood for a number of reasons. Generally, children need to learn these
developmental skills in a consecutive fashion. For example, a child needs to learn to sit up on her own
before she will be able to stand up.
Also, early intervention helps a child advance in all areas of development. Sometimes if a child has a delay
in one area (i.e. speech), it can affect other developmental areas (i.e., social and emotional). Therefore, it is
vital that a child receive early intervention as soon as possible.
Finally, early intervention is critical for the child to develop good self-esteem. Without early intervention, a
child's self-image may suffer and they may become avoidant of school. For example, a child who has a
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language delay may feel embarrassed to speak in front of their peers and teacher at school. Early
intervention can help prevent these embarrassing moments for a child before they begin school.
What can I do if I am concerned that my child may have a developmental delay?

If you are concerned that your child may have a developmental delay, it is important to talk with your
child's doctor. Your child's doctor can talk with you, examine your child, and refer you to agencies that help
to screen or evaluate children for developmental delay. If your child's doctor does not know of such an
agency or if you are more worried than your doctor, you can seek help on your own.
If you live in San Diego, California, the following programs can also be of help. These include:
California Early Start: This program screens and evaluates children ages birth to 36 months who are at risk
for developmental delay. It also provides early intervention services at no cost for children who qualify for
services.
San Diego Regional Center: Regional Center is one of a number of centers throughout California who work
specifically with children and adults with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, and autism.
San Diego School Districts: The public school system evaluates children ages 3 years and up with warning
signs for developmental delay including serious behavior problems. Even if your child attends a private or
parochial school, she can be evaluated through the public school district. Intervention services are provided
at no cost for those children who qualify for services..
Children's Care Connection (C3): This program helps parents of children in North County determine if their
child may have a developmental delay and also provides free classes for parents and children to help
parents with any problems their children may be having.
Developmental Screening and Enhancement Project (DSEP): This program works with children ages 0-5
years of age entering the foster care system to determine if they have developmental or behavioral
problems.
Other resources: San Diego County has a number of other agencies that can help parents who are
concerned that their child may have developmental or behavioral health problems. There are also some
very good books and websites that help parents understand their child's needs.
What is an Individualized Education Program (IEP)?

An IEP is a written document, ordered by federal law, that defines a child's disabilities, states current levels
of academic performance, describes educational needs, and specifies annual goals and objectives. The
unique needs of each child determine what specific programs and services are required. The IEP planning
process can be very confusing for both parents and professionals. Below you will find answers to commonly
asked questions about the IEP process.
 How does the IEP process start and what can I expect?
o Talk about requesting an IEP with the child's teacher or doctor.
o Learn about the IEP process on the Internet.
o Write a letter to the special education office or to the child's school principal requesting an
assessment (and date your request). Even if the child is in private school, he or she can be
evaluated by the school district.
o You should receive an assessment plan from the school within 15 days.
o You have 15 more days in which to agree to the school's assessment plan or request a
different one.
o You should be invited to participate in an IEP meeting within 50 days. All testing must be
completed by the meeting date.
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 What is an assessment plan?

An assessment plan is a description of the various tests (cognitive, motor/perceptual,
communication, social/emotional, and educational) to be used in a student's assessment in
preparation for his or her IEP meeting. The assessment plan should:
o Be specific regarding which tests will be given. These should be individualized tests and
NOT standardized tests given in a group situation.
o Match your child's perceived disabilities with a test or subtest that clearly assesses that
area.
o Consider all information, including parental input and classroom performance.
 How do I prepare for the IEP meeting?

o Talk to your child's teacher and doctor about their observations.
o Request copies of school and medical records at least 7 days before the IEP meeting.
Parents are legally entitled to these results.
o Understand the test results describing your child's current levels of educational
performance, including how your child compares to other children his or her age.
o Define for yourself your child's problem areas and strengths.
 What will happen at the IEP planning meeting?
At the planning meeting, the team will review the test results to determine if your child is eligible
for an IEP. If your child qualifies for an IEP, the team will be developing educational and behavioral
goals for your child at this meeting. Make sure to ask any questions you may have and pay
attention to what is written on the IEP form.
Remember this is a legal document. You are not required to sign it if you don't understand it or are
not sure you agree with it.
 What should the IEP include?
o An outline of your child's educational needs, including learning styles, teaching methods,
and student-teacher ratio.
o Written goals that match your child's specific needs with benchmarks to determine if an IEP
is working on a yearly basis.
o Standardized measurement criteria for assessing objectives.
o Decision on the appropriate school placement and educational strategies for your child.
o Stated plan for how often IEP reviews will occur.
What is an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)?

An IFSP is the coordination of services that are family-centered. It is based on your child's strengths, as well
as your concerns and priorities for your child. You can participate in the process of assessment by gathering
information concerning your child's medical and developmental history, and also by making observations
about his or her strengths and difficulties. The IFSP planning process can be very confusing for parents and
professionals. Below you will find answers to commonly asked questions about the IFSP.
 Who develops the IFSP?

Along with your service coordinator, you have an active role in developing the service plan. You
help decide which family members, friends, teachers, physicians, and other professionals should be
included, and who will help to write the plan. You let the team know what you want for your child
and for your family, and the team will work with you to achieve those goals.
The IFSP should focus on your family's concerns and priorities, and should be supportive of your
family's routine, values, and culture. It should also be clearly explained to you, and written in your
family's language, if possible.
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 How do I prepare for the IFSP planning meeting?

To prepare for an IFSP planning meeting, you can talk with other parents, learn more about your
child's diagnosis, and list your questions and concerns to discuss with your service coordinator. It is
especially important to identify needs for transportation, child care, and/or interpreters. Certain
questions you may want to consider asking yourself and/or your service coordinator include:
o What is needed for my child, and how will this be decided?
o What services are available?
o What are the options?
o What will my family's new rights and responsibilities include?
 What can I do during the planning meeting?
o Share information that you think is important. This could include medical records, a baby
book, a growth chart, or other evaluations.
o Talk about your child, and discuss any concerns or questions you may have about his or her
development.
o Consider how you will be involved in the processes of evaluation, assessment, and service
planning.
o Decide who should be involved, including specific family members as well as others, such as
another parent, a friend, or a child care provider.
o Consider which service delivery environment is best suited to meet your child's needs:
home, child care setting, infant development program, etc.
 What should the IFSP include?
o A statement of your child's level of development, from your own observations and from
formal assessment measures (if necessary).
o A "family assessment," which is a statement of your family's resources and concerns as
they relate to your child's development (with your permission).
o A statement of the outcomes you expect for your child and family, including how and when
they will be achieved.
o A statement of which early intervention services will be provided, and in what
environments they will occur (such as your home, child care setting, or a school program).
o A statement of when services will begin, how often they will be provided, and how long
they will continue.
o A plan for transitions as your child's needs change (this must be included when your child
approaches three years of age).
o The name of your service coordinator.
 How can I help my child meet these developmental milestones?
Remember that the IFSP is not a finalized document. It is an ongoing process. Your child's needs
may change quickly, so your family's IFSP should be reviewed at least every six months, and revised
when necessary. If you think your services need to be changed, contact your service coordinator for
an IFSP review.
In early intervention, transitions happen whenever your child's services change to better meet both
of your needs. Planning for transition requires your participation..
AC4.Descriptions are provided to show how development is shaped by socio-cultural influences.
Beliefs, values and practices; inter-personal relationships;

and relationships with the environment.
A person cannot teach another person directly; a person can only facilitate another's learning” (Rogers,
1951). This is a result of his personality theory, which states that everyone exists in a constantly changing
world of experience in which he or she is the center. Each person reacts and responds based on perception
and experience. The belief is that what the student does is more important than what the teacher does.
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The focus is on the student (Rogers, 1951). Therefore, the background and experiences of the learner are
essential to how and what is learned. Each student will process what he or she learns differently depending
on what he or she brings to the classroom.
-“A person learns significantly only those things that are perceived as being involved in the maintenance of
or enhancement of the structure of self” (Rogers, 1951). Therefore, relevancy to the student is essential for
learning. The students' experiences become the core of the course.
-“Experience which, if assimilated, would involve a change in the organization of self, tends to be resisted
through denial or distortion of symbolism” (Rogers, 1951). If the content or presentation of a course is
inconsistent with preconceived information, the student will learn if he or she is open to varying concepts.
Being open to consider concepts that vary from one's own is vital to learning. Therefore, gently
encouraging open-mindedness is helpful in engaging the student in learning. Also, it is important, for this
reason, that new information is relevant and related to existing experience.
-“The structure and organization of self appears to become more rigid under threats and to relax its
boundaries when completely free from threat” (Rogers, 1951). If students believe that concepts are being
forced upon them, they might become uncomfortable and fearful. A barrier is created by a tone of threat in
the classroom. Therefore, an open, friendly environment in which trust is developed is essential in the
online classroom. Fear of retribution for not agreeing with a concept should be eliminated. A classroom
tone of support helps to alleviate fears and encourages students to have the courage to explore concepts
and beliefs that vary from those they bring to the classroom. Also, new information might threaten the
student’s concept of him- or herself; therefore, the less vulnerable the student feels, the more likely he or
she will be able to open up to the learning process.
-“The educational situation which most effectively promotes significant learning is one in which (a) threat
to the self of the learner is reduced to a minimum and (b) differentiated perception of the field is
facilitated” (Rogers, 1951). The instructor should be open to learning from the students and also working to
connect the students to the subject matter. Frequent interaction with the students will help achieve this
goal. The instructor's acceptance of being a mentor who guides rather than the expert who tells is
instrumental to student-centered, nonthreatening, and unforced learning.
Nineteen propositions
His theory (as of 1951) was based on 19 propositions:[11]
1. All individuals (organisms) exist in a continually changing world of experience (phenomenal field) of
which they are the center.
2. The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and perceived. This perceptual field is "reality"
for the individual.
3. The organism reacts as an organized whole to this phenomenal field.
4. A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the self.
5. As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of evaluational
interaction with others, the structure of the self is formed - an organized, fluid but consistent
conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the "I" or the "me",
together with values attached to these concepts.
6. The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain and enhance the
experiencing organism.
7. The best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the
individual.
8. Behavior is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experienced,
in the field as perceived.
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9. Emotion accompanies, and in general facilitates, such goal directed behavior, the kind of emotion
being related to the perceived significance of the behavior for the maintenance and enhancement
of the organism.
10. The values attached to experiences, and the values that are a part of the self-structure, in some
instances, are values experienced directly by the organism, and in some instances are values
introjected or taken over from others, but perceived in distorted fashion, as if they had been
experienced directly.
11. As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either, a) symbolized, perceived and
organized into some relation to the self, b) ignored because there is no perceived relationship to
the self structure, c) denied symbolization or given distorted symbolization because the experience
is inconsistent with the structure of the self.
12. Most of the ways of behaving that are adopted by the organism are those that are consistent with
the concept of self.
13. In some instances, behavior may be brought about by organic experiences and needs which have
not been symbolized. Such behavior may be inconsistent with the structure of the self but in such
instances the behavior is not "owned" by the individual.
14. Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that all the sensory and
visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be, assimilated on a symbolic level into a
consistent relationship with the concept of self.
15. Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies awareness of significant sensory and
visceral experiences, which consequently are not symbolized and organized into the gestalt of the
self structure. When this situation exists, there is a basic or potential psychological tension.
16. Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization of the structure of the self may be
perceived as a threat, and the more of these perceptions there are, the more rigidly the self
structure is organized to maintain itself.
17. Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of threat to the self structure,
experiences which are inconsistent with it may be perceived and examined, and the structure of
self revised to assimilate and include such experiences.
18. When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and integrated system all his
sensory and visceral experiences, then he is necessarily more understanding of others and is more
accepting of others as separate individuals.
19. As the individual perceives and accepts into his self structure more of his organic experiences, he
finds that he is replacing his present value system - based extensively on introjections which have
been distortedly symbolized - with a continuing organismic valuing process.
Additionally, Rogers is known for practicing "unconditional positive regard," which is defined as accepting a
person "without negative judgment of .... [a person's] basic worth."[12]
Development of the personality

With regard to development, he described principles rather than stages. The main issue is the development
of a self concept and the progress from an undifferentiated self to being fully differentiated.
Self Concept ... the organized consistent conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of the characteristics
of 'I' or 'me' and the perceptions of the relationships of the 'I' or 'me' to others and to various aspects of life,
together with the values attached to these perceptions. It is a gestalt which is available to awareness
though not necessarily in awareness. It is a fluid and changing gestalt, a process, but at any given moment it
is a specific entity. (Rogers, 1959)[13]
In the development of the self concept, he saw conditional and unconditional positive regard as key. Those
raised in an environment of unconditional positive regard have the opportunity to fully actualize
themselves. Those raised in an environment of conditional positive regard feel worthy only if they match
conditions (what Rogers describes as conditions of worth) that have been laid down for them by others.
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The fully functioning person

Optimal development, as referred to in proposition 14, results in a certain process rather than static state.
He describes this as the good life, where the organism continually aims to fulfill its full potential. He listed
the characteristics of a fully functioning person (Rogers 1961):[14]
1. A growing openness to experience – they move away from defensiveness and have no need for
subception (a perceptual defense that involves unconsciously applying strategies to prevent a
troubling stimulus from entering consciousness).
2. An increasingly existential lifestyle – living each moment fully – not distorting the moment to fit
personality or self concept but allowing personality and self concept to emanate from the
experience. This results in excitement, daring, adaptability, tolerance, spontaneity, and a lack of
rigidity and suggests a foundation of trust. "To open one's spirit to what is going on now, and
discover in that present process whatever structure it appears to have" (Rogers 1961)[14]
3. Increasing organismic trust – they trust their own judgment and their ability to choose behavior
that is appropriate for each moment. They do not rely on existing codes and social norms but trust
that as they are open to experiences they will be able to trust their own sense of right and wrong.
4. Freedom of choice – not being shackled by the restrictions that influence an incongruent individual,
they are able to make a wider range of choices more fluently. They believe that they play a role in
determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for their own behavior.
5. Creativity – it follows that they will feel more free to be creative. They will also be more creative in
the way they adapt to their own circumstances without feeling a need to conform.
6. Reliability and constructiveness – they can be trusted to act constructively. An individual who is
open to all their needs will be able to maintain a balance between them. Even aggressive needs will
be matched and balanced by intrinsic goodness in congruent individuals.
7. A rich full life – he describes the life of the fully functioning individual as rich, full and exciting and
suggests that they experience joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage more intensely.
Rogers' description of the good life:
This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the
stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage
to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. (Rogers 1961)[14]
Incongruence
Rogers identified the "real self" as the aspect of one's being that is founded in the actualizing tendency,
follows organismic valuing, needs and receives positive regard and self-regard. It is the "you" that, if all
goes well, you will become. On the other hand, to the extent that our society is out of sync with the
actualizing tendency, and we are forced to live with conditions of worth that are out of step with
organismic valuing, and receive only conditional positive regard and self-regard, we develop instead an
"ideal self". By ideal, Rogers is suggesting something not real, something that is always out of our reach, the
standard we cannot meet. This gap between the real self and the ideal self, the "I am" and the "I should" is
called incongruity.
Psychopathology
Rogers described the concepts of congruence and incongruence as important ideas in his theory. In
proposition #6, he refers to the actualizing tendency. At the same time, he recognized the need for positive
regard. In a fully congruent person realizing their potential is not at the expense of experiencing positive
regard. They are able to lead lives that are authentic and genuine. Incongruent individuals, in their pursuit
of positive regard, lead lives that include falseness and do not realize their potential. Conditions put on
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them by those around them make it necessary for them to forego their genuine, authentic lives to meet
with the approval of others. They live lives that are not true to themselves, to who they are on the inside.
Rogers suggested that the incongruent individual, who is always on the defensive and cannot be open to all
experiences, is not functioning ideally and may even be malfunctioning. They work hard at
maintaining/protecting their self concept. Because their lives are not authentic this is a difficult task and
they are under constant threat. They deploy defense mechanisms to achieve this. He describes two
mechanisms: distortion and denial. Distortion occurs when the individual perceives a threat to their self
concept. They distort the perception until it fits their self concept.
This defensive behavior reduces the consciousness of the threat but not the threat itself. And so, as the
threats mount, the work of protecting the self concept becomes more difficult and the individual becomes
more defensive and rigid in their self structure. If the incongruence is immoderate this process may lead
the individual to a state that would typically be described as neurotic. Their functioning becomes
precarious and psychologically vulnerable. If the situation worsens it is possible that the defenses cease to
function altogether and the individual becomes aware of the incongruence of their situation. Their
personality becomes disorganised and bizarre; irrational behavior, associated with earlier denied aspects of
self, may erupt uncontrollably
Explain how gender, socio-economic background, age, environment and special
needs impact on the development of children in each domain: Prenatal
Development; Infancy; Early Childhood; Middle Childhood; Adolescence;
Socioeconomic Status.
AC5.Descriptions are provided to show how development

within each domain is linked to and affected by
development in other domains.
Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion.[1] Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's
interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or
gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" (APA 2006).
The affective domain represents one of the three divisions described in modern psychology: the cognitive,
the conative, and the affective. Classically, these divisions have also been referred to as the "ABC of
psychology", in that case using the terms "affect", "behavior", and "cognition". In certain views, the
conative may be considered as a part of the affective,[2] or the affective as a part of the cognitive.[3]
Theoretical perspective
The term "affect" can be taken to indicate an instinctual reaction to stimulation occurring before the typical
cognitive processes considered necessary for the formation of a more complex emotion. Robert B. Zajonc
asserts this reaction to stimuli is primary for human beings, and that it is the dominant reaction for lower
organisms. Zajonc suggests affective reactions can occur without extensive perceptual and cognitive
encoding, and can be made sooner and with greater confidence than cognitive judgments (Zajonc, 1980).
Many theorists (e.g., Lazarus, 1982) consider affect to be post-cognitive. That is, affect is thought to be
elicited only after a certain amount of cognitive processing of information has been accomplished. In this
view, an affective reaction, such as liking, disliking, evaluation, or the experience of pleasure or displeasure,
is based on a prior cognitive process in which a variety of content discriminations are made and features
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are identified, examined for their value, and weighted for their contributions (Brewin, 1989). Some scholars
(e.g., Lerner and Keltner 2000) argue that affect can be both pre- and post-cognitive, with thoughts being
produced by initial emotional responses, and further affect being produced by the thoughts. In a further
iteration, some scholars argue that affect is necessary to enable more rational modes of cognition (e.g.,
Damasio 1994).
A divergence from a narrow reinforcement model for emotion allows for other perspectives on how affect
influences emotional development. Thus, temperament, cognitive development, socialization patterns, and
the idiosyncrasies of one's family or subculture are mutually interactive in non-linear ways. As an example,
the temperament of a highly reactive/low self-soothing infant may "disproportionately" affect the process
of emotion regulation in the early months of life (Griffiths, 1997).
In the last decade, the concept has been adopted in some other disciplines in the social sciences such as
Geography and Anthropology. Building largely on the work of Deleuze, the focus on affect has brought
emotional and visceral concerns into conventional discourses of geopolitics, urban life and material culture,
for example. Affect has also challenged methodologies of the social sciences, emphasizing somatic power
over the idea of a removed objectivity, and therefore has strong ties with the contemporary non-
representational theory.
History
A number of experiments have been conducted in the study of social and psychological affective
preferences (i.e., what people like or dislike). Specific research has been done on preferences, attitudes,
impression formation, and decision making. This research contrasts findings with recognition memory (old-
new judgments), allowing researchers to demonstrate reliable distinctions between the two. Affect-based
judgments and cognitive processes have been examined with noted differences indicated, and some argue
affect and cognition are under the control of separate and partially independent systems that can influence
each other in a variety of ways (Zajonc, 1980). Both affect and cognition may constitute independent
sources of effects within systems of information processing. Others suggest emotion is a result of an
anticipated, experienced, or imagined outcome of an adaptational transaction between organism and
environment, therefore cognitive appraisal processes are keys to the development and expression of an
emotion (Lazarus, 1982).
Psychometric measurement of affect

Affect has been found across cultures to comprise both positive and negative dimensions. The most
commonly used measure of positive and negative affect in scholarly research is the Positive and Negative
Affect Schedule (PANAS).[4] The PANAS is a lexical measure developed in a North American setting and
consisting of 20 single-word items, such as excited, alert, determined for positive affect, and upset, guilty,
and jittery for negative affect. However, some of the PANAS items have been found either to be redundant
or to have ambiguous meanings to English speakers from non-North American cultures. As a result an
internationally reliable short-form, the I-PANAS-SF, has been developed and validated comprising two 5-
item scales with internal reliability, cross-sample and cross-cultural factorial invariance, temporal stability,
convergent and criterion-related validities.[5]
Non-conscious affect and perception

In relation to perception, a type of non-conscious affect may be separate from the cognitive processing of
environmental stimuli. A monohierarchy of perception, affect and cognition considers the roles of arousal,
attentional tendencies, affective primacy (Zajonc, 1980), evolutionary constraints (Shepard, 1984; 1994),
and covert perception (Weiskrantz, 1997) within the sensing and processing of preferences and
discriminations. Emotions are complex chains of events triggered by certain stimuli. There is no way to
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completely describe an emotion by knowing only some of its components. Verbal reports of feelings are
often inaccurate because people may not know exactly what they feel, or they may feel several different
emotions at the same time. There are also situations that arise in which individuals attempt to hide their
feelings, and there are some who believe that public and private events seldom coincide exactly, and that
words for feelings are generally more ambiguous than are words for objects or events. Therefore, non-
conscious emotions need to be measured by measures circumventing self-report such as the Implicit
Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT; Quirin, Kazén, & Kuhl, 2009).
Affective responses, on the other hand, are more basic and may be less problematical in terms of
assessment. Brewin has proposed two experiential processes that frame non-cognitive relations between
various affective experiences: those that are prewired dispositions (i.e., non-conscious processes), able to
"select from the total stimulus array those stimuli that are causally relevant, using such criteria as
perceptual salience, spatiotemporal cues, and predictive value in relation to data stored in memory"
(Brewin, 1989, p. 381), and those that are automatic (i.e., subconscious processes), characterized as "rapid,
relatively inflexible and difficult to modify... (requiring) minimal attention to occur and... (capable of being)
activated without intention or awareness" (1989 p. 381).
Arousal
Arousal is a basic physiological response to the presentation of stimuli. When this occurs, a non-conscious
affective process takes the form of two control mechanisms; one mobilizing and the other immobilizing.
Within the human brain, the amygdala regulates an instinctual reaction initiating this arousal process,
either freezing the individual or accelerating mobilization.
The arousal response is illustrated in studies focused on reward systems that control food-seeking behavior
(Balleine, 2005). Researchers have focused on learning processes and modulatory processes that are
present while encoding and retrieving goal values. When an organism seeks food, the anticipation of
reward based on environmental events becomes another influence on food seeking that is separate from
the reward of food itself. Therefore, earning the reward and anticipating the reward are separate processes
and both create an excitatory influence of reward-related cues. Both processes are dissociated at the level
of the amygdala and are functionally integrated within larger neural systems.
Affect and mood

Mood, like emotion, is an affective state. However, an emotion tends to have a clear focus (i.e., its cause is
self-evident), while mood tends to be more unfocused and diffused. Mood, according to Batson, Shaw, and
Oleson (1992), involves tone and intensity and a structured set of beliefs about general expectations of a
future experience of pleasure or pain, or of positive or negative affect in the future. Unlike instant reactions
that produce affect or emotion, and that change with expectations of future pleasure or pain, moods, being
diffused and unfocused, and thus harder to cope with, can last for days, weeks, months, or even years
(Schucman, 1975). Moods are hypothetical constructs depicting an individual's emotional state.
Researchers typically infer the existence of moods from a variety of behavioral referents (Blechman, 1990).
Positive affect and negative affect (PANAS) represent independent domains of emotion in the general
population, and positive affect is strongly linked to social interaction. Positive and negative daily events
show independent relationships to subjective well-being, and positive affect is strongly linked to social
activity. Recent research suggests that high functional support is related to higher levels of positive affect.
In his work on negative affect arousal and white noise, Seidner found support for the existence of a
negative affect arousal mechanism regarding the devaluation of speakers from other ethnic origins.[6] The
exact process through which social support is linked to positive affect remains unclear. The process could
derive from predictable, regularized social interaction, from leisure activities where the focus is on
relaxation and positive mood, or from the enjoyment of shared activities.
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Social interaction
Affect display is a critical facet of interpersonal communication. Evolutionary psychologists have advanced
the hypothesis that hominids have evolved with sophisticated capability of reading affect displays.
Emotions are portrayed as dynamic processes that mediate the individual's relation to a continually
changing social environment.[8] In other words, emotions are considered to be processes of establishing,
maintaining, or disrupting the relation between the organism and the environment on matters of
significance to the person.[9]
Most social and psychological phenomena occur as the result of repeated interactions between multiple
individuals over time. We can look at these interactions as a multiagent system—a system that contains
multiple agents interacting with each other and/or with their environments over time. The outcomes of
individual agents' behaviors are interdependent: Each agent’s ability to achieve its goals depends on not
only what it does but also what other agents do.[10]
Emotions are one of the main sources for the interaction. Emotions of an individual influence the emotions,
thoughts and behaviors of others; others' reactions can then influence their future interactions with the
individual expressing the original emotion, as well as that individual's future emotions and behaviors.
Emotion operates in cycles that can involve multiple people in a process of reciprocal influence.[11]
Affect, emotion, or feeling is displayed to others through facial expressions, hand gestures, posture, voice
characteristics, and other physical manifestation. These affect displays vary between and within cultures
and are displayed in various forms ranging from the most discrete of facial expressions to the most
dramatic and prolific gestures.[12]
Observers are sensitive to agents' emotions, and are capable of recognizing the messages these emotions
convey. They react to and draw inferences from an agent's emotions. We have to note that the emotion an
agent displays may not be an authentic reflection of his or her actual state (See also Emotional labor).
Agents' emotions can have effects on four broad sets of factors:
1. Emotions of other persons

2. Inferences of other persons
3. Behaviors of other persons
4. Interactions and relationships between the agent and other persons.
Emotions may affect not only the person at whom the emotion was directed, but also third parties who
observe an agent's emotion. Moreover, emotions can affect larger social entities such as a group or a team.
Emotions are a kind of message and therefore can influence the emotions, attributions and ensuing
behaviors of others, potentially evoking a feedback process to the original agent.
Agents' feelings evoke feelings in others by two suggested distinct mechanisms:
 Emotion Contagion – people tend to automatically and unconsciously mimic non-verbal expressions.[13]
Mimicking occurs also in interactions involving verbal exchanges alone.[14]
 Emotion Interpretation – an individual may perceive an agent as feeling a particular emotion and react
with complementary or situationally appropriate emotions of their own. The feelings of the others
diverge from and in some way compliment the feelings of the original agent.
People may not only react emotionally, but may also draw inferences about emotive agents such as the
social status or power of an emotive agent, his competence and his credibility.[15] For example, an agent
presumed to be angry may also be presumed to have high power.[16]
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Meanings in art
The difference between the externally observable affect and the internal mood has been implicitly
accepted in art and indeed, within language itself. The word "giddy", for example, carries within it the
connotation that the characterized individual may be displaying a happiness that the speaker/observer
believes either insincere or short-living
Portfolio Activity:
1. Discuss the following theorists in child development:
Piaget, Vygotsky, Freud, Erikson, Bandura, Skinner,
(10marks)
2. Discuss different ways of seeing the development of
young children are compared to highlight key similarities
and differences in the theories (10marks)
3. Factors that enable the development of children in each
domain are identified in line with relevant existing
theories. (10marks)
4. Describe how child development is shaped by socio-
cultural influences. (10marks)
Resources:
Possible sources for further research and study is listed under this icon.
Read more: Gender-Role Development - The Development of Sex and Gender -

Boys, Girls, Male, and Roles - JRank Articles
http://social.jrank.org/pages/272/Gender-Role-Development.html#ixzz1cNJvbjXQ
APA (2006). VandenBos, Gary R., ed. APA Dictionary of Psychology Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association, page 26.
Balliene, B. W. (2005). Dietary Influences on Obesity: Environment, Behavior and

Biology. Physiology & Behavior, 86 (5), pp. 717–730
Batson, C.D., Shaw, L. L., Oleson, K. C. (1992). Differentiating Affect, Mood and
Emotion: Toward Functionally-based Conceptual Distinctions. Emotion. Newbury
Park, CA: Sage
Blechman, E. A. (1990). Moods, Affect, and Emotions. Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates: Hillsdale, NJ
Brewin, C. R. (1989). Cognitive Change Processes in Psychotherapy. Psychological

Review, 96(45), pp. 379–394
Damasio, A., (1994). *Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain,
Putnam Publishing
Griffiths, P. E. (1997). What Emotions Really Are: The Problem of Psychological
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Categories. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago
Lazarus, R. S. (1982). Thoughts on the Relations between Emotions and Cognition.

American Physiologist, 37(10), pp. 1019–1024
Lerner, J.S., and D. Keltner. (2000) Beyond valence: Toward a model of emotion-
specific influences on judgement and choice. "Cognition and Emotion", 14(4), pp.
473–493
Nathanson, Donald L. Shame and Pride: Affect, Sex, and the Birth of the Self.
London: W.W. Norton, 1992
Quirin, M., Kazén, M., & Kuhl, J. (2009). When nonsense sounds happy or helpless:
The Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT). Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 97(3), pp. 500-516
Schucman, H., Thetford, C. (1975). A Course in Miracle. New York: Viking Penguin
Group Activity:
The facilitator will lead a question and answer session
Self Assessment
Self Assessment:
You have come to the end of this module – please take the time to review what you
have learnt to date, and conduct a self assessment against the learning outcomes of
this module by following the instructions below:
Rate your understanding of each of the outcomes listed below:
Keys:  - no understanding
 - Some idea
 - Completely comfortable
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SELF RATING
NO OUTCOME
  
1. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of ways of seeing the
development of babies, toddlers and young children.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of
babies, toddlers and young children within each domain of development.
_________________
_________________
_________________
Complete the mind map below by listing the main point you remember from the module you have just
_________________
completed.
_________________
_________________
1. Demonstrating knowledge and ________
understanding of ways of
seeing the development of
babies, toddlers and young
children.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of the
development of babies,
within each domain of
development.
244480 Facilitate the holistic development of

Learning Outcomes:
1. Facilitating development of babies, toddlers and young children.

2. Reflecting on own facilitation.
Introduction
Play is the work of children. It consists of those activities performed for self-amusement that have
behavioral, social, and psychomotor rewards. It is child-directed, and the rewards come from within the
individual child; it is enjoyable and spontaneous.
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Play is an important part of the childhood development. Through play children learn about shapes, colors,
cause and effect, and themselves. Besides cognitive thinking, play helps the child learn social and
psychomotor skills. It is a way of communicating joy, fear , sorrow, and anxiety .
In the early 2000s, children of all ages and from every socioeconomic background often prefer television,
computers, and battery-operated toys to self-directed, imaginative, and creative play. This tendency leaves
children developmentally deprived, because imaginative and fantasy play allows children to explore their
world and express their innermost thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, likes and dislikes. Through play,
decisions are made without penalty or fear of failure. Play allows children to gain control of their thoughts,
feelings, actions, and helps them achieve self-confidence.
Play takes different forms for different children, and its definition entails many aspects. Play is the direct
opposite of work; it is frivolous. It provides freedom and invites the impulse to engage in foolishness. Yet it
provides a means for ego development and a process by which social skills and physical skills develop as
well.
Play with imagination and fantasy is the child's natural medium of self-expression and one that gives cues
about the child's conscious and unconscious states. In play therapy, clinicians employ various techniques
designed to reveal the child's psychological and social development. Clinician-directed play therapy is,
therefore, not naturally self-directed play, but play designed by a professional to facilitate understanding of
the child and the child's healing process.
Categories of play
Categories of play are not mutually exclusive; different forms or categories of play may overlap. Having
choices is important since an action that appeals to one child may be of no interest to another, and the
child's interest is likely to change throughout the play period. An understanding of play in many forms can
help parents understand its importance for children of all ages. Some specific categories of play are as
follows.
 Physical play. When children run, jump, and play games such as chase, hide-and-seek, and tag, they
engage in physical play. This play has a social nature because it involves other children. It also
provides exercise , which is essential for normal development.
 Expressive play. Certain forms of play give children opportunities to express feelings by engaging
with materials. Materials used in expressive play include tempera paints, fingerpaints, watercolors,
crayons, colored pencils and markers, and drawing paper; clay, water, and sponges; beanbags,
pounding benches, punching bags, and rhythm instruments; and shaving cream, pudding, and
gelatin. Parents can take an active role in expressive play by using the materials alongside the child.
 Manipulative play. Children control or master their environment through manipulative play. They
manipulate the environment and other people as much as possible. Manipulative play starts in
infancy. Infants play with their parents; for example, they drop a toy, wait for the parent to pick it
up, clean it, and return it, and then they drop it again. This interaction brings the infant and parent
together in a game. Children move objects such as puzzle pieces and gadgets to better understand
how they work.
 Symbolic play. Certain games can symbolically express a child's problems. Because there are no
rules in symbolic play, the child can use this play to reinforce, learn about, and imaginatively alter
painful experiences. The child who is in an abusive family may pretend to be a mother who loves
and cuddles her child rather than one who verbally or physically abuses her child. Or in play this
same child might act out abusive experience by hitting or screaming at a doll that symbolizes the
child. Parents can be surprised by their child's perception of family issues. Children mimic their
parents in certain play; in other games they may pretend they are the heroes they read about in
books or see on television. At certain developmental stages children believe they can fly or
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disappear. Symbolic play may be used by children to cope with fear of separation when they go to
school or to the hospital.
 Dramatic play. Children act out situations they suspect may happen to them, that they are fearful
will happen, or that they have witnessed. Dramatic play can be either spontaneous or guided and
may be therapeutic for children in the hospital.
 Familiarization play. Children handle materials and explore experiences in reassuring, enjoyable
ways. Familiarization prepares children for potentially fearful and painful experiences, such as
surgery or parental separation.
 Games. Some video and card games are played by one child alone. Games with rules are rarely
played by children younger than four years of age. Board games, card games, and sports are
enjoyed typically by school-age children. In these games children learn to play by the rules and to
take turns. Older children enjoy games with specific rules; however, younger children tend to like
games that allow them to change the rules.
 Surrogate play. For children who are too ill or incapacitated to play, another child or a parent may
serve as surrogate. Watching the surrogate who plays on behalf of the sick child is stimulating to
the sick child. When parents engage in expressive art by painting or redecorating a room while the
physically challenged child watches, they stimulate the child.
Functions of play
Play reinforces the child's growth and development. Some of the more common functions of play are to
facilitate physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and moral development .
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Play aids in developing both fine and gross motor skills . Children repeat certain
body movements purely for pleasure, and these movements develop body control. For example, an infant
will first hit at a toy, then will try to grasp it, and eventually will be able to pick it up. Next, the infant will
shake the rattle or perhaps bring it to the mouth. In these ways, the infant moves from simple to more
complex gestures.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT Children who are anxious may be helped by role playing. Role playing is a way
of coping with emotional conflict. Children may escape through play into a fantasy world in order to make
sense out of the real one. Also, a child's self-awareness deepens as he explores an event through role-
playing or symbolic play.
When a parent or sibling plays a board game with a child, shares a bike ride, plays baseball, or reads a story,
the child learns self-importance. The child's self-esteem gets a boost. Parents send positive messages to
their child when they communicate pleasure in providing him or her with daily care. From these early
interactions, children develop a vision of the world and gain a sense of their place in it.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Children gain knowledge through their play. They exercise their abilities to
think, remember, and solve problems. They develop cognitively as they have a chance to test their beliefs
about the world.
Children increase their problem-solving abilities through games and puzzles. Children involved in make-
believe play can stimulate several types of learning. Language is strengthened as the children model others
and organize their thoughts to communicate. Children playing house create elaborate narratives
concerning their roles and the nature of daily living.
Children also increase their understanding of size, shape, and texture through play. They begin to
understand relationships as they try to put a square object in a round opening or a large object in a small
space. Books, videos, and educational toys that show pictures and matching words also increase a child's
vocabulary while increasing the child's concept of the world.
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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT A newborn cannot distinguish itself from others and is completely self-absorbed. As
the infant begins to play with others and with objects, a realization of self as separate from others begins to
develop. The infant begins to experience joy from contact with others and engages in behavior that
involves others. The infant discovers that when he coos or laughs, mother coos back. The child soon
expects this response and repeats it for fun, playing with his mother.
As children grow, they enjoy playful interaction with other children. Children learn about boundaries, taking
turns, teamwork, and competition. Children also learn to negotiate with different personalities and the
feelings associated with winning and losing. They learn to share, wait, and be patient.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT When children engage in play with their peers and families, they begin to learn
some behaviors are acceptable while others are unacceptable. Parents start these lessons early in the
child's life by teaching the child to control aggressive behavior . Parents can develop morals while reading
to children by stressing the moral implications in stories. Children can identify with the moral fictional
characters without assuming their roles. With peers they quickly learn that taking turns is rewarding and
cheating is not. Group play helps the child appreciate teamwork and share and respect others' feelings. The
child learns how to be kind and charitable to others.
Age-related play
As children develop, their play evolves, too. Certain types of play are associated with, but not restricted to,
specific age groups.
 Solitary play is independent. The child plays alone with toys that are different from those chosen by
other children in the area. Solitary play begins in infancy and is common in toddlers because of
their limited social, cognitive, and physical skills. However, it is important for all age groups to have
some time to play by themselves.
 Parallel play is usually associated with toddlers, although it happens in any age group. Children play
side by side with similar toys, but there is a lack of group involvement.
 Associative play involves a group of children who have similar goals. Children in associate play do
not set rules, and although they all want to be playing with the same types of toys and may even
trade toys, there is no formal organization. Associative play begins during toddlerhood and extends
though preschool age.
 Cooperative play begins in the late preschool period. The play is organized by group goals. There is
at least one leader, and children are definitely in or out of the group.
 Onlooker play is present when the child watches others playing. Although the child may ask
questions of the players, there is no effort to join the play. This type of play usually starts during
toddler years but can take place at any age.
Common problems
Promoting play for a sick child is a challenge when the child cannot voluntarily engage in play. Parents need
to realize the importance of play to the well being of a sick child. Children can bring favorite books, games,
and stuffed animals to the hospital. In hospitals young children need toys that they can manipulate
independently, so that parents are free sometimes to focus on medical issues and the healthcare team.
Play activities vary depending on cultural and socioeconomic circumstances. When children do not speak
the group's language, games such as stacking blocks or building with tinker toys are appealing. Playing
tapes of well-loved children's songs can be effective too. The child does not need to be able to understand
the words to enjoy the music or clap with the rhythm.
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Assessing child health through play

Acutely ill children do not have the strength, the attention span, or the interest in play. They may enjoy
being read to and the comfort of holding a favorite stuffed animal. Once the acute phase of an illness is
over, the child's interest in playing returns. Spontaneous interest in play is a good index of health. The toys
selected for play are good indicators of the child's recovery progress.
Play in a medical setting

When a child goes to see the doctor, the waiting room is likely to have other children in it. The arriving child
may hear other children cry as they leave the examining room. The child may dread the examination.
Parents should pack a favorite toy or book with which to distract the child. Having a parent sit with them is
comforting, and they may venture a few feet away to examine toys in the toy box. Older children who go
with the parent and the sick sibling to see the doctor should have toys and games for their entertainment,
too, so the parent can focus on the sick child.
Hospitalized children can release fear, anger, or tension through effective play. Children in the hospital for a
week or longer may enjoy playing school or socializing in the playroom with other children of their age.
However, physical play for sick children must be supervised by a parent or healthcare provider.
Therapeutic play
When a child is ill or traumatized the care plan may include therapeutic play. Unlike normal play in design
and intent, therapeutic play is guided by the health professional to meet the physical and psychological
needs of the child. Because play is the language of children, children who have difficulty putting their
thoughts in words can often speak clearly through play therapy. There are three divisions of therapeutic
play, including:
 Energy release. Children release anxiety by pounding, hitting, running, punching, or shouting.
Toddlers pound pegs with a plastic hammer or pretend to cut wood with a toy saw. An anxious
preschooler pounds a ball of modeling clay flat; a relaxed child may build the clay into shapes.
Balloons tied over the bed of a school-age child or adolescent can be punched.
 Dramatic play. Children act out or dramatize real-life situations. They act out anxiety and emotional
stress from abuse, neglect, abandonment , and various painful physical experiences. Imaginative
preschool children enjoy dramatic play. An abused or wounded child might not communicate the
experience verbally but may be able to use an anatomically correct doll to show what happened.
Therapeutic play can teach children about medical procedures or help them work through their
feelings about what has happened to them in the medical setting.
 Creative play. Some children are too angry or fearful to act out their feelings through dramatic play.
However, they may be able to draw a picture that expresses their emotions or communicates what
they know. To encourage this expression children can be given blank paper and crayons or markers
and asked to draw a picture about how they feel. Some children are so concerned about a
particular body part that instead of drawing a self portrait, they will draw only the body part that
worries them.
Many children draw pictures that reflect punitive images to explain unhappy experiences. They need
reassurance that they are not being punished. Health-care providers need to make sure that these children
are not being abused. Other children may draw pictures that are symbolic of death (an airplane crashing,
boats sinking, burning buildings, or children in graves). These children need assurances that they are not
going to die. Some drawings express the child's fear of abandonment and loss of independence. Pictures
may suggest the parent cannot find the little child who is in the hospital. The child needs to be reassured
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that their parents know where they are. They need to know when the parents will visit and the parents
should appear when they say they will be there.
Older school-age children and adolescents may not be interested in drawing, but they can make a list of
experiences they like and dislike.
Parental concerns
Parents express interest in age-related play that prepares children for group exercises in preschool. They
want to know the right kind of play for an only child or sick child who may not be able to play with other
children in their age group. The following age-related play and toys serve as a guide to parents with these
concerns.
 Infant. The infant enjoys watching other members of the family; the infant enjoys rocking, strolling,
time spent in a swing, supervised time on a blanket on the floor, crawling , walking with help, and
being sung and read to. Play is self-absorbed; it is difficult, if not impossible to direct play. Infants
are engaged in the vigorous process of self-discovery, learning their world by looking, listening,
chewing, smelling, and grasping. Most of their learning comes through play. They need safe toys
that appeal to all of their senses and stimulate their interest and curiosity. Infants need toys and
play that include oral movements. They like peek-a-boo; playing with the parent's fingers, hair,
face, and the infant's own body parts; playing in water. Soft stuffed animals, crib mobiles, squeeze
toys rattles, busy boxes, mirrors, and musical toys. Parents can give them water toys for the bath,
safe kitchen utensils, and push toys (after they begin to walk), and large print books.
 Toddler. Toddlers fill and empty containers and begin dramatic play. As they increase their motor
skills, they enjoy feeling different textures, exploring the home environment, and mimicking others.
They like to be read to and to look at books and television. Toddlers enjoy manipulating small
objects such as toy people, cars, and animals. Favorite toys are mechanical; objects of different
textures such as clay, sand, finger paints, and bubbles; push-pull toys; large balls; sand and water
play; blocks; painting or coloring with large crayons; nesting toys; large puzzles; and trucks and
dolls. Toddlers explore their bodies and those of others. Therapeutic play can begin at this age.
 Preschooler. Dramatic play is prominent. This age group likes to run, jump, hop, and in general
increase motor skills. The children like to build and create whether it is sand castles or mud pies.
Play is simple and imaginative. Simple collections begin. Preschoolers enjoy riding toys, building
materials such as sand and blocks, dolls, drawing materials, cars, puzzles, books, appropriate
television and videos, nonsense rhymes, and singing games. Preschoolers love pretending to be
something or somebody and playing dress up They enjoy finger paints, clay, cutting, pasting, and
simple board and card games.
 School-age child. Play becomes organized and has a direction. The early school-age child continues
dramatic play with increased creativity but loses some spontaneity. The child gains awareness of
rules when playing games and begins to compete in sports. Children in this age group enjoy
collections (comic books, baseball cards, and stamps), dolls, pets, guessing games, board games,
riddles, physical games, competitive play, reading, bike riding, hobbies, sewing, listening to the
radio, television, and videos, and cooking.
 Adolescent. Athletic sports are the most common form of play. Strict rules are in place, and
competition is important. Adolescents also enjoy movies; telephone conversations and parties;
listening to music; and experimenting with makeup, hairstyles, and fashion. They also begin
developing an interest in peers of the opposite sex.
Play for the sick child

Children who are confined to a bed need to have play periods built into their day. The length of play and
the toys will depend the individual child's age and physical and emotional states. Short-term school projects
appeal to school-age children because these activities help the children feel industrious and think about
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their future wellness. Parents can help children with their baths; encourage them to drink enough fluids;
and prompt them to do deep breathing and muscle strengthening exercises.
Safety issues
Toys and games should be screened for safety , especially those used by a sick child. The toys should be
washable with no sharp edges and no small parts that
Toddler playing by himself with toys.
(© Villareal/Photo Researchers, Inc.)
could be swallowed or aspirated. Cylinder-shaped toys of 1-inch

(2.5-cm) diameter (the size of a regular hot dog) are the most
dangerous size because they can occlude the trachea (windpipe) if
they are aspirated. As a rule, if a toy can fit through the center of a
toilet tissue tube, it is too small.
Parents should be certain that toys do not lead children into

danger. Tossing a ball to a toddler on bed rest may be safe, but if a
child in a cast leans to catch the ball, he may fall. Chasing a ball
may lead to falls and collisions. If children are bored with a toy
because it is not stimulating enough or they have played with it
too long, they may begin to use the toy in an unsafe way. For
example, the child may throw blocks across the room for fun
instead of stacking them.
Indoor toys
For home care of the sick child, parents may need to buy new toys suitable for indoor use. The ill child may
need soft toys for bed play and sit-down toys such as magic markers, puzzles, books, or board games, for
quiet out-of-bed play.
When to call the doctor

Parents and teachers who spend time observing and understanding childhood behaviors may want to
report to the child's therapist what they see the child do.
Skin care is essential for children who are bedridden or in a cast or restraints. Children lose interest in
playing if they are uncomfortable or in pain . Parents should look for pressure over the buttocks, elbows,
heels, and other parts of the child's body. The skin should be inspected often and massaged with a
moisturizing lotion to increase circulation. Redness, irritation, and sores should be reported immediately to
the healthcare provider.
When children are ill, the rate of bladder and bowel elimination may slow down because of reduced
physical action. School-age children and adolescents may hesitate to drink or eat a normal diet because
toileting is uncomfortable or performed without privacy. Parents may need to seek medical advice about
digestive and elimination aids and about adjusting the child's diet and fluid intake to promote normal
elimination
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Music, movement, dance

The term Music and movement often especially denotes the use of rhythmic song and dance in education,
thought of as beneficial for childhood development. Research has shown that even infants can appreciate
music and dance, illustrating a connection between body movement, rhythm and awareness.[1]
Studies indicate a positive correlation between music lessons/participation and memory, mathematical
achievement, reading ability, intelligence ratings, grades and test scores.
A number of researchers have suggested a link between music and the ability to understand inter-
relationships. Musical activity such as playing an instrument requires the same neural firing patterns
needed in other forms of reasoning. These firing patterns can be enhanced through repeated use so music
can be used to strengthen connections in the brain, particularly in young children.[ Researchers have also
found that listening to words as they are sung improves ability to distinguish linguistic patterns, suggesting
that music can facilitate language learning and encourage the development of auditory discrimination.
Similar areas of the brain are activated when listening to or playing music and speaking or processing
language.[9] Additionally, music training can help individuals perceive emotions in speech which may
increase their ability to interpret human behavior.[
Movement
Physical movement helps balance, coordination, self-esteem and body awareness.[11] Movement associated
with drama leads to improvements in adaptive social behavior,[12] body movement and gestures help
children absorb ideas better[13] and can act as memory aids.[14] both in learning and recalling one's personal
past.[15]
In combination
Teachers often implement music and creative movement to help young children count, remember the
alphabet, days of the week etc. The Kodály Method and the Kindermusik programme were designed to
encourage children to explore the world creatively through music and movement.
Song, rhymes, stories, language activities.

Establishing a safe, secure and predictable environment for children is the best way to create the
foundations of learning in infancy and childhood. This is the first basic rule of building a child's brain
development. What are some practical guidelines for creating such an environment?
Respond warmly and quickly to a child's cues for support

and attention
Infants in particular need close, positive relationships with adults. Babies experience their parents' love and
the love of others through reassurance and responses to their needs for food and comfort. Respond to a
baby's cues.
Infants can't use words to communicate their moods, needs or wants, but they send signals: the sounds
they make, the way they move, facial expressions, or even the way they seek or avoid contact. For example,
babies might cry shrilly if they need a diaper change, an infant may look away when done playing, or
toddlers might hold up their arms to be picked up.
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Children become securely attached when parents and other caregivers read these signals and try to
respond with sensitivity. Being responsive to children's signals for support or attention helps the children
trust the world around them and does not spoil the children. An adult's positive responses allow children to
become comfortable in interacting with others and their environment. So, by responding warmly and
quickly, you are putting in place the connections in children's minds that let them trust and explore the
world around them. Key aspects in responding to children's signals are:
• Sensitivity - Learn to be aware of children's signals. Watch for their signals and how you can
respond.
• Timing - Respond quickly to children's signals rather than waiting for extended periods of time.
• Warmth - Be gentle and caring with children when responding to cues, which helps them feel trust.
• Appropriateness - Try to give the right response to children's needs for support or attention. For
example, watch a child to see if your response is what the child wanted.
Research suggests that children's development improves when parents follow a child's lead to provide
appropriate responses. Parents and caregivers need to learn how to respond in ways that encourage
continued learning that is matched to the child's capabilities and interests.
Example of application
When reading to a toddler, choose books with pictures that the child enjoys. Read only as long as the child
seems interested, and involve the child by asking open-ended questions.
Hold, touch and snuggle with your child

Touch is a fundamental and important source of security to a child. If you deprive an infant of touch, the
body and brain will stop growing in a healthy manner. Physical stroking helps premature babies gain weight
more quickly and helps healthy babies digest food better. Babies cry less when they are held and carried
regularly. Touch is an infant's lifeline to security, attachment and reassurance.
Touch also is important for growing young children, such as toddlers or preschoolers, who need the
reassurance that comes from a hug, touch on the hand or "high-five." Children who do not receive caring,
physical touches miss out on the affection that helps them form a sense of trust with others. Hold children
on your lap or between your legs, put your arm around them, hug them or snuggle with them. Give them
the affection they need.
Carry an infant in a carrier that provides physical contact, snuggle with children each night before bed or
hug your children several times a day.
Beware of overstimulating your child

Some parents are so concerned with a child's brain development that they buy expensive educational toys,
videos, computers and language tapes. What does research suggest? Save your money. Too many new
experiences or too much stimulation can cause stress and hinder a child's development. Children need
freedom to explore on their own terms and not be exposed constantly to high levels of stimulation, such as
watching television.
The brain develops through hands-on experience during a lifetime, but stress can inhibit this development.
Watch your children's signals to see when they are feeling overly stressed or stimulated. They will avoid,
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turn away, cover their face with their hands, hiccup, cry, become upset or become frustrated. Then take
steps to reduce the stimulation and calm your child.
Engage children by tickling or playing together. Watch their face. Do they stop smiling or laughing, become
upset or turn away? These actions may be signals of overstimulation, and then you should slow the
interaction down and make it more gentle.
Create a safe environment and reduce your child's stress by

removing any physical threats (i.e., unsafe toys, abusive
people, etc.).
Brain research has shown that too much stress early in life can affect development negatively. For example,
stress and trauma can cause elevated levels of cortisol, a brain chemical, to be released in the brain. This
can make the brain vulnerable to processes that destroy brain cells, reduce the number of connections in
certain parts of the brain, and cause regions of the brain that regulate emotional response and attachment
to be smaller than normal.
Children who experience high stress or abuse may develop adaptive responses characterized by fear, high
arousal and anxiety, and have difficulty developing emotional responses that are more calm and controlled.
Parents and caregivers should take steps to create a safe environment by:
• Providing safe toys and play environments and checking them for safety.
• Giving comfort to children who are sick or experiencing other types of stress.
• Reducing their own personal stress and being gentle with children.
• Monitoring children to ensure that they are protected from interactions with potentially abusive
individuals.
Children who are sick with a fever may become agitated and anxious. Instead of making them sleep alone,
move the children to your own room or next to your bed if necessary and provide medicine, comfort and
care as needed. Reassure the children that things will be OK and help them feel secure.
Research has shown that experiences with new kinds of activity or stimulation can generate growth in
the brain within only a few hours after the experiences begin.
Opening the Windows of Learning - an Enriched

Learning Environment
An enriched learning environment is the second cornerstone of a child's brain development in infancy and
childhood. Parents, grandparents and caregivers can do a number of things to open the windows of
learning for children. Some key ideas to practice are included below.
Provide an interesting variety of brain-building activities and

experiences on a regular basis
Children need simple, hands-on experiences for their brains to develop, such as rolling a ball on the floor,
touching a cat or dog, turning the page of a book or reaching to grasp a spoon. These experiences include
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touching, talking, listening, tasting, smelling, playing, singing, looking and running. All of these varied
activities build young children's brains.
Because infants and young children are primed to learn from birth, the key is to provide a variety of
interesting experiences over time. Exposing your child to new things helps the brain strengthen old
connections and form new connections. Think of one new activity or experience that you can introduce to
your child every couple of days.
With babies, provide something interesting whenever they are awake or alert, such as a new picture to look
at or some time to wiggle on the floor and grasp a noisy toy. Limit the time that toddlers spend with
television or preprogrammed mechanical toys and encourage them to explore.
Give time each day to practice and encourage repetition of

songs, stories and other experiences
Provide lots of time and opportunities for practice and repetition. Few things build a child's brain and open
opportunities for learning more than consistent repetition of healthy activities or experiences. Telling the
same stories and singing the same songs over and over may feel boring to you, but it is not boring to
children.
Children learn through repetition. Repetition of an experience tends to set neural connections. For
example, the pathways in the brain dealing with emotions are built and strengthened when parents
respond day after day to a newborn's smiles by smiling back or picking up the child.
Have you ever noticed that children, especially young children, like to repeat certain routines? For example,
a child may prefer a certain bedtime routine each night. Or, a toddler may ask you to read a particular book
over and over and over again.
Why? It is because a young child's brain is "wired" to encourage repetition of sounds, patterns or
experiences that provide security, and thus develop strong neural pathways in the brain that become the
highways of learning. Such repetition is good for your children and a practical, easy approach to helping
your child's growth and learning.
Children whose parents have read to them for 10 minutes a day from age 6 months on have a brain that has
received more than 300 hours of this type of stimulation by kindergarten. Read stories or show pictures to
your young children over and over and over again.
Talk, laugh, sing, play peek-a-boo - children need to hear

language
The key to language development in a child's brain is hearing language - lots of it. Children need to hear
language from birth, long before they can speak. Toddlers whose mother talked with them when they were
infants have bigger vocabularies and a solid basis for later communication. Ways you can expose your
children to language include:
• Play rhyming games together.

• Read aloud.
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• Sing songs.
• Speak directly to your child and ask open-ended questions, not "yes" or "no" questions.
• Play a variety of music from different types of instruments, cultures or genres.
Music and language not only introduce children to words, but help them learn rhythm, sequences, and
spatial and math skills.
Make up stories with a toddler, listen to classical or other music, read books and ask the child questions
about the story as you go. Talk and listen some more.
Provide opportunities that challenge and stretch a child's

abilities
Young children learn most efficiently when they're provided with some opportunities to work slightly above
their current ability with the assistance of an adult. For example, you may help young children learn to
catch a ball by first tossing a soft plastic ball to them lightly and then slowly moving a little farther away
over time as you toss the ball. Play games with children that help them learn new skills and provide a little
challenge for them.
Provide a low table for children to hold onto as they learn to walk until they are confident enough to take
their first few steps. As they begin taking steps, help the children walk by having them hold onto your
fingers. Occasionally let go slightly to help the children take a step on their own. Then watch for smiles of
pride!
Questions and Answers on Brain Development

Parents and caregivers may have a variety of questions about brain development in children. The following
common questions and answers can help provide guidance as you seek to understand and enhance brain
development in children:
Question - How much of the "wiring" in a child's brain develops based on genetics versus influences from
the environment?
Answer - The connections between brain cells in a child's brain are developing constantly. Current thinking
suggests that about 30 percent to 60 percent of our brain's wiring depends on heredity, while about 40
percent to 70 percent develops based on interactions with the environment, including parents. A parent's
care and guidance are much more likely to influence certain aspects of the brain.
Question - Do my interactions actually have much impact on what's happening in a child's brain?
Answer - The brain literally is growing new connections on a constant basis. Research has shown that
experiences with new kinds of activity or stimulation can generate growth in the brain within only a few
hours after the experiences begin. Activities such as exercise, listening to music or throwing a ball actually
cause different areas of the brain to grow new neural connections, develop stronger connections or
become more active. Frequent new learning experiences and challenges are like "nutrients" to the brain
that enhance growth.
Question - How do a child's food habits and nutrition affect brain development?
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Answer - Some of the foods that aid in brain functioning include proteins, unsaturated fats, vegetables,
complex carbohydrates and sugars. Some of the specific foods that children should eat more of to stimulate
brain function and growth are leafy green vegetables, fish (e.g., salmon), nuts, lean meats, fresh fruits and
dairy products. Vitamin and mineral supplements also can be helpful. Be careful if your child has particular
food allergies.
In addition, drinking lots of water is helpful in learning, and children should be taught to drink water
throughout the day to help them maintain energy levels and attentiveness.
Question - What are the most important ingredients in creating an enriched learning environment for
children?
Answer - Research on brain development has shown that two key components enrich the learning
environment that stimulates brain development.
First, children must have a continuous flow of new information and experiences that are challenging and
allow them to solve problems. Too much or too little challenge leads to problems. Children should
experience a variety of ways to learn, either by being introduced to new material, which adds levels of
difficulty to a learning situation, or by new learning techniques.
Second, children should be given feedback about how they are learning. Feedback to children should be
specific and given soon after an experience. Parents should allow children to explore with them and give
constructive feedback that allows a child to make changes and improve over time.
Question - Can a child overcome the effects of insufficient care or stimulation during the early years of
life?
Answer - Although the early years of a child's development are tremendously important, research also has
shown the brain is capable of overcoming many negative effects. During the first 12 to 14 years of life, a
child's brain has considerable opportunity to bounce back from negative experiences and develop
capacities that were not nurtured in the early years.
For example, children who did not receive much exposure to language early on still can make up much
ground if they receive more intensive exposure to language and reading between the ages of 4 and 10.
Sometimes, children need to receive care or stimulation that is more intensive and specialized if they have
a particular deficit in motor skills, language development or other areas that the brain affects.
Most children are able to make significant progress in developing skills or abilities that did not fully develop
in earlier years if they receive greater care and attention to compensate.
Question - What are the best activities for my children to engage in to enhance their overall brain
development?
Children benefit from a variety of different activities. However, three critical activities that contribute
considerably to overall brain development are music, art and physical activity.
First, music engages all aspects of the brain and stimulates multiple aspects of brain functioning. Children
should be exposed often to many different kinds of music, but especially rhythm, rhyme, and repetition in
music and songs.
Second, art engages a variety of the brain's areas that help children learn emotion, cognition and memory.
Children should receive many opportunities to draw, paint, craft and create using different types of art.
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Third, physical activity and movement help stimulate much brain growth and facilitate key connections for
learning. Regular exercise and engagement in all varieties of physical activity are critical for healthy brain
development in children.
The brain of a child is a developing miracle.

A child's developing mind is nurtured by loving interactions, a secure and predictable environment and
hands-on experiences that invite exploration and learning. Parents, as children's first teachers, should
unlock doors and open windows that allow children to learn and grow.
Creative activities such as imitative play; drama, fantasy

play.
What Is Dramatic Play?
It is widely accepted in the community surrounding young children that play is the dominant activity that
leads development. Children learn best not when they are told, but when they can act upon their
environments and construct knowledge for themselves. They do this best through play. A commonly held
belief among those in early childhood education is that play is the most important activity of young children
because it is during play that children are at their most competent. Lev Vygotsky, a leading early childhood
theorist, strongly stressed this point, explaining that “in play the child is always behaving beyond his age,
above his usual everyday behavior; in play he is, as it were, a head above himself” (1978, p. 74).
But there are different kinds of play, different stages of play, and different purposes underlying play. The
play of preschool children is different from the play of toddlers, which is different from the play of school-
age children (Jones & Reynolds, 1992). Generally, children under the age of three engage in exploratory
play. Their objective is to explore the world through physical actions, to experiment with their movements
and discover what they can do. They poke, dump, taste, stroke, and pull whatever they encounter in order
to learn about their world. From three to seven years of age, however, children’s actions become more
about “play” than exploration, and efforts to know and understand become more than sensory
experiences. They require spontaneous action, action which takes the form of play (Jones & Reynolds,
1992). Children become representers of their experiences, rather than just doers of activities. The
understandings that they have built through exploratory play experiences are symbolized by things, actions,
plots, and behaviors in their representational play.
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In representational play, also known as dramatic play, preschoolers use speech

and body language to become storytellers of pretend events. Through dramatic
play, which is also commonly called pretend/fantasy play, children continue to build understandings of
their world, just like toddlers and young infants do through exploratory play. In essence, it is “play for
understanding” for older children. “Fantasy play is their ever dependable pathway to knowledge and
certainty” (Paley, 1988, p. viii). This will be further explained in the section below on research into the
connection between dramatic play and cognitive development.
Dramatic play is an imitation of reality. Children create play “themes” and act them out by participating in
various roles. By doing so, they are able to imitate the physical world and human relationships through
symbolic representation. Children perform with concrete objects (e.g. dolls, pots, tricycles, or sticks), which
are symbols for something else children have experienced directly or indirectly (e.g., babies, cooking, cars,
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or swords) (Landreth, 1991). For example, children may pretend that a log is a boat, or that they are
Batman and Robin fighting all the bad guys in Gotham City. Dramatic play is a time of non-literal, symbolic
behavior that merges the child’s imagination with the real world, giving everything an “as if” nature.
Smilansky (1968) provides six criteria of dramatic play. The first four are behaviors in which young children
may engage in alone, and the last two involve social dynamics in the play (Smilansky & Shefatya, 1990).
 Imitative role-play: the child performs a make-believe role and acts it out through imitative bodily
action and/or speech.
 Make-believe with regard to objects: play behaviors and/or speech dialogues and/or materials or toys
that are not replicas of the object itself are substituted for real objects.
 Verbal make-believe with regard to actions and situations: verbal dialogue takes the place of body
movements.
 Persistence in role-play: the pretend play episode lasts at least 10 minutes.
 Interaction: more than one person participates in pretend play episode.
 Verbal communication: verbal dialogue is exchanged between the players
Categories of play
Categories of play are not mutually exclusive; different forms or categories of play may overlap. Having
choices is important since an action that appeals to one child may be of no interest to another, and the
child's interest is likely to change throughout the play period. An understanding of play in many forms can
help parents understand its importance for children of all ages. Some specific categories of play are as
follows.
 Physical play. When children run, jump, and play games such as chase, hide-and-seek, and tag, they
engage in physical play. This play has a social nature because it involves other children. It also
provides exercise , which is essential for normal development.
 Expressive play. Certain forms of play give children opportunities to express feelings by engaging
with materials. Materials used in expressive play include tempera paints, fingerpaints, watercolors,
crayons, colored pencils and markers, and drawing paper; clay, water, and sponges; beanbags,
pounding benches, punching bags, and rhythm instruments; and shaving cream, pudding, and
gelatin. Parents can take an active role in expressive play by using the materials alongside the child.
 Manipulative play. Children control or master their environment through manipulative play. They
manipulate the environment and other people as much as possible. Manipulative play starts in
infancy. Infants play with their parents; for example, they drop a toy, wait for the parent to pick it
up, clean it, and return it, and then they drop it again. This interaction brings the infant and parent
together in a game. Children move objects such as puzzle pieces and gadgets to better understand
how they work.
 Symbolic play. Certain games can symbolically express a child's problems. Because there are no
rules in symbolic play, the child can use this play to reinforce, learn about, and imaginatively alter
painful experiences. The child who is in an abusive family may pretend to be a mother who loves
and cuddles her child rather than one who verbally or physically abuses her child. Or in play this
same child might act out abusive experience by hitting or screaming at a doll that symbolizes the
child. Parents can be surprised by their child's perception of family issues. Children mimic their
parents in certain play; in other games they may pretend they are the heroes they read about in
books or see on television. At certain developmental stages children believe they can fly or
disappear. Symbolic play may be used by children to cope with fear of separation when they go to
school or to the hospital.
 Dramatic play. Children act out situations they suspect may happen to them, that they are fearful
will happen, or that they have witnessed. Dramatic play can be either spontaneous or guided and
may be therapeutic for children in the hospital.
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 Familiarization play. Children handle materials and explore experiences in reassuring, enjoyable
ways. Familiarization prepares children for potentially fearful and painful experiences, such as
surgery or parental separation.
 Games. Some video and card games are played by one child alone. Games with rules are rarely
played by children younger than four years of age. Board games, card games, and sports are
enjoyed typically by school-age children. In these games children learn to play by the rules and to
take turns. Older children enjoy games with specific rules; however, younger children tend to like
games that allow them to change the rules.
 Surrogate play. For children who are too ill or incapacitated to play, another child or a parent may
serve as surrogate. Watching the surrogate who plays on behalf of the sick child is stimulating to
the sick child. When parents engage in expressive art by painting or redecorating a room while the
physically challenged child watches, they stimulate the child.
Functions of play
Play reinforces the child's growth and development. Some of the more common functions of play are to
facilitate physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and moral development .
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Play aids in developing both fine and gross motor skills . Children repeat certain
body movements purely for pleasure, and these movements develop body control. For example, an infant
will first hit at a toy, then will try to grasp it, and eventually will be able to pick it up. Next, the infant will
shake the rattle or perhaps bring it to the mouth. In these ways, the infant moves from simple to more
complex gestures.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT Children who are anxious may be helped by role playing. Role playing is a way
of coping with emotional conflict. Children may escape through play into a fantasy world in order to make
sense out of the real one. Also, a child's self-awareness deepens as he explores an event through role-
playing or symbolic play.
When a parent or sibling plays a board game with a child, shares a bike ride, plays baseball, or reads a story,
the child learns self-importance. The child's self-esteem gets a boost. Parents send positive messages to
their child when they communicate pleasure in providing him or her with daily care. From these early
interactions, children develop a vision of the world and gain a sense of their place in it.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Children gain knowledge through their play. They exercise their abilities to
think, remember, and solve problems. They develop cognitively as they have a chance to test their beliefs
about the world.
Children increase their problem-solving abilities through games and puzzles. Children involved in make-
believe play can stimulate several types of learning. Language is strengthened as the children model others
and organize their thoughts to communicate. Children playing house create elaborate narratives
concerning their roles and the nature of daily living.
Children also increase their understanding of size, shape, and texture through play. They begin to
understand relationships as they try to put a square object in a round opening or a large object in a small
space. Books, videos, and educational toys that show pictures and matching words also increase a child's
vocabulary while increasing the child's concept of the world.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT A newborn cannot distinguish itself from others and is completely self-absorbed. As
the infant begins to play with others and with objects, a realization of self as separate from others begins to
develop. The infant begins to experience joy from contact with others and engages in behavior that
involves others. The infant discovers that when he coos or laughs, mother coos back. The child soon
expects this response and repeats it for fun, playing with his mother.
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As children grow, they enjoy playful interaction with other children. Children learn about boundaries, taking
turns, teamwork, and competition. Children also learn to negotiate with different personalities and the
feelings associated with winning and losing. They learn to share, wait, and be patient.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT When children engage in play with their peers and families, they begin to learn
some behaviors are acceptable while others are unacceptable. Parents start these lessons early in the
child's life by teaching the child to control aggressive behavior . Parents can develop morals while reading
to children by stressing the moral implications in stories. Children can identify with the moral fictional
characters without assuming their roles. With peers they quickly learn that taking turns is rewarding and
cheating is not. Group play helps the child appreciate teamwork and share and respect others' feelings. The
child learns how to be kind and charitable to others.
Age-related play
As children develop, their play evolves, too. Certain types of play are associated with, but not restricted to,
specific age groups.
 Solitary play is independent. The child plays alone with toys that are different from those chosen by
other children in the area. Solitary play begins in infancy and is common in toddlers because of
their limited social, cognitive, and physical skills. However, it is important for all age groups to have
some time to play by themselves.
 Parallel play is usually associated with toddlers, although it happens in any age group. Children play
side by side with similar toys, but there is a lack of group involvement.
 Associative play involves a group of children who have similar goals. Children in associate play do
not set rules, and although they all want to be playing with the same types of toys and may even
trade toys, there is no formal organization. Associative play begins during toddlerhood and extends
though preschool age.
 Cooperative play begins in the late preschool period. The play is organized by group goals. There is
at least one leader, and children are definitely in or out of the group.
 Onlooker play is present when the child watches others playing. Although the child may ask
questions of the players, there is no effort to join the play. This type of play usually starts during
toddler years but can take place at any age.
Common problems
Promoting play for a sick child is a challenge when the child cannot voluntarily engage in play. Parents need
to realize the importance of play to the well being of a sick child. Children can bring favorite books, games,
and stuffed animals to the hospital. In hospitals young children need toys that they can manipulate
independently, so that parents are free sometimes to focus on medical issues and the healthcare team.
Play activities vary depending on cultural and socioeconomic circumstances. When children do not speak
the group's language, games such as stacking blocks or building with tinker toys are appealing. Playing
tapes of well-loved children's songs can be effective too. The child does not need to be able to understand
the words to enjoy the music or clap with the rhythm.
Assessing child health through play

Acutely ill children do not have the strength, the attention span, or the interest in play. They may enjoy
being read to and the comfort of holding a favorite stuffed animal. Once the acute phase of an illness is
over, the child's interest in playing returns. Spontaneous interest in play is a good index of health. The toys
selected for play are good indicators of the child's recovery progress.
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Play in a medical setting

When a child goes to see the doctor, the waiting room is likely to have other children in it. The arriving child
may hear other children cry as they leave the examining room. The child may dread the examination.
Parents should pack a favorite toy or book with which to distract the child. Having a parent sit with them is
comforting, and they may venture a few feet away to examine toys in the toy box. Older children who go
with the parent and the sick sibling to see the doctor should have toys and games for their entertainment,
too, so the parent can focus on the sick child.
Hospitalized children can release fear, anger, or tension through effective play. Children in the hospital for a
week or longer may enjoy playing school or socializing in the playroom with other children of their age.
However, physical play for sick children must be supervised by a parent or healthcare provider.
Therapeutic play
When a child is ill or traumatized the care plan may include therapeutic play. Unlike normal play in design
and intent, therapeutic play is guided by the health professional to meet the physical and psychological
needs of the child. Because play is the language of children, children who have difficulty putting their
thoughts in words can often speak clearly through play therapy. There are three divisions of therapeutic
play, including:
 Energy release. Children release anxiety by pounding, hitting, running, punching, or shouting.
Toddlers pound pegs with a plastic hammer or pretend to cut wood with a toy saw. An anxious
preschooler pounds a ball of modeling clay flat; a relaxed child may build the clay into shapes.
Balloons tied over the bed of a school-age child or adolescent can be punched.
 Dramatic play. Children act out or dramatize real-life situations. They act out anxiety and emotional
stress from abuse, neglect, abandonment , and various painful physical experiences. Imaginative
preschool children enjoy dramatic play. An abused or wounded child might not communicate the
experience verbally but may be able to use an anatomically correct doll to show what happened.
Therapeutic play can teach children about medical procedures or help them work through their
feelings about what has happened to them in the medical setting.
 Creative play. Some children are too angry or fearful to act out their feelings through dramatic play.
However, they may be able to draw a picture that expresses their emotions or communicates what
they know. To encourage this expression children can be given blank paper and crayons or markers
and asked to draw a picture about how they feel. Some children are so concerned about a
particular body part that instead of drawing a self portrait, they will draw only the body part that
worries them.
Many children draw pictures that reflect punitive images to explain unhappy experiences. They need
reassurance that they are not being punished. Health-care providers need to make sure that these children
are not being abused. Other children may draw pictures that are symbolic of death (an airplane crashing,
boats sinking, burning buildings, or children in graves). These children need assurances that they are not
going to die. Some drawings express the child's fear of abandonment and loss of independence. Pictures
may suggest the parent cannot find the little child who is in the hospital. The child needs to be reassured
that their parents know where they are. They need to know when the parents will visit and the parents
should appear when they say they will be there.
Gross-motor play.
Gross-motor Skills in Early Childhood
Gross-motor skills in early childhood relate to a child's development of large muscles and the ability to
move from place to place or do physical activities that involve the large muscles of the body, arms and legs.
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Large-muscle development in young children is necessary for crawling, walking, lifting and other types of
physical activities. Some things to remember about gross-motor skills in early childhood include:
• Different parts of a child's body grow at different rates. Large-muscle development occurs earliest,
so gross-motor skills, such as reaching, waving arms and legs, crawling or walking, tend to appear
first.
• Throughout the first year of life, most of the physical growth occurs in a child's torso (trunk of the
body).
• Toddlers and preschoolers have a higher center of gravity. This means they are more prone to falls
because the legs and body are not yet developed in proportion to the upper body region. Give
young children support as their large muscles in the lower body develop and eventually support
them to sit or stand.
• By age 6, the child's body proportions are more like an adult's, with the center of gravity more
centrally located to help them achieve a greater sense of physical balance.
• Most 3- and 4-year-old children are actively using their large muscles in running, wiggling and
jumping. Their fine-motor skills, such as cutting, are not as developed. Since the large muscles
develop first, providing opportunities for outdoor play and exercise or indoor running around is
important.
• A variety of large-muscle activities is very important to parents, child-care programs and schools to
give children a chance to develop and exercise large-muscle skills.
To get a sense of children's physical abilities related to gross-motor skills at different stages of early
childhood,
Fine-motor Skills in Early Childhood

Fine-motor skills in early childhood relate to a child's development of small muscles and the ability to
control use of the hands and feet, and do activities that involve the small muscles of the fingers, toes and
other parts of the body. Small-muscle development in young children is necessary for physical activities
such as grasping, cutting, throwing and drawing. Some things to remember about fine-motor skills in early
childhood include:
• Small-muscle skills are different at different ages. Parents need to consider ability at different ages
because asking a child to button a shirt at age 2 or 3 is difficult due to limited abilities.
• Three-year-olds do not have good small-muscle development yet, so the muscles in their hands and
fingers are not strong enough to enable them to use scissors very well.
• Good precutting skills include crushing paper and then tearing paper.
• A child's interaction with the environment through exploration offers a critical opportunity for
developing fine-motor skills. Child toys, cardboard books, balls and other objects a child can
manipulate help them develop fine-motor skills. Parents and other adults should provide materials
that children can shape, move and manipulate; allow children to make a mess; and assist them if
they need help.
• Fine-motor skills develop quite a bit later than gross-motor skills, so children should not be
expected to do things that involve fine-motor skills beyond their ability. Buttoning a coat or shirt,
setting a table precisely or writing a note may involve fine-motor skills beyond the ability of a
younger child. Parents and other adults should be attentive to their expectations of children and
make sure they fit a child's fine-motor abilities.
To get a sense of children's physical abilities related to fine-motor skills at different stages of early
childhood, see Checklist B - Fine-motor Skills in Early Childhood (check list A)
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Balance and Coordination Skills in Early Childhood

Balance and coordination skills in early childhood relate to children's development of a sense of balance
and the ability to coordinate movements so they can perform more complex physical activities. The
development of balance and coordination skills in early childhood involves movement of the body in
activities such as twisting, turning, pulling or maintaining stability. Balance and coordination skills are
necessary for catching, clapping, eating, playing and other types of physical activities. Some things to
remember about balance and coordination skills in early childhood include:
• Balance and coordination skills develop through time from a child's birth. Infants and toddlers still
are developing these skills, and this is partly why they cannot stop themselves from being
unbalanced or falling when they first sit or stand. Adults need to provide support and safety for
young children as they develop these skills through time. Different parts of a child's body grow at
different rates.
• Coordination skills are important to a child's ability to interact and explore the environment. A
child's ability to focus eyes on and reach for an object, which involves coordination, is important to
playing, eating and other activities.
• Balance and coordination often involve using the hands and eyes at the same time. Activities such
as painting, pasting, clay modeling, sorting small objects (such as buttons), building block towers,
copying designs and drawing help a child learn to use (coordinate) the hands and eyes.
• Side-to-side or lateral movements used in painting, drawing or reading help a child develop left-to-
right tracking (with the eyes and head). This ultimately will help
develop hand-eye coordination and left-to-right tracking, which will help in learning to read.
• Repetition of physical activities, such as rolling a ball with a toddler or drawing pictures, helps a
child develop balance and coordination skills. Parents and other adults should work actively with
children to practice such repetition, which will strengthen their balance and coordination skills.
• All of these physical skills, once developed, help individuals interact with the world around them
and accomplish many daily tasks. Without these skills, such interaction would be impossible. To get
a sense of children's physical abilities related to balance and coordination skills at different stages
of early childhood, see Checklist C - Balance and Coordination Skills in Early Childhood
Activity No. 1 - The Handwriting Puzzle
Consider the skill of writing by hand. What physical skills must someone develop
before mastering handwriting? Take out a pen or pencil and write your name and
favorite place to visit below. Reflect on this skill. Select the six key physical and
mental skills from the list below that are necessary for someone to have before he
or she can master handwriting. Then check your choices against the answer key.
•Name
•What is your favorite place to visit?
Key Skills Need for Handwriting
• Large-muscle development
• Small-muscle development
• Eye tracking
• Rolling from front to back
• Pulling oneself to a standing position
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• Eye-hand coordination
• Balance
• Hand preference
• Awareness of sensory stimulation
• Letter perception
• Ability to determine size of materials
• Spoken use of language
• Ability to hold a writing tool
• Ability to push and pull objects
• Ability to cut paper with scissors
• Copying shapes with a writing tool
• Ability to make basic strokes
• Pouring liquid from one container to another
• Ability to use spoon and fork
• Understanding of printed language
Checklist A: Gross-motor Skills in Early Childhood

0 to 3 Months
• Pushes up with arms while on tummy
• Kicks legs and waves arms
• Raises head while on tummy
• Rolls from side or tummy to back
• Holds head steady when supported in a sitting position
3 to 6 Months
• Rolls from back to side or tummy
• Sits alone
• Reaches for a parent with arms
• Tries to move toward a toy or object that is out of reach
• Scoots about on the floor
6 to 12 Months
• Crawls about on the floor
• Pulls self to a sitting position
• Pulls self up to stand next to a support (couch)
• Stands alone with support
• Takes steps alone with support, then without support
12 to 18 Months
• Walks alone without support
• Walks backward
• Crawls up stairs with support
• Throws a ball with overhand motion
• Kicks a ball with support
• Rolls a ball back to a person
• Imitates more complex motor skills, such as lifting objects, changing clothes, etc.
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18 to 24 Months
• Runs fairly well
• Walks up stairs with support
• Kicks a ball
• Jumps in place
• Goes up and down a slide with help
2 to 3 Years
• Sits on or peddles a tricycle with support
• Runs with few falls or trips
• Walks up stairs while holding onto something
• Jumps over small obstacles
• Assists with household tasks or activities
3 to 5 Years
• Runs with energy and coordination
• Catches a ball with some practice
• Throws a ball 5 to 15 feet with overhand motion
• Walks up and down stairs alone
• Hops on one foot
• Rides a tricycle and steers well
5 to 7 Years
• Changes clothes without help
• Catches a ball bounced to them
• Runs easily and participates in games of tag, etc.
• Rides a bicycle with ability
• Kicks a ball with ability
• Carries out household tasks (cleaning room, making bed, etc.)
Checklist B: Fine-motor Skills in Early Childhood

0 to 3 Months
• Grasps and holds an object, such as a baby ring or rattle
• Hands are held in open, relaxed position
• Clings to parent or adult with hands while being held
3 to 6 Months
• Reaches for dangling objects or toys
• Uses hands and fingers in play
• Grasps object using palm and fingers
• Passes a toy or object between hands
• Puts objects in mouth to explore
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6 to 12 Months
• Uses a pincer grasp (thumb and finger) to hold food or object
• Grasps and uses toys to play or keep attention
• Reaches for objects, such as a spoon to feed self
• Plays hand games (patty-cake, etc.)
12 to 18 Months
• Scribbles on paper by grasping a pencil or crayon
• Picks up, grasps and throws a ball
• Stacks blocks together
• Puts large puzzle pieces into slots on a puzzle
• Holds objects and bangs them together
18 to 24 Months
• Grasps and uses spoon or fork to feed self with support
• Grasps and uses a cup or bottle for drinking
• Uses a pencil or crayon to draw lines
• Turns pages of a child's book with help
2 to 3 Years
• Uses utensils to feed self
• Brushes teeth with a toothbrush with help
• Uses basic scissors for cutting
• Holds and uses pencil or crayon for basic drawing
• Snaps, buttons or zips with help
3 to 5 Years
• Builds using blocks stacked on top of each other
• Cuts paper in shapes
• Draws with pencil, crayons, other implements
• Turns pages of a book
• Pours water from pitcher to cup
5 to 7 Years
• Draws multiple shapes and figures with various implements
• Strings beads for projects
• Uses a comb, toothbrush, washcloth without support
• Prints letters, numbers, etc.
• Cuts shapes clearly, easily
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Checklist C: Balance and Coordination Skills in Early

Childhood
0 to 3 Months
• Looks at and focuses on parent
• Eyes follow parent
• Eyes follow parent and baby also moves head
• Kicks well and waves arms
• Positions well for breast or bottle feeding
3 to 6 Months
• Moves head or arms with some control and purpose
• Reaches intentionally to grasp a toy
• Eyes follow person or object that moves out of sight
• Holds two objects and hits them together
6 to 12 Months
• Turns head and eyes with control to respond
• Reaches for and grasps object easily
• Plays patty-cake with hands or claps
• Stacks items on top of each other
• Holds object with thumb and finger
12 to 18 Months
• Climbs onto a chair or sofa
• Pushes moveable toys about
• Holds a pencil or crayon and scribbles
• Plays peekaboo
• Drinks from a cup
• Grasps and uses a spoon
18 to 24 Months
• Jumps up and down in one spot
• Enjoys sensory activities with shapes, sizes, textures
• Hand-eye coordination developing with catching, throwing
• Takes off clothes
• Assists with simple household tasks
2 to 3 Years
• Jumps off a step without falling, maintains balance
• Uses spoon and fork for eating
• Participates in creative movement, such as dance, art, etc.
• Draws lines, shapes
• Builds structures with eight or more blocks
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3 to 5 Years
• Marches or dances in rhythm to music
• Draws letters and numbers
• Holds fork or pencil with three fingers and not a fist
• Uses a toothbrush and floss alone
• Puts on and changes own clothes with some help as needed
5 to 7 Years
• Good balance and more smooth muscle coordination
• Handedness (left or right) develops
• Draws patterns and figures
• Puts together puzzles and games
• Ties shoes without help
• Plays a musical instrument with practice
Enhancing Physical Growth and Development

Parents and caregivers have many ways to enrich a child's world and facilitate healthy physical
development. Some key things a child needs for this type of development are:
• Variety of activities
• Useful and creative toys
• Interaction with adults and peers
In physical development, children basically are learning how to control their bodies and move. Adults can
help children by implementing the M-O-V-E formula for assisting kids with physical growth.
The M-O-V-E Formula for Physical Growth in Children

The principles of the M-O-V-E formula for assisting children with physical growth and development are as
follows:
• Motivation
• Opportunity
• Variety
• Equipment, encouragement and enthusiasm
To best follow these principles, parents and other adults need to ask simple questions about what they are
doing to provide an environment that will assist physical growth and development.
Motivation
Children need some reason to be engaged in activities that will spur physical development. Often, the best
motivation is simply to be with and play with a parent or other adult. Do you actively engage with children
as they pursue physical play? Do you make physical activities fun for them?
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Opportunity
Children need room to explore and materials they can interact with physically. Do you have a place for
children to be physically active or sit and draw pictures? Are materials such as paper, crayons, scissors or
modeling clay available and easily accessible to them? Do you have a bin with some balls and other physical
toys with which children can play? Make certain you are providing the opportunity, including time, space
and materials, for children to be physically engaged with their environment.
Variety
Children are naturally curious, so they need a variety of materials and physical activities available to them.
Children also need a variety in what you offer them because different children may have differing interests.
One child will want to play tag outside while another may wish to build a block tower. Children need to
develop all aspects of their physical abilities, so engage them in a variety of activities that will help them
use all of their muscles and skills.
Equipment, Encouragement and Enthusiasm

Equipment of different kinds is critical for helping young children develop physically. They need things to
climb on, push, pull and use in other ways that challenge and stretch their large- and small-muscle skills. If
you do not have outside equipment, take your children to facilities such as a local park or the YMCA to find
opportunities to be active on child play equipment.
Encouragement and enthusiasm also are important building blocks for supporting a child's physical growth
and development. Show children you enjoy interacting with them, and encourage them through praise and
enthusiasm. For example, children engaged in physical sports, such as soccer or gymnastics, are more likely
to continue if parents make time to give their attention and express their excitement at steps in a child's
abilities. Give your children the encouragement and enthusiasm they need, and you will find enjoyment as
you see them learn to use and develop their physical abilities in a variety of ways.
Holistic development of a child

Holistic Approach
A holistic approach to child development seeks to simultaneously address the physical, emotional,
relational, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of a child’s life. Our Child Development programs incorporate a
variety of approaches to help educate and grow children into healthy, sustainable adults ready and eager to
serve the Lord.
We enable children to develop in five major categories:

• Physical Development — Children need nutritional support as well as hygiene training to ensure
healthy development.
• Emotional Development — As a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, war, famine, poverty, and natural
disasters, many children live with the scars of emotional trauma. Finding them a local church family and
a loving, caring sponsor helps them to heal and grow.
• Relational Development — Learning to work and play together, while discovering the wisdom and
strength of committed sponsors and local leaders, helps children build strong and lasting relationships
to serve God and value humanity.
• Intellectual Development — Gaining an education develops minds and provides opportunities for
employment that will benefit the children throughout their lives.
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• Spiritual Development — Our primary goal is to help children gain a genuine experience of salvation
through Jesus Christ, helping them grow and mature into faithful disciples.
Children need to develop academic capacities as these are required to live in the modern world. But much
more than this is needed, and adults looking at what was required in order to meet the many challenges of
their lives and the successes they have had can attest to this. The essential learning that we all need should
begin in childhood.
Children need to begin to learn about themselves. The value of "knowing thyself" is so undisputed as to be
a cliché, but conveying to children that they are worth knowing about seems fundamental to healthy self-
respect and self-esteem.
Children also need to learn about relationships. Relationships are the greatest source of human happiness
and misery, yet most children only have the relationships they see in their immediate surroundings (e.g.,
family, friends, etc.) and on the media (which are usually caricatures and unreal) to learn from. Sociology
and child development psychology repeatedly affirms that learning about relationships is acquired and not
inherent, and yet the institutions created for children's learning have little to no time nor resources given
to helping children learn how to have healthy, productive relationships.
Learning about relationships is sometimes seen as part of social development, which includes pro-social
behavior and social "literacy" (i.e., learning to see social influence). As our societies become increasingly
pluralist, complex, and fraught, social development becomes more difficult as well as more necessary.
Over the last decade research has demonstrated that emotional development, or what has become known
as "emotional literacy," is of fundamental importance. Learning emotional literacy has been shown to be
crucial for intellectual development, social development, aesthetic development, and health.
Studies have shown that resilience is not an inherent quality, but one that is learned. Resilience is
fundamental to overcoming difficulties, facing challenges, and long-term success in any field. Children must
learn resilience.
Finally, children must learn that seeing beauty, having awe, experiencing transcendence, and appreciating
those timeless "truths" which have inspired and sustained individuals and cultures are a natural part of life.
The mundane and material (while important) have assumed too great a place in modern life, leaving a
hunger for meaning that is often difficult to satisfy
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SO1 Facilitate development of babies, toddlers

and/or young children
AC1.Facilitation uses developmentally appropriate
activities that are fun, relevant and meaningful to the
life-world of the children.
Characteristics of Constructivist Teaching

One of the primary goals of using constructivist teaching is that students learn how to learn by giving them
the training to take initiative for their own learning experiences.
According to Audrey Gray, the characteristics of a constructivist classroom are as follows:
 the learners are actively involved

 the environment is democratic
 the activities are interactive and student-centered
 the teacher facilitates a process of learning in which students are encouraged to be responsible and
autonomous
Examples of constructivist activities

Furthermore, in the constructivist classroom, students work primarily in groups and learning and
knowledge are interactive and dynamic. There is a great focus and emphasis on social and communication
skills, as well as collaboration and exchange of ideas.[1] This is contrary to the traditional classroom in which
students work primarily alone, learning is achieved through repetition, and the subjects are strictly adhered
to and are guided by a textbook. Some activities encouraged in constructivist classrooms are:
 Experimentation: students individually perform an experiment and then come together as a class to
discuss the results.
 Research projects: students research a topic and can present their findings to the class.
 Field trips. This allows students to put the concepts and ideas discussed in class in a real-world context.
Field trips would often be followed by class discussions.
 Films. These provide visual context and thus bring another sense into the learning experience.
 Class discussions. This technique is used in all of the methods described above. It is one of the most
important distinctions of constructivist teaching methods.[2]
Constructivist approaches can also be used in online learning. For example, tools such as discussion forums,
wikis and blogs can enable learners to actively construct knowledge.
Because existing knowledge schemata are explicitly acknowledged as a starting point for new learning,
constructivist approaches tend to validate individual and cultural differences and diversity.
Role of teachers
In the constructivist classroom, the teacher’s role is to prompt and facilitate discussion. Thus, the teacher’s
main focus should be on guiding students by asking questions that will lead them to develop their own
conclusions on the subject.
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David Jonassen identified three major roles for facilitators to support students in constructivist learning
environments:
• Modeling
• Coaching
• Scaffolding[3]
Constructivist Learning Environments (CLEs)

Jonassen has proposed a model for developing constructivist learning environments (CLEs) around a
specific learning goal. This goal may take one of several forms, from least to most complex:
• Question or issue
• Case study
• Long-term Project
• Problem (multiple cases and projects integrated at the curriculum level)
Jonassen recommends making the learning goals engaging and relevant but not overly structured.
In CLEs, learning is driven by the problem to be solved; students learn content and theory in order to solve
the problem. This is different from traditional objectivist teaching where the theory would be presented
first and problems would be used afterwards to practice theory.
Depending on students' prior experiences, related cases and scaffolding may be necessary for support.
Instructors also need to provide an authentic context for tasks, plus information resources, cognitive tools,
and collaborative tools.[3]
Constructivist assessment
Traditionally, assessment in the classrooms is based on testing. In this style, it is important for the student
to produce the correct answers. However, in constructivist teaching, the process of gaining knowledge is
viewed as being just as important as the product. Thus, assessment is based not only on tests, but also on
observation of the student, the student’s work, and the student’s points of view.[1] Some assessment
strategies include:
 Oral discussions. The teacher presents students with a “focus” question and allows an open discussion
on the topic.
 KWL(H) Chart (What we know, What we want to know, What we have learned, How we know it). This
technique can be used throughout the course of study for a particular topic, but is also a good
assessment technique as it shows the teacher the progress of the student throughout the course of
study.
 Mind Mapping. In this activity, students list and categorize the concepts and ideas relating to a topic.
 Hands-on activities. These encourage students to manipulate their environments or a particular
learning tool. Teachers can use a checklist and observation to assess student success with the
particular material.
 Pre-testing. This allows a teacher to determine what knowledge students bring to a new topic and thus
will be helpful in directing the course of study.[2]
An example of a lesson taught with a Constructivist background

A good example of a lesson being taught in a constructivist way, with the teacher mediating learning rather
than directly teaching the class is shown by the example of Faraday's candle. There are various forms of this
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lesson, but all are developed from the Christmas lectures Faraday gave on the functioning of candles. In
open constructivist lessons using these lectures as a basis, students are encouraged to discover for
themselves how candles work. They do this first by making simple observations, from which they later build
ideas and hypotheses which they then go on to test. The teachers acts to encourage this learning. If
successful, students can use this lesson to understand the components of combustion, an important
chemistry topic.[4]
Constructivism for Adults

Constructivist philosophy has a long history of application in education programs for young children, but is
used less frequently in adult learning environments. As humans develop, there are qualitative changes in
their ability to think logically about experiences, but the processes by which learning occur, cognitive
adaptation and social mediation, are believed to be continuous or remain the same throughout the life.[5]
At the heart of constructivist philosophy is the belief that knowledge is not given but gained through real
experiences that have purpose and meaning to the learner, and the exchange of perspectives about the
experience with others [6] (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969; Vygotsky,1978).
Learning environments for adults based on constructivist philosophy include opportunities for students to
make meaningful connections between new material and previous experience, through discovery. One of
the simplest ways to do this is asking open-ended questions. Open-ended questions such as “Tell me about
a time when….” or “How might this information be useful to you?” causes learners to think about how new
information may relate to their own experience. Student responses to such questions are opportunities for
experiencing the perspectives of others. For these questions to be effective it is critical that instructors
focus on teaching content that is useful for participants. The importance of using these types of strategies
with adults contributes to what [7] Bain(2004 p. 4) noted as critical learning environments where instructors
“embed” the skills they are teaching in “authentic tasks that will arouse curiosity, challenge students to
rethink assumptions and examine their mental modes of reality”.
Such approaches emphasize that learning is not an "all or nothing" process but that students learn the new
information that is presented to them by building upon knowledge that they already possess. It is therefore
important that teachers constantly assess the knowledge their students have gained to make sure that the
students' perceptions of the new knowledge are what the teacher had intended. Teachers will find that
since the students build upon already existing knowledge, when they are called upon to retrieve the new
information, they may make errors. It is known as reconstruction error when we fill in the gaps of our
understanding with logical, though incorrect, thoughts. Teachers need to catch and try to correct these
errors, though it is inevitable that some reconstruction error will continue to occur because of our innate
retrieval limitations.
In most pedagogies based on constructivism, the teacher's role is not only to observe and assess but to also
engage with the students while they are completing activities, wondering aloud and posing questions to the
students for promotion of reasoning (DeVries et al., 2002). (ex: I wonder why the water does not spill over
the edge of the full cup?) Teachers also intervene when there are conflicts that arise; however, they simply
facilitate the students' resolutions and self-regulation with an emphasis on the conflict being the students'
and that they must figure things out for themselves. For example, promotion of literacy is accomplished by
integrating the need to read and write throughout individual activities within print-rich classrooms. The
teacher, after reading a story, encourages the students to write or draw stories of their own, or by having
the students reenact a story that they may know well, both activities encourage the students to conceive
themselves as reader and writers.
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Arguments against constructivist teaching techniques

Critics have voiced the following arguments against constructivist based teaching instruction:
• A group of cognitive scientists has also questioned the central claims of constructivism, saying that
they are either misleading or contradict known findings.[8]
• One possible deterrent for this teaching method is that, due to the emphasis on group work, the
ideas of the more active students may dominate the group’s conclusions.[1]
While proponents of constructivism argue that constructivist students perform better than their peers
when tested on higher-order reasoning, the critics of constructivism argue that this teaching technique
forces students to "reinvent the wheel." Supporters counter that "Students do not reinvent the wheel but,
rather, attempt to understand how it turns, how it functions."[1] Proponents argue that students —
especially elementary school-aged children — are naturally curious about the world, and giving them the
tools to explore it in a guided manner will serve to give them a stronger understanding of it.[1]
Mayer (2004)[9] developed a literature review spanning fifty years and concluded "The research in this brief
review shows that the formula constructivism = hands-on activity is a formula for educational disaster." His
argument is that active learning is often suggested by those subscribing to this philosophy. In developing
this instruction these educators produce materials that require learning to be behaviorally active and not
be "cognitively active."[9] That is, although they are engaged in activity, they may not be learning (Sweller,
1988). Mayer recommends using guided discovery, a mix of direct instruction and hands-on activity, rather
than pure discovery: "In many ways, guided discovery appears to offer the best method for promoting
constructivist learning."[9]
Kirchner et al. (2006) agree with the basic premise of constructivism, that learners construct knowledge,
but are concerned with the instructional design recommendations of this theoretical framework. "The
constructivist description of learning is accurate, but the instructional consequences suggested by
constructivists do not necessarily follow." (Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark, 2006, p. 78). Specifically, they say
instructors often design unguided instruction that relies on the learner to "discover or construct essential
information for themselves" (Kirchner et al., 2006, p75).
For this reason they state that it "is easy to agree with Mayer’s (2004)[9] recommendation that we “move
educational reform efforts from the fuzzy and nonproductive world of ideology—which sometimes hides
under the various banners of constructivism—to the sharp and productive world of theory- based research
on how people learn” (p. 18). Finally Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) cite Mayer[9] to conclude fifty
years of empirical results do not support unguided instruction.
Another important consideration in evaluating the potential benefits/limitations of constructivist teaching

approach is to consider the large number of varied personal characteristics as well as prevalence of learning
problems in children today. For example, in a solely constructivist approach was employed in a classroom
of you children then a significant number of children, for example say with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder, might not be able to focus on their perceptions of learning experiences long enough to build a
knowledge base from the event. In other words, constructivist theory is biased to students who desire to
learn more and are capable of focusing attention to the learning process independently. A mixed approach
that incorporates components of constructivist learning along with other approaches, including more
guided teaching strategies, would better meet the learning needs of the majority of students in a classroom
by accounting for differences between learning styles and capacities.
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Specific approaches
Specific approaches to education that are based on constructivism include:
 Constructionism
o An approach to learning developed by Seymour Papert and his colleagues at MIT in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Papert had worked with Piaget at the latter's Institute in Geneva. Papert eventually
called his approach "constructionism." It included everything associated with Piaget's
constructivism, but went beyond it to assert that constructivist learning happens especially well
when people are engaged in constructing a product, something external to themselves such as a
sand castle, a machine, a computer program or a book. This approach is greatly facilitated by the
ready availability of powerful 'constructing' applications on personal computers. Promoters of the
use of computers in education see an increasing need for students to develop skills in Multimedia
literacy in order to use these tools in constructivist learning.
 Reciprocal Learning
o Two teach each other.
 Procedural Facilitations for Writing
 Critical Exploration (Duckworth, 2006) The two components of critical exploration are curriculum
development and pedagogy. In this method teachers find ways to encourage their students to explore
the subject matter and express their thoughts on the material(Duckworth).
 Cognitively Guided Instruction
o A research and teacher professional development program in elementary mathematics created by
Thomas P. Carpenter, Elizabeth Fennema, and their colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. Its major premise is that teachers can use students' informal strategies (i.e., strategies
students construct based on their understanding of everyday situations, such as losing marbles or
picking flowers) as a primary basis for teaching mathematics in the elementary grades.
 Inquiry-based learning
 Problem-based learning
 Cognitive apprenticeships
 Various methods involving collaboration or group work
 Cooperative learning (reciprocal questioning, Jigsaw Classroom, structured controversies)
 Anchored Instruction (Bransford et al.)
o Problems and approaches to solutions are embedded in a narrative environment.
AC2.The facilitation approach responds to cues

provided by the children, while providing structure and
experiences for their own development.
In parallel with the development of the biological models of personality developed from rodents and adult
humans is the work on children. As all parents know, children are different from each other. Some are shy,
some are bold, some are slow to warm up, some are unafraid of new challenges. Child developmental
research concerned with seemingly biological traits has emphasized the temperamental aspects of
personality development. This work on temperament has, until recently, been somewhat independent of
the adult research literature in personality, although "a complete understanding of personality and
psychopathology must be a developmental one" (Rothbart & Ahadi 1994, p 55). Theories of adult
personality and childhood temperament, besides being isolated from each other, have tended to be
parochial, with a lack of communication between American and Eastern European researchers. Attempts
have been made to reverse both of these trends, with conferences and edited volumes reporting work on
both adults and children with contributions by both eastern and western researchers .
Temperament may be seen "as constitutionally based individual differences in reactivity and self regulation,
influenced over time by heredity, maturation, and experience." (Rothbart & Ahadi 1994, p 55). Aspects of
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reactivity include activation of physiological and behavioral systems. Regulatory processes that modulate
reactivity include selective attention and processing of cues to reward and punishment, as well as approach
and inhibition to novel stimuli (Rothbart et al 1994). Discussions of reactivity and regulatory processes bare
a striking resemblance to those of approach and avoidance traits in adults (Strelau 1987, 1994).
Temperamental differences in reactivity to novelty and to strangers (Kagan et al 1992) show striking
correlates with hemispheric differences in activation (Davidson 1993b). Shy or inhibited children identified
at 31 months showed more right hemispheric activation than did uninhibited children when they were
tested at 38 months. This effect seems to be due to a deficit in the left-frontal approach system for the
inhibited children rather than to a hyperactivation of the right-frontal withdrawal system (Calkins & Fox
1994; Davidson 1993a). Gray's model of approach and avoidance is discussed in the context of infants and
the neural structure of temperament (Nelson 1994; Strelau 1994). In a discussion of the relationship
between temperament and attachment, Goldsmith & Harman (1994) point out that physiological measures
do not explain temperament and suffer the same difficulties in interpretation as do behavioral measures.
Longitudinal studies of temperamental differences suggest long term consistencies in behavior (Caspi &
Bem 1990). In a continuing study of the antecedents and correlates of delinquency, B5 measures were
found by Robins et al (1994) to be related to dynamic conceptions of ego-control, and ego-resiliency. In a
15 year long study of impulsivity and disinhibitory behavior, children diagnosed as hyperactive or attention
deficit disordered continued to show impulsive behavior in early adulthood and to be at greater risk for
alcoholism and committing violence (af Klinteberg et al 1994).
Affective and cognitive processes--how traits relate to states

Traits are not behavior. They are summary statements describing likelihood of and rates of change in
behavior in response to particular situational cues. In addition to their relationship to the probability and
latency of response, stable predispositions may be conceptualized in terms of differential sensitivities to
situations and differential response biases. Intervening among traits, situations, and responses are
momentary affective and cognitive states.
Taxonomic analyses of mood and emotion disagree about categorical versus dimensional representations.
Do the many separate emotional terms in the natural language describe many different emotions, or are
there a limited number of affective states that differ in intensity and duration? Two affective dimensions
that relate to stable personality traits are positive and negative affect (Meyer & Shack 1989; Watson et al
1994) or the related constructs of energetic and tense arousal (Thayer 1989). Extraversion tends to be
related to positive affect, neuroticism with negative affect. These relationships, however, are not strong
and interact predictably with the situation. In positive, rewarding situations, extraversion is associated with
positive affect, but this relationship vanishes in threatening situations. Similarly, neuroticism is related to
negative affect under threat, but not under reward conditions (Larsen & Ketallar 1989). Although these
relationships are consistent with theories of traits and states, they are small enough to require assessing
traits and states separately in order to study relationships with performance (Matthews 1992b).
Further complicating the trait-state relationship is its dynamic nature. When free to choose situations,
individuals sensitive to negative affect (neurotics) will try to avoid threatening situations. It is the
emotionally stable individual who is more likely to participate voluntarily in activities that are likely to
induce negative affect. Thus, it is necessary to distinguish between externally imposed and freely selected
situations as well as within and between subject differences in the use of affective scales.
Traits as well as emotional states affect the detection, encoding, storage, retrieval and integration of
information (Christianson 1993). Trait and state effects may be seen at each of these conceptual stages
(Revelle 1993). Impulsivity interacts with time of day to affect energetic arousal, which in turn is related to
the detection and storage of information (Anderson & Revelle, in press; Revelle & Loftus 1993). Anxiety
shifts attention to threat related cues whereas depression biases memory towards depression-related
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material (Mathews 1993; Mueller 1992). Relations between anxiety and memory vary as a function of trait
and state anxiety as well as implicit and explicit memory conditions (M. Eysenck & Mogg 1993).
Life satisfaction, identity, and death

Personality characteristics of young adults predict life long risks for neuroticism, and emotional health, and
even death (McCrae 1994). The effect of neuroticism and extraversion on psychological distress over a ten
year period has been estimated to be four times greater than the effects of psychological interventions to
reduce distress (Brody 1994).
Conley (1985) examined the multitrait-multimethod-multitime structure of self reports and peer ratings of
neuroticism, social extraversion, and impulse control from the Kelly longitudinal study measures taken in
1935-1938, 1954-1955, and 1980-1981. Neuroticism at times 1 and 2 reliably predicted neuroticism and
emotional health at time 3. Similarly, social extraversion measures at times 1 and 2 predicted social
extraversion and social activity at time 3.
Measures of conscientiousness taken in 1922 as part of the Terman (1925) study predicted mortality risk
through 1986 through age 76 with a relative hazard of death of roughly .75. Stated differently, for someone
at the 25th percentile of conscientiousness at age 12, there is a 35% greater risk of dying before age 70
than for someone at the 75th percentile (Friedman et al 1993).
Situational based differences and similarities

Social learning theory explains consistent individual differences in behavior in terms of stabilities in the
supporting environment rather than in terms of an individual's characteristics. Consistency across situations
reflects similarity of situations rather than stable individual traits. Behavior can be modified by changing the
environmental cues. Total reliance on prior learning experiences rather than on individual readiness is as
much a straw man for social leaning theory as total cross situational consistency is for trait theory.
Adherents of social learning theory now emphasize the need to understand how individual cognitive
representations of the environment lead to behavior (Cantor 1990; Cantor & Zirkel 1990).
Some of the clearest evidence for the effect of the formative and sustaining environment on determining
individual differences comes from behavioral genetic analyses. That identical twins are not perfectly
concordant for extraversion, neuroticism, schizophrenia, or homosexuality demonstrates environmental
effects. More importantly, that identical twins growing up together seem to be no more similar than those
growing up apart (Eaves et al 1989; Tellegen et al 1988) implies that the formative environment is not the
set of experiences shared within a family, but is either unique to each individual or common to their
culture.
Part of the unique family environment is birth order. Although genetically related, siblings differ in age,
experience, and in reproductive value to their parents. Differences between siblings growing up together
can be magnified by contrast effects. Sulloway applies an evolutionary perspective on sibling rivalry in a
meta-analysis of birth order effects on the traits of the B5 and reports that first borns are more extraverted
and conscientious but less emotionally stable, agreeable, or open than are later borns. Later borns are
more likely to adopt radical innovations in science than are first borns (1995).
Trait by Situation Interactions

Although "interactionism" was claimed to be the new and improved way to study personality (Magnusson
& Endler 1976) most personality research has gone beyond the simple assertion that consistencies exist in
the interactions of traits and situations. Theoretically driven trait theorists have long recognized that stable
individual differences produce predictably different patterns of results in different situations. Failure to
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change one's actions across situations is a sign of pathology, not adaptive behavior. The utility of
demonstrations of trait by situation interactions lies in the exclusion of many competing hypotheses, as
well as in the setting of boundary conditions for individual and situational effects, for theories are best
tested at their limits.
Consider delinquency as an example of the setting of boundary conditions. Delinquency may be conceived
as the outcome of the interaction of lack of social constraints with a biological propensity. When social
constraints are diminished, the relationship between testosterone and delinquency and antisocial behavior
increases (Dabbs et al 1990; Dabbs & Morris 1990). Among lower SES military veterans there is a positive
relationship between testosterone and antisocial behavior, but this relationship vanishes among higher SES
subjects. These results might be due to a lack of social control, or alternatively, to the existence of more
legal ways to seek stimulation among higher SES groups than among lower SES groups.
Interactions also allow for tests of theories. Consider the relationship between impulsivity and cognitive
performance which changes as a function of caffeine (Anderson, in press) or time of day (Anderson &
Revelle, in press) and differs as a function of the particular task used (Revelle et al 1987). These interactive
results allow for precise tests of the competing theories relating to the arousal interpretations of
impulsivity (Revelle & Anderson 1992).
In a thoughtful review of the many meanings of person x situation interactions, Higgins (1990) emphasizes
the interplay between situational standards and individual beliefs. Differences in cognitive representations
and activation prime reactions to specific situational cues. This social psychological emphasis upon
contextual priming of memories relates to the personality concern with individual differences in cognitive
structures.
Children who have been diagnosed with Autism seldom engage in effective communication. Approximately
50 percent of autistic children never develop speech, while others develop early forms of communication
and social interaction.
Language refers to the body of words, patterns of sounds, structures and forms used to construct speech.
Communication implies using language in a social context to request something, comment on an event,
describe an action or acknowledge the presence of another individual. It occurs verbally or non-verbally
through the use of spoken words, gestures, signs, or by pointing to printed words or symbols.
To be effective communicators, individuals must first be able to understand cause and effect relations,
have a desire to communicate, have someone to communicate with, have something to communicate
about, and have a means of expressing themselves. Communicative exchanges involve both receptive and
expressive language skills.
As children develop, they begin to attend to items and others for longer periods of time and pay more
attention to detail. Through exploring their environment they begin to understand that their actions cause
other events to occur. This is also the time that children begin to respond to simple commands, gestures
and expressions. Most autistic children tend to be responders to communication, rather than initiators. The
majority of their communicative behaviors are limited to requests or rejections for food/drink, toys or help.
They seldom communicate about their own feelings or respond empathetically to the needs of others.
During times of choice making, autistic children will communicate their negative desire by a head nod from
side to side, but will seldom give gestures indicating affirmative choices.
Psychologists who work with autistic children have developed methods of building speech from the
simpliest sounds. Initially, they are taught to attend to others, maintain eye contact and imitate sounds.
The sounds are then blended into words. Each tiny step is rewarded to reinforce success. Other behavioral
psychologists concentrate on managing communication through everyday situations.
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By the time most non-verbal autistic children attend school programs, they have already been assessed by
a speech therapist, attended children's play therapy, or have had individual sessions to foster
communication. It is imperative that the child's progress continue to be monitored by a speech therapist
within the school setting and options for alternative communication by explored.
Establishing objectives for communication

One of the most significant goals for an autistic child's individual program plan is to foster increased
communication. Prior to determining appropriate objectives and goals, a base level of interpretable
communication must be established by observing the child within the school setting. An observer records
all non-verbal communicative attempts of the child over a two hour span, or if preferred a total of fifty acts.
They are then analyzed to determine why, how, where and with whom the child has communicated. The
information is then combined with observations from parents and therapists to determine the most desired
methods to use for helping the child become an effective communicator. An information sheet filled out by
the parent may provide additional information about the child's interests and skill levels. Early vocabulary
relating to concepts, action words, locations, and recurrence can then be introduced to the child. It may
even be necessary for the child to learn a new form of communication in relation to already established
skills, before being introduced to new ones.
The following is a list of possible objectives for non-verbal autistic children:
- Look in direction of sound source

- Look at adult/peers when approached or spoken to
- Attend to actions or gestures of others
- Attend to printed images
- Attend to task
- Reach out to touch others
- Establish eye contact with others
- Approach adult for assistance
- Approach adult for comfort
- Sit among peers during large group times
- Hold hands with others
- Smile at self in mirror
- Respond to own name
- Identify own body parts by pointing to upon request
- Identify self in mirror by pointing to or smiling at upon request
- Point to objects when requested
- Indicate preferences or objections (non-verbally)
- Engage in turn-taking activities with peers
- Respond to simple (1-2 part) verbal commands
- Respond to gestural cues
- Imitate simple gestural signs
- Initiate simple gestural signs
- Understand simple concepts (big/little)
Intervention strategies
Research over the years indicates that autistic children learn better when teaching methods include the use
of consistent daily routines, consequences for inappropriate behaviors and task organization. These
intervention techniques lead to increased attending skills, a better understanding of cause and effect
relations and the ability to relate to others. Stereotypical behaviors become less frequent as the autistic
child engages in meaningful activities.
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While it is important for the child to be integrated into a regular classroom, it is equally important for them
to receive appropriate teaching for their developmental level. If a separate room or sectioned off part of a
classroom is made available, the assistant is able to provide brief 1:1 teaching sessions throughout each
day. A variety of techniques are used to solicit eye contact and expand on play situations. Items such as
balloons, pinwheels, transparent drawing boards and bubbles all help draw attention to the adult's face
during activities. Additional items used for this purpose are push toys, musical instruments, pom-poms,
mechanical toys, rattles and squeaky toys. In order for a child to learn reciprical action, balls, blocks in a
form box, train on tracks or puppets are useful. When the child attempts to grab an item, the assistant
momentarily holds the item, thereby creating another opportunity for turn taking and eye contact. When
the child vocalizes while playing with toys, the assistant may imitate/exaggerate their actions, or respond in
more challenging ways to challenge the child.
Other Strategies used to Encourage and Enhance Communicative Attempts:
- Observe and respond to all non-verbal attempts

- Imitate all sounds the child makes (tongue clicking, etc.)
- Maintain close proximity of the child (face to face, eye level)
- Follow the child's lead rather than anticipate their every need
- Wait 5-10 seconds for child to respond to request
- Choose speech carefully (limit quantity, stress key words)
- Use simple language (do not assume the child knows)
- Provide verbal models from the child's perspective, not the adults
- Verbally label actions as they occur
- Identify toys - explain their function in simple words
- Use child's name often
- Sort, match and name items
- Make up songs or tunes to accompany routines (increases attending)
- Use action songs and fingerplays
- Name articles of clothing as they are put on
- Provide objects which make a variety of sounds (bells, whistles, horns, singing,
music box, noise making toys)
- Place favorite toy in/out/over/under/beside/behind/in front
- Teach socially acceptable ways to protest or reject items or activities
- Use simple social stories to teach routines (Carol Gray stories)
- Use simple picture books (clear images, non- cartoon style drawings)
- Laminate pictures of family members, pets, routines; name objects in pictures
- Act as interpreter to others in order for 2 way communication to continue
- Place interesting objects inside a jar that is difficult to open or out of reach.
Wait for child to use gaze, or gesture to indicate their desires, then give the
item immediately to them
- Use objects which require another persons help (balloon, pinwheels, bubbles,
wind-up toy, train on tracks)
- During floor play, have the child sit cross-legged directly across from the
assistant (this is particularly useful if the child crawls or turns away in an
attempt to avoid relating to others)
Augmented communication
Augmented communication is any symbol system that supports speech, aided
or unaided using forms such as speech, sign language, communication boards, photos, pictographs,
computer images or print. Clinical research and practices recommend the use of visual cues as instructional
support for structured and natural learning situations. Sytems using spoken words require rather complex
retrieval systems and motor responses, whereas symbols provide a high degree of visual reinforcement.
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Most autistic children learn to communicate, interact and develop self control quicker if pictographs or
written cues are provided.
Several considerations must be taken into account when selecting a desired form of augmented
communication for the child. It is important to determine the cognitive abilities of the child, and to
ascertain whether they have reached the stage of object permanence and have knowledge of cause-effect
relations. Their attending skills may be minimal, knowledge limited, and eye contact non-existent. It is
important to determine which sense the child uses the majority of time to learn about the world around
them. Non-verbal actions and vocalizations must be assessed for their communication intent. The time and
interest that the family is willing to spend assisting their child with communication, as well as personal
preferences must be taken into consideration when developing augmented communication strategies.
Speech
Many autistic children ignore speech, with the exception of a few select words. It may take them years to
recognize and respond to their own name. Later on they begin to acquire limited comprehension of speech
and are able to obey simple instructions. Only a few autistic children learn to use speech effectively. They
seldom learn more than a few words; often repeating the last word/words of sentences spoken by others in
exactly the same tone. This echoing of words is called "echolalia". "Delayed echolalia" is when children
repeat selected words previously said by others. Seldom do these words and phrases bare appropriate
meaning to the activities at hand. These are produced with great effort and contain many contextual and
grammatical errors. Autistic children experience difficulty with words usually occurring in pairs such as
on/off", "brush/comb", "sock/shoe", or "Mommy/
Daddy". Their sentences vary in tone, however appear very mechanical sounding, are loud, and consist of
very few words.
Sign Language
If an autistic child is able to attend for brief periods of time, focus on the face of other individuals and
possess imitative motor skills, signing may be selected as the most appropriate form of augmented
communication.
American Sign Language is used because the signs are similiar to gestures used in everday situations, and
are relatively simple to initiate. However, retrieval and choice making are more difficult with this system.
Generally, the consulting speech therapist provides training to the assistant on how to model a few simple
signs relating to the needs of the specific child. The signs taught should reflect typical requests by the child,
with some general action commands such as "stop", "come", "sit down", "stand", and "no". Auditory
speech and facial expressions should be used in conjunction with signs to provide additional cues for the
child. Most words are signed with your dominant hand with both hands being used primarily for action
words. Basic knowledge of alphabetical letter signs is necessary in order to understand illustrations of
words contained within American Sign Language manuals. Proficiency in signing is not essential, since
autistic children start at the beginning and progress very slowly. It may be necessary for the assistant to
hold the child's hands and move them into approximations of the desired sign until they show slight
movements with
their own hands. Parents, family members and principle caregivers should also be trained to model and
interpret a few relevant signs. It is hoped that after much repetition and modelling the child will
spontaneously use signs to indicate their desires.
Communication Boards
The simpliest type of communication aid is the communication board or books where children touch or
point to a symbol, photograph, drawing or words to indicate a desired activity. Some children require the
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use of three dimensional miniature objects due to their limited cognitive abilities. As the child's attending
skills and comprehension increase, various versions of boards may be explored.
Object boards should be displayed in a central location and at child's height. Immediately prior to each
activity, the child is led over to the object board and prompted by the assistant to point or touch the
corresponding item. The child then carries out the activity in a desired location. The item or symbol may
also be placed nearby to provide added visual cues during the activity. When the activity is completed, the
child then takes the item or symbol back to the location of the object board to be discarded into an "All
Done" box. The prompt hierarcy should then be used and prompts faded as the child becomes more aware
of the representations. When the object board is first introduced there should only be one item displayed
in the upper left-hand section. As time progresses, more items indicative of the daily schedule may be
displayed horizontally.
Communication boards/books must be durable enough to withstand repeated daily use by the child.
Miniature items must be safe, sanitary and replacable. Close up photographs may be used and laminated
for continual use. Colored symbols (pictographs) or black/white lined drawings with words written
underneath, are mounted on 2" square index cards and laminated.
The main display board can be constructed using a large sheet of colored bristol board. Allow a 3" space
along the top for the title. Using a permanent marker, draw a line down the middle, and then make several
smaller sections on both the right and left hand sides. The board is then laminated and small velcro tabs or
partial plastic sleeves are attached to each section.
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Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
PECS was initially developed by two speech therapists (Bondy & Frost) from the Delaware Autistic Program
for use with preschool autistic children. Since then it has become widely accepted as a viable system for use
with individuals of all ages with social communication deficits.
Although it uses many aspects of previously developed augmented communication, the main difference is
in the delivery of the social exchange. Instead of having children point to items in response to an adult
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request, children select an item or symbol and hand it to an adult in exchange for activity materials. To aid
in the initiation process, verbal prompts are not used. Through a process of 6 phases, children progress
from symbol discrimination to more advanced stages of actually forming simple symbol sentences.
A comprehensive training manual outlining training protocol can be obtained through consulting speech
therapists.
Computers
Very little research exists on the use of computers for non-verbal autistic children, however these studies
suggest that some children may benefit in areas of language learning and social communicative
interactions. Children also learn to track, expand their attending skills and learn cause and effect
relationships. Software programs relating to shape/color/size discrimination, or visually enhanced stories
may be used in conjunction with verbal commands given by the assistant. For the children who have
trouble with motor controlled tasks, a roller ball with a separate button for clicking can be used instead of a
mouse. A paper arrow (similiar to the curser) can be taped on to the mouse for greater association.
Facilitated Communication
Another strategy used to enhance communication of non-verbal individuals is the faciliatated
communication method. The somewhat controversial method was first developed for use with cerebral
palsy individuals, and since adopted for use with other developmentally disabled individuals.
The role of the facilitator is to physically support the person's hand, wrist or forearm and to isolate the
index finger as they operate communicative devices such as typewriters, communication boards or
electronically controlled ones.
Word Cards
Some non-verbal children have achieved functional communication of first words by means of word cards.
When visual representations or product labels are paired with written words children receive additional
visual cues. Several may be joined together for instructional sequences.
If children are able to use visual symbols, programmable speech devices such as the IntroTalker, McCaw or
Wolf (voice along with word cards) may be of additional assistance to the child. If the child has a tendency
to only push the buttons of the device, encorporating instructions for their favorite routines may entice
them to use it in a more meaningful way.
When selecting a communication device for a particular child, consideration must be given to the child's
age, manual dexterity, intellectual abilities and learning style.
Group Activity:
Discuss methods of facilitation for children. Share your work with the rest of the
class
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AC3.The facilitation approach is multi-cultural, avoids

bias and is sensitive to the existing knowledge,
experiences and needs of the children.
Multicultural Education for Exceptional Children

After remaining level through most of the 1980's, the child population of the South Africa is on the rise. The
number of persons under the age of 18 will increase from 64 million in 1990 to 67 million in the year 2000.
The number of babies born in 1988--3.9 million--was the greatest since 1964.
Young people from the least well off demographic groups form a growing segment of the child population.
Black and Hispanic youth, who together constitute about 27% of the current child population, will make up
nearly 33% of the child population in the year 2010.
In 1987, over 170,000 people under the age of 20 legally immigrated to the South Africa. The primary
regions of origin most immigrant children were Mexico, the Philippines, Korea, the Dominican Republic, and
Jamaica (U.S. Children and Their Families, 1989).
Black Americans are the largest minority group in the South Africa--28.9 million in 1985, about 12% of the
total population. Black Americans are drawn from a diverse range of cultures and countries in Africa, the
Caribbean, and Central and South America. The U.S. Hispanic population (not including the population of
Puerto Rico) surpassed the 20-million mark in 1989. This represents a 39% growth since 1980--five times
that of the nation as a whole. From 1985 to 2000, the Hispanic population is expected to grow by 46%. The
term Hispanic refers to persons of all races whose cultural heritage is tied to the use of the Spanish
language and Latino culture.
In 1990, over 30% of students in public schools, some 12 million, were from minority groups (Quality
Education for Minorities Project, 1990).
In the school year 1988-1989, approximately 4.5 million children with disabilities received special education
(U.S. Department of Education, 1990). Applying the 30% minority estimate to this number yields a
minimum of 1.4 million children with disabilities who are also minority group members. In order for these
students to develop to their fullest potential, educators will need to be skilled as both special educators
and facilitators of multicultural education.
Purpose of multicultural education

It is important for all students to develop a multicultural perspective in order to enhance
 A good self-concept and self-understanding.

 Sensitivity to and understanding of others, including cultural groups in the South Africa and other
nations.
 The ability to perceive and understand multiple, sometimes conflicting, cultural and national
interpretations of and perspectives on events, values, and behavior.
 The ability to make decisions and take effective action based on a multicultural analysis and
synthesis.
 Open minds when addressing issues.
 Understanding of the process of stereotyping, a low degree of stereotypical thinking, and pride in
self and respect for all peoples (Cortes, 1978).
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Areas within the educational setting in which multicultural education is implemented are textbooks and
instructional materials, curriculum and instruction, teacher behavior, and school climate (Gollnick & Chinn,
1990).
Textbooks and instructional materials

How teachers use textbooks and other instructional materials is extremely important in providing
multicultural education. Teachers need to recognize subtle as well as blatant forms of bias such as
invisibility, stereotyping, selectivity and imbalance, unreality, fragmentation and isolation, and language
(Sadker & Sadker, 1978).
Invisibility means that certain microcultures, including disability groups, are underrepresented in materials.
This omission implies that these groups have less value, importance, and significance in our society.
Stereotyping assigns traditional and rigid roles or attributes to a group. Stereotyping occurs across cultural
and exceptionality groups.
Selectivity and imbalance occur when issues and situations are interpreted from only one perspective,
usually the perspective of the majority group. With such an emphasis, minority persons and individuals
with disabilities often do not learn about the contributions of members of their cultural groups to the
development of our society. Such biases prevent all students from realizing the complexity of historical and
contemporary situations and developments.
Unreality is most likely to present itself in the portrayal of history and contemporary life experiences.
Controversial topics are glossed over, and discussions of discrimination and prejudice are avoided. This
unrealistic coverage denies children the information needed to recognize, understand, and perhaps
conquer the problems that plague our society. Contemporary problems faced by individuals with
disabilities and those from diverse racial and ethnic groups are often disguised or simply not included.
Fragmentation and isolation occur when publishers discuss issues, contributions, and information about
various groups in a separate section or chapter apart from the regular text. This add-on approach suggests
that the experiences and contributions of these groups are merely an interesting diversion, not an integral
part of historical and contemporary developments.
Language bias occurs when materials blatantly omit such things as gender, disability, or ethnic group
references.
Making curriculum multicultural

Components of multicultural education that are included in many educational programs are ethnic,
minority, and women's studies; bilingual programs; cultural awareness; human relations; and values
clarification. Concepts include racism, sexism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, powerlessness, power
inequality, equality, and stereotyping.
If teaching a culturally diverse student population, educators need to determine the microcultures that
exist in the community. Schools that are on or near Indian reservations will include students from the
American Indian tribes in the area as well as some non-Indians. Urban schools typically include multiethnic
populations and students from middle and lower socioeconomic levels; inner-city schools are likely to have
a high proportion of poor students. Teachers in Appalachian-area schools will need to be concerned about
poor and middle-class families with fundamentalist backgrounds.
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One strategy for multiculturalizing curriculum and instruction is teaching from a multicultural perspective.
This approach will probably require some major changes in the educational program. In this approach
educators will take affirmative steps to ensure that cultural diversity and exceptionality are reflected in the
curriculum. It should facilitate the development of attitudes and values conducive to the preservation and
promotion of ethnic and cultural diversity as a positive quality of society (Gay, 1977). It will enhance
students' self-concepts as they develop pride in their own and other cultural heritages (Gay, 1977). Without
too much effort, teachers can locate supplementary materials, information, and visual aids about people of
other major cultures and people with disabilities. This information should be included as part of the
curriculum in every subject area, regardless of how culturally diverse the community is.
Attitudes and teaching styles

A teacher's behavior in the classroom is a key factor in helping all students reach their potential, regardless
of gender, ethnicity, age, religion, language, or exceptionality. Unknowingly, educators often transmit
biased messages to students. Most educators do not consciously or intentionally stereotype students or
discriminate against them; they usually try to treat all students fairly and equitably. However, we have
learned our attitudes and behaviors in a society that has been ageist, racist, sexist, and ethnocentric. Some
biases have been internalized to such a degree that we do not realize that we are biased. When teachers
are able to recognize the subtle and unintentional biases in their behavior, positive changes can be made in
the classroom (Sadker & Sadker, 1978).
Another area that teachers might investigate and change to better meet the needs of a culturally diverse
student population is that of teaching and learning styles. Both teaching and learning styles can be
categorized as either field independent or field sensitive. Field-independent teachers encourage
independent student achievement and competition among students. Field-sensitive teachers are more
interpersonally oriented and prefer situations that allow them to use personal, conversational techniques.
Similarly, field-sensitive students perform better in social situations such as group work; field-independent
students work well on independent projects. Often the teacher's style differs from the learning style of the
student, causing a classroom situation that may not be conducive to helping students reach their potential.
Ramirez and Castaneda (1974) showed that teachers could learn to organize learning environments
conducive to individual students' cognitive styles so that all students could benefit equally from teaching.
Positive school climate

A school that affirms multiculturalism will integrate the community in its total program. Not only will the
educators know and understand the community, but the parents and community will know and participate
in the school activities. As long as members of the community feel unwelcome in the school, they are not
likely to initiate involvement. The first step in multiculturalizing the school is development of positive and
supportive relations between the school and the community. Teachers can assist by asking community
members to participate in class activities by talking about their jobs, hobbies, or experiences in a certain
area. They can initiate contacts with families of students. They can participate in some community events.
A sincere interest in the community, rather than indifference or patronage, will help to bridge the gap that
often exists between the school and community.
Pair activity:
Explain how the facilitation approach could be multi-cultural, avoid bias and be
sensitive to the existing knowledge, experiences and needs of the children.
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AC4.The facilitation approach takes advantage of

teachable moments.
Parents and teachers are told to be on the lookout for teachable moments, a rather hard task if you don’t
know what to look for. The term teachable moment, most often used in education and parenting, refers to
a time when a child (or an adult) seems most receptive to learning something. It also includes the idea that
the thing learned at that moment, when a person is on hand to take advantage of the receptivity or interest
of a child, is likely to be deeply impressed on the child. It isn’t always possible to create teachable
moments; they may arise in very mundane situations, or in circumstances that are unusual and unlikely to
occur again.
What a child will learn in a teachable moment often depends upon the child’s interest. For example, a child
could be having a tough time learning about fractions at school, and you decide to enlist the child to help
you bake a double or triple batch of cookies. Suddenly, the child’s interest is engaged in the process of
helping you figure out how to increase your recipe and get accurate measurements.
You can’t force these “moments” by expecting a child to be interested when he or she is not. Yet when the
child is naturally interested, you have an opportunity to teach about fractions in a completely different
setting than the one offered in school, because the way you are teaching is very interesting (and yummy).
By allowing the child to help you figure out the measurements and learn things about how fractions are
doubled and tripled, and by taking advantage of their keen interest in the subject, you’ve taken advantage
of a teachable moment.
These moments aren’t always about teaching traditional subjects offered in a school setting. Frequently,
they may be opportunities to emphasize values you’d like kids to learn. Though you can tell your children
what your values are, they may be more receptive and impressed when they see you living those values
through your example. Taking kids to a homeless shelter where you volunteer or helping out a neighbor
may have much greater impact on a child than being told that you’re supposed to help neighbors or be kind
to others.
At other times the teachable moment may arise on the instigation of the child. You child may come to you
with a burning question that needs your answer or have questions abut how people think, feel or work that
can open up conversations of a philosophical, moral or religious nature. These are perhaps the most
recognizable of teachable moments, since the child is signalling the desire to learn something and is already
receptive to being taught.
Some educators feel the phrase teachable moment is overused because they view children as capable of
always learning and feel that formal education shouldn’t be broken up into “moments.” While it may be
true that children have an amazing capacity to learn, there may be moments when they are more likely to
be open or engaged in this process. Recognizing the teachable moment as it occurs, and taking advantage
of it may help bring home certain facts or values that will resonate with children and may enhance
understanding of the world, school, values, academic material, or other.
The Working Systemically Approach in Action

The integrative nature of the Working Systemically approach implies a dynamic interaction among three
dimensions illustrated by the cube on page 5. Components and competencies are developed at all levels of
the system through a five-phase process for working with districts and schools to increase student
achievement. The phases of the work are not intended as a recipe independent of contextual factors. SEDL
has expanded a typical standard planning format to promote a deeper understanding of the challenges an
education system faces, with a strong focus on the development and monitoring of an action plan. The five
phases of the work provide a framework for transforming an education system. These phases, and their
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cyclical nature, are illustrated in Figure 2; the text that follows the table contains brief descriptions of the
phases and the steps contained in each.
Figure 2. The Five Phases of the Working Systemically Approach
As stated previously, the facilitator helps district and school leaders develop critical competencies as
he/she guides them through each phase of the Working Systemically approach. Action steps within each
phase provide opportunities for the facilitator to focus more intensely on strengthening specific
competencies. For example, in Phase II, Analyzing the System, leaders must develop a focus for
improvement (create coherence), examine data (collect, interpret, and use data), and work collaboratively
with one another (build relationships). The table below provides a guide to those competencies that
receive primary focus during each phase of the Working Systemically approach.
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The table on page 15 provides a guide to the competencies receiving primary focus in each phase.
However, this does not mean that only those competencies indicated are being developed during any one
phase. Because the Working Systemically approach is multi-faceted, recursive, and contextual in nature,
opportunities will emerge throughout each phase to build the other competencies as well. The role of the
facilitator is to recognize when such opportunities surface and to take advantage of them by using them as
teachable moments.
Phase I Scanning the System

In this phase, the facilitator helps leaders understand the Working Systemically approach and how it can be
implemented at the district and school levels. During this phase, the facilitator begins to develop the
system's competencies of collecting, interpreting, and using data and building relationships. This phase of
the work consists of seven steps:
1. Select a District and Plan the Introduction

2. Present the Approach
3. Collect Preliminary Data
4. Review and Analyze Preliminary Data
5. Present Data Report at the District Level
6. Present Approach and Data Report at the School Level
7. Commit to the Partnership
Phase II Analyzing the System

The purpose of the second phase of the work is to organize a district leadership team that identifies a need
in the alignment of five components of the system: alignment of local curriculum, classroom instruction,
and assessment strategies to state standards and alignment of resources to support the work. In this phase
of the work, the facilitator helps the district understand how the work will have a direct and positive impact
on instructional practice in the classroom. The competencies of collecting, interpreting, and using data;
creating coherence; and building relationships play important parts in this phase of the work. This phase
consists of five steps:
1. Form the District Leadership Team

2. Collect and Organize Additional Data
3. Conduct a Gap Analysis
4. Formulate a Problem Statement
5. Describe the Ideal State
Phase III Planning Action

In the third phase of the work, leaders gain more insight into what strategies research shows to be effective
for increasing student achievement and consider how those actions can be incorporated into their
improvement effort. Leaders also develop a detailed improvement plan that outlines action steps and the
support necessary to ensure that the plan will be implemented. The key competencies developed in this
phase are creating coherence and ensuring continuous professional learning.
Planning Action consists of six steps:

1. Review Progress Made to Date and Existing Plan
2. Investigate Research-Based Actions
3. Introduce the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle (PTLC)
4. Develop District Improvement Plan
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5. Formalize and Communicate the District Improvement Plan

6. Develop Campus Improvement Plans
Phase IV Taking Action and Monitoring Progress

In the fourth phase of the work, the focus shifts increasing from the facilitator to the district and school
leaders. Leaders first establish frameworks for meeting regularly and monitoring the implementation of the
improvement plans. Leaders and teachers then implement the strategies set at the district and school
levels. In this phase of the work, attention is on the components of standards, curriculum, instruction,
assessment, resources, and professional staff and the competencies of creating coherence; collecting,
interpreting, and using data; and ensuring continuous professional learning. Throughout the
implementation of the plans, leaders provide the support that is needed in order to maintain momentum
and keep the effort on track. Taking Action and Monitoring Progress consists of three steps:
1. Implement and Monitor the Improvement Plans

2. Provide Leadership for the Improvement Work
3. Address Unique Challenges as They Arise
Phase V Assessing and Reflecting on Outcomes

In this phase of the work, members of the district leadership team begin their formal assessment and
reflection with a narrow focus as they determine whether and to what degree the action plan is being
implemented and monitored with fidelity. They broaden their analysis as they examine whether the actions
taken are resulting in their intended outcomes. Finally, leaders determine at what point in the Working
Systemically approach their efforts will recycle and continue in the following school year. The competencies
of collecting, interpreting, and using data and responding to changing conditions are at the forefront of the
work in this phase. Assessing and Reflecting on Outcomes is divided into three steps:
1. Analyze and Reflect on Evidence of Implementation and Impact

2. Decide on a Focus for Continuing the Improvement Work
3. Recognize Work, Progress, and Accomplishments
AC5.Children are managed in a manner that promotes

development and is sensitive to the needs of individual
children.
Child care providers who are good facilitators of the social development of young children also understand
the relationship between child care curriculum, care giver demeanor, and discipline in promoting
responsibility and a sense of community among young children.
What Are The Main Goals Of Behavior Management?

An issue of overwhelming concern among child care givers/providers is that of managing acting out and
disruptive behaviors in children. This issue becomes more difficult when the child's behavior is seen in a
group setting and when the care giver is challenged to respond to behavior concerns of more than one
child. One of the most challenging roles of care givers of small children is to help guide their behavior. This
can be achieved by demonstrating respect, kindness, and persistence when interacting with young children.
All children display undesirable behavior at some time. The ability to manage young children's behavior in a
positive manner is often challenging and complex; however, the effective guidance of young children
requires a patient and nurturing care giver who understands the tasks of children at various ages, is
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aware that normal young children are naturally curious, active and impulsive, and recognizes that the
main goals of positive management are to assist children to develop responsibility, to learn and develop
skills to control themselves, and to take responsibility for their own behavior.
The skill to positively manage young children often requires that care givers/providers make some
important shifts in their thinking about managing children. Some of these shifts in thinking and practice
are:
• Set long term goals for the children in our care beyond the short term goal of keeping peace - Long
term goals of helping children to develop responsibility for their own behavior.
• Recognize that a change in a child's behavior usually occurs when there is a change in the care
giver/provider's behavior or practice.
• Avoid engaging in power plays, struggles with children -YOU WILL LOSE AND SO WILL THE CHILD.
• Recognize that positive attitudes of encouragement, understanding, and respect by the care giver
are the basic conditions for desirable behavior in children - Avoid the use of threats, put-downs,
embarrassing statements, and criticisms to control children's behavior.
• Keep in mind that children are social beings who have a need to belong and feel significant and
important - Provide/create opportunities for children to share, to be independent, to be
recognized, to receive praise, and to be involved in chores.
• Keep in mind that children are decision-makers - Create an environment where children are
encouraged to make choices and are actively involved in planning activities for the day.
• Recognize that acting out behavior in young children is often related to their language
development - Young children's language capacity assists them to express their needs. Children
may feel and express frustration when they have not yet developed the language to effectively
communicate their wants and needs.
• Make time-out a tool for building self control. For example, let the child decide when he is ready to
cooperate and return to the group. This practice helps children to begin to take responsibility for
their own actions.
• Catch a child doing something right instead of catching him/her doing something wrong. Many
times when a child is behaving desirably, such as playing nicely with a playmate, or sharing his/her
toys in a friendly manner, we ignore the child or are too busy at the moment to notice. Giving a
child a smile, a word of praise, or a pat on the back can go a long way in making the child feel
special, significant, and a sense of belonging.
Do we want children to do as they are told by adults or to learn to tell themselves what to appropriately
do? Do we want children to behave because an adult is around or to develop the skills to control their own
behavior in any setting? Understanding children's development and providing careful guidance of their
behavior can lead them toward developing self management, self confidence, and problem solving skills.
Only then is Discipline an effective life guide.
Developmental Stages Of Children's Social Development

Newborn to Eighteen Months - Major Task: Learning to Trust
• Cries for needs

• Uses senses to learn about the world
• Imitates
• Explores "who am I and what's me."
Care giver should: Give attention, nurturance, conversation; respond quickly to cries; provide opportunities
for the child to explore his world, taste, touch; through your actions, help the child feel that the world is a
safe and good place where needs are met with loving care; use crib only for sleeping.
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One Year to Mid-Twos - Major Task: Learning Independence
Is curious, messy, affectionate; likes to do things "by myself"; shows emerging independence; bites; has
temper tantrums; explores; starts to test limits; gets into everything; begins to talk, run and climb.
Care giver should: Give respect and affection; have patience and a sense of humor; keep limits simple and
consistent; avoid setting up power plays over food, sleep, or toilet; offer choices; help balance
independence with limits; hold off on toilet training until child shows an interest and you see signs of the
next stage; try to reason, but don't expect miracles.
Mid-Twos to Four - Major Task: Learning an Identity
Cooperates; tries hard to please; Learns many new skills; talks a lot; has lots of energy and enjoys noise;
develops definite food likes and dislikes but needs less food; shows readiness to use the toilet.
Care giver should: Give affection and respect; have patience and humor; continue to set firm, consistent
limits; laugh together, help the child find answers to his/her own questions; discover together.
Mid-Threes to Five - Major Task: Learning an Identity
Is bold, quarrelsome, contrary, full of energy and zest for life; goes from independence to clinging; uses
"naughty" words; tells bold stories that may sound like lies; has difficulty sharing or playing cooperatively;
learns many new skills and abilities.
Care giver should: Give respect and affection; have understanding and patience; provide outlets and
opportunities for all the energy and developing intelligence; continue firm, consistent rules and
expectations; accept the testing of limits with a sense of humor; be a model of cooperative behavior; begin
to use reason and logic with the child - more possible as a child nears five.
Mid-Fours to Sixes - Major Task: Learning an Identity
Becomes more cooperative with age; shows lots of energy, wiggling, and giggling; loves to talk about self;
can do many things and loves to show them off; has many new fears; still tells tales; may try out taking
things that belong to others; tattles and is a poor loser; shows interest in numbers and letters; begins to
play cooperatively with others, but disagreements can easily occur.
Care giver should: Give affection, clear directions, and expectations; encourage the child to try new things;
provide a variety of activities that allow the child to learn by doing; let the child participate in planning
activities and doing small, helpful chores; provide opportunities to show off skills.
Mid-Fives to Eight - Major Task: Learning to be Productive and Successful
Is fair minded; shows off; insists on following rules fairly, often to an extreme; begins to prefer friends of
the same sex; frequently finds and loses best friends; likes special projects that feel useful, productive, and
grown-up; tests limits with determination.
Care giver should: Give flexibility, affection, respect, and moments of undivided attention; give clear and
reasonable limits with opportunities for negotiations; assign simple household duties with reminders; be
fair and reasonable; provide opportunities to join organized activities without over scheduling; allow the
child to plan personal activities.
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What Is The Relationship Between Curriculum And

Discipline?
Teaching children responsibility, self control and self management as long term goals cannot be taught in a
weekly theme. It is taught through the way care givers handle daily situations with children in their care. By
their developmental characters, young children are egocentric; they think only about their needs. They also
think about the present, the here and now. As they get older, they learn to consider others and to think
beyond the present. The curriculum should include opportunities for the child to learn social skills through
taking on responsibility, involvement in age appropriate activities, and talking about feelings with young
children.
Help Children Become Responsible By:
Teaching Responsibility with Discipline and Guidance
• Set a good example

• Talk with children about the feelings of others
• Help children to own their own feelings
• Encourage children to express their own needs to you
• Give children an opportunity to make things better
• Assist children in solving their own problems
• Use fair and logical consequences
• Catch them being good
• Expect good behavior
Teaching Responsibility through Age Appropriate Curriculum
• Make "clean up" an important part of your play session

• Help children learn to care for themselves
• Give children doable tasks
• Be supportive when children experience failure as well as success
• Give the children real and meaningful work to do
• Keep your word with children
• Help children learn to be good citizens in your child care
• Have high hopes for the children
Talk about all feelings - positive and negative
• Try to use the best "feeling" word to describe what the child is feeling
• Read books about feelings - it's a great way to discuss feelings with children.
Talking about Feelings helps children develop sensitivity to the feelings of others and to manage their own
emotions
Responding To Emotional Outbursts

Many things excite and upset youngsters. It is important for day care providers to know how to respond to
emotional outbursts.
Anger
When children become angry because someone else is playing with their favorite toy, an angry response
from an adult will make the situation worse. Instead, try to calm the child: " I know you're angry. Let's talk
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about it when you stop crying." As the child calms down, redirect his attention. Offer a substitute toy to
play with for the time being until he can play with the preferred toy.
Fear
Some fears of children are sensible while other fears of children are appropriate but can do no harm to
them, such as fear of the dark or of the toilet. Do not make fun of the child; rather, encourage the child to
talk about the fear. Help children learn more about the object of their fear. For example, if children are
afraid of the dark, you can use flashlights and go to the dark room and play shadow puppets. The children
may learn to enjoy the dark. For fear of thunder, an example would be to teach them how to count the
seconds between lightning flashes and the thunder.
Frustration
To a young child, a two-minute wait for a toy may seem forever. The child may get frustrated from the wait.
Be alert. Sometimes you can anticipate the frustration, and respond by giving the child a substitute toy. You
can express sympathy with the child and remind the child that he/she must take turns.
Sadness
When children are sad and crying, they should not be warned against crying or expressing themselves. It's
healthy for boys to learn that men cry, for example. Avoid telling a child that "big boys don't cry." Instead,
help children to talk about their sadness. It may be helpful at times to leave the child alone.
AC6.Communication is responsive and promotes

development in general, and language development in
particular. Questioning techniques, where applicable,
are open, positive and responsive, promote child
development and help to make learning explicit where
appropriate.
Early brain development
Early childhood is the most intensive period of brain development during the lifespan. Adequate
stimulation and nutrition are essential for development during the first three years of life. It is during these
years that a child's brain is most sensitive to the influences of the external environment. Rapid brain
development affects cognitive, social and emotional growth. Such development helps to ensure that each
child reaches his or her potential and is a productive part of a rapidly changing, global society.
The more stimulating the early environment, the more a child develops and learns. Language and cognitive
development are especially important during the first six months to three years of life. When children
spend their early years in a less stimulating, or less emotionally and physically supportive environment,
brain development is affected and leads to cognitive, social and behavioural delays. Later in life, these
children will have difficulty dealing with complex situations and environments. High levels of adversity and
stress during early childhood can increase the risk of stress-related disease and learning problems well into
the adult years.
Risk factors
Many factors can disrupt early child development. Four risk factors affect at least 20–25% of infants and
young children in developing countries:
 malnutrition that is chronic and severe enough to cause growth stunting

 inadequate stimulation or learning opportunities
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 iodine deficiency
 iron deficiency anaemia.
Other important risk factors are malaria, intrauterine growth restriction, maternal depression, exposure to
violence, and exposure to heavy metals.
Developing an early emotional connection to a caregiver is also critical for an infant’s well-being. Absence
of attachment to a consistent caregiver – such as occurs in a poorly run orphanage – can have significant
negative effects on brain development and cognitive functioning.
Interventions
To reach their potential, young children need to spend time in a caring, responsive environment that
protects them from neglect and inappropriate disapproval and punishment.
Parents and families are the key to early child development, but need support to provide the right
environment. Children benefit when national governments adopt “family friendly” social protection policies
that guarantee adequate family income, maternity benefits, financial support, and allow for parents and
caregivers to devote time and attention to young children.
Globally, societies that invest in children and families in the early years – whether rich or poor – have the
most literate and numerate populations. These are also the societies that have the best health status and
lowest levels of health inequality in the world.
Early child development (ECD) interventions provide direct learning experiences to children and families.
They are:
 targeted to young and disadvantaged children

 high quality and long lasting
 integrated with family support, health, nutrition, or education systems and services.
The health care system and health providers have pivotal roles to play, as they are often the points of early
contact with a child and can serve as gateways to other early childhood services. Health care providers are
trusted sources of information for families and can give critical guidance about:
 how to communicate with infants and children

 ways to stimulate children for better growth
 how to handle such common developmental problems as sleep, feeding and discipline
 ways to reduce common childhood injuries.
Economic impact
Investing in young children is an essential component for the development of a national economy. Early
opportunities for learning in combination with improved nutrition, increases the likelihood that a child will
attend school and become an adult with higher income, better health, lower crime rates, and lower levels
of welfare dependence than those who do not receive early development support.
WHO response
The Commission on Social Determinants of Health, established by WHO in 2005, identified early child
development as a priority issue.
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WHO and UNICEF have developed a package of tools for primary health care workers and community-
based providers to assist parents, families and communities on how to promote child development and to
prevent risks; it is a synthesis of the most effective approaches that have worked in the context of resource
poor countries.
These and other child development efforts incorporate the principles of equity, child rights, integration of
services, a life course approach and community participation
Responsive Teaching strategies do not promote children’s development exclusively by teaching them
each of the developmental skills or behaviors that they are not able to do.
Rather, Responsive Teaching Strategies such as “Imitate my child” or “Take one turn and wait” focus
more on teaching children some other types of very critical developmental behaviors. They teach children
to develop the “habit” of becoming more actively involved in everything they do through behaviors such as
Exploring, Practicing, Joint Attending and Intentional Communication. These are the very behaviors that all
children must to do in order to develop their cognitive, communication and social-emotional abilities. We
call these Pivotal Behaviors because these processes are absolutely essential to promoting learning that
will truly make a difference in the way children think, communicate with others, and engage in more
mature, reciprocal social interactions.
RT strategies such as “Translate my child’s actions, feeling or intentions into words”, “Expand to show
my child the next developmental step”, or “Follow my child’s lead” are very effective “child directed
strategies” that teach new skills and developmental behaviors by modelling behaviors that are directly
related to what children are doing, by expanding on children’s behavior, and by helping children discover
new information or skills that are directly related to the activities that interest them the most. But if
children only learn new behaviors, and do not use them spontaneously in their routine activities, these
behaviors have not really made a difference in enhancing their developmental functioning.
The skills and behaviors that children learn in the early childhood period are seldom mature, adult-like
forms of behavior. Rather they are approximations of adult behavior that typically progress through a
lengthy series of transformations. For example, children typically develop language through a process of
first learning to use vocalizations to communicate, next learning to combine one word utterances with
vocalizations, next combining phrases that have more than one word with fewer non verbal vocalizations,
and so forth until children reach the point where they have fluent adult language forms. The
developmental learning process takes years, not months or days. Learning new skills and behaviors is
clearly an important part of this process, but it is only one piece of the entire developmental learning
process. In addition to acquiring new skills and behaviors, at least five other activities are involved in
developmental learning. These include:
• Becoming proficient with a newly learned behavior

• Understanding the uses of newly learned behaviors
• Understanding the limitations of newly learned behaviors
• Discovering other behaviors or concepts that are more effective than the newly learned
behavior
• Giving up the old behavior to make room for the new behavior
That is why nearly 90% of the Responsive Teaching strategies focus more on promoting Pivotal
Behaviors than on teaching discrete developmental or functional skills and behaviors. While RT strategies
can be effective in promoting the initial acquisition of new discrete skills and behaviors, the impact that
these strategies have on children’s development is primarily related to their impact on children’s frequency
that children use pivotal behaviors that are so critical to the other five components of developmental
learning.
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Because pivotal behaviors are so critical to children’s developmental learning, and because this is what
RT strategies do best, the intervention objectives in Responsive Teaching are those pivotal behaviors that
are particularly crucial to each of the three domains of developmental functioning throughout the entire
early childhood period.
The Responsive Teaching curriculum is organized around 16 pivotal behaviors which are listed below.
The Pivotal Behavior wizard is included in the curriculum to help parents and professionals identify pivotal
behaviors that are ideal intervention objectives for a particular child.
Responsive Teaching Pivotal Behaviors
Cognition Communication Social-Emotional Functioning
Social Play Joint Activity Trust

Initiation Joint Attention Empathy
Exploration Vocalization Cooperation
Problem Solving Intentional Communication Self Regulation
Practice Conversation Feelings of Confidence
Feelings of Control
AC7.Verbal and non-verbal interactions value the

children
our brother comes home from school and walks through the door. Without saying a word, he walks to the
fridge, gets a drink, and turns to head for the couch in the family room. Once there, he plops down, stares
straight ahead, and sighs. You notice that he sits there in silence for the next few minutes. In this time, he
never spoke a word. Is he communicating? If your answer is yes, what meanings would you take from these
actions? What are the possible interpretations for how he is feeling? What types of nonverbal
communication was your brother using?
Like verbal communication, nonverbal communication is essential in our every day communication.
Remember that verbal and nonverbal communication are the two primary channels we study in the field of
Communication. While nonverbal and verbal communication have many similar functions, nonverbal
communication has its own set of functions for helping us communicate with each other. Before we get
into the types and functions of nonverbal communication, let’s define nonverbal communication to better
understand how it is used in this text.
Defining Nonverbal Communication

Like verbal communication, we use nonverbal communication to share meaning with others. Just as there
are many definitions for communication and verbal communication, there are also many ways to define
nonverbal communication.
Burgoon, Buller, and Woodall (1996) define nonverbal communication similar to how we defined verbal
communication in Chapter 2. They state that nonverbal behaviors are “typically sent with intent, are used
with regularity among members of a social community, are typically interpreted as intentional, and have
consensually recognized interpretations” (p. 113). We disagree with this definition because to us it sounds
too much like verbal communication, and might best be described as symbolic and systematic nonverbal
communication.
Mead (1934) differentiated between what he termed as “gesture” versus “significant symbol,” while Buck
and VanLear (2002) took Mead’s idea and argued that “gestures are not symbolic in that their relationship
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to their referents is not arbitrary,” a fundamental distinction between verbal and nonverbal communication
(p. 524). Think of all the ways you unconsciously move your body throughout the day. For example, you
probably do not sit in your classes and think constantly about your nonverbal behaviors. Instead, much of
the way you present yourself nonverbally in your classes is done so unconsciously. Even so, others can
derive meaning from your nonverbal behaviors whether they are intentional or not. For example, as
professors we watch our students’ nonverbal communication in class (such as slouching, leaning back in the
chair, or looking at their watch) and make assumptions about them (such as they are bored, tired, or
worrying about a test in another class). These assumptions are often based on acts that are typically done
unintentionally.
While we certainly use nonverbal communication consciously at times to generate and share particular
meanings, when examined closely, it should be apparent that this channel of communication is not an
agreed-upon rule-governed system of symbols. Rather, nonverbal communication is most often
spontaneous, unintentional, and may not follow formalized symbolic rule systems.
With this in mind, we define nonverbal communication as any meaning conveyed through sounds,
behaviors, and artifacts other than words. To help explain this idea, it is useful to consider some of the
differences between verbal and nonverbal communication.
Differences Between Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
The first difference between verbal and nonverbal communication is that we use a single channel (words)
when we communicate verbally versus multiple channels when we communicate nonverbally. Try this
exercise! Say your first and last name at the same time. You quickly find that this is an impossible task.
Now, pat the top of your head with your right hand, wave with your left hand, smile, shrug your shoulders,
and chew gum at the same time. While goofy and awkward, our ability to do this demonstrates how we use
multiple nonverbal channels simultaneously to communicate.
In Chapter 2 we learned how difficult it can be to decode a sender’s single verbal message due to the
arbitrary, abstract, and ambiguous nature of language. But, think how much more difficult it is to decode
the even more ambiguous and multiple nonverbal signals we take in like eye contact, facial expressions,
body movements, clothing, personal artifacts, and tone of voice at the same time. Despite this difficulty,
Motley (1993) found that we learn to decode nonverbal communication as babies. Hall (1984) found that
women are much better than men at accurately interpreting the many nonverbal cues we consider.
A second difference between verbal and nonverbal communication is that verbal communication is distinct
(linear) while nonverbal communication is continuous (in constant motion and relative to context). Distinct
means that messages have a clear beginning and end, and are expressed in a linear fashion. We begin and
end words and sentences in a linear way to make it easier for others to follow and understand. If you
pronounce the word “cat” you begin with the letter “C” and proceed to finish with “T.” Continuous means
that messages are ongoing and work in relation to other nonverbal and verbal cues.
Think about the difference between analog and digital clocks. The analog clock represents nonverbal
communication in that we generate meaning by considering the relationship of the different arms to each
another (context). Also, the clock’s arms are in continuous motion. We notice the speed of their
movement, their position in the circle and to each other, and their relationship with the environment (is it
day or night?).
Nonverbal communication is similar in that we evaluate nonverbal cues in relation to one another and
consider the context of the situation. Suppose you see your friend in the distance. She approaches, waves,
smiles, and says “hello.” To interpret the meaning of this, you focus on the wave, smile, tone of voice, her
approaching movement, and the verbal message. You might also consider the time of day, if there is a
pressing need to get to class, etc.
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Now contrast this to a digital clock, which functions like verbal communication. Unlike an analog clock, a
digital clock is not in constant motion. Instead, it replaces one number with another to display time (its
message). A digital clock uses one distinct channel (numbers) in a linear fashion. When we use verbal
communication, we do so like the digital clock. We say one word at a time, in a linear fashion, to express
meaning.
A third difference between verbal and nonverbal communication is that we use verbal communication
consciously while we generally use nonverbal communication unconsciously. Conscious communication
means that we think about our verbal communication before we communicate. Unconscious
communication means that we do not think about every nonverbal message we communicate. If you ever
heard the statement as a child, “Think before you speak” you were being told a fundamental principle of
verbal communication. Realistically, it’s nearly impossible not to think before we speak. When we speak,
we do so consciously and intentionally. In contrast, when something funny happens, you probably do not
think, “Okay, I’m going to smile and laugh right now.” Instead, you react unconsciously, displaying your
emotions through these nonverbal behaviors. Nonverbal communication can occur as unconscious
reactions to situations. We are not claiming that all nonverbal communication is unconscious. At times we
certainly make conscious choices to use or withhold nonverbal communication to share meaning. Angry
drivers use many conscious nonverbal expressions to communicate to other drivers! In a job interview you
are making conscious decisions about your wardrobe, posture, and eye contact.
A fourth difference between verbal and nonverbal communication is that some nonverbal communication
is universal (Hall, Chia, and Wang, 1996). Verbal communication is exclusive to the users of a particular
language, whereas some nonverbal communication is recognized across cultures. Although cultures most
certainly have particular meanings and uses for nonverbal communication, there are universal nonverbal
behaviors that almost everyone recognizes. For instance, people around the world recognize and use
expressions such as smiles, frowns, and the pointing of a finger at an object.
Now that you have a definition of nonverbal communication, and can identify the primary differences
between verbal and nonverbal communication, let’s examine what counts as nonverbal communication. In
this next section, we show you eight types of nonverbal communication we use regularly: kinesics, haptics,
appearance, proxemics, environment, chronemics, paralanguage, and silence.
Types of Nonverbal Communication

inesics is the study of how we use body movement and facial expressions. We interpret a great deal of
meaning through body movement, facial expressions, and eye contact. Many people believe they can easily
interpret the meanings of body movements and facial expressions in others. But the reality is, it is almost
impossible to determine an exact meaning for gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact. Even so, we
rely a great deal on kinesics to interpret and express meaning. We know that kinesics can communicate
liking, social status, and even relational responsiveness (Mehrabian, 1981). Facial expressions are a primary
method of sharing emotions and feelings (Ekman & Friesen, 1967). For example, imagine yourself at a party
and you see someone across the room you are attracted to. What sort of nonverbal behaviors do you
engage in to let that person know? Likewise, what nonverbal behaviors are you looking for from them to
indicate that it’s safe to come over and introduce yourself? We are able to go through exchanges like this
using only our nonverbal communication. As you probably know, some exchanges are more successful than
others!
Haptics is the study of touch. Touch is the first type of nonverbal communication we experience as humans
and is vital to our development and health (Dolin & Booth-Butterfield, 1993). Those who don’t have
positive touch in their lives are less healthy both mentally and physically than those who experience
positive touch. We use touch to share feelings and relational meanings. Hugs, kisses, handshakes, or even
playful roughhousing demonstrate relational meanings and indicate relational closeness. In western
society, touch is largely reserved for family and romantic relationships. Generally girls and women in same-
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sex friendships have more liberty to express touch as part of the relationship than men in same-sex
friendships. However, despite these unfortunate social taboos, the need for touch is so strong that men are
quite sophisticated at findings ways to incorporate this into their friendships in socially acceptable ways.
One such example is wrestling among adolescent and young-adult males. Do you ever wonder why you
don’t see as many women doing this? Perhaps it’s because wrestling is socially acceptable for men whereas
women are more likely to hug, hold hands, and sit touching one another. Perhaps one day we will progress
beyond these arbitrary gender constructs, and everyone can engage in needed touching behaviors in ways
that are comfortable to them.
Personal Appearance, Objects, and Artifacts are also types of nonverbal communication we use to
communicate meaning to others. Consider your preferences for hair-style, clothing, jewelry, and
automobiles, as well the way you maintain your body. Your choices express meanings to those around you
about what you value and the image you wish to put forth. As with most communication, our choices for
personal appearance, objects, and artifacts occur within cultural contexts, and are interpreted in light of
these contexts.
Proxemics is the study of how our use of space influences the ways we relate with others. It also
demonstrates our relational standing with those around us. Edward Hall (1959, 1966) developed four
categories of space we use in the U.S. to form and maintain relationships. Intimate space consists of space
that ranges from touch to eighteen inches. We use intimate space with those whom we are close (family
members, close friends, and intimate partners). Personal space ranges from eighteen inches to four feet
and is reserved for most conversations with non-intimate others (friends and acquaintances). Social space
extends from four to twelve feet and is used for small group interactions such as sitting around a dinner
table with others or a group meeting. Public space extends beyond twelve feet and is most often used in
public speaking situations. We use space to regulate our verbal communication and communicate relational
and social meanings. A fun exercise to do is to go to a public space and observe people. Based on their use
of the above categories of space, try to determine what type of relationship the people are in: Romantic,
Family, or Friends.
Our environment acts as another type of nonverbal communication we use. Think of your home, room,
automobile, or office space. What meanings can others perceive about you from these spaces? What
meanings are you trying to send by how you keep them? Think about spaces you use frequently and the
nonverbal meanings they have for you. Most educational institutions intentionally paint classrooms in dull
colors. Why? Dull colors on walls have a calming effect, theoretically keeping students from being
distracted by bright colors and excessive stimuli. Contrast the environment of a classroom to that of a fast
food restaurant. These establishments have bright colors and hard plastic seats and tables. The bright
colors generate an upbeat environment, while the hard plastic seats are just uncomfortable enough to keep
patrons from staying too long (remember, it’s FAST food). People and cultures place different emphasis on
the use of space as a way to communicate nonverbally.
Chronemics is the study of how people use time. Are you someone who is always early or on-time? Or, are
you someone who arrives late to most events? Levine (1997) believes our use of time communicates a
variety of meanings to those around us. Think about the person you know who is most frequently late. How
do you describe that person based on their use of time? Now, think about someone else who is always on
time. How do you describe that person? Is there a difference? If so, these differences are probably based
on their use of time. In the U.S., we place high value on being on time, and respond more positively to
people who are punctual. But, in many Arab and Latin American countries, time is used more loosely, and
punctuality is not necessarily a goal to achieve. You may have heard the expression, “Indian time” to refer
to “the perception of time [that] is circular and flexible” (Shutiva, 2004, p.134). Here the belief is that
activities will commence when everyone is present and ready; not according to an arbitrary schedule based
on a clock or calendar. Neither approach is better than the other, but the dissimilar uses of time can create
misunderstandings among those from different cultural groups.
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Paralanguage is the term we use to describe vocal qualities such as pitch, volume, inflection, rate of
speech, and rhythm. While the types of nonverbal communication we’ve discussed so far are non-vocal,
some nonverbal communication is actually vocal. How we say words often expresses greater meaning than
the actual words themselves. Sarcasm and incongruency are two examples of this. The comedian Stephen
Wright bases much of his comedy on his use of paralanguage. He talks in a completely monotone voice
throughout his act and frequently makes statements such as, “I’m getting really excited” while using a
monotone voice, accompanied by a blank facial expression. The humor lies in the incongruency—his
paralanguage and facial expression contradict his verbal message. Whenever you use sarcasm, your
paralanguage is intended to contradict the verbal message you say. Your authors have found that using
sarcasm in the classroom can backfire when students do not pick up our paralinguistic cues and focus
primarily on the verbal message. We have learned to use sarcasm sparingly so as not to hurt anyone’s
feelings.
Finally, silence serves as a type of nonverbal communication. Have you ever experienced the “silent
treatment” from someone? What meanings did you take from that person’s silence? Silence is powerful
because the person using silence may be refusing to engage in communication with you. Likewise, we can
use silence to regulate the flow of our conversations. Silence has a variety of meanings and, as with other
types of nonverbal communication, context plays an important role for interpreting the meaning of silence.
You should now recognize the infinite combination of verbal and nonverbal messages we can share. When
you think about it, it really is astonishing that we can communicate effectively at all. We engage in a
continuous dance of communication where we try to stay in step with one another. With an understanding
of the definition of nonverbal communication and the types of nonverbal communication, let’s consider the
various functions nonverbal communication serves in helping us communicate. (Ekman, 1965; Knapp, 1980;
Malandro & Barker, 1983).
Functions of Nonverbal Communication
In the last chapter you learned that we use verbal communication to express ideas, emotions, experiences,
thoughts, objects, and people. But what functions does nonverbal communication serve as we
communicate (Blumer, 1969)? Even though it’s not through words, nonverbal communication serves many
functions to help us communicate meanings with one another more effectively.
 We use nonverbal communication to duplicate verbal communication. When we use nonverbal

communication to duplicate, we use nonverbal communication that is recognizable to most people
within a particular cultural group. Obvious examples include a head-nod or a head-shake to
duplicate the verbal messages of “yes” or “no.” If someone asks if you want to go to a movie, you
might verbally answer “yes” and at the same time nod your head. This accomplishes the goal of
duplicating the verbal message with a nonverbal message. Interestingly, the head nod is considered
a “nearly universal indication of accord, agreement, and understanding” because the same muscle
in the head nod is the same one a baby uses to lower its head to accept milk from its mother’s
breast (Givens, 2000). When the daughter of one of your authors was two years old, she was
learning the duplication function of nonverbal communication, and didn’t always get it right. When
asked if she wanted something, her “yes” was shaking her head. However, her “no” was the same
head-shake, accompanied with the verbal response “no.” So, when she was two, she thought that
the duplication was what made her answer “no.”
 We use nonverbal communication to replace verbal communication. If someone asks you a

question, instead of a verbal reply “yes” and a head-nod, you may choose to simply nod your head
without the accompanying verbal message. When we replace verbal communication with
nonverbal communication, we use nonverbal behaviors that are easily recognized by others such as
a wave, head-nod, or head-shake. This is why it was so confusing at first for your author to
understand his daughter when she simply shook her head in response to a question. This was
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cleared up when he asked her if she wanted something to eat and she shook her head. When your
author didn’t get her anything, she began to cry. This was the first clue that the replacing function
of communication still needed to be learned. Consider the following examples of the universality of
the head shake as an indicator of disbelief, disapproval, and negation: used by human babies to
refuse food or drink; rhesus monkeys, baboons, bonnet macaques and gorillas turn their faces
sideways in aversion; and children born deaf/blind head shake to refuse objects or disapprove of
touch (Givens, 2000b).
 We use nonverbal cues to complement verbal communication. If a friend tells you that she
recently received a promotion and a pay raise, you can show your enthusiasm in a number of
verbal and nonverbal ways. If you exclaim, “Wow, that’s great! I’m so happy for you!” while at the
same time smiling and hugging your friend, you are using nonverbal communication to
complement what you are saying. Unlike duplicating or replacing, nonverbal communication that
complements cannot be used alone without the verbal message. If you simply smiled and hugged
your friend without saying anything, the interpretation of that nonverbal communication would be
more ambiguous than using it to complement your verbal message.
 We use nonverbal communication to accent verbal communication. While nonverbal

communication complements verbal communication, we also use it to accent verbal
communication by emphasizing certain parts of the verbal message. For instance, you may be upset
with a family member and state, “I’m very angry with you.” To accent this statement nonverbally
you might say it, “I’m VERY angry with you,” placing your emphasis on the word “very” to
demonstrate the magnitude of your anger. In this example, it is your tone of voice (paralanguage)
that serves as the nonverbal communication that accents the message. Parents might tell their
children to “come here.” If they point to the spot in front of them dramatically, they are accenting
the “here” part of the verbal message.
 We use nonverbal communication to regulate verbal communication. Generally, it is pretty easy

for us to enter, maintain, and exit our interactions with others nonverbally. Rarely, if ever, would
we approach a person and say, “I’m going to start a conversation with you now. Okay, let’s begin.”
Instead, we might make eye contact, move closer to the person, or face the person directly -- all
nonverbal behaviors that indicate our desire to interact. Likewise, we do not generally end
conversations by stating, “I’m done talking to you now” unless there is a breakdown in the
communication process. We are generally proficient enacting nonverbal communication such as
looking at our watch, looking in the direction we wish to go, or being silent to indicate an
impending end in the conversation. When there is a breakdown in the nonverbal regulation of
conversation, we may say something to the effect, “I really need to get going now.” In fact, one of
your authors has a friend who does not seem to pick up on the nonverbal cues that your author
needs to end a phone conversation. Your author has literally had to resort to saying, “Okay, I’m
hanging up the phone right now” followed by actually hanging up the phone. In this instance, there
was a breakdown in the use of nonverbal communication to regulate conversation.
 We use nonverbal communication to contradict verbal communication. Imagine that you visit your
boss’s office and she asks you how you’re enjoying a new work assignment. You may feel obligated
to respond positively because it is your boss asking the question, even though you may not truly
feel this way. However, your nonverbal communication may contradict your verbal message,
indicating to your boss that you really do not enjoy the new work assignment. In this example, your
nonverbal communication contradicts your verbal message and sends a mixed message to your
boss. Research suggests that when verbal and nonverbal messages contradict one another,
receivers often place greater value on the nonverbal communication as the more accurate message
(Argyle, Alkema & Gilmour, 1971). One place this occurs frequently is in greeting sequences. You
might say to your friend in passing, “How are you?” She might say, “Fine” but have a sad tone to
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her voice. In this case, her nonverbal behaviors go against her verbal response. We are more likely
to interpret the nonverbal communication in this situation than the verbal response.
 We use nonverbal communication to mislead others. We can use nonverbal communication to

hide deception. We also focus on a person’s nonverbal communication when trying to detect
deception. Recall a time when someone asked your opinion of a new haircut. If you did not like it,
you may have stated verbally that you liked the haircut and provided nonverbal communication to
further mislead the person about how you really felt. Conversely, when we try to determine if
someone is misleading us, we generally focus on the nonverbal communication of the other
person. One study suggests that when we only use nonverbal communication to detect deception
in others, 78% of lies and truths can be detected (Vrij, Edward, Roberts, & Bull, 2000). However,
other studies indicate that we are really not very effective at determining deceit in other people
(Levine, Feeley, McCornack, Hughes, & Harms, 2005), and that we are only accurate 45 to 70
percent of the time when trying to determine if someone is misleading us (Kalbfleisch, 1992). When
trying to detect deception, it is more effective to examine both verbal and nonverbal
communication to see if they are consistent (Vrij, Akehurst, Soukara, & Bull, 2000; Neiva & Hickson
III, 2003). Even further than this, Park, Levine, McCornack, Morrison, & Ferrara (2002) argue that
people usually go beyond verbal and nonverbal communication and consider what outsiders say,
physical evidence, and the relationship over a longer period of time.
 We use nonverbal communication to indicate relational standing (Mehrabian, 1981; Burgoon,

Buller, Hale, & deTurck, 1984; Sallinen-Kuparinen, 1992). Take a few moments today to observe the
nonverbal communication of people you see in public areas. What can you determine about their
relational standing from their nonverbal communication? For example, romantic partners tend to
stand close to one another and touch one another frequently. On the other hand, acquaintances
generally maintain greater distances and touch less than romantic partners. Those who hold higher
social status often use more space when they interact with others. In the U.S., it is generally
acceptable for women in platonic relationships to embrace and be physically close while males are
often discouraged from doing so. Contrast this to many other nations where it is custom for males
to greet each other with a kiss or a hug, and hold hands as a symbol of their friendship. We make
many inferences about relational standing based on the nonverbal communication of those with
whom we interact and observe. Your authors were walking in Manhattan and saw a couple talking
to each other across a small table. They both had faces that looked upset, had red eyes from crying,
had closed body positions, were leaned into each other, and they were whispering emphatically.
Upon seeing this, we both looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Breakup conversation!”
We didn’t know if that was the case, but we used nonverbal cues to come to that conclusion almost
instantly.
 We use nonverbal communication to demonstrate and maintain cultural norms. We’ve already
shown that some nonverbal communication is universal, but the majority of nonverbal
communication is culturally specific. For example, in the predominant U.S. culture, people place
high value on their personal space. In the U.S. people maintain far greater personal space than
those in many other cultures. On a recent trip to New York City, one of your authors observed that
any time someone accidentally touched her on the subway he/she made a special point to
apologize profusely for the violation of personal space. Cultural norms of anxiety and fear
surrounding issues of crime and terrorism appear to cause people to be more sensitive to others in
public spaces; thus, this example highlights the importance of culture and context. Contrast this
example to norms in many Asian cultures where frequent touch in crowded public spaces goes
unnoticed because space is not used in the same ways. While teaching in China, one of your
authors went grocery shopping in Beijing. As a westerner, she was shocked that shoppers would
ram their shopping carts into others’ carts when they wanted to move around them in the aisle.
She learned that this was not an indication of rudeness, but a cultural difference in the negotiation
of space. She quickly learned to adapt to using this new approach to personal space, even though it
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carries a much different meaning in the U.S. Nonverbal cues such as touch, eye contact, facial
expressions, and gestures are culture specific and reflect and maintain the values and norms of the
cultures in which they are used.
 We use nonverbal communication to communicate emotions. While we can certainly tell people
how we feel, we more frequently use nonverbal communication to express our emotions.
Conversely, we tend to interpret emotions by examining nonverbal communication. One study
suggests that it is important to use and interpret nonverbal communication for emotional
expression, and ultimately relational attachment and satisfaction (Schachner, Shaver, & Mikulincer,
2005). Research also underscores the fact that people in close relationships have an easier time
reading the nonverbal communication of emotion of their relational partners than those who
aren’t close. Likewise, those in close relationships can more often detect concealed emotions
(Sternglanz & Depaulo, 2004).
AC9.Facilitation is carried out such that behaviour and

life-skills are modelled in a developmentally
appropriate manner.
Recent research tells us that children are “hardwired” from birth to connect with others, and that children
who feel a sense of connection to their community, family, and school are less likely to misbehave. To be
successful, contributing members of their community, children must learn necessary social and life skills.
Positive Discipline is based on the understanding that discipline must be taught and that discipline teaches.
Jane Nelsen gives the following criteria for “effective discipline that teaches”:
Five criteria for positive discipline
1. Helps children feel a sense of connection. (Belonging and significance)

2. Is mutually respectful and encouraging. (Kind and firm at the same time.)
3. Is effective long - term. (Considers what the child is thinking, feeling, learning, and deciding about
himself and his world – and what to do in the future to survive or to thrive.)
4. Teaches important social and life skills . (Respect, concern for others, problem solving, and
cooperation as well as the skills to contribute to the home, school or larger community.)
5. Invites children to discover how capable they are. (Encourages the constructive use of personal
power and autonomy.)
The Positive Discipline Parenting and Classroom Management models are aimed at developing mutually
respectful relationships. Positive Discipline teaches adults to employ kindness and firmness at the same
time, and is neither punitive nor permissive.
The tools and concepts of Positive Discipline include:
 Mutual respect. Adults model firmness by respecting themselves and the needs of the situation,
and kindness by respecting the needs of the child.
 Identifying the belief behind the behavior. Effective discipline recognizes the reasons kids do what
they do and works to change those beliefs, rather than merely attempting to change behavior.
 Effective communication and problem solving skills.
 Discipline that teaches (and is neither permissive nor punitive).
 Focusing on solutions instead of punishment.
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 Encouragement (instead of praise). Encouragement notices effort and improvement, not just
success, and builds long-term self-esteem and empowerment.
Unique characteristics of the Positive Discipline Model also include:
 Teaching adults and students through experiential activities. Creating opportunity to practice new
skills and to have fun learning by doing.
 Classroom discipline programs and parent education programs that are consistent. Parents,
teachers, and childcare providers can work together to provide a secure, consistent environment
for children.
 Inexpensive training and ongoing support so members of communities can teach each other
Positive Discipline skills.
 Certified trainers across the country who can work with schools and communities.
AC10.Facilitation ensures the holistic development of

children.
Holistic education is a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identity,
meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to
humanitarian values such as compassion and peace. Holistic education aims to call forth from people an
intrinsic reverence for life and a passionate love of learning.
The concept of holism refers to the idea that all the properties of a given system in any field of study
cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its component parts. Instead, the system as a whole
determines how its parts behave. A holistic way of thinking tries to encompass and integrate multiple layers
of meaning and experience rather than defining human possibilities narrowly.
Philosophical Framework
Any approach to education must ask itself, what is the goal of education? Holistic education aims at helping
students be the most that they can be. Abraham Maslow referred to this as “self-actualization”. Education
with a holistic perspective is concerned with the development of every person’s intellectual, emotional,
social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials. It seeks to engage students in the
teaching/learning process and encourages personal and collective responsibility.
Ultimacy
1. Religious; as in becoming “enlightened”. Spirituality is an important component in holistic
education as it emphasizes the connectedness of all living things and stresses the “harmony
between the inner life and outer life” (Holistic Education Network).
2. Psychological; as in Maslow’s “self-actualization”. Holistic education believes that each person
should strive to be all that they can be in life. There are no deficits in learners, just differences.
3. Undefined; as in a person developing to the ultimate extent a human could reach and, thus, moving
towards the highest aspirations of the human spirit (Holistic Education Network).
Sagacious Competence
1. Freedom (in a psychological sense).
2. Good-judgment (self-governance).
3. Meta learning (each student learns in their “own way”).
4. Social ability (more than just learning social skills).
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5. Refining Values (development of character).

6. Self Knowledge (emotional development).
Curriculum
In considering curriculum using a holistic approach, one must address the question of what children need
to learn. Since holistic education seeks to educate the whole person, there are some key factors that are
essential to this type of education. First, children need to learn about themselves. This involves learning self
respect and self esteem. Second, children need to learn about relationships. In learning about their
relationships with others, there is a focus on social “literacy” (learning to see social influence) and
emotional “literacy” (one’s own self in relation to others). Third, children need to learn about resilience.
This entails overcoming difficulties, facing challenges and learning how to ensure long-term success. Fourth,
children need to learn about aesthetics – This encourages the student to see the beauty of what is around
them and learn to have awe in life.
Tools/Teaching Strategies of Holistic Education

With the goal of educating the whole child, holistic education promotes several strategies to address the
question of how to teach and how people learn. First, the idea of holism advocates a transformative
approach to learning. Rather than seeing education as a process of transmission and transaction,
transformative learning involves a change in the frames of reference that a person may have. This change
may include points of view, habits of mind, and worldviews. Holism understands knowledge as something
that is constructed by the context in which a person lives. Therefore, teaching students to reflect critically
on how we come to know or understand information is essential. As a result, if “we ask students to develop
critical and reflective thinking skills and encourage them to care about the world around them they may
decide that some degree of personal or social transformation is required.” [4]
Second, the idea of connections is emphasized as opposed to the fragmentation that is often seen in
mainstream education. This fragmentation may include the dividing of individual subjects, dividing students
into grades, etc. Holism sees the various aspects of life and living as integrated and connected, therefore,
education should not isolate learning into several different components. Martin (2002) illustrates this point
further by stating that, “Many alternative educators argue instead that who the learners are, what they
know, how they know it, and how they act in the world are not separate elements, but reflect the
interdependencies between our world and ourselves” ([1]). Included in this idea of connections is the way
that the classroom is structured. Holistic school classrooms are often small and consist of mixed-ability and
mixed-age students. They are flexible in terms of how they are structured so that if it becomes appropriate
for a student to change classes, (s)he is moved regardless of what time of year it is on the school calendar.
Flexible pacing is key in allowing students to feel that they are not rushed in learning concepts studied, nor
are they held back if they learn concepts quickly.
Third, along the same thread as the idea of connections in holistic education, is the concept of
transdisciplinary inquiry. Transdisciplinary inquiry is based on the premise that division between disciplines
is eliminated. One must understand the world in wholes as much as possible and not in fragmented parts.
“Transdisciplinary approaches involve multiple disciplines and the space between the disciplines with the
possibility of new perspectives ‘beyond’ those disciplines. Where multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary
inquiry may focus on the contribution of disciplines to an inquiry transdisciplinary inquiry tends to focus on
the inquiry issue itself.”[5]
Fourth, holistic education feels that meaningfulness is also an important factor in the learning process.
People learn better when what is being learned is important to them. Holistic schools seek to respect and
work with the meaning structures of each person. Therefore, the start of a topic would begin with what a
student may know or understand from their worldview, what has meaning to them rather than what others
feel should be meaningful to them. Meta-learning is another concept that connects to meaningfulness. In
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finding inherent meaning in the process of learning and coming to understand how they learn, students are
expected to self-regulate their own learning. However, they are not completely expected to do this on their
own. Because of the nature of community in holistic education, students learn to monitor their own
learning through interdependence on others inside and outside of the classroom.
Finally, as mentioned above, community is an integral aspect in holistic education. As relationships and
learning about relationships are keys to understanding ourselves, so the aspect of community is vital in this
learning process. Forbes (1996) states, “In holistic education the classroom is often seen as a community,
which is within the larger community of the school, which is within the larger community of the village,
town, or city, and which is, by extension, within the larger community of humanity.”[1]
Teacher’s Role
In holistic education, the teacher is seen less as person of authority who leads and controls but rather is
seen as “a friend, a mentor, a facilitator, or an experienced traveling companion” (Forbes, 1996). [1] Schools
should be seen as places where students and adults work toward a mutual goal. Open and honest
communication is expected and differences between people are respected and appreciated. Cooperation is
the norm, rather than competition. Thus, many schools incorporating holistic beliefs do not give grades or
rewards. The reward of helping one another and growing together is emphasized rather than being placed
above one another.
Alternative Schools
For various reasons, many parents today are looking to alternative schools that offer different philosophies
of education than mainstream schools. The diversity of alternative schools sets them apart from mainline
education. Each school has its own methods and approaches to teaching. Therefore, each alternative
school may have different beliefs about what education should include. Consequently, there are several
types of alternative schools that have holistic values in their philosophies of education. While these schools
have elements of holism incorporated in their values it would be fair to say that these schools could be
placed on a continuum on how “holistic” they actually are (that is to say, some would have more holistic
elements than others). Also, public and other types of private schools do not appear in the following list but
that does not mean that there are no holistic values in their individual philosophies of education. In
addition, many individual teachers in different venues of education try to incorporate ideas of holism into
their own classrooms
AC11.Behaviour and conflict management is positive,

sympathetic, constructive, supportive, respectful and in
line with current legislation.
The term "conflict" in this study is not meant to portray abusive, violent, aggressive or physical activities.
Rather, conflict is present anytime when family member's goals and perception of alternatives, in a
particular situation, differ from one another's. Family purchasing represents a situation where member's
motives, goals and objectives will differ, given the individual buying behaviour they bring to group or family
situations. This conflict is not always overt, and may be either passively or actively expressed. The 'decision'
element of family purchase decision making does however infer selection of some alternative, and the
decision process itself is therefore a mechanism to resolve conflict. These attempts to resolve conflict are
tactically different (Sheth 1974), and are evident in the behavioural activities that members engage in,
known as conflict resolution strategies.
The dependent variable in this model is the choice of one of five (5) conflict resolution strategies by
children in family purchase decision making. The five-fold typology of resolution strategies on which the
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model is based, is an extended version of the typology proposed by Sheth (1974). Problem solving,
persuasion, bargaining, and politics, were proposed by Sheth (1974) to be the four strategies which family
members have available to them in order to resolve conflict. The additional strategy included in the model
is that of conflict avoidance. Sheth's (1974) classification does not include this strategy, however using the
four-fold classification accounts for only active resolution of conflict through some overt behaviours. Buss
and Schaninger (1987) report that conflict can be managed in two (2) basic ways, by either avoidance
(tactics to reduce conflict) or resolution (tactics to remove or resolve conflict). Using only Sheth's (1974)
classification the tendency to merely reduce conflict through avoidance is ignored. The extended typology
displayed in the model is an attempt to close the gap between inductively and deductively derived conflict
resolution classifications. By broadening the theoretical classification of conflict resolution strategies, a
wider scope exists to account for all manifest conflict management behaviours, and therefore
operationalise this variable.
A model of the factors influencing a child's chice of conflict

resolution strategies in family purchase decision making
There are believed to be some generic factors that influence the resolution of all productive conflict, and
examination of these broad factors helps to establish the possible linkages between the dependent and
independent variables of the model. Deutsch (1973) lists six (6) factors influencing the resolution of conflict
including:
1) Process
2) Prior Relationship
3) Nature of the Conflict
4) Characteristics of the Parties in Conflict
5) Estimation of Success
6) Third Parties
The influence of family structure on a child's choice of a resolution strategy in family purchase conflict can
be linked back using Deutsch's (1973) basic model. Firstly, it is conceivable that as a factor of process,
characteristics of parties involved, and third parties, the elements of family structure (size, and socio-
economic status) have the potential to effect the choice of a resolution strategy. For example, some
resolution strategies require the presence of others which may be more easily achieved in families of
greater size. The socio-economic status of the family may also effect the characteristics of the parties in
conflict and in turn the choice of strategies which involve more advanced reasoning and deductive skills.
Parental style is also proposed to effect the choice of resolution strategy as the parent's disciplinary nature
can affect the actual process, and is a factor of the characteristics of the parties in conflict. It may be that
parental style regulates what is possible in terms of resolution, and therefore what strategies are even
available to children. In this regard parental style plays a part in the child's estimation of success. In a
similar manner, a family's communication pattern may influence a child's choice of a resolution strategy.
Deutsch (1973) maintains that communication dictates the process of conflict resolution.
It has been argued that family communication patterns and parental style are one in the same, or that
family communication patterns are really only a subset of parental style. Carlson, Grossbart and Stuenkel
(1992) hypothesised that family communication patterns are a subset of parental style in order to enrich
the conceptual perspective of these two theories. However, after empirical testing they had to conclude
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that although there may appear to be some conceptual similarity between family communication patterns
and parental style, this similarity does not always translate into links between certain styles and
orientations. Despite the relationship found between some family communication patterns and some
parental styles, Carlson, Grossbart and Stuenkel's (1992) study is not conclusive enough to allow for the
confident removal of the measurement of one of these factors on the basis of the other's inclusion. Until
such time that the two concepts can be fully conceptually integrated, and an encompassing measure
refined, it is considered necessary here to measure each factor in isolation.
The two consumer variables of product type and situational factors are proposed to be inherently linked to
family conflict in purchase decision making. Both the nature of the conflict, and the estimations of
successful resolution, are believed to be affected by the product on which the decision is based, and the
situation in which the decision is being made. For example, a child's desire to get their own way, and
therefore their involvement in family purchase decision making, varies depending on the type of product
(Jenkins 1979; Ekstrom, Tansuhaj and Foxman 1987; Nelson 1979). The centrality of the conflict issue to the
child will therefore also vary, which impacts upon the nature of the conflict. Situational factors may also
include the presence of third parties in conflict, and as Deutsch (1973) reports resolution processes and
outcomes can be affected, both positively and negatively, by their presence.
Five-fold typology of conflict resolution stratgies
Family Structure
Family structure is considered here to be a demographic profile of the family including; the number of
members in the family, and the socio-economic status of the family. It is the aggregate profile of the family,
rather than individual's profiles which is of issue here, as this family structure provides the framework
within which interaction occurs. It is proposed here that a dependent relationship exists between family
structure and the child's choice of a resolution strategy:
H1 = The choice of a conflict resolution strategy by children is dependent upon the structure of the family.
No previous research exists regarding the effect of family size on family purchase decision making
processes. However different resolution strategies require different levels and intensity of interaction
among family members, and it is reasonable to expect that the less children in the family the greater the
opportunities for a child to interact with their parents. In addition, both persuasion and problem solving
require that the child be able to exert a certain amount of personal power, which may be easier if they are
not competing with other children in the family. Whereas other strategies such as politics, require the
presence of other family members, for example brothers and sisters. Based on these assumptions the
following hypothesis has been constructed:
H1a = The choice of a conflict resolution strategy by the child is dependent upon the number of children in
that family.
Social status may effect decision making patterns as well as the development of such patterns (Moschis and
Moore 1979). Research in this area in the past has concentrated on the effect of socio-economic status on
the consumer socialisation of children. Moschis and Moore (1979) report that children from upper socio-
economic backgrounds have greater awareness of, and preference for, commercial stimuli in their
consumer environment, and that there is a positive relationship between a child's socio-economic
background and their strength of brand preferences.
Past studies have shown that socio-economic factors may help to explain the extent to which children
influence family purchase decision making. In particular, social status gives some insight into how overtly
and actively children attempt to participate in family decision making.
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Ekstrom, Tansuhaj and Foxman (1987) stated that families with higher socio-economic backgrounds may
provide better opportunities for influence, and may be more receptive to their children's opinions.
Opportunity for, and receptivity to , influence, are factors most likely to be necessary for the use of
problem solving and persuasion as conflict resolution strategies.
Roberts, Wortzel and Berkeley (1981) also found that the family's financial status affected the extent to
which mothers perceived children as having influenced purchase decisions. Similarly, Atkin (1978) found a
difference between social classes in children's attempts to initiate cereal purchases. The amount of child
initiation of purchase of breakfast cereals was higher for children from the middle class than for children
form the working class. It would seem then that children from upper and middle class families are more
likely to behave in a manner which involves active and direct participation in family purchase decision
making, while at the same time capitalising on their more advanced consumer skills. The three conflict
resolution strategies which most require commitment to active and direct participation are problem
solving, persuasion, and politics. Ekstrom, Tansuhaj and Foxman (1987) similarly concluded that children
from families of a higher social status are allowed to express their opinions more and therefore exert more
influence on decisions in the family.
Based on past findings, and taking into account the need for deductive and comparative consumer
reasoning, active participation, and opportunity for direct interaction, in problem solving, persuasion, and
politics, the following hypotheses have been constructed:
H1b = The higher the social status of the family, the higher the use of problem solving, persuasion, and
politics by children of that family.
H1c = The lower the social status of the family, the higher the use of bargaining and conflict avoidance by
children of that family.
Parental Style
In testing the model, parental style will be measured under five (5) different classifications based on those
identified by Carlson and Grossbart (1988) including; authoritarian, rigid controlling, neglecting,
authoritative, and permissive parents. Carlson and Grossbart's (1988) classifications are able to be applied
to this model as they were derived with regards to the consumer socialisation of children, and relate
directly to parent's encouragement, acceptance, and allowance of participation in decision making and
conflict by children.
The characteristics displayed under each of the five parental styles are proposed to effect the choice of a
purchase conflict resolution strategy by children:
H2 = The choice of a conflict resolution strategy by the child is dependent upon the parental style of the
mother and father of that child.
Several characteristics inherent in the authoritarian parental style may discourage any active attempt by
the child to manipulate purchase conflict resolution in their favour. The discouraging of interaction and
enforcement of rules by these parents would make persuasion and bargaining unacceptable. The limiting of
the child's autonomy, and the conformity to religious or other standards may also constrain the use of
politics by children, and it would also seem unlikely that the reciprocal respect of ideas and opinions
necessary in problem solving, would be acceptable to authoritarian parents. The expectation of ultimate
authority and unquestioned obedience makes conflict avoidance the most likely choice of a resolution
strategy by children under authoritarian control:
H2a= Children of authoritarian parents are more likely to choose conflict avoidance as a resolution strategy
than problem solving, bargaining, politics, or persuasion.
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Rigid controlling parents encourage little verbal exchange, avoid communication, and demand maturity
from their children (Carlson and Grossbart 1988). These parents are similar to authoritarians, however they
display a much greater emotional detachment from their children. Children of rigid controlling parents are
believed to be less likely to use problem solving, persuasion, or bargaining tactics for the same reasons as
children of authoritarians. The less emotional relationship between these parents and their children, and
the likelihood that these parents command less genuine respect, is proposed to make politicking rather
than conflict avoidance, the more frequent choice by their children.
H2b = Children of rigid controlling parents are more likely to choose politics a resolution strategy than
conflict avoidance, problem solving, bargaining, or persuasion.
Neglecting parents neither seek nor exercise much control over their children. They display a relative lack
of warmth, restrictiveness, and emotional involvement, have the greatest tendency to avoid
communication, do not encourage verbalisation, and show no nurturing tendencies towards their children
(Carlson and Grossbart 1988). It is the non-developmental outlook of these parents that suggests their
children may not choose a strategy on the basis that it appears constructive or reasonable. It is proposed
here that these children are compelled to force decisions, and are not restricted by expectations of logic,
constructive communication, or conformity. Such tactics are conducive to the use of persuasion.
H2c = Children of neglecting parents are more likely to choose persuasion as a resolution strategy than
politics, conflict avoidance, problem solving, or bargaining.
Authoritative parents direct their children's activities in a rational, issue oriented manner, accept verbal
give and take, are willing to disclose the reasoning behind parental policy, and encourage children to
express their objections to conformity. The willingness of authoritative parents to confront conflict with
their children makes it unlikely that the child would choose a passive resolution strategy such as conflict
avoidance or covert tactics such as politicking. While the give and take nature of bargaining as a resolution
strategy may be appropriate from their children, it is proposed that authoritative parents would instil in
and condone the use of problem solving by their children and therefore this would be the child's preferred
strategy choice.
H2d = Children of authoritative parents are more likely to choose problem solving as a resolution strategy
than persuasion, politics, conflict avoidance, or bargaining.
Permissive parents display the least restrictive tendencies towards their children, encourage the most
verbal expression, are very nurturing, and are less apt to avoid communication than other parents. They
also have an underlying concern for their child's rights and desires that corresponds to the tactics of
bargaining, where Sheth (1974) suggests that the concept of distributive justice and fairness is dominant.
The freedom of these children to stand on relatively equal ground with their parents would also make
bargaining an effective and logical strategy.
H2e = Children of permissive parents are more likely to choose bargaining as a resolution strategy than
problem solving, persuasion, politics, or avoidance.
Although based on Carlson and Grossbart's (1988) typology of parental styles, no actual measure exists
with which to classify families for this proposed study. Therefore, a parental style measurement scale will
be developed via a three phase process.
The first stage of development will be to use existing descriptions of authoritarian parents to construct
statements representative of their beliefs. Authoritarian parents are considered to be the most extreme
disciplinarians and rate most highly on dimensions of restrictiveness, anxious involvement, and hostility
(Carlson and Grossbart 1988). The authoritarian parental style is frequently used as a benchmark from
which to compare other parental styles. The statements developed will relate to parental beliefs about
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consumer activities, household functions and processes, discipline, and responsibility. These statements
will secondly be tested for their ability to consistently be perceived to represent the beliefs of authoritarian
parents. The final stage of development will be to anchor each parental style to a level of agreement with
the authoritarian statements. Carlson and Grossbart's (1988) five parental styles are based on Becker's
(cited in Carlson and Grossbart 1988) three socialisation dimensions. The extremes on these dimensions,
from which the parental styles originated, mean that there is a natural direction and scaling of each style
radiating from one extreme.
Family Communication Patterns
The typology of family communication patterns that will be used to test this element of the model is the
same as that used by Moschis, Prahasto and Mitchell (1986), Moschis and Moore (1979), Moschis and
Mitchell (1986), and Foxman, Tansuhaj and Ekstrom (1989). The four-fold typology, developed by McCleod
and Chaffee (1972), includes; laissez-faire, protective, pluralistic and consensual families.
Considering the interactive and behavioural nature of conflict resolution it is reasonable to assume that
intra family communication is an important variable. Effective consumer learning has been found to be
closely tied to the patterns of communication taking place within the home environment (Moschis and
Moore 1979), and that these patterns of communication are an important factor in a child's development
of consumer skills, knowledge and attitudes (Ward, Wackman and Wartella 1977). In the absence of any
specific research on the impact of family communication patterns in the resolution of family purchase
conflict, these previous findings are a sound basis on which to hypothesise that a relationship does exist:
H3 = The choice of a conflict resolution strategy by the child is dependent upon the family's communication
pattern.
Laissez-faire families lack emphasis on either concept-oriented or socio-oriented communications, and

there is typically little parent-child communication of any kind in this type of family ( Moschis and Moore
1979). Families displaying protective communication patterns stress the socio-orientation dimensions of
deference, and the fostering of harmonious and pleasant social relationships. Protective families stress
obedience and avoid discussion on conceptual matters. Pluralistic communication environments are those
where families encourage open communication and discussion of ideas without insisting on obedience to
authority (Moschis and Moore 1979), and where the child is encouraged to explore new ideas. A
consensual family environment stresses both the socio and concept-oriented dimensions of communication
where the child is encouraged to take an interest in a diversity of ideas, yet without disturbing the family's
hierarchy of opinion and harmony (Moschis and Moore 1979).
Analysis of the four types of communication patterns in relation to the tactics and behaviours typical of the
five types of conflict resolution strategies, allows logical inferences to be drawn about specific relationships
between the two. The following hypotheses have been developed with regards to the association between
each of the four family communication patterns, and the choice of a conflict resolution strategy by the
child:
H3a = There is a positive relationship between a laissez-faire communication pattern in the family and the
use of conflict avoidance by the child as a purchase conflict resolution strategy.
H3b = There is a positive relationship between a protective communication, pattern in the family and the
use of conflict avoidance by the child as a purchase conflict resolution strategy.
H3c = There is a positive relationship between a pluralistic communication pattern in the family and the use
of problem solving by the child as purchase conflict resolution strategy.
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H3d = There is a positive relationship between a consensual communication pattern in the family and the
use of bargaining and persuasion by the child as purchase conflict resolution strategies.
The method used successfully by Moschis and Moore (1979) to measure family communication patterns
could be used here to classify families according to the four-fold typology.
H4 = The conflict resolution strategy chosen by the child is significantly dependent on the type of product
for which a decision is being made.
Situational Factors
Explicit recognition of situational variables can substantially enhance the ability to explain and understand
consumer behavioural acts (Belk, 1975). In order to avoid a static representation of family purchase
decision making, situational factors have been acknowledged as a potentially dynamic influence in this
model of conflict resolution strategy choice. The inclusion of situational factors as a source of variance is
well supported, with McCarthy (1977) for example, recognising that it is not only the complexity and nature
of the issue and the characteristics of the participants, but also the structure of the situation which
determines the course of conflict resolution.
Situation is defined here as being:
"All those factors particular to a time and place of observation which do not follow from a knowledge of
personal and stimulus attributes, and which have a demonstrable and systematic effect on current
behaviour.." (Belk, 1974, p.157).
Consumer situations are relatively short-term events or happenings and should be distinguished from the
macro environmental and personal factors that have a longer-lasting quality. Belk (1975) identifies five
different characteristics of situations as being; physical surroundings, social surroundings, task definition,
time, and antecedent states. The product type in family decision making research can be further enhanced
as an explanatory variable if the characteristics of the situation in which the product is being considered are
also defined. Srivastava (1980) states that we must elicit attitudes towards objects within a situation if we
are interested in predicting situation specific behaviours.
Few studies with regard to family purchase decision making conflict have given any consideration to the
effects of situational factors. Two studies which have included analysis of situational factors are those of
Burns and De Vere (1981), and Isler, Popper and Ward (1987). Burns and De Vere's (1981) study
concentrated on the effects of situation on husband and wife purchase decision making. Results of their
study indicated that husband and wife purchase decision making was quite sensitive to context, particularly
the situational characteristics of physical and social surroundings. Isler, Popper and Ward (1987) in their
investigation of children's purchase requests and parental responses, found that request location and the
presence of others actually affected the behaviour of children. The physical surrounding characteristics will
be represented in this study by whether or not the parent-child interaction occurred at home, or while
shopping. With specific regard to conflict, Buss and Schaninger (1987) state that decision processes are
idiosyncratic to each decision situation and it is these situations which give rise to potential conflict and
conflict management.
The inclusion of situational factors in this model serves to demonstrate the multi-dimensionality of family
purchase decision making processes. Based on previous studies as outlined here, the situation
characteristics chosen to be included are physical surrounding (where the conflict occurs), and social
surrounding (who is present when the conflict occurs). Clearly it would be ideal to build situation scenarios
that account for all five situation characteristics, in order to examine the sensitivity of context, however it is
believed that these two factors represent significant variance to test the overall effects of situation. The
relationship proposed to exist between situational factors and the child's choice of a resolution strategy is:
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H5 = The conflict resolution strategy chosen by the child is significantly dependent on situational factors.
Beyond the literature which supports this premise, no research exists which allows any specific
relationships to be identified between situational factors and specific conflict resolution strategies.
The Probability of Successful Resolution
The probability of successful resolution is an interactive component of the model, which represents a
measure of the outcome of the dependent variable.
It is proposed here that the family environment and consumer variables impact upon the probability of
successful resolution only as a consequence of the dependent variable. That is, the independent variables
impact upon the probability of successful resolution only as much as they impact upon the child's choice of
a resolution strategy.
The direct relationship believed to exist between the choice of a conflict resolution strategy, and the
subsequent success of that strategy, is:
H6 = The probability of successful resolution is dependent upon the choice of a conflict resolution strategy
by the child.
This model has been developed in response to a lack of conceptual and empirical understanding of triadic
interaction in decision process components.
Conclusion
A review of past research on family purchase decision making has highlighted a number of factors that have
proven to be important or influential in the family decision making process. However, deficiencies still exist
in this area of investigation. In particular there exists a lack of interactive and behavioural research on
family purchase decision making and a need to represent the family by at least triadic rather than dyadic
relationships. Conflict resolution as an integral component part of family purchase decision making is an
area in which little research has been done, but an area where potential explanatory value is high.
A model of the use of conflict resolution strategies by children in family purchase decision making has been
developed here, by integrating factors from the literature, in an attempt to build on areas of shallow
understanding in this field. It is hoped that the model will bring together many previously existing concepts
in a manner which includes children both conceptually and empirically.
The model proposes that a child's choice of conflict resolution strategy is dependent upon the structure of
the family, parental style, family communication patterns, product type and situational factors. The five
conflict resolution strategies which children may choose from include; persuasion, problem solving,
bargaining, politics, and conflict avoidance. The probability that the conflict will be successfully resolved is
believed to be associated to the child's choice of one of these resolution strategies.
Past estimations of how much children influence family purchase decision making offers little insight into
how marketers may tailor there strategies to capitalise on family decision processes. The information most
practical to marketing professionals would be how families relate in order to make purchase decisions,
what actual behaviours children display in family purchase decision making, and which variables impact
upon their behaviour.
A greater understanding of the behavioural interaction between mother, fathers, and children, in family
purchase decision making, would not only highlight strategic windows for marketers, but also dispel
unrealistic expectations as to the undefined "influence" of children. Reducing the family purchase decision
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making process to a network of relationships and behaviours may ensure that the attempts to manipulate
this process, by marketers, are realistic.
Group Activity:
Develop a presentation to give to the rest of the class to explain
1. How behaviour and conflict management can be positive,
sympathetic, constructive, supportive, respectful and in line with
current legislation.
2. How facilitation can ensure the holistic development of children.
3. How to make sure that facilitation is carried out in such a way
that behaviour and life-skills are modelled in a developmentally
appropriate manner.
4. How to manage children in such a way that their development is
promoted
5. Explain how verbal and non-verbal interactions value the
children
6. How to facilitate learning so that behaviour and life-skills are
modelled in a developmentally appropriate manner.
SO2 Reflect on own facilitation

AC1.The reflection considers own facilitation approach
in relation to the developmental aims.
Effective reflection requires that facilitators demonstrate an open-minded attitude, communicate
appropriately, manage group dynamics, incorporate diversity, and provide closure. Developing skill in each
of these areas involves learning and becoming comfortable with numerous facilitation practices. An
explanation of practices pertaining to each area follows. Also refer to the "Activities" section of this manual
for ideas about promoting certain behaviors in the group.
 Create a safe space: The key to open and honest reflection is an environment in which participants
feel safe and comfortable. In order for group members to express their thoughts and opinions they
must feel that they can do so without fear of attack or condemnation. It is the facilitator's job to
create such an environment, to monitor participant's comfort levels, and to take the necessary
steps to maintain safety. This includes understanding and planning for individual differences in
needs, abilities, fears, and apprehensions. Participants who feel safe are more likely to make
honest and genuine contributions and to feel camaraderie and respect towards other group
members.
 Manage disagreements: It has been said that "whatever resists will persist." Facilitators must be
adept at recognizing tension building in the group, and respond to it immediately. Among the most
useful strategies is to repeat the ground rules established by the group, including a reminder that
criticism should pertain to ideas not to people. In addition, facilitators should not permit any
disrespect or insults and should clarify misinformation. It is important that negative behavior be
handled immediately so that participants do not get the impression that the behavior is condoned
by the facilitator.
 Promote equality: As indicated, effective reflection is not designed around the leadership of one
person. Equality of participants should be communicated and modeled by the facilitator. Again, the
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facilitator must be an alert observer, identifying signs of a developing hierarchy, or of divisive

factions within the group. S/he should not permit arguing up against any group member(s), and
should not take sides in any developing debate. Such situations can be counteracted by recognizing
all members, and encouraging their participation equally.
 Be mindful of power, and who has it: All groups have opinion leaders or people who most others
look up to. Often, these opinion leaders will set the tone for a discussion, thereby limiting active
involvement of the more reserved members. Identify who these opinion leaders are and if it
appears as though their power and authority is dominating the discussion, ask them, politely, to
entertain other opinions.
Other keys to managing group dynamics include:
 know the group

 keep the group on track
 don't avoid topics
 reflect responsibility back on group
 be prepared for disagreements
 encourage challenging issues
 Build in diversity: In order to appropriately handle diversity issues in reflection sessions, facilitators
must begin by recognizing their own attitudes, stereotypes, and expectations and must open their
minds to understanding the limits these prejudices place on their perspective. The facilitator will be
the example to which the group looks, and should therefore model the values of multiculturalism.
It is important that diversity be integrated throughout the reflection programming, rather than
compartmentalized into special multicultural segments.
Monitoring communication for expressions of bias requires the facilitators attention and sensitivity.
Facilitators should be aware that some language and behavior has questionable, different or offensive
meaning to some people, and they should encourage them to share their perspectives and information.
Specifically, facilitators should watch out for statements or situations that generalize groups, or that
identify race, sex, age unnecessarily (for example, just as it is inappropriate to say "Bob Dole, White
presidential candidate," it is also inappropriate to say "Colin Powell, Black political hopeful"). When
qualifiers are used that reinforce stereotypes by suggesting exceptions to the rule, facilitators should ask
for clarification. For example when a participant describes his/her experience working with a "respectable
gay resident" of a shelter, the facilitator should ask the participant why he/she included the word
"respectable." Is this a statement about gay people's respectability? About shelter residents? Is this based
on his/her experience with specific populations of one shelter, or a generalization about all such people?
Helping participants identify the assumptions inherent in their statements fosters greater understanding
and sensitivity.
Most importantly, while expressions of prejudice should be interrupted, the person who spoke should not
be publicly attacked. Placing guilt on the speaker is likely to increase the tension and stifle further
exploration of the topic. The Building Bridges Coalition suggests the following appropriate ways to respond:
 Express empathy and compassion. (example: "You must have been disappointed about not getting
the job you thought you were qualified for.")
 Ask for more information. (example: "Please tell me more about why you think a person in a wheel
chair can't do that job?")
 Paraphrase the feelings you hear expressed. (example: "it sounds like you aren't conformable
working around gay people.")
 Give information (new information may alter their attitude). (example: "Did you know that Ms.
Jones has a college degree?")
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It is important that responses to prejudice to be nonjudgmental and non-confrontation, and that you
express genuine concern and interest.
Closure and Evaluation: As a challenging and meaningful reflection session draws to an end, participants
may feel that their intended objectives have not been met, that questions have not all been answered, or
that a plan of action has not been finalized. Nonetheless, the group needs to recognize that progress has
been made and that he process must continue. It is the job of the facilitator to initiate this sense of
resolution, and to invite feedback so that the process may foster as it continues. Suggestions for
accomplishing this include:
 Request a closing statement from each participant about what they learned, what they plant to do
next, etc.
 Review the session with the group, recognizing participants; contributions and the necessity of
further reflection.
 Provide participants with resources, such as written material and upcoming events, to encourage
their continued involvement.
 Request written and verbal evaluations so that participants may voice those concerns and ideas
that have been left unsaid, and so that facilitators may understand the strengths and weaknesses
of their skills.
As with any skill, the ability to facilitate effectively will develop through experience, feedback, observation,
and reflection. Using the tools described in this and future sections of this manual you are equipped to
begin refining your facilitation skills.
Trouble Shooting for Facilitators

Given the non-authoritative and flexible nature of facilitation, it is not unusual for situations to arise that
can compromise the effectiveness of the reflection. Facilitators need to stay alert to these possibilities, and
be prepared to deal with them. Following are suggestions for handling such situations, (taken from
Catalyst):
1. One Person Dominates the discussion or continually interrupts it.

Make it clear that you want input from everyone: "Can I hear from someone that hasn't spoken
yet?" "I've noticed that no women have said anything about this issue. Would any of the women
like to say something about this?"
Use activities that require everyone's participation, i.e., gathering questions and ideas. If a person
consistently talks for long periods of time, without singling out that person specify that you would
like everyone to be brief.
If someone continually interrupts, don't become defensive or ignore him or her, Instead,
acknowledge the value of their input. Point out that in the interest of the group, interruptions
should be kept to a minimum. Offer to speak to them at length at the break or after the session.
If someone keeps their hand in the air while others are talking, explain that when you hand is up for
you mind is processing what you will say so that you are not listening to the person talking. Keep
track of people who wish to speak by "stacking" (verbally list names of people who have raise their
hands, indicating the order in which people will speak).
2. Several people refuse to talk or participate.
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If some people refuse to participate in the large group, you might try dividing the group into pairs,
threes, or fours. People who will not speak up in front of the full group will sometimes feel more
comfortable sharing in a small group.
Distribute index cards and ask participants to respond to a question on the card. This is more
comfortable for those who are shy in groups; you can shuffle the cards and have each person read
someone else's response. In this way, everyone participates, but no one has to know who wrote
what.
3. The group becomes distracted and loses its focuses.

In refocusing a group it sometimes means interrupting someone or interrupting a two-way
argument that is going nowhere. Although you may be hesitant about this, remind the participants
of the original topic and put the tangent on hold, at least until the first topic is resolved.
4. An offensive comment (e.g., pertaining to race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) from a
participant evokes angry reaction or shocked silence from the group.
If anyone makes an offensive comment, expect conflict. Your job is to control the processing of
what happened and allow the workshop to continue. You can ask people to vent, but without
argument. (refer to the previous section on diversity for specific suggestions.)
5. Someone asks you if you're prejudiced, against who, and tries to test you.
The best response is honesty. Acknowledging that you - like everyone else - have learned prejudice
and are working against it, will establish respect and lack of pretense in the group.
6. Someone verbally attacks your leadership and completely throws you off.
Usually they are very upset and are to blame. DO NOT TAKE THE ATTACK PERSONALLY. Explain your
rationale. Discuss it with the person privately during a break. If you actually erred, apologize and
continue.
7. Someone presents inaccurate information or strays away from the focus of discussion.
Allow participants to point this out and/or reject the comment. You should invite other participants
to correct the misinformation; if they don't, correct it yourself. If you don't know the answer,
acknowledge and commit to looking into it. Don't leave the group with any misinformation.
8. Group participant states: "It's all hopeless anyway; you can't change people's attitudes. Why
even try?"
Acknowledge their feelings. Point out the hopelessness, without buying into it yourself. Point out
the hopefulness of the training itself, and that you have seen attitudes change and grow by doing
this work. Don't get into a debate about whether the work makes a difference - you wouldn't be
doing it if it didn't.
9. You find yourself disliking a participant.
Remember that you are a human being and entitled to your own personal likes and dislikes.
However, you must also keep in mind that as a facilitator, your neutrality is essential to the success
of a workshop. Acknowledge your feelings to yourself, and move on.
AC2.Feedback is obtained from a variety of relevant

sources on the value and success of the facilitation
approach. Such sources include colleagues and parents.
Principles of Effective Facilitation

The facilitator and group members share responsibility for progressing toward the goals of the group. The
facilitator serves as a guide to the group. Key principles of quality facilitation include believing that groups
can make good decisions, ensuring participation, convening people as a neutral guide, sharing a sense of
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group goals, using effective processes, utilizing diversity and wisdom, improving continuously, working
together with trust, progressing toward goals, and learning from experiences.
One excellent way to improve skills as a facilitator is to observe another facilitator in action. An observation
worksheet that lists the key facilitation elements for rating is included in this section.
Evaluating yourself as a facilitator is important to continuous improvement of the group and the facilitator.
Several questions are included that may be used verbally or prepared as a worksheet for group input.
Coaching
Facilitators often coach others to enhance their participation in the work that needs to be done. A coach
works one-on-one with individuals and with the group to draw on individual strengths and develop the
competencies they will need to be effective in the future. Coaches provide both support and challenge.
More about coaching, and worksheets for reflection, are included in this section. The GAPS model (a tool
for coaching) is included as a worksheet. It helps a facilitator become aware of the person’s goals, the
person’s abilities, how others see the person, and what others expect of the person.
Leading Change
A common role of facilitators is that of "change agent." Understanding the nature of leading change can
help a facilitator become more helpful to groups. This is especially important if you are invited to work with
a change initiative during tense times. Worksheets are included in this section to assess your group’s
present attitudes and facilitate a change using an eight-step process.
Stages and Tasks of Facilitation
This is a framework that describes the typical stages of facilitation and tasks of the facilitator.
A. Pre-work
1. Contracting or agreeing to facilitate
2. Planning the agenda
3. Confirming who is attending
4. Arranging the meeting room and supplies
B. Opening the meeting or event

1. Making introductions
2. Exploring the purpose of the meeting or event
3. Helping the group determine the agenda
4. Breaking the ice
5. Setting ground rules
6. Initiating discussion
C. Facilitating the meeting

1. Proceeding through the agenda
2. Helping the group stay on track
3. Ensuring participation
4. Building consensus and making decisions
5. Managing conflict
6. Handling disruptive behaviors
7. Fulfilling your role as facilitator ethically
D. Closing the meeting

1. Reviewing the agenda
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2. Identifying the next agenda

3. Reviewing decisions/actions
4. Answering questions
5. Evaluating the meeting
E. Following up with planners

1. Clarifying remaining expectations for facilitator
2. Asking for helpful feedback
3. Determining action for any unfinished business
4. Saying "thank you" and "goodbye"
AC3The reflection reveals strengths and weaknesses of

the way in which development is facilitated.
Effective reflection requires that facilitators demonstrate an open-minded attitude, communicate

appropriately, manage group dynamics, incorporate diversity, and provide closure. Developing skill in each
of these areas involves learning and becoming comfortable with numerous facilitation practices. An
explanation of practices pertaining to each area follows. Also refer to the "Activities" section of this manual
for ideas about promoting certain behaviors in the group.
Attitude
 Be honest: Effective facilitation requires that he facilitator be honest with him/herself and with the
group. This includes being honest about the limits of one's own abilities and knowledge. If the
facilitator doesn't know the answer to the group's questions, s/he should admit it and work on
finding the answer. Honest facilitators gain the trust of the group and model the importance of
honesty from all participants. However, facilitators should be careful not to stray from preventing a
neutral stance while maintaining honesty.
 Managing dual roles: There is some disagreement among expert, facilitators as to whether a
facilitator should always maintain a neutral stance, particularly if the facilitator is, an active
member of the group and a decision making is taking place. A skilled facilitator will calculate the
potential impact of his or her interjections into the group and determine if it will result in a misuse
of power. Sometimes, a skilled facilitator will state that s/he wants to suspend his or her role as
facilitator for the sake of making an opinion or perspective heard. These instances should be
handled with extreme caution and some forethought.
 The facilitator is not an expert: Facilitators must keep in mind that their role in the reflection is to
moderate and guide communication, not make personal contributions to it, or push their own
agenda. By controlling the group, facilitators threaten the open sharing of thoughts and feelings,
and may close themselves off from the group's feedback. Instead facilitators should remain flexible
and responsive to the group, and encourage evaluation of the, process. The facilitator's neutrality
throughout the process is crucial. An effective way for facilitators to avoid voicing their personal
opinion is to reflect question back to the group. For example, when asked whether s/he supports
the death penalty, a facilitator may say "The death penalty is, a controversial topic. What do you
think are the main issues for and against it?" By responding in this way the facilitator has remained
neutral and encouraged further reflection by the group.
 Everyone can learn: Facilitators should view reflection as a learning opportunity and should
communicate this attitude to the group. This means that facilitators themselves remain open to
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learning from others, and that everyone's contributions are treated as credible and educational.
This serves to validate group members and helps to avoid arguments between them.
Other qualities of an open-minded attitude include:
 Somewhat informal
 Be empathetic
 Maintain a sense of humor
 Stay interested in group discussion
 Be, real, direct, and genuine
Communication
Set ground rules: Ground rules establish a foundation upon which the group's communication will occur.
They help to create a safe environment in which participants can communicate openly, without fear of
being criticized by others. Ground rules that have been arrive at by all members are the most useful and
can be repeated if tension rises during reflection. Sample ground rules follow.
 Be honest
 Listen, even if you disagree
 Avoid prejudicial comments
 Criticize the idea, not the person
 Pass if you're not comfortable
 Use "I" statements
 Don't interrupt
 Be brief
 Everything is confidential
 Agree to disagree
Use "vibes watchers": In order to monitor ground rules the facilitator may choose to identify one or more
"vibes watchers". The vibes watcher observes the reflection and takes not of group dynamics that are
potentially problematic (for example, one person dominating the discussion, a participant's ideas being
attacked, etc.). S/he can interrupt the discussion if the situation is particularly problematic, and explain, in a
non-accusatory tone, what s/he observed. The facilitator can decide if all participants should be
encouraged to voice such concerns during the session. At the conclusion of the session the facilitator
should ask for a report from the vibes watcher, so that future session may be improved. Participants should
not be forced to vibes watchers, but should volunteer. Ideally, all members of the group will become
sensitive to group dynamics, and, in a sense, monitor themselves.
 Promote "active listening": Staying quiet and considering others remarks can be challenging when
controversial topics are discussed, but is crucial to respectful communication. Facilitators should
discourage participants from professing their opinions without considering and responding to
others' comments. Instead, facilitators should model communication in the form of a dialogue, in
which participants listen and respond to each other. The type of communication used (whether
"polite conversation" is favored over informal or slang conversation) can very, and should be
determined according to such factors as the group's cultural background, familiarity with each
other, goals for reflection, etc.
 Encourage participation by all: Facilitators should clearly communicate that reflection is an
egalitarian process in which everyone has a right to speak, or to choose not to speak. Group
members who have not spoken should be encouraged to do so, if they wish. This can be
accomplished by creating a space for more introverted group members to speak. This can be
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accomplished by stating something like, "Let's give an opportunity to hear from some people who
haven't spoken yet..."
 Use "stacking": In order to promote full participation, the facilitator should guide the allocation of
speaking time by "stacking" (or "queuing"). This involves the facilitator identifying and placing in
some order those individuals who wish to speak. One example of this technique is to list the names
of the four people who have raised their hands, invite them to speak in order, and then indicate
that you will recognize others who whish to speak after the four people have finished. Another
technique is to simply give a nod to a person who wants to speak, acknowledging that they have
been noticed and will be called upon soon. Additional strategies for inclusion can be found in the
"Activities" section of this manual.
Other practices for effective communication include:
DO:
 use open-ended questions (not "Should the welfare system be reformed?", but "What aspects of
the welfare system would you change?")
 ask for specifics and examples
 paraphrase and summarize ("So what you're concerned about is who defines what's best for the se
communities?)
 acknowledge contributions
 redirect questions to group ("Rehabilitation may not be occurring in our prisons, should that be the
goal of the criminal justice system?")
 be creative
 take some risks by posing provocative questions
DON'T:
 refute people's ideas

 put people on the spot
 downplay thoughts, feelings
 force people to speak
 Create a safe space: The key to open and honest reflection is an environment in which participants
feel safe and comfortable. In order for group members to express their thoughts and opinions they
must feel that they can do so without fear of attack or condemnation. It is the facilitator's job to
create such an environment, to monitor participant's comfort levels, and to take the necessary
steps to maintain safety. This includes understanding and planning for individual differences in
needs, abilities, fears, and apprehensions. Participants who feel safe are more likely to make
honest and genuine contributions and to feel camaraderie and respect towards other group
members.
 Manage disagreements: It has been said that "whatever resists will persist." Facilitators must be
adept at recognizing tension building in the group, and respond to it immediately. Among the most
useful strategies is to repeat the ground rules established by the group, including a reminder that
criticism should pertain to ideas not to people. In addition, facilitators should not permit any
disrespect or insults and should clarify misinformation. It is important that negative behavior be
handled immediately so that participants do not get the impression that the behavior is condoned
by the facilitator.
 Promote equality: As indicated, effective reflection is not designed around the leadership of one
person. Equality of participants should be communicated and modeled by the facilitator. Again, the
facilitator must be an alert observer, identifying signs of a developing hierarchy, or of divisive
factions within the group. S/he should not permit arguing up against any group member(s), and
177 | P a g e
should not take sides in any developing debate. Such situations can be counteracted by recognizing
all members, and encouraging their participation equally.
 Be mindful of power, and who has it: All groups have opinion leaders or people who most others
look up to. Often, these opinion leaders will set the tone for a discussion, thereby limiting active
involvement of the more reserved members. Identify who these opinion leaders are and if it
appears as though their power and authority is dominating the discussion, ask them, politely, to
entertain other opinions.
Other keys to managing group dynamics include:
 know the group

 keep the group on track
 don't avoid topics
 reflect responsibility back on group
 be prepared for disagreements
 encourage challenging issues
Build in diversity: In order to appropriately handle diversity issues in reflection sessions, facilitators must
begin by recognizing their own attitudes, stereotypes, and expectations and must open their minds to
understanding the limits these prejudices place on their perspective. The facilitator will be the example to
which the group looks, and should therefore model the values of multiculturalism. It is important that
diversity be integrated throughout the reflection programming, rather than compartmentalized into special
multicultural segments.
Monitoring communication for expressions of bias requires the facilitators attention and sensitivity.
Facilitators should be aware that some language and behavior has questionable, different or offensive
meaning to some people, and they should encourage them to share their perspectives and information.
Specifically, facilitators should watch out for statements or situations that generalize groups, or that
identify race, sex, age unnecessarily (for example, just as it is inappropriate to say "Bob Dole, White
presidential candidate," it is also inappropriate to say "Colin Powell, Black political hopeful"). When
qualifiers are used that reinforce stereotypes by suggesting exceptions to the rule, facilitators should ask
for clarification. For example when a participant describes his/her experience working with a "respectable
gay resident" of a shelter, the facilitator should ask the participant why he/she included the word
"respectable." Is this a statement about gay people's respectability? About shelter residents? Is this based
on his/her experience with specific populations of one shelter, or a generalization about all such people?
Helping participants identify the assumptions inherent in their statements fosters greater understanding
and sensitivity.
Most importantly, while expressions of prejudice should be interrupted, the person who spoke should not
be publicly attacked. Placing guilt on the speaker is likely to increase the tension and stifle further
exploration of the topic. The Building Bridges Coalition suggests the following appropriate ways to respond:
 Express empathy and compassion. (example: "You must have been disappointed about not getting
the job you thought you were qualified for.")
 Ask for more information. (example: "Please tell me more about why you think a person in a wheel
chair can't do that job?")
 Paraphrase the feelings you hear expressed. (example: "it sounds like you aren't conformable
working around gay people.")
 Give information (new information may alter their attitude). (example: "Did you know that Ms.
Jones has a college degree?")
178 | P a g e
It is important that responses to prejudice to be nonjudgmental and non-confrontation, and that you
express genuine concern and interest.
Closure and Evaluation: As a challenging and meaningful reflection session draws to an end, participants
may feel that their intended objectives have not been met, that questions have not all been answered, or
that a plan of action has not been finalized. Nonetheless, the group needs to recognize that progress has
been made and that he process must continue. It is the job of the facilitator to initiate this sense of
resolution, and to invite feedback so that the process may foster as it continues. Suggestions for
accomplishing this include:
 Request a closing statement from each participant about what they learned, what they plant to do
next, etc.
 Review the session with the group, recognizing participants; contributions and the necessity of
further reflection.
 Provide participants with resources, such as written material and upcoming events, to encourage
their continued involvement.
 Request written and verbal evaluations so that participants may voice those concerns and ideas
that have been left unsaid, and so that facilitators may understand the strengths and weaknesses
of their skills.
As with any skill, the ability to facilitate effectively will develop through experience, feedback, observation,
and reflection. Using the tools described in this and future sections of this manual you are equipped to
begin refining your facilitation skills.
Given the non-authoritative and flexible nature of facilitation, it is not unusual for situations to arise that
can compromise the effectiveness of the reflection. Facilitators need to stay alert to these possibilities, and
be prepared to deal with them. Following are suggestions for handling such situations, (taken from
Catalyst):
1. One Person Dominates the discussion or continually interrupts it.

Make it clear that you want input from everyone: "Can I hear from someone that hasn't spoken
yet?" "I've noticed that no women have said anything about this issue. Would any of the women
like to say something about this?"
Use activities that require everyone's participation, i.e., gathering questions and ideas. If a person
consistently talks for long periods of time, without singling out that person specify that you would
like everyone to be brief.
If someone continually interrupts, don't become defensive or ignore him or her, Instead,
acknowledge the value of their input. Point out that in the interest of the group, interruptions
should be kept to a minimum. Offer to speak to them at length at the break or after the session.
If someone keeps their hand in the air while others are talking, explain that when you hand is up for
you mind is processing what you will say so that you are not listening to the person talking. Keep
track of people who wish to speak by "stacking" (verbally list names of people who have raise their
hands, indicating the order in which people will speak).
2. Several people refuse to talk or participate.

If some people refuse to participate in the large group, you might try dividing the group into pairs,
threes, or fours. People who will not speak up in front of the full group will sometimes feel more
comfortable sharing in a small group.
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Distribute index cards and ask participants to respond to a question on the card. This is more
comfortable for those who are shy in groups; you can shuffle the cards and have each person read
someone else's response. In this way, everyone participates, but no one has to know who wrote
what.
3. The group becomes distracted and loses its focuses.

In refocusing a group it sometimes means interrupting someone or interrupting a two-way
argument that is going nowhere. Although you may be hesitant about this, remind the participants
of the original topic and put the tangent on hold, at least until the first topic is resolved.
4. An offensive comment (e.g., pertaining to race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) from a
participant evokes angry reaction or shocked silence from the group.
If anyone makes an offensive comment, expect conflict. Your job is to control the processing of
what happened and allow the workshop to continue. You can ask people to vent, but without
argument. (refer to the previous section on diversity for specific suggestions.)
5. Someone asks you if you're prejudiced, against who, and tries to test you.
The best response is honesty. Acknowledging that you - like everyone else - have learned prejudice
and are working against it, will establish respect and lack of pretense in the group.
6. Someone verbally attacks your leadership and completely throws you off.
Usually they are very upset and are to blame. DO NOT TAKE THE ATTACK PERSONALLY. Explain your
rationale. Discuss it with the person privately during a break. If you actually erred, apologize and
continue.
7. Someone presents inaccurate information or strays away from the focus of discussion.
Allow participants to point this out and/or reject the comment. You should invite other participants
to correct the misinformation; if they don't, correct it yourself. If you don't know the answer,
acknowledge and commit to looking into it. Don't leave the group with any misinformation.
8. Group participant states: "It's all hopeless anyway; you can't change people's attitudes. Why
even try?"
Acknowledge their feelings. Point out the hopelessness, without buying into it yourself. Point out
the hopefulness of the training itself, and that you have seen attitudes change and grow by doing
this work. Don't get into a debate about whether the work makes a difference - you wouldn't be
doing it if it didn't.
9. You find yourself disliking a participant.
Remember that you are a human being and entitled to your own personal likes and dislikes.
However, you must also keep in mind that as a facilitator, your neutrality is essential to the success
of a workshop. Acknowledge your feelings to yourself, and move on.
AC4.The reflection.
Key Areas for Self-Awareness
Human beings are complex and diverse. To become more self-aware, we should develop an understanding
of ourselves in many areas. Key areas for self-awareness include our personality traits, personal values,
habits, emotions, and the psychological needs that drive our behaviors.
Personality. We don't normally change our personalities, values and needs based on what we learn about
ourselves. But, an understanding of our personalities can help us find situations in which we will thrive, and
help us avoid situations in which we will experience too much stress. For instance, if you are a highly
introverted person, you are likely to experience more stress in a sales position than a highly extroverted
person would. So, if you are highly introverted, you should either learn skills to cope with the demands of a
sales position that requires extravert-type behavior patterns, or you should find a position that is more
compatible with your personality. Awareness of your personality helps you analyze such a decision.
Roy Disney and Stanley Gold would say that Michael Eisner's personality is too controlling. He has buffered
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himself from threats to his tenure as CEO by co-opting the board of directors and by micro-managing the
executives he should be developing and empowering. As a result, his performance as CEO has suffered.
Values. It's important that we each know and focus on our personal values. For instance, if your first
priority is "being there for your children" or "your relationship with God," it's very easy to lose sight of
those priorities on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis. During the workday, so many problems and
opportunities arise that our lists of "things to do" can easily exceed the time we have to do them. Since few
(if any) of those things pertain to what we value most, it's easy to spend too much time on lower priority
activities. When we focus on our values, we are more likely to accomplish what we consider most
important.
Habits. Our habits are the behaviors that we repeat routinely and often automatically. Although we would
like to possess the habits that help us interact effectively with and manage others, we can probably all
identify at least one of our habits that decreases our effectiveness. For example, if you are a manager who
never consults your staff before making decisions, that habit may interfere with your ability to build your
staff members' commitment to the decisions and their decision-making skills as well.
Needs. Maslow and other scholars have identified a variety of psychological needs that drive our behaviors
such as needs for esteem, affection, belongingness, achievement, self-actualization, power and control.
One of the advantages of knowing which needs exert the strongest influence on our own behaviors is the
ability to understand how they affect our interpersonal relationships. For instance, most of us have
probably known people who have a high need for status. They're attracted to high status occupations, and
they seek high status positions within their organizations. Such people also want the things that symbolize
their status. They insist that they be shown respect, and they want privileges and perks that people of
lower status can't have. Sometimes these people fight for things that others see as inconsequential--like a
bigger office. Needs cause motivation; and when needs aren't satisfied, they can cause frustration, conflict
and stress.
Emotions. Emotional self-awareness has become a hot topic of discussion recently because it's one of the
five facets of emotional intelligence. Understanding your own feelings, what causes them, and how they
impact your thoughts and actions is emotional self-awareness. If you were once excited about your job but
not excited now, can you get excited again? To answer that question, it helps to understand the internal
processes associated with getting excited. That sounds simpler than it is. Here's an analogy: I think I know
how my car starts--I put gas in the tank, put the key in the ignition, and turn the key. But, my mechanic
knows a lot more about what's involved in getting my car started than I do--he knows what happens under
the hood. My mechanic is able to start my car on the occasions when I'm not because he understands the
internal processes. Similarly, a person with high emotional self-awareness understands the internal process
associated with emotional experiences and, therefore, has greater control over them.
How Self-Awareness Makes You More Effective

Self-awareness helps managers identify gaps in their management skills, which promotes skill development.
But self-awareness also helps managers find situations in which they will be most effective, assists with
intuitive decision making, and aids stress management and motivation of oneself and others.
Skill development. Improvement projects should normally begin with an assessment of the gap between
the current situation and the desired future situation. Having an accurate sense of who you are helps you
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decide what you should do to improve. Often, self-awareness will reveal a skills gap that you want to work
on.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness helps you exploit your strengths and cope with
your weaknesses. For instance, if you are someone who is good at "seeing the big picture" that surrounds
decisions, but not as good at focusing on the details, you might want to consult colleagues and
subordinates that are more detail-oriented when making major decisions. Cooperation between big-
picture-oriented decision makers and detail-oriented decision makers can produce high quality decisions.
Developing intuitive decision-making skills. Leaders with well-developed emotional self-awareness are
more effective intuitive decision makers. In complex situations, intuitive decision makers process large
amounts of sometimes unstructured and ambiguous data, and they choose a course of action based on a
"gut feeling" or a "sense" of what's best. This type of decision making is becoming more important for
managers as the rate of change and the levels of uncertainty and complexity in their competitive
environments increase. Managers who are highly emotionally self-aware are better able to read their "gut
feelings" and use them to guide decisions.
Stress. Jobs that don't suit your personality tend to give you more stress than jobs that are more
compatible. This is not to say that you should never take a job that conflicts with your personality.
However, be aware that you will need to work extra hard to develop the skills for that job, and there are
jobs that would be less stressful for you.
Motivation. It's very difficult to cope with poor results when you don't understand what causes them.
When you don't know what behaviors to change to improve your performance, you just feel helpless. Self-
awareness is empowering because it can reveal where the performance problems are and indicate what
can be done to improve performance. In addition, awareness of your psychological needs can increase your
motivation by helping you understand and seek out the rewards that you really desire such as a sense of
accomplishment, additional responsibility, an opportunity to help others, or a flexible work schedule.
Leadership. When we understand "what make us tick"--what gets us excited, why we behave the way we
do, etc.--we also have insight into what makes others tick. To the extent that other people are like you
(and, of course, there are limits to the similarity), knowing how to motivate yourself is tantamount to
knowing how to motivate others.
Practicing This Management Skill

You can become more self-aware by seeking feedback from the people who know you, completing self-
assessment surveys, and hiring an expert like a professional counselor or executive coach.
Ask somebody. If you have open, trusting relationships with the people who know you, you can ask them
for feedback about your personality, habits, needs and values. Research shows that your coworkers, friends
and family members CAN provide valid assessments of your personality. But, they do NOT ALWAYS provide
an accurate assessment. For instance, I once asked my undergraduate students to describe my personality
on the four Myers-Briggs personality dimensions, and they described the exact opposite of my actual
personality. Their ratings described the personality that is appropriate for a teacher, and they also rated me
as an effective teacher. So, they saw me act like a teacher in my role as a teacher, but those behaviors are
not representative of my behaviors in other roles. There are two lessons in that:
 You can develop skills for a role that doesn't match your personality.
 People who only see you in one role can only describe your behaviors in relation to that role.
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Analogously, if you mismanage your time so that you spend too much time on things that don't matter
much to you, people will have a very different perception of your values than you do. For instance, maybe
you say that your family is important to you, but how do you spend your time?
Another limitation on the value of the feedback you get from family, friends and especially coworkers is
that they may not be completely candid with you. This is where the trust factor looms large. Unflattering
feedback is the type that has the most potential for helping you develop your management skills, but it is
also the most difficult to give and to accept. People aren't very likely to give you unflattering feedback if
there isn't a high level of trust in your relationship with them ... unless they don't mind harming the
relationship. For this reason, many experts (e.g., Ed Eppley, Area Manager for Dale Carnegie Training, and
Ellen Van Velsor of the Center for Creative Leadership) suggest that managers find a way to get anonymous
feedback from staff members and co-workers.
Questionnaires. One of the ways to improve the quality of the feedback that you can receive from other
people is by asking them to fill out a psychometrically sound inventory of your personality, values, needs, or
habits as they perceive them. Those surveys are composed and structured in such a way as to maximize the
accuracy of the feedback they generate. With the help of a facilitator, the surveys can be completed
anonymously. You can also fill out surveys yourself as a means of self-assessment.
Seek professional help. Professional counselors and executive coaches can be a great source of feedback to
help you develop your self-awareness. Of course, not everyone who calls herself a coach is qualified. You
should evaluate the training and certifications of counselors and coaches. Nevertheless, executive coaching
is a great resource, and it's a growing area of management consulting. Coaches not only help you get a
better picture of who you are; they also guide you through self-improvement. Often coaches collect
anonymous evaluations of their clients from their subordinates, superiors or anyone else who is in a
position to provide helpful feedback. Good coaches know how to effectively collect and digest the
feedback. Professional counselors, such as guidance counselors and clinical psychologists, are also great
resources. Guidance counselors can provide inventories of your personality and interests. Clinical
psychologists can help you understand and work on aspects of your personality and habits that interfere
with any facet of your life, including work.
In Summary ...
To perfect your management skills, the best place to start is self-awareness. Self-awareness means knowing
your values, personality, needs, habits, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, etc. With a sense of who you are
and a vision of the person you want to become, a plan for professional or personal development can be
created. Moreover, self-awareness allows you to motivate yourself and manage your stress better, helps
you with your intuitive decision making, and helps you to lead and motivate others more effectively. Self-
awareness is very useful.
AC5.Recommendations are provided to build on

strengths and address identified weaknesses, thereby
helping to improve future facilitation.
The role of assessing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT ) in nonprofit strategic
planning is often misunderstood and misused. At the most extreme a SWOT analysis is confused with the
strategic planning process with an organization believing that a SWOT is the sum total of strategic planning.
More common is that a team creates a SWOT matrix, (completing the four quadrants), and then are not
sure what to do next or the team gets “stuck” processing results. Often the difficulty of processing a SWOT
analysis arises around either a team a) perseverating over the negative screens of weaknesses and threats
or b) putting the SWOT variables in a matrix and then not being sure how to integrate the various
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“quadrants” of the matrix into a whole. In this post I want to outline a facilitation process designed to assist
teams work through a SWOT analysis.
Acknowledge but don’t feed the Weaknesses and Threats: In my experience, one risk of a SWOT analysis is
that a team that is processing weaknesses and threats can inadvertently pull the conversation down
towards pessimism and defensiveness. The resulting strategies from such conversations can focus on
“defending the gains” rather then “expanding opportunities.” One way to avoid “planning from deficits” is
to rethink the framework. Elsewhere I have written about appreciative inquiry as a facilitation process and I
have often used a related framework of Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results (SOAR) as an
alternative to a SWOT. A good contrast between SWOT and SOAR can be found here – (external link).
However, if a team is committed to a SWOT analysis, it is critical that there is a shared understanding of the
purpose in looking the variables, especially, the Weaknesses and Threats. The assessment of weaknesses is
the chance to a team to identify and reflect on internal operations and capacity that are the “rate limiters”
in moving forward. The assessment of threats is looking at the external environment that could negatively
effect the organizations success. Often, the threatening forces that can impact and agency but might be
beyond the control of the organization. Combined, the purpose of looking at weaknesses and threats is to
give an organization a realistic understanding context in which they are operating. However, strategic plans
should rarely be developed in relationship to weaknesses and threats.
My bias has been a source of many conversations with clients over the meaning and power of words. In
suggesting that weaknesses and threats are not the foundation of strategy, I am not suggesting that an an
organization deny the reality of either. Weaknesses and threats exist and need to be accommodated in the
planning process, however, in the planning process, they equally should not be “fed” by giving them
inordinate power. In the end, all strategy should reflect an understanding of the environment but be
focused and be framed in the context of the opportunities ahead.
Collapse the Quadrants: It is my belief that a SWOT analysis is most useful to a team as a broad surveillance
tool rather than a planning tool. A completed SWOT matrix allows a team to view the scope of possibilities.
As weaknesses and threats are identified a team should then turn them upside-down. Weaknesses and
threats are the flip side of opportunities and should be viewed as such. In other words, as a SWOT analysis
is completed, the traditional four quadrants of the SWOT matrix should be collapsed into opportunities. If a
team is clear on this point, then it will prevent them from getting lost in simply “defending gains” rather
than engaging in strategic planning. Again, Strategic planning occurs when a team distills the SWOT data
into opportunities. So, for example, the threat of “pending budget cuts” becomes the opportunity of
thinking differently about revenue diversification or the opportunity to advocate for policy change around
funding. A facilitator working with a team on a SWOT analysis should help the team move towards the
opportunity quadrant. Again, the purpose if not to ignore weaknesses and threats but to help a team
channel the potential and energy into creating aspirational strategies and goals.
Create Scenario Screens: A third way to assist a planning team move through a SWOT analysis is to help the
team create “scenario screens.” In short a scenario screen acknowledges that the variables identified in a
SWOT are not static and often only partially understood in the planning process. To help a team plan for
the changing landscape (incompletely captured in a SWOT) a scenario screen creates a way to teams to
measure opportunities in the context of the organizational mission and vision. Others have referred to the
scenario screen process as an “opportunity matrix” or “strategy screen.” A simple web search of any of
these concepts will yield a number of relevant example of such tools.
A scenario screen is a way to evaluate and prioritize opportunities. Typically a scenario screen lists criteria
that need to be met as an opportunity is assessed. For example, some potential criteria might be that the
opportunity is a) compatible with the organizational mission, b) meets one or more strategic priority, c) has
a reasonable timeframe, d) has acceptable costs, and e) there is capacity to execute. A scenario screen may
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also “rank” or “weigh” variables (such as low fit, medium fit, or high fit) to create a a more
multidimensional assessment of the opportunity.
Again, while some conflate a SWOT exercise with strategic planning, it is important to recognize that a
SWOT analysis is only one tool or exercise in the strategic planning process. However, when facilitating a
SWOT exercise as part of the strategic planning process, it is useful to connect the three steps as a process.
This facilitation process includes:
1. the broad study and recognition of the SWOT forces internal and external to the organization,
2. the narrower focusing of the conversation around the “unpacked” implicit and explicit strategies
and opportunities that emerge from the SWOT, and
3. the creation of scenario screens that help the team manages the shifting dynamics of the SWOT
variables, strategies, and opportunities over time.
We believe that strategic planning in the nonprofit setting does not lend itself to the direct application of
corporate for-profit strategic planning models. Nonprofit business models are more complex than
defending or advancing market share. A SWOT analysis for nonprofits run the twin dangers of either
oversimplifying strategy or narrowing strategy into the four unnaturally parsed quadrants. To create a
robust strategic plan, facilitating a nonprofit SWOT analysis needs to move beyond the four quadrants and
provide an organization with a strategic understanding of the environment, its opportunities, and more
importantly the tools to manage the opportunities of the environment over time. Facilitated well, a SWOT
exercise can strengthens a nonprofit strategic planning process.
AC6.Findings and recommendations are recorded

clearly to support future facilitation.
The Teacher's Role

The early childhood teacher is the facilitator of play in the classroom. The teacher facilitates play by
providing appropriate indoor and outdoor play environments. Safety is, of course, the primary concern. Age
and developmental levels must be carefully considered in the design and selection of materials. Guidelines
for selecting safe and appropriate equipment for outdoor play environments are available through the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission's Handbook for Public Playground Safety and the Playground Safety
Manual by Jambor and Palmer (1991). Similar guidelines are also available for indoor settings (Torelli &
Durrett, 1996; Caples, 1996; Ard & Pitts, 1990). Once appropriate environments and materials are in place,
regular safety checks and maintenance are needed to ensure that the equipment is sound and safe for
continued play.
Teachers also facilitate play by working with children to develop rules for safe indoor and outdoor play.
Discussion about the appropriate use of materials, the safe number of participants on each piece of
equipment, taking turns, sharing, and cleaning up provides the children with information to begin their play
activities. These discussions need to be ongoing because some children may need frequent reminders
about rules and because new situations may arise (e.g., new equipment).
By providing play materials related to thematic instruction, early childhood teachers can establish links
between the children's indoor and outdoor play and their program's curriculum. Thematic props for
dramatic play can be placed in the dramatic play center or stored in prop boxes and taken outside to
extend the dramatic play to a new setting. An art center in the outdoor play environment may encourage
children to explore the possibilities of using leaves, twigs, pebbles, and sand in their three-dimensional art
productions. Painting easels and water tables may also be moved outside periodically for children's use
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during outdoor play periods. Finally, a collection of books stored in a wagon to be taken outside during play
time may offer some children a needed alternative to more active play.
As facilitators of children's play, teachers should closely observe children during play periods not only for
assessment purposes, as stated earlier, but also to facilitate appropriate social interactions and motor
behaviors. It is important that children be the decision-makers during play, choosing what and where to
play, choosing roles for each player, and choosing how play will proceed. Occasionally, however, some
children will need adult assistance in joining a play group, modifying behavior, or negotiating a
disagreement. Careful observation will help the teacher to decide when to offer assistance and what form
that assistance should take.
Conclusion
Although play is a difficult concept to define, it is very easy to recognize. Children actively involved in play
may be engaged in a variety of activities, independently, with a partner, or in a group. Because play is
closely tied to the cognitive, socio-emotional, and motor development of young children, it is an important
part of developmentally appropriate early childhood programs.
Group Activity:
Portfolio Activity:
1. Explain how facilitation uses developmentally appropriate activities that are fun,
relevant and meaningful to the life-world of the children.
2. Describe the facilitation approach that is multi-cultural, avoids bias and is sensitive to
the existing knowledge, experiences and needs of the children.
3. Verbal and non-verbal interactions value the children and are encouraging,
supportive, participatory, warm, caring and responsive to emotional and
developmental needs.
4. Explain how facilitation ensures the holistic development of children.
5. Explain how the reflection can consider own facilitation approach in relation to the
developmental aims.
Describe how the reflection reveals strengths and weaknesses of the way in which
development is facilitated.
Resources:
Possible sources for further research and study is listed under this icon.
Cortes, C. E. (1978). Future will demand culturally literate citizens. Thrust for Educational
Leadership, 7(3), 20-22.
Gollnick, D. M., & Chinn, P. C. (1990). Multicultural education in a pluralistic society (3rd
ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.
Gay, G. (1977). Curriculum for multicultural education. In F. H. Klassen & D. M. Gollnick

(Eds.), Pluralism and the American teacher: Issues and case studies (pp. 31-62).
Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
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Quality Education for Minorities Project. (1989). Education that works: An action plan for
the education of minorities. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED 316 626).
Read more: Play - stages, Definition, Description, Common problems

http://www.healthofchildren.com/P/Play.html#ixzz1cNVJLwiv
Read more: Play - stages, Definition, Description, Common problems

http://www.healthofchildren.com/P/Play.html#ixzz1cNSblO1q
Self-Assessment
Self Assessment:

 - Some idea
SELF RATING
NO OUTCOME
  
1. Facilitating development of babies, toddlers and young children.
2. Reflecting on own facilitation.
completed.
1. Facilitating
development of
babies, toddlers and
young children.
__________________
2. Reflecting on own
__________________
facilitation.
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__
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Module 3: 244475 Observe and report on child

development
Learning Outcomes:
 Observing babies, toddlers and young children.

 Recording observations.
 Giving feedback on observations.
SO1. Observe babies, toddlers and young

children.
Observe by seeing and active listening, supplemented by questioning as needed.
 Listening is an essential skill necessary for keeping the lines of communication open both at work
and home. Learning to listen helps you to retain the right information, while extending
consideration to others. To become a better listener, you can apply a few tips and techniques that
will make meetings or family discussions much easier and more productive.
No Interruptions
 When someone speaks to you, wait until they have completely verbalized their thoughts before
interjecting. Let the person make a complete point before you find a reason to counter the
statement--listening without interrupting also gives you a chance to formulate a response that
makes sense. When you actively listen, you'll know when to speak and when to let the other person
have the floor. Interrupting as soon as you hear a statement that you don't agree with, or even
using your facial expressions or actions to interrupt (i.e. walking out of the room or giving a
disapproving look to the speaker), is counterproductive. Actions like this will only make the speaker
angry or hurt, and will give the impression that you don't care about anyone's point of view but
your own.
Use and Observe Body Language

 Pay attention to the speaker's body language to determine the message's importance. If your boss
stands up straight and has a creased brow, chances are she's delivering important company
information that could affect your career. If your spouse leans toward you when speaking, this is a
sign that his words deserve your full attention. You can also be a good listener by properly
responding to this body language while taking in the speaker's words. For instance, lean toward
your spouse when he talks to you, or look directly at your boss when she speaks during company
meetings.
Responding
 Responding appropriately signals that you have listened effectively. For instance, if your supervisor
asks you what days of the week you can take on a new project, the correct response is not "Yes, I
can take on the project." Listen to the specifics of questions, and pay attention to the details of
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each statement before answering or offering input. It's also a good idea to take notes while you're
listening if possible. For instance, if your children express their concerns during a family meeting,
use a pad and pen to jot down some of the things you hear, and then address these points when
you have a chance to speak.
What are typical behavioural characteristics and challenges?
Children are in the Preschool Years from 3 years old until they start school. These children are starting to
show personality traits and more intellectual development, including:
 Egotism. A preschooler is the centre of the world. Your child believes that everything in the
world revolves around her.
 Independence. A preschooler will want to dress by himself and want to help you with the
household chores. Be patient as your child practices these skills.
 Creativity. Imaginations are constantly "on." Your child's world is full of magical things at this
time.
 "Why?" Preschoolers are trying to learn all about their environments; they will ask "why"
constantly! Take the time to help your child learn about what causes the events happening
around him.
 Sociality. Preschoolers are learning to be a good companion or friend to other children their
age. Preschool, day care, play dates or playgroups provide wonderful opportunities for your
child to learn important social skills.
 Listening. Preschoolers must also learn to listen to others with interest. Model appropriate
listening behavior for your preschooler by actively listening when she tells you about her day,
her friends and her discoveries.
 Motor skills. Preschoolers are also learning complex movements such as hopping, climbing,
and skipping. Let your child practice and make it fun!
 Adventurous. Children can be very active during this time period. Make sure to provide
helmets when riding tricycles and do regular safety checks on play equipment.
 Language. Pronunciation improves during this time. Don't be alarmed if your child leaves out
word sounds occasionally.
 Principles. Preschoolers are also learning the difference between right and wrong. You can
help by setting firm and consistent limits for your child.
 Reality vs. fantasy. Preschoolers must learn the difference between reality and fantasy. By
the end of the preschool years, your child will have a better understanding of past, present
and future.
 Phobias. New fears, especially to unfamiliar sights and sounds are common at this age. Be
supportive while trying to ease irrational fears.
 Poor sportsmanship. Preschoolers learn to follow simple rules in the games they play, but
they will always want to win and be in "first place." Playing "fair" will come later in your
child's development.
 Highly impressionable. Preschoolers are heavily influenced by what they see. It's important
to actively supervise what your child is exposed to on television and in the real world.
 Sexual curiosity. It is normal for preschoolers to engage in sexual exploration. Help your child
learn what is appropriate.
What are some solutions to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)?
Children this age are constantly testing their parents and the world. Many parents face similar behavioral
problems. Try some of these solutions to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) you may have about your
preschooler.
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Some days my preschooler acts as though she's ready to be "all grown up," other times I fear she's
regressing back to her "baby" days. How can I help her through this change?
 Help your child transition from "baby" to preschool. Your child may rely on security items
(e.g., blankets, special bear) and needs your understanding about the importance of these
special items.
 Master the art of feeling identification. "Learning to recognize and deal with children's
feelings is a vitally important step in handling children's behavior."
o Preschoolers haven't learned what feelings are, how to talk about them or what each
one feels like. They may throw a toy or tantrum when trying to deal with frustration
or anger.
o Parents must interpret nonverbal clues, understand feelings, and help their child
understand too.
o For example, Jamie starts crying when Mom leaves to go to the store. Dad says, "Oh
you're crying because you're sad that Mommy left. She'll be back soon." Dad realizes
what Jamie is feeling and helps her recognize the feeling "sad."
I think that if I communicated better with my child I would be able to influence his behavior more. But
how can I start to improve this aspect of our relationship?
Remember that your child has a limited vocabulary and doesn't understand everything you say. It's
important not to use too many words. Don't expect your child to understand another person's viewpoint
because children this age are very egocentric. Also, your child can't understand abstract ideas yet so it's
important to use concrete examples when using logic, reason, or cause and effect (e.g. if you turn your
plate over, all the food will fall off). Practice these ways to communicate with your child:
Learn and model ways to use nonverbal communication in actions that are appropriate for your child.
 "Nonverbal communication" involves the feelings expressed through facial expressions, voices, and
the way you move or stand.
 Children are very sensitive to nonverbal communication. For example, Johnny comes running inside
to show Dad the picture he drew. Dad barely takes his eyes away from his work. Johnny learns Dad
is not interested in Johnny's achievement.
Make sure to maintain eye contact when you express your feelings to your child.
 Eye contact tells your child she is important and that you are focusing on her. It also encourages
her to make eye contact with you.
 Making eye contact increases the effectiveness of your message.
Be aware of your posture and position when talking with your child.
 Get down to your child's eye level. Kneel next to him or sit beside him to take away the intimidating
difference in size and height.
 Watch out for negative body language. For example, crossed arms or legs can indicate that you are
"closed off," resistant, or hostile.
Monitor your tone of voice.
 Your tone of voice may be the most powerful nonverbal tool of all!
 A simple phrase can be interpreted differently depending upon the tone of voice.
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 Keeping the voice calm, soothing, and soft helps children feel safe and able to express themselves
in return.
Remember the importance of facial expressions and touch.
 Simply rubbing a child's back, smiling and winking, or tucking a child into bed communicates, "I care
about you."
 Children are very aware of our faces and the way we express affection through the touch of our
hand or a hug.
My 4 year-old daughter seems so angry all the time, but I can't get her to talk to me about what is going
on. What can I do?
Try active listening! Active listening is the art of observing and listening to your child's feelings, then
repeating what you have heard to your child. Active listening:
 allows your child to feel like you understand her,

 lets your child work through her feelings in an appropriate way (rather than yelling or hitting), and
 does not mean you agree with everything your child says; you are simply providing her with a
supportive forum for her feelings.
An example of active listening:
 Billy comes in yelling, "Harry took my favorite toy away!!!" and bursts into tears.
 Mom says, "Gosh, you seem pretty angry about this!"
 Billy thinks and says, "It's not fair! Harry took my toy - he's taller and runs faster than me!"
 Mom gently reflects back, "It must be really frustrating to have your toy taken away by someone
bigger than you."
 Billy thinks some more and says, "I feel sad."
 After more talking, Billy decides to forget about his favorite toy and go play outside. Mom has
helped him feel listened to, appreciated, and loved.
My 3 ½ year-old child has terrible temper tantrums - especially when we are out in public and she isn't
getting her way. What can I do? No matter what I try it makes things worse...
Tantrums are one typical expression of young children's anger. Children often have trouble verbalizing their
feelings and act on them instead.
Parents can help their children with feeling identification to:
 Begin to understand why they get angry

 Recognize how powerful emotion begins
 Develop ways to cope with and overcome their anger
 Try to have your child draw a picture of how she's feeling - have her think about what colors go
along with the feelings she's experiencing.
 Ask her to talk about how she's feeling rather than acting it out. You can ask simple "yes-or-no"
questions to start this process:
 "It sounds like you are feeling hurt and want to get even…"
 "It seems like you are so angry you are having trouble holding it all inside!"
 Ask your child to tell you what she feels in her body when she gets "super angry." Most of us feel
anger physically.
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 She might say that her fingers make a tight fist, her face feels really hot, or her stomach is in knots.
 Help her recognize those signs when she is becoming angry and provide ways to cool off before the
anger gets out of control. This is a coping strategy many of us can use!
 Help your child come up with specific coping strategies that are acceptable ways to deal with anger.
 Have an "anger box", a knee-high box where an angry child can go to stand, jump or yell when
upset.
 Run races around the neighborhood or in the front yard.
 Play with Play-Doh to help release some pent up energy (punching a pillow or punching bag is not
recommended).
 Yell into a pillow.
 Play "let's pretend" with your child. Role-play (act out the situation like a performance) and work
through ways to deal with feelings. By practicing these strategies, your child has a plan for dealing
with intense emotions.
 Be a role model for your child. As a parent, you experience lots of emotions in a single day - these
are perfect opportunities to show your child appropriate ways to act and react.
 Talk it through. Be honest and this will teach children to do the same. The simple statement, "I'm
feeling very angry right now" can start a talk about the situation.
 Use "I" statements to help explain how/what you are feeling and also to help prevent you from
blaming others: "I am so angry right now, I need to take a time-out so that I don't do anything I'll be
sad about later…"
 Blame the behavior rather than the child. Parents should remind their child that it is his action at
fault, not the child - there is a difference. For example, you could say, "I love you, and I can't allow
you to kick people."
 Remember that your child's physical condition can affect her behavior. Fatigue, hunger and
sickness often lead to poor behavior.
 Don't plan activities such as shopping expeditions unless your child is well rested and fed.
 Bring small toys along.
 Bring snacks and beverages.
 Decrease your expectations for behavior if your child is feeling sick. Remember to return to your
regular routine and normal expectations when she's feeling better.
I feel as though my preschooler does not listen to me at all. I tell him to clean his room and he keeps
playing. Ever since he turned 4, it's been a struggle to have him do anything that I tell him to do. In fact,
sometimes he'll do the opposite! What can I do?
 Look at how you talk to your child. Nagging, lecturing, or yelling will turn the child off to
listening, and threats and bribes teach fear and greed, not obedience.
 Give choices: "Would you like me to help you pick up all the toys or would you rather do it
yourself?" This empowers your child.
 Stop the power struggle. Adults set up a power struggle that makes winning more attractive
than listening or cooperating. When your child does the opposite of what you say, he thinks,
"I win!"
 Be developmentally appropriate. Sometimes we expect our children to be more advanced
than they really are. Remember that many of the younger children can't understand a
request because it involves thinking or listening skills that they haven't developed yet.
 Be understanding. A child this age is "programmed" to explore as much as she possibly can.
Sometimes this desire to check out the world will win over an adult's words.
My oldest son was potty trained by 18 months. My youngest daughter is almost 4 and is
still not potty trained! I am using the same potty training strategies I used with Ray, my
oldest. What am I doing wrong?
 Every child is different. As simple as it sounds, children all have their own unique schedule.
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 Factors that influence potty training success include:

1. Physical readiness. There are different levels of bladder control capability.
 One child might be able to "hold it" long enough to find a bathroom while
another child might have an accident along the way.
 Be understanding of your own child's physical readiness and find ways to
work with her level.
2. Ease of wakefulness. Some children sleep very deeply and do not wake when they
feel the urge to use the toilet.
 Ask your pediatrician for strategies to deal with bed-wetting such as a bell-
and-pad that sounds an alarm at the first sign of wetness.
3. Child's perspective. It can be very difficult for a child to get to a bathroom and undo
buckles and buttons while fidgeting.
 Make sure your child has "easy-off" clothing (e.g. elastic waistbands) and be
kind, patient and understanding when accidents happen.
4. Power struggles. Power struggles between parent and child can decrease a child's
motivation and delay successful potty training.
 Try not to be over-controlling and try to ignore the urge to "win" - it will only
escalate the battle. Children can be very resistant during this stage.
 Talk things through. Start asking questions (in a friendly tone of voice) when
you are met with an "accident":
 "Can you tell me what happened? What do you think you need to do
next time?" They might be having trouble with buttons or the
bathroom might seem too far away.
 Beware of the urge to lecture or talk "at" them. Talk WITH them - let
them share their ideas.
 Put less pressure on potty training to eliminate power struggles. A child may
become more interested in potty training on her own.
5. Cooperation. Watch your own attitude or tone. If you are relaxed and comfortable,
your child will also feel that way.
 Make it a team effort. If an accident occurs, hug and reassure your child that
everything is okay and then clean up together.
 Let her pick out favorite potty-friendly clothing (e.g., waist-banded pants or
shorts).
 Have a change of clothes and sheets ready.
6. Family environment. Examine the whole family environment:
 Has there been a constant level of stress (e.g., Mom worrying about her
terminally ill mother?)
 Are you placing too many decisions on your 3 year-old's shoulders? Balance
choice with some reasonable structure.
 Has your child been involved in way too many activities or classes? Make
sure both your schedules are not too busy or stressful.
 Other tips for potty training include remembering to:
o Don't punish a child when bed-wetting is a physical problem.
o Always treat your child with dignity and respect. Never humiliate, especially in front
of others - this will only make your child feel shameful and damage her self-esteem.
o Set a schedule to encourage the habit of going to the bathroom regularly. Make sure
to use the toilet prior to outings!
o Be sure to emphasize the importance of washing hands
 Have a stool to help reach the sink.
 Clear soap with a toy inside (e.g., plastic car or flower) can motivate children
to wash their hands to get the prize.
 Have your child sing the alphabet or another 20-second song while washing
her hands.
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Bottom line: remember that you can't force your child to be potty-trained. It's something
she must do on her own. The best thing you can do is work within your child's own unique
time frame and celebrate each step along the way.
My preschooler will not eat about 85% of what I serve to him. In fact, the only things he will eat on a
regular basis are peanut butter sandwiches on white bread - sometimes some apple slices. I've become a
short-order cook for my family! What can I do to change this?
 Offer choices. If your child complains about food, ask (in a supportive manner), "You can eat
what's on the table or fix your own sandwich. What's your choice?" You can teach him how
to make his own peanut butter sandwiches at this age.
 Invite solutions. Ask, "What can we do about this problem?" This invites your child to use his
thinking skills and problem-solving skills. He can use his power in positive ways to feel
capable instead of in power struggles.
 Share tasks. Children are more cooperative when they have been included and feel like a
contributing member of the family. Sharing tasks also helps teach life skills.
o Invite your child to help plan menus.
o Get him involved in creating the shopping list.
o Take him to shop at the grocery store. Many stores have small carts that can be
pushed around by small children. Ask him to find certain items to put in his cart. If
your child wants something that is not on the list, you can kindly and firmly say, "That
isn't on our list."
o Have your child help with meal preparation. A three year-old can set the silverware
and napkins and older children can help with snapping peas, mixing batter, and
squeezing juice.
o Encourage him to help with the cooking. Let him decide which nights he wants to be
the chef's "special helper."
 Respond without giving in.
o Use reflective listening (e.g., "Gosh, I guess you don't like that.") but avoid engaging
in discussions beyond that.
o Allow your child to handle the problem (e.g., "You don't have to eat it. I'm sure you
can make it until our next meal…").
 Choose your battles. Don't turn it into a battle of wills (e.g. your child sits at the table for
hours while refusing to finish his broccoli). This is destructive to your relationship and may
lead to eating problems in the future.
 Keep up those mealtime routines! A small snack can also help with after-school hunger
pangs. Make sure that mealtime is regular. Have rituals such as a quick game before lunch or
a walk after dinner. This sense of family togetherness, especially around the evening meal,
can help children feel part of a secure, loving group.
 Ease your own anxiety about nutrition. Give your child a good multi-vitamin and relax.
When my child is really acting up, I give her a quick spanking and her behavior stops immediately.
Spanking seems to work better than any of the other disciplinary methods I've tried, so why is it bad?
 Spanking is a form of punishment that leads to negative feelings. Discipline is different from
punishment. Discipline leads to a learning experience for your child.
 Even though physical punishment may stop the behavior immediately, "hitting begets
hitting" and children who have been physically punished often hit others because they have
been taught to be aggressive.
 Spanking can have long-term negative effects on the child such as:
o discouragement,
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o low self-esteem,
o future abusive relationships, and
o the belief that hitting is okay
 Spanking children teaches the wrong lessons:
o Big people get to hurt little people.
o "I can hit others when I grow up."
o Hitting is an acceptable way to deal with anger.
o Hide the behavior instead of change the behavior.
o Focus on the "mean mommy" instead of the inappropriate behavior.
o "I am a terrible, worthless person who deserves to be hit." This may set children up
for future failure, ill-treatment, abusive mates.
o It's not safe to make a mistake or take a risk.
o Do what you want but don't think about the consequences (rebelliousness).
 Don't misinterpret fear as respect. Some parents think that their children respect them more
because of their physical discipline. This is not true!
 Remember that you are always modeling behavior. If you don't want your child to hit others,
don't hit your child either.
My child doesn't always listen to me. It's a struggle to get her to do what I say. There's no reasoning with
her, especially once she's throwing a tantrum. How can I effectively discipline her?
 Have both respect for your child and positive discipline in your disciplinary routines.
o Communicate with your child after she's had a moment to calm down. Calmly review
the behavior with your child and explain why it was wrong using age-appropriate
words.
o Be consistent and firm, yet kind.
 Try these strategies to deal with problematic behavior:
o Ignore mild behavior. If a child does not get attention for a behavior, he will often
stop doing it.
o Use distraction. Try redirecting your child to another behavior, toy, or activity. You
can also use humor as a distraction tool.
o Give warnings then follow through. For example, "Food stays on our plate. If it goes
on the floor, I will take it away" (the warning). If the warning needs to be repeated
more than twice, take the plate away and end the meal (the consequence).
o Time-out. Remove your child from the situation (e.g. put her in another room, have
her sit in the corner) for a short period. This will help her calm down as well as
motivate her to behave so she can "get back into the game."
o "Calming time." Giving your child a quiet activity (drawing, coloring, puzzle pieces,
etc) can calm her better than simply sitting (a time-out)
o Stay in control. Be emotionally neutral and matter-of-fact. Avoid spanking, shouting,
or pleading for cooperation. If you start using these techniques, it's okay to say that
you made a mistake and to start over using a different technique. Remember to take
a "calming time" to cool off when YOU need it too!
o Trial and error. Remember that each child is different and your strategies may need
to change for each child or as your child grows through different phases. Find what
works specifically for you and your child.
 The best strategies are ones that prevent problem behavior from occurring:
o Be playful. If you want your child to clean up her toys, get down and do it with her in
a fun way. For example, have a "10-second tidy" where you see how much you can
clean up in 10 seconds or sing a silly song like "Clean up clean up, everybody
everywhere. Clean up clean up, everybody do your share." Feel free to make up your
games and lyrics!
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o Say "no" less. Prevent battles by childproofing your home and removing objects your
child isn't allowed to play with.
o Problem-solve difficult situations. For example, if grocery shopping always leads to a
major battle between you and your child, try to figure out what's going wrong. Are
you going at the end of the day when your child is tired? Would some snacks or small
toys in your bag help keep him well behaved?
o "Time in." Make sure your child has at least 15 minutes a day of your complete
attention. This reduces "attention-getting" behaviors and shows your child love and
support.
o Take care of yourself. As a parent, you need to find time for yourself so you have the
energy to give the proper attention and discipline. Paying attention to your needs,
feeling rested and being calm improves
AC1 Observations contribute towards assessment of

individual development.
Types of observation
We have looked at methods of observations. Now let us take a look at the types of observation which are:
 naturalistic;
 structured;
 longitudinal;
 snapshot.
Naturalistic
These are so called because they are observations of children which are carried out in the child’s usual
surroundings. The observation allows the child to carry out tasks which they would normally carry out
without any structuring being attempted by you, the observer.
Structured
This type of observation is the opposite of naturalistic in that the childminder has specifically set up a
particular activity in order to observe how a child carries out a specific task. For example, an obstacle
course could be created to observe a child’s balance and co-ordination, or a painting activity to observe a
child’s fine motor skills.
Longitudinal
When you have settled into a pattern of regularly observing the children in your care and recording your
findings you will begin to build up longitudinal records of observation, as your findings will show how the
children in your care change and progress over a lengthy period of time. Each child’s set of records and
observations will be their longitudinal record which will enable the important adults in their lives, namely
you, their childminder, and their parents, to identify the important milestones and achievements in their
lives.
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Snapshot
As the name suggests, this type of observation involves trying to achieve a ‘snapshot’ of how a child is
behaving at any given period of time. For example, a snapshot observation of how a child reacts
immediately after their parent has dropped them off may be helpful in trying to deal with a child who is
clingy and difficult to settle.
Essential information to include

With all observations there is a certain amount of essential information which must be included such as:
 the child’s name;

 the child’s age;
 the date the observation was carried out;
 the activity the child was involved in during the observation;
 the number, ages and gender of any other children involved in the activity;
 the name of the person carrying out the observation.
When observing a child, use whichever method you are most comfortable with and whichever is
appropriate for the purpose you wish to achieve. It is vital that the observation is accurate and unbiased.
Refrain from taking away findings which you feel may upset or worry parents, as these may be vital clues to
the overall assessment of the child.
For example, if you are observing a child’s behaviour in order to develop an appropriate strategy to deal
with tantrums, and simply to avoid embarrassing the child’s parents you omit the fact that, during an
observation, the child lashed out or threw a toy across the room, then you risk jeopardising the whole
exercise as this is an important part of the child’s behaviour which needs to be addressed.
Never exaggerate the situation or problem to make it appear worse than it really is. Your observations must
be accurate and up to date to have any benefit whatsoever on the child’s overall development.
TIP
Observations do not have to be lengthy, complicated accounts. Choose the method of observation you are
most comfortable with and remember to record your findings accurately.
Using observations to plan for children’s needs

You will be making plans all the time without even realising you are doing so. Everyone makes plans at
some time in their lives. They may be as simple as writing a shopping list or organising a trip to the park, or
as complex as planning a special holiday or a wedding. Every day of our lives will involve some type of
planning. If you have children of your own you will plan their day as well as your own. Planning will include
what clothes to wear, food to buy and cook, activities to enjoy, places to go, etc. Most of the planning we
do on a daily basis will be done in our heads with the occasional written reminder to jog our memories of
important things lest we forget.
Planning is an important part of a childminder’s day. In order for the day to run smoothly and for
everything to get done on time, plans need to be made and implemented. Plans are vital for the effective
and efficient running of a childminding business. Childminders should be making plans on both a daily and a
weekly basis, and depending on the number and ages of children in their care, the plans may look
something like this:
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Daily childminding plan

Important times to adhere to:
1. Arrival of children from 7.30am onwards

2. Drop off at school 8.50am
3. Drop off at playgroup 9.00am
4. Collect from playgroup 11.30am
5. Lunch time 12 noon
6. Collect from school 3.30pm
7. Tea 4.30pm
8. Departure of children from 5.00pm onwards
With the exception of the above times, the rest of the childminder’s day can be planned to their own
agenda, doing activities to suit the children’s preferences and the opportunities which arise. It is essential
that the times above are adhered to and that the children are taken to and collected from school and
playgroup on time. Meals must be planned at regular times everyday to avoid the children becoming overly
hungry or having to rush meals in order to fit them in. If children usually leave your house by 5pm you must
make sure that they have been fed and are ready to be collected as agreed. Parents will not be impressed
if, after a hard day at work, they then have to wait half an hour for their child to eat their tea because you
failed to time your own day effectively.
TIP
Never plan your day so stringently that there is no room for manoeuvre. Always allow sufficient time for
spontaneous play and allow children to enjoy activities at their own pace rather than having to stick to a
rigid time schedule.
By sticking to a workable plan you should be able to carry out your childminding duties satisfactorily and
progress onto effective weekly planning which may incorporate things like:
 visiting the library;

 shopping for essentials for your childminding business;
 specific homework on set days for school children;
 outings;
 activities for the week.
TIP
It is important to remember that there is no right or wrong way to plan. How you plan your working day
and week is entirely up to you. What is important, however, is that the plans you make meet your own
needs and those of the children you care for.
The observations you have carried out will put you in good stead when deciding on how to plan for the
needs of the children in your care. For example your observations and assessments will enable you to:
 see which activities the children enjoy the most;

 see which activities the children are least interested in;
 determine which activities a child is good at;
 decide how to extend the activity in order to stretch the skills of the child;
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 check the child’s progress and growth.
When to extend activities
The more information you can have about a child in your care the better equipped you should be to
provide for their needs. Always take your cue from the child and never try to over stretch them before they
are ready. When you have found an activity which the child enjoys, introduce it as often as they wish but
refrain from extending it until they are competent enough to cope with more complexity. If you try to push
a child too far too soon you risk alienating them and their self-confidence may even suffer if they feel they
have failed in a particular task.
A child of two who has just discovered the joy of painting, for example, by using a variety of finger paints,
paint pads and sponges should be allowed to experiment in this way before you introduce more complex
materials such as brushes, scrapers, stamps, string, etc. Avoid the temptation to indulge them with too
many varied and complex materials before they are ready and always be realistic with your expectations.
Likewise, there is little point in planning an activity involving making a collage with a child who cannot yet
use scissors correctly. Instead
Behavior observation checklist (Kindergarten to grade 1)
Many children this age are challenging, but some are particularly spirited, hyperactive, or otherwise
difficult to manage. If you've been wondering whether your child's behavior — or misbehavior — could
signal ADHD or some other disorder, recording his actions at home, school or in other settings can give you
important information to discuss with your child's doctor. (But remember that it can be hard to diagnose
ADHD at this age because many of the symptoms are considered normal behavior in young children.)
Fill out the checklist below to help identify specific behavior problems. Ask your child's teacher or caregiver
to fill out the form as well. She should observe your child for a few days before answering the questions so
that her answers describe your child's usual behavior (all children have occasional tough days; you're
interested in consistent behavior patterns). If you both notice several of these behaviors in your child on a
consistent basis, ask your doctor whether you should have your child evaluated for ADHD.
Child's name:
Date of observation:
Child's age:
Does the child behave in any of the following ways on a daily basis?
Fidgets or squirms during circle or story time
Talks a great deal while engaged in other activities (such as an art project)
Interrupts frequently when the teacher is reading to the group
Has difficulty completing simple projects that most other children complete
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Can't follow directions unless the teacher is supervising her or walking her through the task step by
step (washing hands, putting toys away, getting item from cubby)
Blurts out answers to questions before the teacher has finished asking the question
Has difficulty waiting for a turn in group situations
Engages in dangerous activities without considering the consequences (running into street, jumping
off a high slide)
Uses physical actions (grabbing, hitting) rather than words
Easily distracted when listening to a story
Looks up from activity when other children walk by
Has trouble following a sequence of more than one direction (such as "Take this book to the table,
then come back here and sit down")
Wanders around classroom unless told what to do
Hits, pushes, or shoves other children without apparent cause
Are there any other comments you'd like to make about this child's behavior?
AC2: Observations are carried out in a way that

minimise bias and subjectivity.
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Cognitive-developmental psychology traditionally coped with cross-cultural similarity by positing culture-
general theories of knowledge development. The most famous of these theories was that proposed by Jean
Piaget. Piaget suggested that reasoning in all kinds of cognitive domains (e.g., moral reasoning, physical
reasoning, and logical reasoning) progressed through a series of universal stages that transcended culture
and context. For Piaget, children progressed through three levels of knowing or of mental organization
(Smith 2002). These were infancy (during which knowledge was based on action—the sensorimotor period),
childhood (based on representational thought—the attainment of concrete operations), and adolescence
(based on formal understanding—the attainment of formal operations). Piaget stressed that the levels in
his theory were levels of knowledge, not levels of the child. He also suggested that the stages were not age-
related, although he did provide indicative ages at which they occurred (sensorimotor, birth to two years;
preoperational, two to seven years; concrete operations, seven to eleven years; formal operations,
adolescence onwards). Nevertheless, he is usually characterized as a stage theoretician, and has been much
criticized accordingly. Even quite young children can be shown to possess cognitive abilities that, according
to Piaget's stage theory, they should not have at a given stage. For example, three-year-old children can
reason by analogy, characterized by Piaget as a formal operation (see Goswami 1998). Other criticisms
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concern Piaget's assumptions that early thought is not representational, and that language plays a
peripheral role in cognitive development.
Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development

Lev Vygotsky differed from Piaget in that the role of social context and culture in children's cognition was a
central part of his theory (Rowe and Wertsch 2002). Rather than seeing the development of knowledge as
transcending culture and context, Vygotsky argued that an understanding of how knowledge develops
requires an understanding of the social and historical origins of knowledge and of changes in that
knowledge. He also proposed a central role for language in cognitive development. Vygotsky argued that
human knowledge originates in socially meaningful activity and is shaped by language
A key part of this transfer lies in the child's mastery of the symbolic or artificial stimuli (signs) characteristic
of the child's culture, such as language. Part of the development of children's thinking therefore requires
apprenticeship into culturally specific cognitive and social practices. According to Vygotsky, cognitive
development does not happen just in the head of the child. Rather, it is a process of learning to operate
with physical, symbolic, and cognitive tools in ways that in themselves change cognitive processes. The
difference between a child's individual performance and that child's performance when guided by experts
is metaphorically described by Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD was described by
Vygotsky (1978) as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent
problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under
adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" (p. 86). This notion of an enhanced level of
mental functioning when an expert guides an apprentice has been influential in education and in the study
of learning disability.
Information Processing Theories of Cognitive Development

Later theories of cognitive development have been based on a computer metaphor. The idea that the brain
is like a computer, able to take certain inputs, convert them into representations, and use these
representations to compute certain outputs, led to new theoretical models for cognitive development
called information-processing and connectionist models. Neo-Piagetian information processing theories
explained cognitive development in terms of two fundamental components: the child's assumed available
memory storage and the level of complexity at which the child was assumed to be capable of processing
information (e.g., Case 1992; Halford 1993). Connectionist models are learning systems, and are loosely
based on principles of neural information processing. They are intended to employ the same style of
computation as the brain (they do not model exactly what is understood about neural circuits and the
computational primitives/representations in the cortex and elsewhere in the brain that are extracted from
environmental input). Connectionist models have proved particularly useful for their insights into possible
causes of atypical development. For example, small changes in learning algorithms (routines) can model
either reading development or dyslexia. This suggests that very small differences in a basic aspect of
cognitive processing can lead eventually to quite noticeable differences in developmental outcome.
Connectionist models also force the theorist to be more aware of the effects of incremental and context-
dependent piecemeal learning for the child's development: every input to a connectionist system makes a
difference to final learning, and theorists must be aware that every aspect of a child's environment will
contribute to cognitive development.
Latest Perspectives on Cognitive Development

According to the latest conceptualizations of cognitive development, the infant begins the process of
knowledge acquisition with a set of core principles that guide and constrain future cognitive development
(e.g., Gopnik, Meltzoff, and Kuhl 1999; Goswami 2002). These core principles are either innate, or are given
by simple perceptual information such as a sensitivity to contingency (events that appear contingent on
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one another). Experience of the physical and social worlds allows infants to enrich and revise these initial
expectations, and even to replace them with new understandings. Knowledge acquisition is guided by the
core constraints, and also by the ways in which surrounding adults behave—the social, emotional, and
cultural contexts within which learning takes place. The kinds of innate or early-developing core principles
postulated include physical principles like solidity and continuity of objects (e.g., that one object can only
be in one place at a time) (Spelke et al. 1992), expecting words to refer to commonalities among objects
(e.g., words label shared categories, functions, or perceptual aspects of objects) (Waxman 2002), and a
basic animate/inanimate distinction (e.g., living versus nonliving (Gelman 1990). In contrast to traditional
theories, therefore, current cognitive developmental psychology does not characterize the newborn as
incapable of distinguishing self from other, incapable of forming representations, or incapable of retaining
memories. Rather, newborns are characterized as active learners, equipped with certain innate
expectations that, although quite primitive, enable them to benefit hugely from experience. The extent of
this benefit depends on powerful learning mechanisms, such as the absorption of statistical regularities in
the environment (e.g., in early perceptual tuning to the sounds of one's native language); making relational
mappings, as in mapping the actions of other people onto the actions of one's own body (infant imitation);
mapping the responses of another person to one's own emotional states; and explanation-based learning:
noticing causal regularities in environmental information and seeking explanations for them, as in noticing
that objects sometimes fall unexpectedly, and that this tends to occur when they are insufficiently
supported (see Goswami 2002). Following are two examples of how the social, emotional and cultural
contexts within which learning takes place affects cognitive development within this newer theoretical
framework.
Social Cognition
Infants are innately interested in, and attentive to, people. Even newborn babies can imitate facial
expressions, and older infants prefer to imitate people rather than machines (Meltzoff 1995). Joint
attention skills develop by about nine months, and infants probably have a basic notion of agency by the
end of the first year. Infants' conscious awareness of their own emotional states and of how they are
related to the actions of their caregivers also develops during the first year of life. Although an
understanding of representational mental states (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, knowledge, ideas, or false beliefs)
develops more slowly, a basic understanding of desires and emotions is present relatively early (by around
two years). This early focus on other people means that parents and caretakers have an enormously
important role to play in cognitive development.
As an illustration, take pretending, an early example of the child's symbolic capacity. Children across the
world play pretend games, and pretending is important both for the development of the cognitive
understanding of the minds of others (Lillard 2002) and for the development of social cognition more
generally. Pretence activities focused on objects and props typically begin during the second year of life,
and sociodramatic pretending with caretakers and peers typically emerges at around three to four years.
Cultural contexts affect children's choice of pretend play topics. For example, the pretend play of U.S.
preschoolers shows greater enactment of fantasy themes than the pretend play of Taiwanese children,
whereas Taiwanese children spend a lot more time playing games about social routines and "proper"
conduct (Haight et al. 1999). Parental attitudes and parental engagement also affect the frequency of
pretend play, with more pretend play found in cultures where it is actively encouraged. Thus parents and
caretakers act, usually quite unconsciously, in ways that promote and influence cognitive change.
A second illustration comes from research into children's understanding of mental states (theory of mind).
A basic division between the mental (thoughts, ideas, beliefs) and the physical (substantive, objective
objects) is present from early in childhood (Wellman 2002). As they seek causes and explanations for the
actions of others, children gradually develop an understanding of mental states such as beliefs, knowledge,
and false beliefs. For example, an understanding of false belief, with a consequent understanding of
deception and intentional lying, develops at around four years. One important source of individual
differences in the development of theory of mind is parent-child and family relationships. Children with
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brothers and sisters, particularly those with older siblings, typically show earlier psychological
understanding, for example passing false belief tasks at earlier ages than children without siblings (e.g.,
Youngblade and Dunn 1995). Children whose families openly discuss emotions and feelings also show
earlier developments in psychological understanding, particularly if the family discussions analyze the
causes of emotions. The ways in which we talk to our children and the things that we talk to them about
both play key roles in cognitive development.
The Development of Logical Reasoning

Research into the development of logical reasoning was for a long time dominated by Piaget's idea that
development consisted of the child's gradual discovery of formal rules and principles such as transitivity
and deductive logic. These formal principles were thought to be domain-general (applying across all fields
of learning) and content-independent (applying irrespective of the material concerned), and were assumed
to operate in their purest form in totally unfamiliar domains. The existing state of the child's conceptual
system was therefore ignored. Late twentieth-century research has demonstrated that difficulties in logical
reasoning are not usually determined by the intrinsic logical structure of the task. Rather, they are
determined by the content or mode of presentation of the problem itself. This can be shown both across
cultures and within different social contexts.
For example, it was believed that young children and adults from less Westernized cultures suffered from
an empirical bias in logical (syllogistic) reasoning. If given a classical logical deduction such as "All Kpelle
men are rice farmers. Mr. Smith is not a rice farmer. Is he a Kpelle man?", West African Kpelle tribespeople
seemed unable to answer correctly (Scribner 1977). They said that they did not know the man in question
and thus could not verify whether he was a Kpelle man or not. Young children given similar logical problems
showed a similar "empirical bias." They seemed unable to reason about unfamiliar or incongruent
information simply by applying deductive logic. However, Maria Dias and Paul Harris (1988; 1990) showed
that even preschoolers could reason about incongruent premises if the reasoning task was presented in a
"fantasy" mode. When the experimenter pretended that she was on another planet and used a "make-
believe" intonation, even four-year-olds could solve syllogisms such as "All cats bark. Rex is a cat. Does Rex
bark?" Dias and Harris concluded that young children were capable of deductive reasoning, as long as
logical problems were presented in a context that clearly marked for the child that the situation was make-
believe.
As another example, take performance on a classic Piagetian task, conservation. The conservation task is a
measure of children's understanding of the principle of invariance: quantities do not alter unless something
is added or taken away. In the conservation task, a child is shown two identical quantities, such as two rows
of five beads arranged in 1:1 correspondence, or two glasses of liquid filled to exactly the same level. An
adult experimenter then alters the appearance of one of these quantities while the child is watching. For
example, the adult could pour the liquid in one of the glasses into a shorter, wider beaker, or could spread
out the beads in one of the rows so that the row looked longer. Piaget showed that in these circumstances,
children younger than around seven years told the experimenter that there was now less water in the
wider beaker, or that there were more beads in the spread-out row. Again, however, social context plays a
role in determining children's performance in this task. For example, when a "naughty teddy" alters the
beads in one of the rows instead of an important adult, children as young as four and five years show
conservation (McGarrigle and Donaldson 1975). Also, children who grow up in cultures that provide
extensive experience with changes in appearance that do not alter quantity show earlier conservation. For
example, the children of potters in certain rural societies show very early conservation of mass (Price-
Williams, Gordon, and Ramirez 1969). Again, rather than being independent of culture and context,
children's logical abilities are to some extent determined by both.
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Identifying and Avoiding Bias

Teachers should spend time identifying areas of bias in the classroom, whether it is within the curriculum,
within themselves or in the way they interact with students. Teachers should make an effort to gain an
understanding of all students, their backgrounds and how they learn. It is important to focus on what
language you use in the classroom and to identify instructional practices that can reach diverse students. If
a teacher has difficulty identifying her own bias in the classroom, it may be helpful to have other faculty or
staff observe the classroom dynamic, as well as gather evaluations from students and parents
To achieve success in the classroom, it is important to not only know students but to also affirm them.
Addressing bias in the classroom can help an educator implement effective teaching strategies that foster a
positive learning environment. Determining the types of bias in the classroom is critical to the success of
the teaching and learning process.
Gender
Gender bias in the classroom can be defined as how boys and girls are treated differently. In the classroom,
boys and girls read the same books and have the same teacher, but may receive different educations
because of gender bias. Bias based on a student's gender may involve being called on more often, being
given different guidelines for behavior and being given different opportunities. Gender bias may be
evidenced in what kinds of questions boys and girls are asked, what students are encouraged to study and
whether students receive a sense of validation.
Ethnic
Ethnic or racial bias in the classroom involves bias based on a student's culture or even his language. Ethnic
bias is normally a result of the belief that racial differences produce superiority over another race. Ethnic
bias is often evidenced by different methods of discipline and how teachers address behavioral problems.
Ethnic bias can be avoided by discussing ethnic differences and helping students understand who they are
and relating to how they are different.
Economic
Economic bias often involves showing bias toward a student's socioeconomic situation, despite this being
an issue completely out of the student's control. When relating a student's success with her socioeconomic
background, the teacher may use stereotypes that the student is disadvantaged, deprived and that he
comes from a dysfunctional family.
Conclusion
Late twentieth-century theoretical frameworks in cognitive developmental psychology have emphasized
the importance of explanation-based learning models of cognitive development. Children are
conceptualized as seeking to explain the world around them in terms of the collateral and background
information that is available to them. The child's access to such information will vary with individual
experience, parental and family practices, educational and cultural practices, and with sociohistorical
context. Knowledge acquisition is thought guided by certain core constraints, and also by the ways in which
surrounding adults behave—unconsciously transmitting social, emotional, and cultural norms within which
learning takes place. The fact that children across the world seem to develop remarkably similar cognitive
frameworks suggests that the learning mechanisms in the brain are actually fairly heavily constrained, and
that environmental inputs across different cultures and social contexts share considerably more similarities
than differences.
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AC3. Observations are guided by given frameworks,

assessment guidelines or instruments
Child development refers to the biological and psychological and emotional changes that occur in human
beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual progresses from dependency to
increasing autonomy. Because these developmental changes may be strongly influenced by genetic factors
and events during prenatal life, genetics and prenatal development are usually included as part of the study
of child development. Related terms include developmental psychology, referring to development
throughout the lifespan, and pediatrics, the branch of medicine relating to the care of children.
Developmental change may occur as a result of genetically-controlled processes known as maturation, or
as a result of environmental factors and learning, but most commonly involves an interaction between the
two. It may also occur as a result of human nature and our ability to learn from our environment. Human
beings have a keen sense to adapt to their surroundings and this is what child development encompasses.
There are various definitions of periods in a child's development, since each period is a continuum with
individual differences regarding start and ending.
Approximate outline of development periods in child development.
Some age-related development periods and examples of defined intervals are: newborn (ages 0–1 month);
infant (ages 1 month – 1 year); toddler (ages 1–3 years); preschooler (ages 4–6years); school-aged child
(ages 6–13 years); adolescent (ages 13–20).[1] However, organizations like Zero to Three and the World
Association for Infant Mental Health use the term infant as a broad category, including children from birth
to age 3.
The optimal development of children is considered vital to society and so it is important to understand the
social, cognitive, emotional, and educational development of children. Increased research and interest in
this field has resulted in new theories and strategies, with specific regard to practice that promotes
development within the school system. In addition there are also some theories that seek to describe a
sequence of states that compose child development.
Theories
Ecological Systems Theory
Also called "Development in Context" or "Human Ecology" theory, Ecological Systems Theory, originally
formulated by Urie Bronfenbrenner specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-
directional influences within and between the systems. The four systems are Microsystem, Mesosystem,
Exosystem, and Macrosystem. Each system contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shape
development. Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenner's major statement of this theory, The Ecology
of Human Development [2] has had widespread influence on the way psychologists and others approach the
study of human beings and their environments. As a result of this influential conceptualization of
development, these environments — from the family to economic and political structures — have come to
be viewed as part of the life course from childhood through adulthood.[3]
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Piaget
Piaget was a Swiss theorist who posited that children learn actively through the play process. He suggested
that the adult's role in helping the child learn was to provide appropriate materials for the child to interact
and construct. He would use Socratic questioning to get the children to reflect on what they were doing. He
would try to get them to see contradictions in their explanations. He also developed stages of
development. His approach can be seen in how the curriculum is sequenced in schools, and in the
pedagogy of preschool centers across the United States.
Piaget Stages
Sensorimotor: (birth to about age 2)
During this stage, the child learns about himself and his environment through motor and reflex actions.
Thought derives from sensation and movement. The child learns that he is separate from his environment
and that aspects of his environment—his parents or favorite toy—continue to exist even though they may
be outside the reach of his senses. Teaching for a child in this stage should be geared to the sensorimotor
system. You can modify behavior by using the senses: a frown, a stern or soothing voice—all serve as
appropriate techniques.
Preoperational: (begins about the time the child starts to talk to about age 7)
Applying his new knowledge of language, the child begins to use symbols to represent objects. Early in this
stage he or she also personifies objects. They are now better able to think about things and events that
aren't immediately present. Oriented to the present, children have difficulty conceptualizing time. Their
thinking is influenced by fantasy—the way they'd like things to be—and they assume that others see
situations from his or her viewpoint. They take in information and change it in their mind to fit their ideas.
Teaching must take into account the child's vivid fantasies and undeveloped sense of time. Using neutral
words, body outlines and equipment a child can touch gives him an active role in learning.
Concrete: (about first grade to early adolescence)
During this stage, accommodation increases. The child develops an ability to think abstractly and to make
rational judgments about concrete or observable phenomena, which in the past he needed to manipulate
physically to understand. In teaching this child, giving him the opportunity to ask questions and to explain
things back to you allows him to mentally manipulate information.
Formal Operations:
This stage brings cognition to its final form. This person no longer requires concrete objects to make
rational judgements. At this point, he is capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning. Teaching for the
adolescent may be wideranging because he'll be able to consider many possibilities from several
perspectives.
Vygotsky
Vygotsky was a theorist who worked during the first decades of the former Soviet Union. He posited that
children learn through hands-on experience, as Piaget suggested. However, unlike Piaget, he claimed that
timely and sensitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge of learning a new task (called the
zone of proximal development) could help children learn new tasks. This technique is called "scaffolding,"
because it builds upon knowledge children already have with new knowledge that adults can help the child
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learn.[4] An example of this might be when a parent "helps" an infant clap or roll her hands to the pat-a-
cake rhyme, until she can clap and roll her hands herself.[5][6]
Vygotsky was strongly focused on the role of culture in determining the child's pattern of development. [4]
He argued that "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level,
and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child
(intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of
concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals."[4]
Vygotsky felt that development was a process and saw periods of crisis in child development during which
there was a qualitative transformation in the child's mental functioning.[7]
Attachment theory
Attachment theory, originating in the work of John Bowlby and developed by Mary Ainsworth, is a
psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework
for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings. Attachment theorists consider the
human infant to have a need for a relationship with at least one caregiver for normal social and emotional
development to occur.
Erik Erikson
Main articles: Erik Erikson and Psychosocial development
Erikson, a follower of Freud's, synthesized both Freud's and his own theories to create what is known as the
"psychosocial" stages of human development, which span from birth to death, and focuses on "tasks" at
each stage that must be accomplished to successfully navigate life's challenges.[8]
Behavioral Theories
John B. Watson’s behaviorism theory forms the foundation of the behavioral model of development.[9] He
wrote extensively on child development and conducted research (see Little Albert experiment). Watson
was instrumental in the modification of William James’ stream of consciousness approach to construct a
stream of behavior theory.[10] Watson also helped bring a natural science perspective to child psychology by
introducing objective research methods based on observable and measurable behavior. Following Watson’s
lead, B.F. Skinner further extended this model to cover operant conditioning and verbal behavior.
Other theories
In accordance with his view that the sexual drive is a basic human motivation, Sigmund Freud developed a
psychosexual theory of human development from infancy onward, divided into five stages. Each stage
centered around the gratification of the libido within a particular area, or erogenous zone, of the body. He
also argued that as humans develop, they become fixated on different and specific objects through their
stages of development. Each stage contains conflict which requires resolution to enable the child to
develop.[11]
The use of dynamical systems theory as a framework for the consideration of development began in the
early 1990s and has continued into the present century.[12] Dynamic systems theory stresses nonlinear
connections (e.g., between earlier and later social assertiveness) and the capacity of a system to reorganize
as a phase shift that is stage-like in nature. Another useful concept for developmentalists is the attractor
state, a condition (such as teething or stranger anxiety) that helps to determine apparently unrelated
behaviors as well as related ones. Dynamic systems theory has been applied extensively to the study of
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motor development; the theory also has strong associations with some of Bowlby's views about
attachment systems. Dynamic systems theory also relates to the concept of the transactional process, [13] a
mutually interactive process in which children and parents simultaneously influence each other, producing
developmental change in both over time.
The Core Knowledge Perspective is an evolutionary theory in child development that proposes "infants
begin life with innate, special-purpose knowledge systems referred to as core domains of thought"[14] There
are five core domains of thought, each of which is crucial for survival, which simultaneously prepare us to
develop key aspects of early cognition; they are: physical, numerical, linguistic, psychological, and
biological.
Continuity and discontinuity in development

Although the identification of developmental milestones is of interest to researchers and to children's
caregivers, many aspects of developmental change are continuous and do not display noticeable
milestones of change.[15] Continuous developmental changes, like growth in stature, involve fairly gradual
and predictable progress toward adult characteristics. When developmental change is discontinuous,
however, researchers may identify not only milestones of development, but related age periods often
called stages. A stage is a period of time, often associated with a known chronological age range, during
which a behavior or physical characteristic is qualitatively different from what it is at other ages. When an
age period is referred to as a stage, the term implies not only this qualitative difference, but also a
predictable sequence of developmental events, such that each stage is both preceded and followed by
specific other periods associated with characteristic behavioral or physical qualities.
Stages of development may overlap or be associated with specific other aspects of development, such as
speech or movement. Even within a particular developmental area, transition into a stage may not mean
that the previous stage is completely finished. For example, in Erikson's discussion of stages of personality,
this theorist suggests that a lifetime is spent in reworking issues that were originally characteristic of a
childhood stage.[16] Similarly, the theorist of cognitive development, Piaget, described situations in which
children could solve one type of problem using mature thinking skills, but could not accomplish this for less
familiar problems, a phenomenon he called horizontal decalage.
Mechanisms of development
Girl playing in a play ground
Although developmental change runs parallel with chronological age,

age itself cannot cause development. The basic mechanisms or causes
of developmental change are genetic factors and environmental
factors. Genetic factors are responsible for cellular changes like overall
growth, changes in proportion of body and brain parts, and the
maturation of aspects of function such as vision and dietary needs.
Because genes can be "turned off" and "turned on", the individual's initial genotype may change in function
over time, giving rise to further developmental change. Environmental factors affecting development may
include both diet and disease exposure, as well as social, emotional, and cognitive experiences. However,
examination of environmental factors also shows that young human beings can survive within a fairly broad
range of environmental experiences.[17]
Rather than acting as independent mechanisms, genetic and environmental factors often interact to cause
developmental change. Some aspects of child development are notable for their plasticity, or the extent to
which the direction of development is guided by environmental factors as well as initiated by genetic
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factors. For example, the development of allergic reactions appears to be caused by exposure to certain
environmental factors relatively early in life, and protection from early exposure makes the child less likely
to show later allergic reactions. When an aspect of development is strongly affected by early experience, it
is said to show a high degree of plasticity; when the genetic make-up is the primary cause of development,
plasticity is said to be low.[18] Plasticity may involve guidance by endogenous factors like hormones as well
as by exogenous factors like infection.
Child playing with bubbles
One kind of environmental guidance of development has been

described as experience-dependent plasticity, in which behavior is
altered as a result of learning from the environment. Plasticity of
this type can occur throughout the lifespan and may involve many
kinds of behavior, including some emotional reactions. A second
type of plasticity, experience-expectant plasticity, involves the
strong effect of specific experiences during limited sensitive periods
of development. For example, the coordinated use of the two eyes,
and the experience of a single three-dimensional image rather than
the two-dimensional images created by light in each eye, depend on
experiences with vision during the second half of the first year of
life. Experience-expectant plasticity works to fine-tune aspects of development that cannot proceed to
optimum outcomes as a result of genetic factors working alone.[19]
In addition to the existence of plasticity in some aspects of development, genetic-environmental

correlations may function in several ways to determine the mature characteristics of the individual.
Genetic-environmental correlations are circumstances in which genetic factors make certain experiences
more likely to occur. For example, in passive genetic-environmental correlation, a child is likely to
experience a particular environment because his or her parents' genetic make-up makes them likely to
choose or create such an environment. In evocative genetic-environmental correlation, the child's
genetically-caused characteristics cause other people to respond in certain ways, providing a different
environment than might occur for a genetically-different child; for instance, a child with Down syndrome
may be treated more protectively and less challengingly than a non-Down child. Finally, an active genetic-
environmental correlation is one in which the child chooses experiences that in turn have their effect; for
instance, a muscular, active child may choose after-school sports experiences that create increased athletic
skills, but perhaps preclude music lessons. In all of these cases, it becomes difficult to know whether child
characteristics were shaped by genetic factors, by experiences, or by a combination of the two.[20]
Research issues and methods

1. What develops? What relevant aspects of the individual change over a period of time?
2. What are the rate and speed of development?
3. What are the mechanisms of development - what aspects of experience and heredity cause
developmental change?
4. Are there normal individual differences in the relevant developmental changes?
5. Are there population differences in this aspect of development (for example, differences in the
development of boys and of girls)?
Empirical research that attempts to answer these questions may follow a number of patterns. Initially,
observational research in naturalistic conditions may be needed to develop a narrative describing and
defining an aspect of developmental change, such as changes in reflex reactions in the first year. This type
of work may be followed by correlational studies, collecting information about chronological age and some
type of development such as vocabulary growth; correlational statistics can be used to state change. Such
studies examine the characteristics of children at different ages. These methods may involve longitudinal
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studies, in which a group of children are re-examined on a number of occasions as they get older,or cross-
sectional studies, in which groups of children of different ages are tested once and compared with each
other, or there may be a combination of these approaches. Some child development studies examine the
effects of experience or heredity by comparing characteristics of different groups of children in a
necessarily non-randomized design. Other studies can use randomized designs to compare outcomes for
groups of children who receive different interventions or educational treatments.[17]
Developmental milestones
Milestones are changes in specific physical and mental abilities (such as walking and understanding
language) that mark the end of one developmental period and the beginning of another. For stage theories,
milestones indicate a stage transition. Studies of the accomplishment of many developmental tasks have
established typical chronological ages associated with developmental milestones. However, there is
considerable variation in the achievement of milestones, even between children with developmental
trajectories within the normal range. Some milestones are more variable than others; for example,
receptive speech indicators do not show much variation among children with normal hearing, but
expressive speech milestones can be quite variable.
A common concern in child development is developmental delay involving a delay in an age-specific ability
for important developmental milestones. Prevention of and early intervention in developmental delay are
significant topics in the study of child development. Developmental delays should be diagnosed by
comparison with characteristic variability of a milestone, not with respect to average age at achievement.
An example of a milestone would be eye-hand coordination, which includes a child's increasing ability to
manipulate objects in a coordinated manner. Increased knowledge of age-specific milestones allows
parents and others to keep track of appropriate development.
Aspects of child development

Child development is not a matter of a single topic, but progresses somewhat differently for different
aspects of the individual. Here are descriptions of the development of a number of physical and mental
characteristics.
Physical growth
What develops?
Physical growth in stature and weight occurs over the 15–20 years following birth, as the individual changes
from the average weight of 3.5 kg and length of 50 cm at full-term birth to full adult size. As stature and
weight increase, the individual's proportions also change, from the relatively large head and small torso and
limbs of the neonate, to the adult's relatively small head and long torso and limbs.[21] [21]

The speed of physical growth is rapid in the months after birth, then slows, so birth weight is doubled in the
first four months, tripled by age 12 months, but not quadrupled until 24 months.Growth then proceeds at a
slow rate until shortly before puberty (between about 9 and 15 years of age), when a period of rapid
growth occurs. Growth is not uniform in rate and timing across all body parts. At birth, head size is already
relatively near to that of an adult, but the lower parts of the body are much smaller than adult size. In the
course of development, then, the head grows relatively little, and torso and limbs undergo a great deal of
growth.[21]
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Mechanisms of developmental change

Genetic factors play a major role in determining the growth rate, and particularly the changes in proportion
characteristic of early human development. However, genetic factors can produce the maximum growth
only if environmental conditions are adequate. Poor nutrition and frequent injury and disease can reduce
the individual's adult stature, but the best environment cannot cause growth to a greater stature than is
determined by heredity.[21]
Population differences in growth are largely related to adult stature. Ethnic groups that are quite tall in
adulthood are also longer at birth and throughout childhood, as compared to groups that have short adult
stature. Males are also somewhat taller, although this is more apparent in ethnic groups with strong sexual
dimorphism in adulthood. Populations that are characteristically malnourished are also shorter throughout
life. However, there are few population differences in growth rates or patterns, except that poor
environmental conditions may delay puberty and the associated growth spurt. The markedly different age
at puberty of boys and girls means that boys and girls of age 11 or 12 are at very different points in
maturation and may reverse the usual sex difference in physical size.[21]
Individual differences in height and weight during childhood are considerable. Some of these differences
are due to family genetic factors, others to environmental factors, but at some points in development they
may be strongly influenced by individual differences in reproductive maturation.[21]
Motor development
What develops?
A child while learning to walk
Abilities for physical movement change through childhood from the

largely reflexive (unlearned, involuntary) movement patterns of the
young infant to the highly skilled voluntary movements
characteristic of later childhood and adolescence. (Of course, older
children and adolescents retain some reflex movements in addition
to developing voluntary movement.)[15]

The speed of motor development is rapid in early life, as many of the reflexes of the newborn alter or
disappear within the first year, and slows later. Like physical growth, motor development shows predictable
patterns of cephalocaudal (head to foot) and proximodistal (torso to extremities) development, with
movements at the head end and in the more central areas coming under control before those of the lower
part of the body or the hands and feet. Types of movement develop in stage-like sequences; for example,
locomotion at 6–8 months involves creeping on all fours, then proceeds to pulling to stand, "cruising" while
holding on to an object, walking while holding an adult's hand, and finally walking independently. Older
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children continue the sequence by walking sideways or backward, galloping, hopping, skipping with one
foot and walking with the other, and finally skipping. By middle childhood and adolescence, new motor
skills are acquired by instruction or observation rather than in a predictable sequence.[15]
Mechanisms of motor development

The mechanisms involved in motor development involve some genetic components that determine the
physical size of body parts at a given age, as well as aspects of muscle and bone strength. Nutrition and
exercise also determine strength and therefore the ease and accuracy with which a body part can be
moved.[15] It has also been shown that the frontal lobe develops posterio-anteriorally (from back to front).
This is significant in motor development because the hind portion of the frontal lobe is known to control
motor functions. This form of development is known as "Portional Development" and explains why motor
functions develop relatively quickly during normal childhood development, while logic, which is controlled
by the middle and front portions of the frontal lobe, usually will not develop until late adolescence and
early childhood.[22] Opportunities to carry out movements help establish the abilities to flex (move toward
the trunk) and extend body parts, both capacities being needed for good motor ability. Skilled voluntary
movements develop as a result of practice and learning.[15]
Normal individual in motor ability are common and depend in part on the child's weight and build.
However, after the infant period, normal individual differences are strongly affected by opportunities to
practice, observe, and be instructed on specific movements. Atypical motor development may be an
indication of developmental delays or problems such as autism or cerebral palsy.[15] and the child may be
retarded which would then imply that the development would not be the same.
There are some population differences in motor development, with girls showing some advantages in small
muscle usage, including articulation of sounds with lips and tongue. Ethnic differences in reflex movements
of newborn infants have been reported, suggesting that some biological factor is at work. Cultural
differences may encourage learning of motor skills like using the left hand only for sanitary purposes and
the right hand for all other uses, producing a population difference. Cultural factors are also seen at work in
practiced voluntary movements such as the use of the foot to dribble a soccer ball or the hand to dribble a
basketball.[15]
Cognitive/Intellectual development
What develops?
The capacity to learn, remember, and symbolize information, and to solve problems, exists at a simple level
in young infants, who can perform cognitive tasks such as discriminating animate and inanimate beings or
recognizing small numbers of objects. During childhood, learning and information-processing increase in
speed, memory becomes increasingly longer, and symbol use and the capacity for abstraction develop until
a near-adult level is reached by adolescence.[15]
Mechanisms of cognitive development

Cognitive development has genetic and other biological mechanisms, as is seen in the many genetic causes
of mental retardation. However, although it is assumed that brain functions cause cognitive events, it has
not been possible to measure specific brain changes and show that they cause cognitive change.
Developmental advances in cognition are also related to experience and learning, and this is particularly the
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case for higher-level abilities like abstraction, which depend to a considerable extent on formal
education.[15]
There are normal individual differences in the ages at which specific cognitive abilities are achieved, but
schooling for children in industrialized countries is based on the assumption that these differences are not
large. Atypical delays in cognitive development are problematic for children in cultures that demand
advanced cognitive skills for work and for independent living.[15]
There are few population differences in cognitive development. Boys and girls show some differences in
their skills and preferences, but there is a great deal of overlap between the groups. Differences in
cognitive achievement of different ethnic groups appears to result from cultural or other environmental
factors.[15]
Social-emotional development
What develops?
Newborn infants do not seem to experience fear or have preferences for contact with any specific people.
In the first few months they only experience happiness, sadness, and anger. A baby’s first smile usually
occurs between 6 and 10 weeks. It is called a ‘social smile’ because is usually occurs during social
interactions. By about 8–12 months, they go through a fairly rapid change and become fearful of perceived
threats; they also begin to prefer familiar people and show anxiety and distress when separated from them
or approached by strangers. The capacity for empathy and the understanding of social rules begin in the
preschool period and continue to develop into adulthood. Middle childhood is characterized by friendships
with age-mates, and adolescence by emotions connected with sexuality and the beginnings of romantic
love. Anger seems most intense during the toddler and early preschool period and during adolescence.[15]

Some aspects of social-emotional development, like empathy, develop gradually, but others, like
fearfulness, seem to involve a rather sudden reorganization of the child's experience of emotion. Sexual
and romantic emotions develop in connection with physical maturation.[15]
Mechanisms of social and emotional development

Genetic factors appear to regulate some social-emotional developments that occur at predictable ages,
such as fearfulness, and attachment to familiar people. Experience plays a role in determining which people
are familiar, which social rules are obeyed,and how anger is expressed.[15]
Individual differences in the sequence of social-emotional development are unusual, but the intensity or
expressiveness of emotions can vary greatly from one normal child to another. Individual tendencies to
various types of reactivity are probably constitutional, and they are referred to as temperamental
differences. Atypical development of social-emotional characteristics may be mildly unusual, or may be so
extreme as to indicate mental illness.[15] Temperamental traits are thought to be stable and enduring
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throughout the life span. Children who are active and angry as infants can be expected to be active and
angry as older children, adolescents and adults.
Population differences may occur in older children, if, for example they have learned that it is appropriate
for boys to express emotion or behave differently than girls, or if customs learned by children of one ethnic
group are different from those learned in another. Social and emotional differences between boys and girls
of a given age may also be associated with differences in the timing of puberty characteristic of the two
sexes.[15]
Language
What develops?
In addition to acquiring a large spoken vocabulary, there are four main areas in which the child must attain
competence, regardless of the language or dialect spoken. These are referred to as phonology or sounds,
semantics or the encoded meanings, syntax or the way in which words are combined and pragmatics or
knowledge of how language is used in different contexts.[3]

Receptive language, the understanding of others' speech, has a gradual development beginning at about 6
months. However, expressive language, the production of words, moves rapidly after its beginning at about
a year of age, with a "vocabulary explosion" of rapid word acquisition occurring in the middle of the second
year. This vocabulary expansion is closely linked to the ability to repeat spoken words and enables the rapid
acquisition of skill in their pronunciation.[23][24] Grammatical rules and word combinations appear at about
age two. Mastery of vocabulary and grammar continue gradually through the preschool and school years.
Adolescents still have smaller vocabularies than adults and experience more difficulty with constructions
like the passive voice.
Babies from one month old can produce "ooh" sounds which appear to grow out of pleasurable
interactions with caregivers in a mutual "dialogue". According to Stern, this process is communication of
affect between adult and infant in a mutual, rhythmic interaction. The attunement and "gaze-coupling" in
which infant and adult take different roles is thought to anticipate the give-and-take of later dialogue.[25]
From about 6 to 9 months babies produce more vowels, some consonants and "echolalia", or the frequent
repetition of sounds like "dadadada" which appear to have some phonetic characteristics of later speech. It
is thought that a crucial part of the development of speech is the time caregivers spend "guessing" what
their infants are trying to communicate thus integrating the child into their social world. The attribution of
intentionality to the infant's utterances has been called "shared memory" and forms a complex series of
actions, intentions and actions in response in an improvised way.[3]
It has been argued that children's phonological systems develop in ways that are parallel to adult
languages, even if they are using unrecognisable "words".[26] First words have the function of naming or
labelling but also condense meaning as in "milk" meaning "I want milk". Vocabulary typically grows from
about 20 words at 18 months to around 200 words at 21 months. From around 18 months the child starts
to combine words into two word sentences. Typically the adult expands it to clarify meaning. By 24–27
months the child is producing three or four word sentences using a logical, if not strictly correct, syntax.
The theory is that children apply a basic set of rules such as adding 's' for plurals or inventing simpler words
out of words too complicated to repeat like "choskit" for chocolate biscuit. Following this there is a rapid
appearance of grammatical rules and ordering of sentences. There is often an interest in rhyme, and
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imaginative play frequently includes conversations.[3] Children's recorded monologues give insight into the
development of the process of organising information into meaningful units.[27]
By three years the child is beginning to use complex sentences, including relative clauses, although still
perfecting various linguistic systems. By five years of age the child's use of language is very similar to that of
an adult.[3] From the age of about three children can indicate fantasy or make-believe linguistically, produce
coherent personal stories and fictional narrative with beginnings and endings.[3] It is argued that children
devise narrative as a way of understanding their own experience and as a medium for communicating their
meaning to others.[28] The ability to engage in extended discourse emerges over time from regular
conversation with adults and peers. For this the child needs to learn to combine his perspective with that of
others and with outside events and learn to use linguistic indicators to show he is doing this. They also
learn to adjust their language depending on to whom they are speaking. Typically by the age of about 9 a
child can recount other narratives in addition to their own experiences, from the perspectives of the
author, the characters in the story and their own views.[29]
Mechanisms of language development

Although the role of adult discourse is important in facilitating the child's learning, there is considerable
disagreement amongst theorists about the extent to which children's early meanings and expressive words
arises directly from adult input as opposed to intrinsic factors relating to the child's cognitive functions.
Findings about the initial mapping of new words, the ability to decontextualise words and refine meaning
are diverse.[3] One hypothesis is known as the syntactic bootstrapping hypothesis, referring to the child's
ability to infer meaning from cues, using grammatical information from the structure of sentences. [30]
Another is the multi-route model in which it is argued that context-bound words and referential words
follow different routes; the first being mapped onto event representations and the latter onto mental
representations. In this model, although parental input has a critical role,children rely on cognitive
processing to establish subsequent use of words.[31] However, naturalistic research on language
development has indicated that preschoolers' vocabularies are strongly associated with the number of
words addressed to them by adults.[32]
There is as yet no single accepted theory of language acquisition. Current explanations vary in emphasis
from learning theory, with its emphasis on reinforcement and imitation (Skinner), to biological, nativist
theories, with innate underlying mechanisms (Chomsky and Pinker), to a more interactive approach within
a social context (Piaget and Tomasello).[3] Behaviorists argue that given the universal presence of a physical
environment and, usually, a social environment, any theory of language must account for the effects of the
contingent relations of these on an individuals development of language behaviour.[33][34][35] Pinker argues
that complex language is universal and has an innate basis. Pinker's argument is partly based on the
development of creole languages from pidgins. The children of parents who communicate, without
grammatical structures, in pidgin, develop a creole language of their own accord, complete with
standardised word orders, markers for present, future and past tenses and subordinate clauses.[36] There is
some support for this from the development of sign language amongst deaf children thrown together at a
young age in special schools in Nicaragua who spontaneously developed a pidgin which was then
developed into a creole by a younger generation of children coming into the schools, (ISN).
Slow Expressive Language Development (SELD) a delay in the use of words coupled with normal
understanding, is characteristic of a small proportion of children who later display normal language use.
Dyslexia is a significant topic in child development as it affects approximately 5% of the population (in the
western world). Essentially it is a disorder whereby children fail to attain the language skills of reading,
writing and spelling commensurate with their intellectual abilities. Dyslexic children show a range of
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differences in their language development, from subtle speech impairments to mispronunciations to word-
finding difficulties.
The most common phonological difficulties are limitations of verbal short-term memory and phonological
awareness. Such children often have difficulties with long-term verbal learning such as months of the year
or learning tables. In the late 1980s the phonological deficit hypothesis has become the dominant
explanation.
The difficulties in early articulation, basic phonological skills and acquiring basic building blocks means that
dyslexics have to invest too many resources in just coping with the basics rather than acquiring new
information or skills. Early identification enables children to receive help before they fail.[3]
Atypically delayed language development may be diagnostic of autism, and regression of language may
indicate serious disabilities like Rett syndrome. Poor language development also accompanies general
developmental delays such as those found in Down syndrome.
AC3 Observations are continuous, based on daily

activities and provide sufficient information to
establish patterns of development.
The Early Years Foundation Stage requires all settings to carry out formative assessment from when a child
first starts to attend a setting outside of the home, until the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Those
responsible for curriculum leadership will need to focus their priorities towards developing sound
assessment processes in order to assess and plan for each child. A clear vision is required on the part of the
curriculum leader as to what will comprise the setting’s approach. All practitioners need to be part of that
vision and feel that they have the skills and experience to contribute as well as be willing to learn.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: For a complete guide to establishing and running high-quality, sustainable
early years provision with provides good outcomes for children and meets the needs of parents and carers,
have a look at our Early Years Handbook.
Every practitioner, in their role as a child’s key person, will need to be able to carry out assessment to the
required standard; this may be daunting for those who are less qualified, so a team approach is supportive
to all and makes the most of everyone’s skills. In settings where there is a wide range of training and
qualification levels, this is a challenging task and it is important to find ways of developing staff skills that
keep everyone on board.
Seeing the early years setting as an informed community of practice (Anning and Edwards, 2003) will help
to develop a whole-setting approach to assessment methodology that recognises the strengths, the
knowledge and experience that each person contributes.
Practitioner teams, supported by the curriculum leader, will need time to discuss assessment processes in
order to reflect on the children’s learning in a systematic way, considering also what they, the practitioners,
are learning. A good case should be made for funding for cover to release staff for this vital aspect of skills
development.
Anning and Edwards (2003) make the direct link between children’s learning and adult’s learning:
‘... children learn to love learning through being with adults who also love to learn, and are themselves in
context that encourage their learning.’
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The early childhood setting, when seen as a community of learners, is built on a shared understanding of
practice, developed through reflection and enquiry. Getting to grips with the key themes and commitments
of the EYFS, including that of assessment, would benefit from this kind of approach. Increasingly, the focus
on quality improvement approaches is also based on reflective enquiry as a means to develop and improve,
so it would seem advisable that training resources are focused in this direction.
Developing good practice in observing children

The EYFS places emphasis on the emotional and relational aspects of learning. From this starting point
effective observation can begin that will lead to effective planning and support for children’s individual
developmental pathways. Those taking the lead for curriculum development need to ensure practitioners
understand the key person role and form sensitive and attuned attachment relationships with children,
especially babies. Practitioners need to be able to tune into babies and children on multi-sensory levels,
just as babies and young children are tuning in to their carers on these levels too, developing relationships
that have a strong emotional and empathetic quality to them.
Practitioners are involved with the children they observe. They share spaces with them on daily basis and in
this sense they are ‘participant observers’, rather than objective bystanders, in that they bring knowledge
of the child as a person and knowledge of context to that observation. In observing a child, the
practitioner’s intent is to ‘construct a shared understanding of children’s ways of interacting with the
environment, of entering into relationships with other adults and other children and of constructing their
knowledge’ (Gandini and Goldhaber, 2001).
Practitioners also bring themselves to the analysis of that observation, so the reflective process is crucial in
developing the practitioner’s awareness of being non-judgemental. This reflective subjectivity is as
important as having a strong knowledge of child development to draw on in order to understand what is
being observed. In this way, real insights into how children are thinking and learning can grow.
Parents, dialogue, and documentation

Parents know their children deeply and intimately and the home environment is where the earliest learning
takes place. This is of prime importance in understanding formative individual learning pathways, with
practitioners building on a child’s early experiences. When settling a child into a setting, time needs to be
made to allow the observation of the parent-child relationship, and the sharing of information that enables
the relational triangle to develop between parent, child and key person. In Reggio settings, this process is
known as ‘inserimento’ – the ‘opening of oneself to others’ (Bove, 2001), and is seen as vital to
understanding and supporting children’s development and learning. Creating time and space for regular
and ongoing sharing of information with parents is essential and needs to be part of everyday practice as it
plays a vital part in the ongoing assessment process.
The written aspects of observing children include the note-taking of significant moments or achievements,
as well as longer planned observations. These are important tools for practitioners and many curriculum
leaders will attest that this is sometimes the skill that needs significant input and support to enable less-
experienced staff get to grips with it.
However, in themselves, written observations carry only half the picture. Julie Fisher talks about the need
to also have conversations – with children, with parents and other adults, as these provide practitioners
with a ‘range of perspectives on each child and these perspectives help to form a rounded, balanced
picture of the child’ (Fisher, 2002).
Parents’ ongoing contribution to the assessment process is vital. The Parents, Early Years and Learning
(PEAL) project encourages settings to develop creative and inclusive ways of involving parents in their
child’s early education, based on sharing and listening. To this end, they stress that in order for
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practitioners to engage in ‘regular two-way conversations about learning, sharing observations and
planning with parents, they need to develop confidence and strong communication skills’ (DfES, 2006).
Creating a picture of learning

There are many ways to gather information about children’s learning and these have developed to
incorporate methods that add depth and vision to the observation and recording aspects of assessment.
The Reggio Approach uses the term ‘making learning visible’. Once we can see a picture of learning that is
both visual and written we have a basis for a dialogue about that learning.
In recent years the use of digital cameras and videos has grown to provide a means of making learning
visible that can be shared and discussed by all. What children say, the responses of other children and of
staff, should be included when observing learning. Tape recordings, as well as video recordings, capture
dialogue more accurately than the busy note-taking of the practitioner. However, this does not mean that
there is no place for the Post-it note-type jottings, or detailed written observations. In fact, these
complement each other, just as sketches or diagrams also help illustrate what is going on.
Considerable emphasis is placed on collecting ‘samples of children’s work’ – their drawings, mark-making
and writing and, to be sure, these tell us a lot, especially when viewed over time. But development is not
always sequential and a painting is not a product separate from the painting event. The finished picture
may not show the stages that led to the completion of the piece as the early stages are no longer visible.
The observation of the event, either on camera or in writing, illuminates that event, so any piece selected
for an assessment folder is best served by accompanying it with the observation of the process.
Much is made of the need to chart individual achievement, but, for everything that we know about the
social nature of learning, we still make little effort to really examine individual learning in the social context
in which it is taking place. When curriculum leaders encourage practitioners, as they do in settings in Reggio
Emilia, to document and reflect on the learning that takes place when children work and play together in
groups, they can develop an understanding of ‘the ways in which groups develop ideas, theories, and
understandings [that] is fundamental to the meta-cognitive activity that is critical to the learning of
individuals as well as groups’ (Giudici et al, 2001).
Mapping the learning journey

Called learning stories or learning journeys, those wonderful scrapbooks full of images and traces of
learning, contributed to by practitioners, parents, child minders and the child, are important documents
that create a narrative of the child’s learning thus far. Perhaps now accompanied by a CD-Rom/DVD, these
records can be celebrated at home, with grandparents in India or an auntie in Germany.
It is of vital importance that these documents belong to families and that our approach to assessment
keeps in mind the value of these records for parents. These are still the most effective means of celebrating
learning and achievement and are of far greater value than the document that looks like a school report.
Formative assessment gives the current picture and a trace of processes thus far – but practitioners also
need to consider what next. Margaret Carr points out that ‘assessment that includes planning for progress
will acknowledge that we don’t always know the direction of development and learning... Stories and
narratives can capture moments of that development come to the surface, but the direction will be difficult
to predict’ (Carr, 2003). Planning flexibly on a day-to-day basis acknowledges this unpredictability of
learning, allowing the learning journey to unfold. Next steps in learning should only be traced as possible
directions and not as linear, pre-defined targets; hence the importance of dialogue and sharing between all
concerned, including the perspective of the child.
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Considerations of summative assessment

Settings need to create summaries of learning, whether to track progress or to share with a new key person
or provider at transition points along the way. A narrative summary of learning and development across the
six areas of learning, alongside appropriate possible next steps, is sufficient and forms part of the learning
journey record. Vicky Hutchin recommends nursery to reception transition records that are similarly
constructed by local authorities, with personalised information about a child added to ‘make it come alive’
(Hutchin, 2007). She is critical of methods that previously used the ‘Stepping Stones’ of the Curriculum
Guidance for the Foundation Stage as a tracking document and warns that the Development Matters
section of the Early Years Foundation Stage should not to be used to develop scale point based transition
checklists.
To summarise...
The process of developing effective practice for observation, record-keeping and planning must be
considered from the perspective of a whole-team approach. This would be led and supported across the
setting by the curriculum leader as a staff development process, linked to quality improvement and would
involve practitioners, parents and children in learning about learning.
A range of ways of gathering information about children’s learning to build up the documentation toolkit,
creating the traces of ‘learning made visible’ should be used. Learning must be seen from an individual, as
well as a group, perspective, recognising that it is dynamic and unpredictable.
Planning should always be built on effective formative assessment that has been contributed to by all.
Formative assessment records should be reviewed regularly and summaries created to ensure all aspects of
learning are progressing.
These summaries form the basis of transition records shared with new key persons as well as new settings
attended by the child; these too should be as personalised as possible rather than based on developmental
checklists.
Curriculum leaders and practitioners need to be mindful of the power of assessment to shape the
directions for children’s learning – not always in the best possible way. They should heed, as a final word
from Bertram and Pascal (2002), the following caution: ‘Assessment regimes are not politically neutral, but,
rather politically manipulative and ultimately coercive because they determine a child’s long term ability to
make and shape the world in which they live.’
Effective assessment should, instead, be empowering for children, helping them discover for themselves
what they need to learn and how they can best do that, celebrating their achievements along the way
AC5.Observations cover the full spectrum of activities in

the routine or daily programme.
Babies are fascinating! At first it seems as if the baby "does nothing", but careful observation will show a
unique child who is very responsive to their environment.
A trained observer may notice the baby's:

moving eyes,
clenched and unclenched fists and feet,
wriggling,
sucking movements with tongue and cheeks,
stillness when concentrating on watching mother or a moving object or light,
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moving head responding to sounds.
Observations can record the baby's language development:

 cooing,
 babbling,
 listening and responding to verbal instructions e.g. clap hands
 gestures and pointing
 speaking single words.
Observations can record physical development:
Try to observe how the baby moves.
Even young babies move their head, arms and legs.
1. How long can the baby sit? With or without support? Is the back arched or rounded?
2. How does the baby crawl? With one foot pushing? Which foot? With both feet pushing?
On both knees, or on their bottom?
Perhaps baby does not crawl. Some babies go from sitting to walking without crawling.
3. How does an older baby pull up to stand? What is used for support?
4. Is baby pleased with this new skill? How can you tell?
Observe the sequence of development in hand and eye co-ordination.

From finger play, to reaching for objects, to grasping objects before learning to let go, to pointing and then
picking up tiny objects using a delicate finger and thumb pincer movement.
Babies show great concentration when exploring objects with their eyes, mouths and hands.
Observing everyday routines shows the baby's learning and interaction at feeding times.
Bathtime is full of sensory experiences, splashing in warm water, trying to catch bubbles, moving limbs
freely and being soothed by gentle massage.
SO2 Record observations

AC1 The records accurately reflect the observations and
are culturally sensitive and bias free.
Even though it is a necessity for many working parents, some people are apprehensive about sending their
toddlers to new preschools. One way to become more comfortable with the school is by observing the
preschool teacher in action. There are many things to look for, and most people benefit from using an
observation checklist to ensure that nothing is overlooked.
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Communication
The preschool teacher's communication methods, both with the children and the parents, should be
carefully observed, according to the Canada Child Care Directory. The checklist may include a section on
how children are greeted, the type of voice tone the teacher uses and how the teacher listens when
children speak to her. Other items, such as how the teacher communicates student expectations and gives
student feedback are also important. The parent should also note how the teacher communicates and gives
feedback to the parents, whether it's a daily note, email or regular one-on-one meetings. Some schools
even send out monthly newsletters that highlight children's achievements and remind parents about
upcoming events.
Discipline
Discipline is an action that should be taken into account when choosing a prospective preschool and
teacher. Most children will act inappropriately from time to time and need to be disciplined. Some
observation checklist items in this area may include watching how the preschool teacher reacts to
disagreements between toddlers, as well as how he responds to the situation. According to a sample
checklist on the Circle of Inclusion website, it is important to observe how the teacher redirects bad
behaviors and turns them into learning and social development lessons.
Attitude
The preschool teacher's attitude can impact a child's perception of school and organized structures. The
observation checklist should have areas regarding the teacher's demeanor (calm or frantic), as well as her
attitude. For example, most effective preschool teachers have a positive outlook and encourage positive
interactions between children. Look for situations that show how the teacher helps a child who is
struggling, and observe how helpful and respectful she is with the student. Observe how the children react
to her.
Training and Education
When parents are visiting potential preschools, they should sit down and speak with the preschool teacher
to learn about her teaching philosophy and background. Some common checklist reminders on topics to
inquire about include the teacher's educational background and continuing education training programs.
Other items to be on the lookout for are training certificates, such as in first aid and CPR.
Checklist for Infant Observation in a Preschool Setting
Use these examples to create your own checklist for developmental infant observation and documentation.
Infant Development Checklist for Infant Caregivers

Creating a rubric, or checklist, for infant preschool observation can be a daunting task. The following is an
example of a checklist that can be used in an infant classroom setting. When creating checklists for infant
observation, keep in mind that each infant develops individually at their own pace. No two infants will
reach the same milestones at the same time, so you need to consider this more of a guide than a rule book.
Motor skills
 Expected Date Observed Rolls from side to side 4-7 months

 Rolls from tummy to back 4-7 months
 Rolls from back to tummy 4-7 months
 Sits up with support 4-7 months
 Scoots on tummy or bottom 4-7 months
 Sits without support 4-7 months
 Transfers objects hand to hand 4-7 months
 Uses raking grasp 4-7 months
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 Assumes hand/knee position 4-7 months

 Attempts crawling 4-7 months
 Creeps or crawls efficiently 8-12 months
 Changes positions easily 8-12 months
 Pulls to stand 8-12 months
 Takes assisted steps 8-12 months
 Can finger feed self 8-12 months
 Stands without support 8-12 months
 Walks 2-3 steps w/o support 8-12 months
Cognitive skills
 Looks for partially hidden items 4-7 months

 Explores with hands and mouth 4-7 months
 Shows preference for specific foods 4-7 months
 Exhibits feelings regarding change 4-7 months
 Struggles to get objects out of reach 4-7 months
 Uses toys in many different ways 4-7 months
 Drops toys and waits for them to be retrieved 4-7 months
 Responds to own name 8-12 months
 Repeats tasks many times 8-12 months
 Finds hidden objects easily 8-12 months
 Can efficiently feed self 8-12 months
 Begins to use objects correctly 8-12 months
Language skills
 Responds to “no” 4-7 months

 Responds to sound with sound 4-7 months
 Babbles chains of consonants 4-7 months
 Babbles and waits for response 4-7 months
 Communicates through gestures and facial expressions 8-12 months
 Responds to verbal requests 8-12 months
 Uses simple gestures (i.e. head shaking for “no”) 8-12 months
 Babbles with inflection 8-12 months
 Uses exclamations (i.e. “uh oh!) 8-12 months
Social/emotional skills
 Enjoys social play 4-7 months

 Recognizes familiar faces 4-7 months
 Is interested in mirror images 4-7 months
 Appears joyful often 4-7 months
 Laughs out loud 4-7 months
 Seems to understand cause and effect 8-12 months
 Cries when familiar adults leave the room 8-12 months
 Protests sleeping 8-12 months
 Shy or anxious with strangers 8-12 months
 Imitates gestures 8-12 months
 Extends arm or leg to help when dressing 8-12 months
In addition to this checklist, it would also be wise to include space in your observation for anecdotal notes
and comments. For example, in the Language Development section, after writing down the date that the
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infant began to respond to verbal requests, a teacher could write: "Today Ms. Kelly asked Ryan to bring her
a book. Ryan was able to choose a book from the shelf and bring it to Ms. Kelly successfully", followed by
the date of the observation and the age of the child (in months) at the time of the observation.
Creating a rubric or checklist for infant preschool observation that works with your classroom can take
some effort. Once the basic checklist has been created, though, it is an extremely handy tool for infant
observation and documentation.
AC2.The records are structured in a clear and

systematic manner
Observing children in the child care setting helps to ascertain developmental goal attainment.
According to Basics of Assessment: A Primer for Early Childhood Educators,

"Observation is a method of gathering information by systematically
watching and noting what children do and say." Observations are
important in order to assess child development from infancy through
preschool age. Physical, behavioral and cognitive assessment is critical to
ensure children are meeting targeted goals and helps care-givers, early
educators and parents meet the individual needs and address any concerns
of a child's development.
Anecdotal Records
This type of observation is used to record behavioral and verbal responses of children during specifics
times. Anecdotal records can help a care-giver understand why a child reacts a certain way, how they react,
and interact within a specific time frame. Collected over a period of time, these observations can provide a
picture of specific behaviors in the social or intellectual context and as they attain new learning skills. You
record time, place, activity and a child's conversation and actions. Most observations are written in
narrative note form, about anything significant.
Checklists
Checklists are designed with specific goals and attainments in mind.
Many times you will want to assess a child's overall development using a checklist of developmental
milestones. A checklist is utilized based upon observations of the child in their day-to-day activities within
the childcare setting. Items observed can include such things as social development, such as interaction and
sharing. Physical development can be gauged in such areas as gross and fine motor skills, and cognitive
development in areas such as vocabulary knowledge and usage. Checkpoint rubric values may include: age
appropriate, awkward, problems with.
Time Samples
This type of observation follows a child over a period of time throughout a day. The time is written and a
care provider will observe and record the task at hand and what a child is doing and saying at five-minute
intervals. Does a child stay on task, or does his attention wander? You can compare a child's behavior
taking time samples at different points of the day. Is he more attentive in the morning and gets more
frustrated as the day progresses? This observation can help you assess the engagement of a child and what
might affect this engagement.
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Event Observations
Children's interaction observations can help evaluate social development skills.
Event observations are used to study cause and effect behaviors. You will find these particularly useful
when looking at a child's social skill development. As an example, when two children are at play you will
watch and record the time, the antecedent event -- Johnny and Hannah playing in the block center; the
behavior -- Johnny claps two blocks together near Hannah's ear; and the consequence of the behavior --
Hannah pushes him away. Event observations provide examples of children's behaviors in order to see
developing patterns and to best address these behavior
AC3.Records are useful for contributing towards

assessment of individual development, referrals, design
of programmes and activities, and evaluation of
activities and programmes.
The Preschool Child Observation Record (COR) is an observation-based instrument providing
systematic assessment of young children's knowledge and abilities in all areas of development.
This authentic instrument can be used by any developmentally based program serving preschool
children, not just programs using the HighScope Curriculum.
What does the Preschool COR assess?

The Preschool COR is used to assess children from the ages of 2½ to 6 years. The Infant-Toddler COR is
for programs serving children between the ages of 6 weeks and 3 years. Because children develop at
different rates rather than according to an exact timetable, the two instruments overlap in the age
range covered. Having both instruments is especially useful for programs serving children with special
needs, whose chronological and developmental ages may differ widely on one or more dimensions.
The COR is organized into six broad categories of child development. Within each category is a list of
observation items. These items are based on key developmental indicators — KDIs (formerly known as
key experiences) — in each content area for the age range covered. There are six categories and 32
items on the Preschool COR and six categories and 28 items on the Infant-Toddler COR. Under each of
the items are five developmental levels that describe behavior ranging from simple (1) to more complex
(5).
How does the Preschool COR work?

The COR is an observational tool. Teachers or caregivers spend a few minutes each day writing brief
notes ("anecdotes") that describe significant episodes of young children's behavior. They record their
notes on printed forms or in computer files, and then classify and rate them according to the COR
categories, items, and levels.
COR anecdotes, gathered on a child over time and systematically rated according to the COR
framework, are the basic units of information that are complied and analyzed to provide a
comprehensive portrait of each child's developmental gains and of the progress of the group as a
whole. Using COR forms and software, a variety of reports may be generated from this information.
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What do I need to get started?

Depending on your preference, you may choose from a written version, CD-ROM version, or Web-based
version of the COR. By using the options link to your left you will find an explanation of each and a list
of the components included in each kit. Training is recommended for first-time users.
All planning starts with observing children in order to understand and consider their current interests,
development and learning.
 Babies and young children are individuals first, each with a unique profile of abilities.
 Observe children to find out about their needs, what they are interested in and what they can do.
 Note children’s responses in different situations.
 Analyse your observations and highlight children’s achievement or their need for further support.
 Plan to observe as part of the daily routine.
 Develop records of learning and development.
Practitioners observations of children help them to assess the progress which children are making.
Observations help practitioners to decide where children are in their learning and development and to plan
what to do. This is an essential part of daily practice in any setting, regardless of the age of the baby or
child. Looking, listening and noting is important because it helps you to:
 Get to know a child better and develop positive relationships with children and their parents
 Plan appropriate play and learning experiences based on the children’s interests and needs, and
identify any concerns about a child’s development
 Further develop your understanding of a child’s development
 Develop a systematic and routine approach to using observations
 Use assessment to plan the next steps in a child’s developmental progress and regularly review the
approach
So how can a Childminder do observations?

In a setting a member of staff can often be freed up for short periods of time to observe the children and
make notes. For a Childminder, working alone they must be continually supervising and caring for the
children.
On this page we hope to bring you a few ideas that may help you to record the children’ learning and
development, without impacting on the care you provide.
Photographs
Most childminders have access to a digital camera or camera on their mobile phone. By regularly taking
pictures of the children doing activities you will be able to build up a great record of their development. Use
photographs in sequence and link to the framework to highlight achievements and plan next steps
Video
Once children have got used to being videoed and have stopped 'performing' for the camera, videoing
children can be an excellent way of recording a child's development and sharing the information with
parents. Some childminders then use the recordings to make written development records.
It is advisable to seek parental permission before filming children.
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Have a supply of post it notes and pencils around your home. When child says or does something note it
down. Later these notes can be added to a learning story or scrapbook to help build up a development
record.
Learning stories’ are a great way of recording a child’s learning and development.
Group Activity / Pair Activity:

Explain how observations contribute towards assessment of individual
development
Explain why records should be culturally sensitive and bias free.
SO3 Give feedback on observations.

AC1 Feedback is given using appropriate feedback
mechanisms and in accordance with confidentiality
requirements.
How to give and receive feedback
What is feedback?
To be effective, feedback must be constructive. The aim is for colleagues to help each other to reflect on
and develop their expertise.
Dos and Don'ts of giving and receiving feedback
Giving feedback
 Give feedback as soon as possible after the lesson - Don't delay: feedback works best when it is
‘fresh'
 Describe what you observed using your notes - Don't be biased
 Focus on tasks, activities, techniques, approach etc - Don't focus on personality
 Ask teacher to comment and ask questions - Don't impose your own ideas and opinions
 Be constructive - Don't undermine teacher's confidence
 Be informative - Don't be opinionated
 Give praise - Don't make negative criticisms
 Be balanced - Don't only focus on problems
 Give advice and suggestions if teacher asks for these - Don't give advice based on what you would
have done
Receiving feedback
 Be open - Don't be defensive

 Accept praise - Don't be too modest
 Listen - Don't impose your views
 Reflect - Don't dismiss things you may disagree with
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 Explore - Don't be passive, use the opportunity to find out how you can change and develop.
 Commit - Don't ignore the feedback: do something with it
Finally, reflect together on the peer observation process:
 What are the benefits to you both?

 What have you learnt?
 How will you use what you have learnt to help you develop?
 Will you do it again?
 Will you do it differently next time?
 Will you recommend it to your colleagues?
Parents who give feedback increase their child's confidence

Whether it's making their bed or presenting you with a beautifully drawn masterpiece, you can be
guaranteed that giving feedback will help to increase their confidence and skill.
Parents who see the importance of giving feedback will:
1. Be consistent in giving it
The idea of giving children feedback is one thing, but making a habit of it is another. Doing it regularly is of
most importance, as this results in feedback becoming valued and considered as the norm.
2. Know it is a hidden gem

Feedback, given well, is a gift to a child. It acts as a confidence builder and a road map for progress in the
development of a particular skill. Giving feedback to children also brings joy to the parent who has the
privilege of observing the results.
3. Encourage reflective learning

One aim of effective feedback is to help a child develop an ability to self-assess. By asking them about
process and posing specific questions like, 'What do you think is good about it?' and 'What might you do
differently next time?', as parents we trigger reflective learning in children.
4. Make it goal focused

By looking forward we encourage children to have a progressive approach to their development and help
them to acknowledge gaps between where they are, where they'd like to get to, and what they need to do
to get there.
5. Provide ongoing support

Having given feedback, the next step is for parents to put things in place to help encourage and support
children to continue in their skill. This could be anything from paying for piano lessons to making time to
supervise a child making a colourful montages.
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As parents we want to raise children both confident and affirmed in their gifts, skills and abilities. In giving
feedback we put in place another stepping stone for them to stand on in their journey towards being
responsible adults.
Child care (or "childcare" or "babycare" or "daycare") means caring for and supervising child/children
usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood
education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child. Child care is
a broad topic covering a wide spectrum of contexts, activities, social and cultural conventions, and
institutions. The majority of child care institutions that are available require that child care providers have
extensive training in first aid and are CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing, and
reference verification are normally a requirement.
Common Types of childcare

It is traditional in Western society for children to be taken care of by parents or legal guardians. In families
where children live with one or both of their parents, the childcare role may also be taken on by the
extended family. In the absence of one or both parents and the extended family willing to care for the
children, orphanages are a way of providing for children's care, housing, and schooling.
The two main types of child care options for employed parents needing childcare are centre-based care
(including creches, daycare, and preschools) and home-based care (also known as nanny or family daycare).
As well as these licensed options parents may also choose to find their own caregiver or arrange childcare
exchanges/swaps with another family.[1]
In-home care typically is provided by nannies, au-pairs, or friends and family. The child is watched inside
their or the child carer's home, reducing exposure to outside children and illnesses. Depending on the
number of children in the home, the children utilizing in-home care enjoy the greatest amount of
interaction with their caregiver, forming a close bond. There are no required licensing or background
checks for in-home care, making parental vigilance essential in choosing an appropriate caregiver. Nanny
and au-pair services provide certified caregivers and the cost of in-home care is the highest of childcare
options per child, though a household with many children may find this the most convenient and affordable
option.
At the same time, a nanny or au-pairs are not always the best methods of childcare. It confines the child
into a world of their own. It keeps them from interacting with other children a lot of the time. As
mentioned the caregivers do not need licenses or background checks so there is no way of telling if a
person is really qualified or has a criminal background (unless you live in a country where there is an option
of obtaining home-based care through a government licensed and funded agency). These things should be
taken in consideration when making a choice.
Family child care is provided from a care giver's personal home, making the atmosphere most similar to a
child's home.[2] State licensing requirements vary, so the parent should conduct careful interviews and
home inspections, as well as complete a background check on the caregiver's license. Any complaints
against the caregiver will be documented and available for public record. Family care (depending upon the
relative levels of state subsidy for centre-based care) is generally the most affordable childcare option, and
offers often greater flexibility in hours available for care. In addition, family care generally has a small ratio
of children in care, allowing for more interaction between child and provider than would be had at a
commercial care center.
Commercial care centers are open for set hours, and provide a standardized and regulated system of care
for children. Parents may choose from a commercial care center close to their work, and some companies
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offer care at their facilities. Active children may thrive in the educational activities provided by a quality
commercial care center, but according to the National Center for Early Development and Learning, children
from low quality centers may be significantly less advanced in terms of vocabulary and reading skills.[1]
Classes are usually largest in this type of care, ratios of children to adult caregivers will vary according to
state licensing requirements.
Pre-school is often the term used to refer to child care centers that care primarily for 3 and 4 year old
children. Preschool can be based in a center, family child care home or a public school. Head Start is a
federally funded program for low income children ages 3 and 4 and their families. Similarly Early Head Start
serves low income children birth to 3 years of age.[3]
Regardless of type of care chosen, a quality care provider should provide children with (a) light, bright and
clean areas to play as well as separate sleeping and eating areas and (b) be the kind of person you can have
confidence in leaving your child with.[4] Most western countries also have compulsory education during
which the great majority of children are at school starting from five or six years of age. The school will act in
loco parentis meaning "in lieu of parent supervision".
In many locales, government is responsible for monitoring the quality of care. For instance, in Scotland Her
Majesty's Inspectorate of Education is responsible for improving care and education for children from birth
to eighteen. This is implemented by inspections carried out by HMIE itself or by other members of
inspection and review teams. Inspection reports include feedback from staff and parents as well as the
inspectors, aiming to provide parents and carers information to help them decide whether a particular child
care setting is providing good quality child care and meeting government standards.[5]
In England Childcare is inspected and regulated by OFSTED (previously this was administered by Local
Authority Social Services). Care for children under five is split into Childcare on Domestic Premises which is
Childminding and Daycare. In the UK being a ‘Childminder’ is a protected title and can only be used by
registered professionals. Registered Childminders are trained, insured and qualified in Paediatric First Aid.
They comply/administer/work with The Early Years Foundation Stage EYFS and have the same
responsibilities for education as nurseries and reception classes. They generally work from their own homes
and are always self-employed setting their own terms and conditions. The basic numbers of children that
childminders can care for is 6 children under 8 years of age; of these children, 3 maybe under 5 and of
these 1 maybe under 1. These numbers include the childminders own children (although the childminder’s
children will not be included be included n the childminding ‘Certificate’). Some childminders work with
either childminding assistants or with co-childminders, which often increases the number of children that
can be cared for and individual childminders can request a ‘variation’ which may increase the children that
they care for particularly for ‘continuity of care’ or for twins. There is a professional body – The National
Childminding Association NCMA which “Promotes and supports quality child-minding expertise” and
provides information for Childminders and parents.
Effects on child development

For many, the use of paid childcare is a matter of choice with arguments on both sides about whether this
is beneficial or harmful[6] to children.
The first few years of a child's life are important to form a basis for good education, morality, self-discipline
and social integration. Consistency of approach, skills and qualifications of careers have been shown in
many studies to improve the chances of a child reaching his or her full potential. ChildForum provides the
following practical advice for parents when making their childcare programme decision: (1) Do not make a
final decision too quickly. You may get a misleading impression if you base your decision on what the
advertisement or the brochures say, or what you are told on the phone. (2) Have a trial period. If you are
considering enrolling at a centre or home-based service have some short visits with your child before
officially starting and stay with your child to observe. Also have some spontaneous/unscheduled visits, “We
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were just passing and thought we would pop in to say hi”. (3) If you are employing a nanny or caregiver in
your own home ask the person to come for an hour or two over three to five days or to do some childcare
so you can get a feel for if this person is a good fit for your child and for you. (4) If the childcare
arrangement does not live up to your expectations or if you find it does not work out as well you had
expected do not feel embarrassed or shy about withdrawing your child or asking for a change. If you think
your child may be experiencing harm or is at risk discontinue using the childcare immediately. Put your
child first and before any personal obligations to the teachers, nanny, or service.[7]
The choice of childcare can be extremely difficult, even traumatic for parents. Social scientists have recently
started drawing on popular folktales such as urban legends in order to uncover some of the complex socio-
psychological elements in the decision, which is often more protracted and involved for middle-class
parents.[8] Here it is also possible to see the influence of older story-telling elements such as Grimm's Fairy
Tales where children learn about the dangers of allowing strangers into the home.
For example, a recent study in Australia[9] concluded that centers run by corporate chains provided the
lowest quality care when compared to community-based providers and independent private centers.
The value of unpaid child care

Parents and mothers especially spend a significant amount of time raising their children. These mothers
nurture and develop their children into being functional members of society- hard work that is not
motivated by monetary gain. For centuries it has been assumed that women will stay home and take care
of the children while their husbands go out and work. In most cases, the husbands get all the credit for
providing for the family. However, their homemaker wives deserve just as much credit for their care work.
Caregivers do not receive monetary compensation and they must pay a ‘care-penalty[10].’
A care-penalty is the price one pays for doing care work for a family member. Care giving demands a lot out
of an individual, and as a result there is a high opportunity cost. The opportunity cost can relate to both
time and money. Instead of taking care of a family member, a caregiver could spend time working or
performing more leisure activities. Care penalties are not strictly related to childcare- they can also refer to
taking care of a sick family member, babysitting a younger sibling, or taking an elderly family member to
his/her doctor’s appointments.
Studies have been done to get an annual salary estimate for a female caregiver. One reputable survey
suggested that the value of a female caregiver’s work would be $117,867 per year [11]. The reason for the
high salary is because mothers typically perform about 10 different job functions throughout the week.
These job functions can include: cooking, cleaning, driving, and laundry among other duties. A nanny
wouldn’t make nearly as much money, but they would be putting in fewer hours and performing fewer
duties.
It is important to assess the value of caregivers because they are what truly make society function[12], and
often times their work is under-appreciated . They prepare the next generation for school, work, and
decision-making. A child’s entire future largely depends on how he/she was nurtured. Not only does the
child depend on this care, but the schools and employers also depend on the childcare. The government
also benefits because these children will eventually become taxpayers, congressmen, and voters.
Eventually, they will be the ones running the country. The value of unpaid childcare is also an important
figure in various legal entities. Expert witnesses (most often economists) are occasionally brought into
court cases to give estimates on the value of unpaid labor. By giving estimation, the plaintiff or defendant
can be fairly compensated for their labor
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AC2.Feedback is clear and relevant to the child's

development.
Early identification of developmental disorders is critical to the well-being of children and their families. It is
an integral function of the primary care medical home1 and an appropriate responsibility of all pediatric
health care professionals. Delayed or disordered development can be caused by specific medical conditions
and may indicate an increased risk of other medical complications. Delayed or disordered development may
also indicate an increased risk of behavior disorders or associated developmental disorders. Early
identification should lead to further evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment. Early intervention is available for
a wide range of developmental disorders; their prompt identification can spur specific and appropriate
therapeutic interventions. Identification of a developmental disorder and its underlying etiology may also
affect a range of treatment planning, from medical treatment of the child to family planning for his or her
parents.
Current detection rates of developmental disorders are lower than their actual prevalence, which suggests
that the challenges to early identification of children with developmental disorders have not been
overcome.2–4 A recent survey of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) members revealed that despite
publication of the 2001 policy statement "Developmental Surveillance and Screening of Infants and Young
Children"5 and national efforts to improve developmental screening in the primary care setting, few
pediatricians use effective means to screen their patients for developmental problems.2 This 2006
statement replaces the 2001 policy statement and provides an algorithm as a strategy to support health
care professionals in developing a pattern and practice of attention to development that can and should
continue well beyond 3 years of age.
We recommend that developmental surveillance, as described later, be incorporated at every well-child

visit. Any concerns raised during surveillance should be promptly addressed. In addition, standardized
developmental screening tests should be administered regularly at the 9-, 18-, and 30-month* visits.
Pediatric health care professionals may also find it useful to conduct school-readiness screening before the
child's attendance at preschool or kindergarten. These recommendations represent our consensus; further
research to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and available screening tools is
encouraged. Separate recommendations aimed at the screening of children for behavioral and emotional
disorders are also under consideration by the AAP and are not included in this document.
The detection of developmental disorders is an integral component of well-child care. Title V of the Social
Security Act (42 USC Chapter 7, Subchapter V 701-710 [1989]) and the Individuals With Disabilities
Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 (Pub L No. 108-446) reaffirm the mandate for child health
professionals to provide early identification of, and intervention for, children with developmental
disabilities through community-based collaborative systems. The medical home is the ideal setting for
developmental surveillance and screening of children and adolescents. Parents expect their medical home,
as the site of their child's continuous and comprehensive care, to be interested in children's development
throughout childhood and adolescence, to competently identify developmental strengths and weaknesses,
and to be knowledgeable of available community resources to facilitate referrals when needed.
Developmental screening is included in the AAP "Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care"
or "periodicity schedule" and is further recommended by the 2 current AAP compilations of well-child care
guidelines: Bright Futures7 and Guidelines for Health Supervision III. In collaboration with other experts in
child health care, the AAP is currently revising Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants,
Children, and Adolescents. It is hoped that the third edition of Bright Futures being developed by the AAP
and the revised periodicity schedule will be consistent with the recommendations of this document.
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Note Regarding Language

Within the context of this document, clear distinctions have been drawn among (1) surveillance, the
process of recognizing children who may be at risk of developmental delays, (2) screening, the use of
standardized tools to identify and refine that recognized risk, and (3) evaluation, a complex process aimed
at identifying specific developmental disorders that are affecting a child. These definitions build on existing
definitions.9 In a further effort to ensure clarity throughout the document, we have purposefully avoided
the term "assessment." Although the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004—and
others—use "assessment" as a synonym for "evaluation," this usage is not universally shared.
"Developmental delay" is used in this statement for the condition in which a child is not developing and/or
achieving skills according to the expected time frame. The terms "delayed development," "disordered
development," and "developmental abnormality" are used synonymously. "Developmental disorder" and
"developmental disability" refer to a childhood mental or physical impairment or combination of mental
and physical impairments that result in substantial functional limitations in major life activities.10
Pediatric Patient at Preventive Care Visit

Developmental concerns should be included as one of several health topics addressed at each pediatric
preventive care visit throughout the first 5 years of life (see Fig 1). 6 Many children are born with risk factors
that predispose them to delayed development and developmental disorders; other children will show
delayed or disordered development in early childhood, which if undetected and untreated, can contribute
to early school failure and attendant social and emotional problems. Some children will have delayed
development attributable to a specific medical condition for which medical treatments may be indicated.
Early therapeutic intervention may be available for a wide range of developmental disorders.
1. Perform Surveillance
Developmental surveillance is a flexible, longitudinal, continuous, and cumulative process whereby

knowledgeable health care professionals identify children who may have developmental problems.
Surveillance can be useful for determining appropriate referrals, providing patient education and family-
centered care in support of healthy development, and monitoring the effects of developmental health
promotion through early intervention and therapy.
A great breadth and depth of information is considered in comprehensive developmental surveillance; it is

important to note, however, that much of this information (eg, static risk factors such as low birth weight,
results of previous screenings) will accumulate within the child's health record, where it can be reviewed
and flagged as necessary before the visit.
There are 5 components of developmental surveillance: eliciting and attending to the parents' concerns
about their child's development; documenting and maintaining a developmental history; making accurate
observations of the child; identifying risk and protective factors; and maintaining an accurate record of
documenting the process and findings.
Eliciting and Attending to the Parents' Concerns

Parents and child health professionals have valuable observation skills, and they share the goal of ensuring
optimal health and developmental outcome for the child. In the optimal situation, the child health
professional elicits parental observations, experiences, and concerns and recognizes that parental concerns
mandate serious attention. The literature suggests that posing simple questions to parents related to
concerns about the child's development, learning, or behavior can elicit quality information.11–13 Health care
professionals might ask, for example, "Do you have any concerns about your child's development?
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Behavior? Learning?" Asking parents specifically about their child's behavior can yield valuable information
regarding development, because parents do not necessarily differentiate between behavior and
development, and developmental delays often manifest through behavior. The absence of parental concern
does not preclude the possibility of serious developmental delays.14 The health care professional must
attend to all aspects of developmental surveillance.
Maintaining a Developmental History

"What changes have you seen in your child's development since our last visit?" A developmental history,
updated through this or similar questions, should be a component of any history taken during a well-child
visit and can assist a child health professional in identifying developmental abnormalities that warrant
further investigation. Age-specific queries, such as asking whether the child is walking or pointing, are also
valuable.
In addition to attending to delayed development—whereby children acquire skills more slowly than their
peers—child health professionals should give equal consideration to other developmental abnormalities.15
Deviations in development, whereby children develop skills out of the usual sequence, are recognized in
disorders such as cerebral palsy and autism. Dissociation—differing rates of development in different
developmental spheres—commonly occurs with developmental disorders. Children with mental retardation
or autistic spectrum disorders, for example, commonly display normal motor skills and delayed language
development. Conversely, children with cerebral palsy of the spastic diplegic type often display delayed
motor skills with normal language function. Regression, the loss of developmental skills, is a very serious
developmental problem suggestive of an active, ongoing neurologic problem.
Making Accurate and Informed Observations of the Child

As trained and experienced professionals, pediatricians and other child health professionals have the
expertise and comparative knowledge to identify developmental concerns. A careful physical and
developmental examination within the context of the preventive care visit is integral to developmental
surveillance.16 Limited evidence suggests that observation of the parent-child interaction may aid in
identifying children with delayed development.17
Identifying the Presence of Risk and Protective Factors

A risk assessment is an important part of developmental surveillance. Environmental, genetic, biological,16,18
social, and demographic factors19 can increase a child's risk for delays in development. Multiple risk factors
can amplify each other.20,21 Children with established risk factors may be referred directly for
developmental evaluation or may require developmental surveillance at more frequent intervals than
children without risk factors.
Child health professionals should identify protective factors as well as risk factors in children's lives. Strong
connections within a loving, supportive family, along with opportunities to interact with other children and
grow in independence in an environment with appropriate structure, are important assets in a child's life.
These factors, associated with resiliency in older children, are important components in each family's
story.22
Documenting the Process and Findings

Medical charts, in paper or electronic form, should document all surveillance and screening activities during
preventive care visits. In addition, specific actions taken or planned, such as scheduling an earlier follow-up
visit, scheduling a visit to discuss developmental concerns more fully, or referrals to medical specialists or
early childhood programs and specialists, should also be noted. A paper medical chart might contain a
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"developmental growth chart" on which the results of developmental surveillance and formal screens are
recorded in relationship to the child's age and the dates at the time the findings were obtained. An
electronic chart, on the other hand, may allow for the development of a form on which developmental
findings and plans are recorded and from which prompts for further action may occur automatically. Recent
technologies that automate developmental risk assessments within the waiting room through computer-
interpreted paper forms or information kiosks are also increasingly commonplace. We encourage continued
development and scientific evaluation of these technologies given their potential to facilitate the process of
developmental surveillance and screening.
Does Surveillance Demonstrate Risk?
The concerns of both parents and child health professionals should be included in determining whether
surveillance suggests that the child may be at risk of developmental problems. If parents or the child health
professional express concern about the child's development, a developmental screening to address the
concern specifically should be conducted. This screening may require a separate visit; if so, the visit should
be held as soon as possible.
Reassurance has a role in the clinical encounter but varies depending on the progress and outcome of
developmental surveillance. Reassurance should be rooted in and reference the findings of developmental
surveillance. If, for example, developmental surveillance indicates that the child is at low risk of a
developmental disorder, reassurance can be offered with caution and a planned outcome. Specific, simple,
age-specific developmental goals can be identified, and parents can be encouraged to schedule recheck
appointments if the child is not attaining those goals. In reassuring the parents, the pediatrician should
emphasize the importance of continual surveillance and screening.
Is This a 9-, 18-, or 30-Month* Visit?

All children, most of whom will not have identifiable risks or whose development appears to be proceeding
typically, should receive periodic developmental screening using a standardized test. In the absence of
established risk factors or parental or provider concerns, a general developmental screen is recommended
at the 9-, 18-, and 30-month* visits. Consideration of a number of factors, including the time available to
focus on developmental concerns during a routine pediatric visit, led to these recommended ages.
 Nine months of age: At 9 months of age, many issues involving motor skills development can be
reliably identified. A 9-month screening provides an additional opportunity to attend to the child's
visual and hearing abilities. Early communication skills may be emerging—evidence suggests
symptoms of autism, such as lack of eye contact, orienting to name being called, or pointing, may
be recognizable in the first year of life.23,24 Early intervention to address specific developmental
disorders is available to infants from birth and should be accessed to address any delays detected at
9 months.25 At-risk 9-month-old infants should also be referred to early intervention programs if not
previously referred. The 9-month preventive care visit also provides a good opportunity for the
child health professional to educate parents about developmental screening and to encourage
parents to pay special attention to communication and language skills. Social and nonverbal
communication, including vocalizations and gestures, are important aspects of emerging
communication that can be assessed at 9 months. Because of the rapid development of motor,
language, and cognitive skills, parents should be encouraged to express any concerns they have
about their child's progress rather than waiting until the 18-month visit. The AAP brochure Is Your
One-Year Old Communicating With You?26 might be distributed at the 9-month visit to educate
parents about communication and target any concerns they have. (If practices have eliminated the
9-month visit, this screening should be performed at the 12-month visit.)
 Eighteen months of age: Delays in communication and language development are often evident by
18 months of age. Mild motor delays that were undetected at the 9-month screening may be more
apparent at 18 months of age. Medical interventions for motor disorders have been shown to be
effective in children at 18 months of age, and effective early intervention for delayed language
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development is also available.27 In addition to a general developmental screening tool, an autism-

specific tool should be administered to all children at the 18-month visit.28 Symptoms of autism are
often present at this age, and effective early intervention strategies are available.29
 Thirty months* of age: By 30 months of age, most motor, language, and cognitive delays may be
identified with screening instruments, leading to evaluation of and intervention for those children
with delayed development. A 30-month visit focusing on child development and developmental
screening would allow the health care provider to devote special attention to this area. Therefore,
addition of this preventive care visit to the periodicity schedule is being considered by Bright
Futures.
When child health professionals use only clinical impressions rather than formal screening, estimates of
children's developmental status are much less accurate.30 Including developmental screening tools at
targeted developmental ages is intended to enhance the precision of the developmental surveillance
process. These recommended ages for developmental screening are suggested only as a starting point for
children who appear to be developing normally; surveillance should continue throughout childhood, and
screenings should be conducted anytime that concerns are raised by parents, child health professionals, or
others involved in the care of the child. At the 4-year visit, a screening for school readiness is appropriate.
Administer Screening Tool
Developmental screening is the administration of a brief standardized tool that aids the identification of
children at risk of a developmental disorder. Many screening tools can be completed by parents and scored
by nonphysician personnel; the physician interprets the screening results.
Developmental screening does not result in either a diagnosis or treatment plan but rather identifies areas
in which a child's development differs from same-age norms. Developmental screening that targets the area
of concern is indicated whenever a problem is identified during developmental surveillance. Because
development is dynamic in nature and surveillance and screening have limits, periodic screening with a
validated instrument should occur so that a problem not detected by surveillance or a single screening can
be detected by subsequent screening. Repeated and regular screening is more likely than a single screening
to identify problems, especially in later-developing skills such as language. Waiting until a young child
misses a major milestone such as walking or talking may result in late rather than early recognition,
increasing parental dissatisfaction and anxiety and depriving the child and family of the benefits of early
identification and intervention.
Table 1 provides a list of developmental screening tools; a discussion of how to choose an appropriate
screening tool is included in "Implementing the Algorithm."
Are the Screening-Tool Results Positive/Concerning?

When the results of the periodic screening tool are normal, the child health professional can inform the
parents and continue with other aspects of the preventive visit. Normal screening results provide an
opportunity to focus on developmental promotion. However, when a screening tool is administered
because of concerns about development, an early return visit to provide additional developmental
surveillance should be scheduled even if the screening-tool results do not indicate a risk of delay.
Make Referrals for Developmental and Medical Evaluations and Early Developmental Intervention/Early
Childhood Services
If screening results are concerning, the child should be scheduled for developmental and medical
evaluations. These evaluations may occur at a different visit or series of visits or often in a different setting
by other professionals. The separate box in which these steps are placed in the algorithm (Fig 1) is intended
to represent the possibility that these actions will occur at a different time and location. However, they
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should be scheduled as quickly as possible, and professionals should coordinate activities and share
findings.
Developmental and Medical Evaluations
Developmental Evaluation
When developmental surveillance or screening identifies a child as being at high risk of a developmental
disorder, diagnostic developmental evaluation should be pursued. This evaluation is aimed at identifying
the specific developmental disorder or disorders affecting the child, thus providing further prognostic
information and allowing prompt initiation of specific and appropriate early childhood therapeutic
interventions.
Children with neurodevelopmental disorders also often have other associated developmental or behavior
disorders.31–33 Identification of these disorders can lead to further evaluation and treatment. Pediatric
subspecialists such as neurodevelopmental pediatricians, developmental and behavioral pediatricians, child
neurologists, pediatric physiatrists, or child psychiatrists can perform the developmental diagnostic
evaluation, as can other early childhood professionals in conjunction with the child's primary care provider.
Such early childhood professionals include early childhood educators, child psychologists, speech-language
pathologists, audiologists, social workers, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, ideally working
with families as part of an interdisciplinary team and with the medical home.
Medical Evaluation
In addition to the developmental evaluation, a medical diagnostic evaluation to identify an underlying

etiology should be undertaken. This evaluation should consider biological, environmental, and established
risk factors for delayed development.34–37 Vision screening and objective hearing evaluation; review of
newborn metabolic screening and growth charts; and an update of environmental, medical, family, and
social history for additional risk factors are integral to this evaluation.
A comprehensive medical evaluation is essential whenever a delay is confirmed. This evaluation varies
somewhat with the risk factors and findings and may include brain imaging, electroencephalogram (EEG),
genetic testing, and/or metabolic testing.37
Identification of an etiology may provide parents with a greater depth of understanding of their child's
disability. Identifying an etiology also can affect various aspects of treatment planning, including specific
prognostic information, genetic counseling around recurrence risk and family planning, specific medical
treatments for improved health and function of the child, and therapeutic intervention programming.38 An
underlying etiology will be identified in approximately one quarter of cases of delayed development, with
higher rates (>50%) in children with global developmental delays and motor delays and lower rates (<5%) in
children with isolated language disorders.39
This evaluation can be performed by a trained and skilled pediatrician; a pediatric subspecialist such as a
neurodevelopmental pediatrician, child neurologist, or developmental/behavioral pediatrician; or through
affiliated medical professionals such as pediatric geneticists or physiatrists. The primary care provider
within the medical home should develop an explicit comanagement plan with the specialist(s).
Early Developmental Intervention/Early Childhood Services
Early intervention programs can be particularly valuable when a child is first identified to be at high risk of
delayed development, because these programs often provide evaluation services and can offer other
services to the child and family even before an evaluation is complete.25 These services can include
developmental therapies, service coordination, social work services, assistance with transportation and
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related costs, family training, counseling, and home visits. The diagnosis of a specific developmental
disorder is not necessary for an early intervention referral to be made. Child health professionals should
realize that a community-based early intervention evaluation may not address children with specific
medical risks, and further developmental and medical evaluation will often be necessary for children with
established delays.
Establishing an effective and efficient partnership with early childhood professionals is an important
ingredient of successful care coordination for children within the medical home. The partnership is built on
shared interest in the developmental outcomes of children and recognition of the different skill sets of child
health professionals and educators. For additional information regarding care coordination, see the AAP
policy statement "Care Coordination in the Medical Home: Integrating Health and Related Systems of Care
for Children With Special Health Care Needs."40
Given the variety of community settings in which health care is provided, the pediatrician may consult early
childhood professionals who work in specialized health care centers, university centers, early intervention
programs, early childhood educational programs, or private practices. Whenever possible, communities
should coordinate resources; this is especially true in preventing delays in care or unnecessary duplication
of service.
The child's medical charts, whether electronic or paper, should be organized to create a system that
guarantees continuity of care, especially when the child is referred to specialists and/or community
agencies. In addition, a means of incorporating information about a child's developmental status from
sources outside the medical home should be available. The child health care chart should be designed to
alert the clinician if further attention is needed between regular periodic visits.
Is a Developmental Disorder Identified?

If a developmental disorder is identified, the child should be identified as a child with special health care
needs, and chronic-condition management should be initiated (see No. 10 below). If a developmental
disorder is not identified through medical and developmental evaluation, the child should be scheduled for
an early return visit for further surveillance, as mentioned previously. More frequent visits, with particular
attention paid to areas of concern, will allow the child to be promptly referred for further evaluation if any
additional evidence of delayed development or a specific disorder emerges.
Identify as a Child With Special Health Care Needs and Initiate Chronic-Condition Management
When a child is discovered to have a significant developmental disorder, that child becomes a child with
special health care needs even if that child does not have a specific disease etiology identified. Such a child
should be identified by the medical home for appropriate chronic-condition management and regular
monitoring and entered into the practice's children and youth with special health care needs registry.41
Every primary care practice should create a registry for the children in the practice who have special health
care needs.
The medical home provides a triad of key primary care services including preventive care, acute illness
management, and chronic-condition management. A program of chronic-condition management provides
proactive care for children and youth with special health care needs, including condition-related office
visits, written care plans, explicit comanagement with specialists, appropriate patient education, and
effective information systems for monitoring and tracking.
Management plans should be based on a comprehensive needs assessment conducted with the family.
Management plans should include relevant, measurable, and valid outcomes. These plans must be
reviewed on a regular basis and updated as necessary. The child health professional should actively
participate in all care-coordination activities for children who have complex health conditions in addition to
developmental problems. Decisions regarding appropriate therapies and their scope and intensity should
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be determined in consultation with the child's family, therapists, and educators (including early intervention
or school-based programs) and should be based on knowledge of the scientific evidence for their use.
Children with established developmental disorders often benefit from referral to community-based family
support services such as respite care, parent-to-parent programs, and advocacy organizations. Some
children may qualify for additional benefits such as supplemental security income, public insurance, waiver
programs, and state programs for children and youth with special health care needs (Title V). Parent
organizations, such as Family Voices, and condition-specific associations can provide parents with
information and support and can also provide an opportunity for advocacy.
Choosing Developmental Screening Tools
Although all developmental screening tools are designed to identify children with potentially delayed
development, each one approaches the task in a different way. There is no universally accepted screening
tool appropriate for all populations and all ages. Currently available screening tools vary from broad general
developmental screening tools to others that focus on specific areas of development, such as motor or
communication skills. Their psychometric properties vary widely in characteristics such as their
standardization, the comparison group used for determining sensitivity and specificity, and population risk
status.
Broad screening tools should address developmental domains including fine and gross motor skills,
language and communication, problem solving/adaptive behavior, and personal-social skills. Screening tools
also must be culturally and linguistically sensitive. Many screening tools are available, and the choice of
which tool to use depends on the population being screened, the types of problems being screened for in
that population, administration and scoring time, any administration training time, the cost of the tool, and
the possibilities for adequate payment.
Screening tests should be both reliable and valid, with good sensitivity and specificity.
 Reliability is the ability of a measure to produce consistent results.

 The validity of a developmental screening test relates to its ability to discriminate between a child at
a determined level of risk for delay (ie, high, moderate) and the rest of the population (low risk).
 Sensitivity is the accuracy of the test in identifying delayed development.
 Specificity is the accuracy of the test in identifying individuals who are not delayed.
If a test incorrectly identifies a child as delayed, it will result in overreferrals. If a test incorrectly identifies a
child as normal, it results in underreferrals. For developmental screening tests, scoring systems must be
developed that minimize underreferrals and overreferrals. Trade-offs between sensitivity and specificity
occur when devising these scoring systems. Sensitivity and specificity levels of 70% to 80% have been
deemed acceptable for developmental screening tests.42 These values are lower than generally accepted for
medical screening tests because of the challenges inherent in measuring child development and the
absence of specific curative and clearly effective treatments. However, combining developmental
surveillance and periodic screening increases the opportunity for identification of undetected delays in early
development. Overidentification of children using standardized screening tools may indicate that this group
of children includes some with below-average development and/or significant psychosocial risk factors.43
These children may benefit from other community programs as well as closer monitoring of their
development by their families, pediatric health professionals, and teachers or caregivers.
Table 1 provides a list of developmental screening tools and their psychometric testing properties. These
screening tools vary widely in their psychometric properties. This list is not exhaustive; other standardized,
published tools are available. We look forward to further evaluation/validation of available screening
instruments as well as the continued development of new tools with stronger properties. Child health
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professionals are encouraged to familiarize themselves with a variety of screening tools and choose those
that best fit their populations, practice needs, and skill level.
Incorporating Surveillance and Screening in the Medical Home
A quality-improvement approach may be the most effective means of building surveillance and screening
elements into the process of care in a pediatric office.44 Improving developmental screening and
surveillance should be regarded as a "whole-office" endeavor and not simply a matter of clinician
continuing education or the addition of tasks to well-child visits. Front-desk procedures, such as appropriate
scheduling for screening visits and procedures for flagging children with established risk factors, need to be
explicitly designed by the office staff. Nonphysician staff may need training in the administration of
developmental screening tools. The input of consumers is crucial to developing an effective system and can
be accomplished by adding a parent to an office planning team, by using parent focus groups, or by
administering parent questionnaires. Specific to developmental screening could be consumer opinion about
preferences for completing questionnaires in the office or before the visit, how they would like to be
informed about the results of screening, how parents of children with identified conditions associated with
developmental delay would like to have their children's development monitored, or feedback on parental
satisfaction with their child's developmental screening or feedback on the referral process.
AC4: Feedback is given with appropriate sensitivity to

diversity and emotions.
Observing and Assessing Young Children
Participating in careful observation of children is a necessary first step to gain insights into children's
loneliness. While observing children, teachers can focus on the following, which may suggest signs of
loneliness: Does the child appear timid, anxious, unsure of himself or herself, or sad? Does the child show a
lack of interest in the surroundings? Does the child seem to be rejected by playmates? Does the child avoid
other children by choice? Does the child appear to lack social skills that might prevent him or her from
initiating or maintaining interactions? Does the child have the necessary social skills but is reluctant to use
them? Is the child victimized by peers? Does the child's apparent loneliness seem to be a consistent pattern
over time, or is it a more recent phenomenon? In addition, because loneliness cannot always be observed
in children (e.g., there are children who appear to have friends but report feeling lonely), teachers can
spend time talking individually with children. They might ask children, "What does sad and lonely mean?";
"Are you sad and lonely?"; or "What would make you happier?"
When observing and assessing children, it is important to be sensitive to and aware of their developmental
abilities and personal inclinations. For example, it has been suggested that young children who play alone
may be at increased risk for later problems, both socially and cognitively. Many preschool and kindergarten
children, however, engage in nonsocial activities that are highly predictive of competence. Therefore, over
time, teachers need to observe children’s interactions with their peers, talk to children about their feelings,
and document their behaviors and responses to determine whether they are lonely or are happily and
productively self-engaged.
Intervention Strategies and Recommendations

Although research in support of specific practices assisting lonely children in the classroom is weak,
teachers might consider several approaches that may be adapted to individual children. Children who are
aggressive report the greatest degrees of loneliness and social dissatisfaction (Asher, Parkhurst, Hymel, &
Williams, 1990). Children are rejected for many reasons, and teachers will need to assess the circumstances
that seem to lead to the rejection. Is the child acting aggressively toward others? Does the child have
difficulty entering ongoing play and adapting to the situation? Does the child have difficulty communicating
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needs and desires? Once the problem is identified, teachers can assist the child in changing the situation.
The teacher can point out the effects of the child’s behavior on others, show the child how to adapt to the
ongoing play, or help the child to clearly communicate feelings and desires. Children who are supported,
nurtured, and cherished are less likely to be rejected and more likely to interact positively with peers
Children who are neglected or withdrawn also report feelings of loneliness, although to a lesser extent than
do aggressive-rejected children. Because these children often lack social skills, they have difficulty
interacting with their peers. These children may also be extremely shy, inhibited, and anxious, and they
may lack self-confidence (Rubin, LeMare, & Lollis, 1990). If children lack certain skills, the teacher can focus
on giving feedback, suggestions, and ideas that the child can implement. Children who possess adequate
social skills but are reluctant to use them can be given opportunities for doing so by being paired with
younger children. This experience gives the older child an opportunity to practice skills and boost self-
confidence.
Children who are victimized by others believe that school is an unsafe and threatening place and often
express a dislike for school. Furthermore, these children report lingering feelings of loneliness and a desire
to avoid school even when victimization ceases (Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996). These findings point to the
importance of implementing immediate intervention strategies to reduce victimization. Teachers can
provide firm but supportive suggestions to the aggressor. For example, teachers might guide and assist
children in developing the life skills they need, such as respecting others and self, engaging in problem
solving, working together on skills and tasks that require cooperation, and expressing feelings and emotions
in appropriate ways (Gartrell, 1997).
Teachers can think about how the curricula might be helpful to a child who is feeling lonely. Some children
may benefit by being given opportunities to express their feelings of sadness or loneliness through
manipulation, drawing, movement, music, or creative activities (Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1993).
Arranging the dramatic play area with props may help some children act out or express their feelings and
feel a sense of control. Use of crisis-oriented books with children, referred to as bibliotherapy, may assist a
child in coping with a personal crisis. Sharing carefully selected literature with children may assist in
facilitating emotional health. Children who are able to express and articulate their concerns may want to
talk about their unhappiness.
Developing close relationships with children and communicating with their primary caregivers can give
teachers valuable insights and guidance. When teachers become aware of children who are experiencing
loneliness caused by a family situation, they can lend their support in a variety of ways. Spending extra time
listening can be reassuring and helpful to some children. Suggesting to a parent the possibility of inviting a
peer over to the child’s home may be a good idea and may help the child to form a friendship. In addition,
teachers can ask parents for their recommendations about what might make the child feel more
comfortable at school, and they can share relevant resources with parents, such as literature or
information on parent discussion groups.
AC4: The type and manner of feedback is constructive

and meaningful
Why get parents involved?
Parents who take on a supportive role in their child’s learning make a difference in improving achievement
and behaviour. The active involvement of parents in the life of the school can help promote a learning
community in which pupils can engage positively with school staff and their peers.
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Schools can benefit from developing positive partnerships with parents by involving them in all decisions
affecting their child’s education and learning. Engaging with parents gives them the chance to understand
the role that they play in their child’s learning and development and fosters parental involvement.
Communicating with parents

Clear, open channels of communication facilitate reporting to parents on their child's progress. Using
effective channels of communication and getting parents involved in personal learning planning helps to
build strong relationships and encourages involvement in the child's learning and progress.
For resources to help you talk to parents about Curriculum for Excellence take a look at our
communications toolkit.
Learning at home
Parents are the first and ongoing educators of their child and, as such, should receive information and
support to help develop their child's learning at home and in the community.
Home-school partnerships
Effective home-school partnerships are essential to ensure that each child gets the most out of their school
and the education system. Schools shoud be open to the involvement of parents in the work they do and
should consider opportunities to encourage meaningful involvement to engage with school and their child’s
education.
Report cards provide parents with essential information concerning their child’s progress in school. Various
formats are used including letter grades, numbers, checklists and teacher comments that indicate how a
child is performing in different areas. For each report card period, teachers usually write descriptive
comments for every student. These written remarks elaborate on the student’s strengths, and frequently
offer ways the child could improve his or her academic work and/or classroom behavior.
Writing unique and meaningful report card comments takes effort. If only negative statements are written,
the parent may feel overwhelmed and thus be unable to help their child. Examples of definitive words that
should be avoided are:
 the child will never;

 the child will not;
 the child cannot; and
 the child will always.
Parents are more willing to cooperate if a comment concerning a child’s weakness follows a positive one.
So it is more productive to state a student’s strength first, then follow it with your concern – but make sure
that is written in a constructive way. For example, you could write, “Bill excels in science,” and then add,
“He needs more opportunities to develop his friendship skills.” Or, write something like, “Leslie is friendly
and well-liked,” and add, “She would benefit from practicing her reading fluency and comprehension skills.”
Teachers need to choose their words carefully since the report card is part of the child’s permanent record.
Examples of Positive Adjectives that Describe Children
Considerate Intelligent Hard-working

Well-mannered Cooperative Dependable
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Responsible Helpful Creative

Fair Honest Generous
Friendly Respectful Kindhearted
Brave Efficient Mature
Thoughtful Talented Curious
Thorough Self-disciplined Artistic
Self-confident Sincere Enthusiastic
Responsible
Here's a phrase: A positive role model for classmates
Since your comments need to be as specific as possible, avoid using ambiguous words alone such as
wonderful, good or great.
Examples of Statements Concerning a Student’s Strengths
Has an expansive knowledge of ... Writes fascinating stories

Enthusiastically participates in ... Exhibits organizational skills
Demonstrates superior work in ... Does neat, thorough work
Comprehends quickly Seeks information independently
Takes pride in his/her work Enjoys dramatization
Demonstrates initiative Uses English correctly
Listens and follows directions well Has a delightful sense of humor
Asks for responsibilities and follows through Is well-liked by peers
Expresses ideas clearly Demonstrates leadership skills
Examples of Encouraging Comments (to use when a student is making progress)
Is learning to ...
Has developed a positive attitude toward ... Is becoming self-reliant.
Has advanced in ... Is developing concentration skills
Has demonstrated a desire to ... Is gaining self-confidence
Has shown steady progress in ... Is becoming a good listener
Has shown noticeable improvement in ... Is occupying his/her time constructively
Has demonstrated increased social skills, such as ... Is learning English speaking and/or writing skills
Is showing enthusiasm for ... Is developing more positive ways to interact with
Is gaining academic skills, such as ... others
Is developing consistent work habits, such as ... Is learning to be cooperative when working in
groups
Examples To Use When Concerns Are Evident and A Student Is in Need of Assistance
 Needs help to increase academic skills, such as ...

 Demonstrates a need for consistent effort and motivation, especially in ...
 Requires help with organizational skills, such as ...
 Could benefit from ...
 Needs to be encouraged to comply with school rules, such as ...
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 Demonstrates a need for improved social interaction skills, such as ...

 Could benefit from improving his/her work habits, such as ...
 Needs to be encouraged to listen and pay attention in class
 Needs help to understand instructions
 Requires repetition to retain information
 Needs encouragement to do work on his/her own
 Demonstrates a need for direct supervision to complete work
 Needs to be encouraged to work more slowly and accurately
 Would benefit from supervision of homework
 Requires support to interact with classmates in a positive way
 Would benefit from learning self-control skills
 Needs to be encouraged to accept responsibility for his/her errors and/or misbehavior
 Needs to demonstrate improvement in academic work if he/she is to gain the fundamentals
needed for this grade
Since some parents never attend a parent-teacher conference, a teacher may want to complete and
include a copy of the following statement or something similar with a student’s report card.
Dear (Parent’s Name):
Spending time and helping (student’s name) in the following ways will provide an incentive for him/her to
work harder and learn the skills necessary to achieve in school.
(List ways parent can help)
Since I care about your child, I would like to meet with you. Please call the school office at (phone number)
or see me to decide on a time to meet and share ideas. The effort you make working with (student’s name)
today can make a huge difference in his/her future success.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
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AC5 Sufficient information is provided to enable the

purpose of the observation to be met, and to enable
further decision-making.
How Curriculum Frameworks Respond to Developmental
Stages: Birth through Age 8
D i a n e T r i st e r D o d g e & T o n i S . B i c k a r t
There is now more research on how people learn and specifically on how young children learn than we
have ever had before. This research has led to widespread debates in both the general public and media as
well as the profession about curriculum and pedagogy. Frequently missing from the debate, however, is an
understanding of how teachers make decisions in the classroom.
High-quality programs are planned and implemented by people who are skilled and knowledgeable about
young children and how they learn. But even the best trained professionals find it beneficial and
appropriate to teach in early childhood programs that use a curriculum as a focus for learning. An early
childhood curriculum offers educators a vision of what an age-appropriate program looks like and a
framework for making decisions about how to achieve that vision.
Curriculum in early childhood is defined as “an organized framework” that includes three components
(Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1992, p. 10):
 Content—This component is the subject matter of the curriculum, the goals and objectives for children’s
learning.
 Processes—This component is the pedagogy of learning, how teachers teach, and the ways in which
children achieve the goals and objectives of the curriculum.
 Context—This component is the setting, the environment in which learning takes place.
Each of these components, to be implemented well, requires a knowledge of how children develop and
learn at each stage of development; their individual strengths, interests, and needs; and the social and
cultural contexts in which they live (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997, p. 9). These dimensions of learning, known
as developmentally appropriate practice, guide all aspects of teaching and learning. When teachers
understand developmentally appropriate practice, they can use this information to guide children’s
learning.
At each stage of development, there are issues of central importance to the healthy growth of children.
Therefore, we have created three frameworks to acknowledge the different needs and abilities of infants
and toddlers, preschool and kindergarten children, and children in grades one through three. We base our
curriculum frameworks on Erik Erikson’s stages of socioemotional development (Erikson, 1963).
Infants and toddlers are at Erikson’s stage of establishing trust and autonomy. Because these issues are
addressed in the context of relationships, we emphasize the relationships caregivers/teachers have with
children as the focus of decision making.
Three- to 5-year-olds are at the stage of initiative. They like to have choices, to come up with ideas for using
materials and for play. Thus, we use an environmental approach and design each interest area as a
laboratory for exploring, trying out and sharing ideas, and creating representations.
Six- to 8-year-olds are at the stage of industry. They are increasingly product oriented, want to do a job
well, and want to feel competent as learners. In a structured community of learners, teachers can give
children opportunities to investigate, represent, and reflect on what they are learning.
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Strategies for teaching grow from learning principles moderated by this information about stages of
development. Purposeful teaching and learning occur when this knowledge is put into practice through
curriculum.
A Curriculum Framework for Infants and Toddlers

The first three years of life are critical to a child’s healthy development. Research indicates that more rapid
brain development takes place during these years than at any other time of life. During this period, children
are discovering who they are, how others respond to them, and in what ways they are increasingly
competent. They are also learning how to relate to others, what it means to express their feelings, and
whether they are loved. Their brains are being “wired” into patterns for emotional, social, physical, and
cognitive development.
For infants and toddlers, development occurs in all of these areas as they use their senses to gain a sense of
security and identity and to explore the people and objects in their world. Too often, curriculum guides for
infant/toddler programs emphasize intellectual stimulation above other critical areas of development. The
availability of books promising to build superior minds are plentiful, as are toys designed to teach lessons
and skills to even the youngest infant. But what is important in meeting the developmental needs of infants
and toddlers can be found in the responsive relationships children build with the important adults in their
lives.
An appropriate curriculum for infants and toddlers focuses on what is most essential for their healthy
growth and development: a caregiver/teacher who builds responsive relationships with children and
families. The curriculum should provide the big picture of what high-quality programs look like and should
provide a framework for making decisions based on knowledge of child development, observations of
children, and thoughtful reflection. It should define where to lead each child and family and provide a guide
as to how to get there.
The Creative Curriculum for Infants & Toddlers (Dombro, Colker, & Dodge, 1997) is one example of an
appropriate curriculum for very young children. Like all formal curriculum models, it outlines what children
learn during the first three years, the experiences through which children achieve these learning goals,
what staff and parents do to help children reach these goals, and the materials and setting needed to
support implementation. Figure 1 shows what the curriculum looks like graphically. The triangle within a
circle emphasizes the importance of building responsive relationships among caregivers/ teachers, children,
families, and the community in the context of daily routines and activities.
Figure 1. A curriculum framework for infants and toddlers.
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Caregivers/Teachers
Caregivers/teachers are the foundation of the curriculum, and the framework empowers them as decision
makers. Inside the triangle are all the steps involved in creating and maintaining a high-quality program.
The caregiver/teacher creates a warm, inviting environment, ensures that children are safe, and follows
practices that promote children’s physical and mental health and learning. Children receive positive
guidance about behavior. Planning and evaluation are ongoing. The program is individualized based on
what is learned about each child and family through observations and daily interactions.
Daily Routines
Much of the teacher’s day revolves around the five routines of (1) hellos and good-byes, (2) diapering and
toileting, (3) eating and mealtimes, (4) sleeping and naptime, and (5) getting children dressed. Each of
these routines is used as an opportunity to build relationships with children and promote learning. For
infants and toddlers, it is during these routines that learning takes place and they begin to show trust in the
world.
Activities
Caregivers/teachers consider the stages, abilities, and interests of the children in their care and, taking their
lead, plan appropriate activities and experiences. They arrange opportunities for children to imitate and
pretend, play with toys, dabble in art, enjoy stories and books, taste and prepare food, explore sand and
water, have fun with music and movement, and go outdoors. As children grow and expand their interests
and gain greater ability to interact with their environment, activities become increasingly important as the
focus of learning.
While this picture provides a visual framework, the curriculum itself provides a guide for decision making
each day. It offers practical information about an appropriate environment for young infants, mobile
infants, and toddlers—one filled with materials and experiences that will interest them. Infants and
toddlers who feel safe and secure in their relationships with adults are eager to reach out and explore their
world. Observing how each child responds to and uses the environment, teachers ask questions such as:
 What interests this child? How can I nurture her curiosity?

 What skills is she working on? What materials and experiences might I make available or offer her?
 How does he typically approach the world? What is his personal style or temperament?
 What can I do to encourage his engagement?
 How does she respond to different sensory experiences? What can I do to protect her from over- or
understimulation?
 How many books should I leave out for my toddlers to look at?
 Should I hand the teething ring to the baby or let her reach for it?
Having a curriculum framework gives teachers a way to follow each child’s lead and make good decisions.
A Curriculum Framework for Preschool and Kindergarten

During the early childhood years, children are learning to trust others outside of their families, to gain
independence and self-control, and to take initiative and assert themselves in socially acceptable ways. At
the same time, they are learning about their world by observing their surroundings and finding out what
happens when they interact with materials and other people. Their language skills grow enormously. They
develop the ability to talk about their observations and experiences as they explore their immediate
surroundings. Their environment becomes larger and richer as they learn to understand others and express
their ideas more effectively. While they are working on these social, emotional, and cognitive skills, they
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are making great strides physically—running, skipping, jumping, hopping, climbing—and developing their
fine motor skills as well.
These growing abilities enable children to make friends, work with others, and communicate with children
and adults. We say they are at the stage of initiative because they are ready to reach out to others as they
explore their world. Social and emotional competence is a key developmental goal for this age. Research
confirms that “social and emotional school readiness is critical to a successful kindergarten transition, early
school success, and even later accomplishments in the workplace” (Peth-Pierce, 2000, p. vii). The National
Education Goals Panel (1999) describes these key social skills as “respecting the rights of others, relating to
peers without being too submissive or overbearing, being willing to give and receive support, and treating
others as one would like to be treated” (Peth-Pierce, 2000, p. 1).
An appropriate curriculum for preschool and kindergarten children therefore provides a way to build social
and emotional competence at the same time as children learn important concepts, information, and skills
(Bowman, Donovan, & Burns, 2000, p. 8). Traditional curriculum resources for preschool programs too
often focus on “busy-work” activities, offering pre-packaged lessons, a different theme each week, and
ditto sheets. In addition to promoting inappropriate practices, these resources take the focus away from
the child.
Rather than simply listing activities, games, or songs for teaching, an appropriate curriculum addresses
children’s need to demonstrate initiative and focuses on creating an environment where children can
interact, explore, and make choices. The richer and more interesting the environment, the more
opportunities there are for children to learn. The teacher watches how children are using the materials and
listens to what they are saying in order to understand how they are thinking. Then the teacher supports
children’s learning by adding new materials, asking open-ended questions, or teaching a particular skill that
will help them explore further.
The Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood (Dodge & Colker, 1992) is a curriculum framework for preschool
and kindergarten children that builds on what we know about how children learn and the particular
developmental needs of this age group. There is clear direction for teachers about setting up the
environment and guiding children’s learning.
The framework has five components: (1) How Children Learn, (2) What Children Learn, (3) The Physical
Environment, (4) The Teacher’s Role, and (5) The Parent’s Role (see Figure 2). Whereas the foundation for
an infant/toddler curriculum is in the relationship that the caregiver/teacher builds with children and
families, the organizing principle for preschool and kindergarten curriculum is the physical environment of
the program. In the center of the graphic are interest areas that organize the environment for children. But
before these interest areas can be arenas for important learning, various elements are essential to support
a framework for decision making.
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Figure 2. A curriculum framework for preschool and kindergarten.
How Children Learn

A clear philosophy about how children learn requires an understanding of developmentally appropriate
practice and new understandings of appropriate pedagogy. Curriculum should be based on knowing the
normal sequences of growth typical of 3- to 5-year-old children in all areas of development. As active, social
individuals, they have lots of ideas they want to try out and share.
While children connect new information to their existing understandings, current research is expanding our
interpretations of when and how children begin to be able to go from concrete to abstract learning
(Bowman, Donovan, & Burns, 2000, p. 4). Teachers can expose children to decontextualized language that
is more complex and abstract when they get them to think about something beyond the here and now
(Neuman, Copple, & Bredekamp, 2000). For example, children building bridges in the block area might be
asked to recall and talk about their recent visit to a drawbridge, describing what they remember seeing.
Getting to know children as individuals with unique strengths, interests, and talents, as well as responding
to the social and cultural context in which they have been raised, enables teachers to know when and how
to expose children to new learning opportunities and build their competence.
What Children Learn

The goals and objectives for learning are the road map of an early childhood curriculum. They provide the
direction for planning the program and a way to determine what children know and how they are
developing. This information enables teachers to respond to each child individually, to build on strengths
and focus on skills that need strengthening. A high-quality curriculum focuses on all aspects of
development and links these with the content knowledge and skills appropriate for this age group.
Specific social/emotional goals include developing a sense of self, responsibility for self and others, and
prosocial behavior. In the area of physical development, there are goals in both gross and fine motor skills.
Cognitive development includes learning and problem solving, logical thinking, and representation and
symbolic thinking. At this age, language development becomes particularly important to support and
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enhance. Listening and speaking and reading and writing goals are articulated with specific objectives that
children are expected to master. What children learn in preschool and kindergarten has a direct link to the
content and skills learned in later grades. Therefore, it should be intellectually stimulating and worthy of
children’s time.
The Physical Environment

As the “textbook” for the curriculum, the physical environment is the vehicle through which children learn.
The curriculum’s guidance enables teachers to make decisions about indoor room arrangement and
outdoor spaces, what materials and equipment are appropriate, and how they should be grouped and
displayed.
The Teacher’s Role

An appropriate physical environment structures the educator’s role in promoting children’s development
and learning. But it is not enough to set up attractive, well-organized, and rich interest areas. Teachers
must know how to select and arrange materials and how to interact with children so that they acquire the
knowledge and skills to become successful learners. They need a good understanding of what materials will
interest and challenge children and the skills to observe how each child uses the environment in order to
plan for individual growth and learning. A knowledge of the continuum of skill development is essential in
order to challenge children so that they are always progressing. Learning how to support children in making
choices, what to say to help them clarify their understanding, and how and when to ask open-ended
questions—“What do you think will happen if...?” “How many different ways can you...?” “Why do you
think that happened?”—are all important aspects of the preschool and kindergarten teacher’s role.
The Parent’s Role

The most effective early childhood programs are those that involve children’s families in meaningful ways.
This is why the last component of curriculum addresses the role of parents. Although a teacher’s primary
role is to work with children, the needs of the child are always best met when parents are also actively
involved and an integral part of the program. A partnership begins with mutual respect and trust. Staff who
convey the message that parents are welcome and encouraged to visit the program set the tone for a
positive relationship. Participating in the program enables parents to observe firsthand how their children
are progressing so they can support and extend their learning at home. When teachers take time to learn
about the child and family, they can often develop ways to extend the learning at home. Teachers who
explain developmentally appropriate practice to parents, acknowledge their concerns about their children,
and build confidence and pride in what their children can accomplish gain valuable allies in the effort to
support high-quality preschool and kindergarten programs.
Interest Areas
With this framework in place, the interest areas of the classroom become the laboratory for children to
investigate, reconstruct, and share what they are learning. As children work with blocks, engage in dramatic
play, manipulate sand and water, use table toys, explore the library, participate in music and movement
activities, explore art materials, cook, use computers, and play outdoors, they learn concepts and skills in
literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology.
Using The Creative Curriculum framework helps teachers answer questions such as the following:
 Does the room arrangement support positive behavior?

 How can I help children to use materials more carefully and clean up?
 Are children learning through their play?
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 How can we make transitions occur more smoothly?

 Is this a good time to introduce new props, learning materials, books, or toys?
 How can I encourage children to do more writing?
 What would be a good topic for our next study?
What to teach and how to teach it become part of a unified whole with a curriculum framework that
enables teachers to see the big picture at the same time as they address individual needs of children.
A Curriculum Framework for First, Second, and Third Grades

The foundation for good teaching is knowing about children. Six- to 8-year-olds have their own particular
characteristics. They are defining who they are based on certain simple attributes or achievements, such as:
“I wear glasses.” “I’m good at soccer.” “I can read books with chapters.” Many think about how they look in
the eyes of others and become increasingly self-conscious. Establishing friendships is very important,
although they sometimes lack the skills to do so successfully. A delightful characteristic of this age is the
emergence of a sense of humor, and telling jokes is a popular pastime. Children this age also become less
dependent on adults and more dependent on peers. As this change occurs, children may begin to question
authority and test limits.
While there are predictable patterns of development, it becomes very obvious at this age that children do
not grow and develop at the same rate. Some may be more or less coordinated; one child may be
extremely verbal with a large vocabulary, while another says little. In addition, an individual child’s
development does not follow an even course across all areas: a 6-year-old may have the fine motor skills of
some 7-year-olds but the language skills of some 5-year-olds.
Erikson describes this stage in terms of a positive and negative attribute. The positive attribute, industry,
means children want to take on tasks and have something to show for their efforts. They know when they
have done a job well and do not need empty praise. Competent children are sure enough of themselves to
take risks and to struggle with challenges in order to reach a goal, solve a problem, or complete a task.
When children do not achieve a positive sense of industry, they feel inferior (“I can’t do it.”). Erikson’s
theories explain how important it is for teachers to provide children with appropriate challenges so they
can feel successful.
Because expectations for what primary grade children need to know and do have greatly expanded in the
past decade, instructional planning for this age group must consider how to set up knowledge-centered
environments where children are actively engaged in the learning process (Donovan, Bransford, &
Pellegrino, 1999). In such environments, teachers consider what children already know about a given
subject and how to help them to construct new understandings based on that knowledge. They provide
feedback to children throughout the learning process, trying to guide children to make sense of new
information, not just to memorize it.
Building the Primary Classroom (Bickart, Jablon, & Dodge, 1999) is built around six strategies that provide
teachers with a framework for making decisions about their work with children at this stage of
development. As you can see in Figure 3, at the center are the content areas of instruction—Language and
Literacy, Mathematical Thinking, Social Studies, Scientific Thinking, Technology, and the Arts. Surrounding
these content areas are the strategies that teachers implement so they can effectively teach content and
give children opportunities to demonstrate industry using the skills they are learning.
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Figure 3. A curriculum framework for the primary grades.
Knowing the Children

This strategy means understanding developmental stages, individual characteristics, and the influence of
culture. Because every group is unique, teaching and learning are dynamic processes shaped in part by the
attributes and interests of each group of children. Teachers use what they have learned about the children
they teach to make decisions about what to teach when and how to teach it.
Building a Classroom Community

This strategy is key to creating an environment where children can explore and be productive. When a
classroom functions as a community, children experience a sense of belonging and a sense of
empowerment that are essential to their well-being and their academic success. Teachers build a
community through having varied kinds of meetings or full-class gatherings during the day:
 meetings to start the day together;

 meetings for group discussions—about classroom life (rules, jobs), about a problem or issue and coming
up with a solution;
 meetings to introduce a lesson or material or to discuss what has been learned;
 meetings at transition times to be a bridge between one activity and another; and
 end-of-day meetings to help children make a transition from the classroom community to another
community.
Teachers also build community by helping children learn to work collaboratively and teaching children
social problem-solving skills.
Establishing a Structure for the Classroom

An explicit structure enables teachers to facilitate children’s learning and helps children to become self-
directed learners. The kind of structure teachers create depends upon the kind of learners they want
children to become. In a collaborative community where children are encouraged to become self-directed
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learners, all members of the community should contribute to creating the structure that governs
community life.
Six- to 8-year-old children, who typically need to feel autonomous and powerful, can become invested in
building and maintaining the quality of community life. They can understand rules and systems when they
help to create them, and they are willing to reevaluate and change what does not work for the good of all.
Teachers can create a structure with children in which they share responsibility for keeping the classroom
neat and orderly, know how to get and use materials properly, and function with increasing levels of
independence. Structure comes from a well-organized classroom environment, a daily schedule and
routines that are predictable, and clear expectations about behavior in the classroom.
Guiding Children’s Learning

In a classroom community where children feel empowered to learn, teachers can create opportunities for
children to acquire skills and content as they actively investigate, represent, and reflect on their increasing
understanding of the world around them. They establish a “culture of inquiry” in which preconceptions are
addressed and children convert facts into “usable knowledge” that is applied to new content (Donovan,
Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999, p. 2). When children are engaged in meaningful learning, they see a
connection to the real world. The projects assigned, topics studied, and the lessons taught are both
interesting and relevant to children.
Children have active learning experiences in which they handle materials, interview people, take trips, and
do personal research and experiments that allow them to move from the concrete to more abstract levels
of learning. Because they benefit from being challenged, teachers engage them in work that requires time
to study and explore issues in depth. Assignments and lessons do not all look alike or require the same kind
of product. Teachers organize the curriculum using an integrated approach that allows children to apply
skills they are learning in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, technology, and the arts.
Assessing Children’s Learning

A comprehensive approach to assessment enables teachers to make informed decisions about what to
teach, plan instruction, and monitor and share children’s progress with families in a meaningful way. They
must observe children regularly and collect samples of their work. The work that primary grade children do
every day—writing stories, making maps, creating paintings, solving math problems—is the best and most
logical source of assessment information for both teachers and children. Gathering assessment information
from daily activities provides an accurate and complete picture of what children know and can do.
Because primary grade children are deeply invested in what and how everybody else is doing and how they
measure up, they should be involved appropriately in the assessment process. Children need to know
exactly what is expected in a given assignment, get specific feedback on their work, and be able to describe
the ways in which they have made progress over time.
Building a Partnership with Families

When families are involved, children’s achievement is enhanced, teachers obtain support, and schools
become better places for learning. Teachers involve families by taking time to learn about each child’s
family, involving families in the school and classroom community, establishing a structure for ongoing
communication, sharing the curriculum, and involving families in the assessment process.
Teachers use the six strategies as the foundation that makes subject matter teaching meaningful and
effective. Knowing the children helps teachers plan where to begin, which materials to choose, and what
questions to ask. The classroom community that is created enables children to work in small groups, to
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share supplies, and to feel safe taking risks. The structure that is established enables children to work
independently because they anticipate the day’s events, understand classroom rules, and know how to
find, use, and put away materials. The approach to guiding children’s learning helps them construct their
own understanding within each subject area. The approach to assessment offers many ways to find out
what children are learning so that teachers can modify instructional approaches in order to address
individual needs. Involving family members in homework and class projects that call for real-life application
of skills and concepts enhances children’s learning.
The framework remains constant so that teachers can use it to make appropriate decisions. They can
consider:
 Do the displays reflect what children are studying?

 Am I building listening and speaking skills during class meetings?
 Do children have enough opportunities to make choices about how they represent what they are
learning?
 How can I get children to do more editing of their writing?
 What would be a good way to incorporate math skills in our study of bridges?
 The math materials are not being kept organized. How can I get the children to address this
problem?
 Are the small group science investigations allowing everyone to learn important skills?
Balancing children’s needs and the demands placed on teachers to focus on facts, skills, and concepts is
difficult for teachers. With this framework in place, the best elements of classroom management,
instructional practices, and curriculum content teaching can be combined effectively.
Group Activity:
Portfolio Activity:
1. Explain how observations contribute towards assessment of individual
development
2. Explain the importance of doing observations are continuous, based on
daily activities and provide sufficient information to establish patterns of
development.
3. Describe how the records should accurately reflect the observations and
are culturally sensitive and bias free.
4. Describe how feedback is given using appropriate feedback mechanisms
and in accordance with confidentiality requirements.
5. Explain how feedback is given with appropriate sensitivity to diversity and
emotions.
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Self Assessment
Self Assessment:
 - Some idea
SELF RATING
NO OUTCOME
  
1. Observing babies, toddlers and young children.
2. Recording observations.
3. Giving feedback on observations
completed.
1. Observing babies, toddlers

and young children.
______________________
2. Recording observations.
______________________
3. Giving feedback on
______________________
observations
______________________
______________________
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Learning Unit 3: Motivation and Leadership

US: Motivate and Build a Team
Learning Outcomes:
The following learning outcomes are covered in this Learning Unit.
1. Explaining the importance of motivating a team.

2. Demonstrating an understanding of self and team members in a
workplace.
3. Applying theories of motivation and group dynamics.
4. Implementing a plan of action to strengthen a team.
5. Providing feedback and recognizing achievements.
Introduction
A person's motivation is a combination of desire and energy directed at achieving a goal. It is the cause of
action. Influencing someone's motivation means getting them to want to do what you know must be done.
A person's motivation depends upon two things:
 The strength of certain needs. For example, you are hungry, but you must have a task completed
by a nearing deadline. If you are starving you will eat. If you are slightly hungry you will finish the
task at hand.
 The perception that taking a certain action will help satisfy those needs. For example, you have
two burning needs — the desire to complete the task and the desire to go to lunch. Your
perception of how you view those two needs will determine which one takes priority. If you believe
that you could be fired for not completing the task, you will probably put off lunch and complete
the task. If you believe that you will not get into trouble or perhaps finish the task in time, then you
will likely go to lunch.
SO1: Explaining the importance of motivating a

team
AC1: Reasons why motivation is important
People can be motivated by such forces as beliefs, values, interests, fear, and worthy causes. Some of these
forces are internal, such as needs, interests, and beliefs. Others are external, such as danger, the
environment, or pressure from a loved one. There is no simple formula for motivation — you must keep an
open viewpoint on human nature. There is a complex array of forces steering the direction of each person
and these forces cannot always be seen or studied. In addition, if the same forces are steering two different
people, each one may act differently. Knowing that each person may react to different needs will guide
your decisions and actions in certain situations.
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As a leader you have the power to influence motivation. The following guidelines form a basic view of
motivation (U.S. Army Handbook, 1973). They will help guide your decision making process:
 Allow the needs of your team to coincide with the needs of your organization
Nearly everyone is influenced by the needs for job security, promotion, raises, and approval of their
peers and/or leaders. They are also influenced by internal forces such as values morals, and ethics.
Likewise, the organization needs good people in a wide variety of jobs. Ensure that your team is
trained, encouraged, and has opportunities to advance. Also, ensure that the way you conduct
business has the same values, moral, and ethic principles that you seek in others. If you conduct
business in a dishonest manner, your team will be dishonest to you, for that will be the kind of
people that you will attract.
 Reward good behaviour
Although a certificate, letter, or a thank you may seem small and insignificant, they can be powerful
motivators. The reward should be specific and prompt. Do not say something general, such as “for
doing a good job,” rather cites the specific action that made you believe it was indeed a good job.
In addition, help those who are good. We all make mistakes or need help on occasion to achieve a
particular goal.
 Set the example
You must be the role model that you want others to grow into.
 Develop moral and team sprit
Morale is the mental, emotional, and spiritual state of a person. Almost everything you do will have
an impact on your organization. You should always be aware how your actions and decisions might
affect it. Esprit de corps means team spirit — it is defined as the spirit of the organization or
collective body (in French it literally means “spirit of the body”). It is the consciousness of the
organization that allows the people within it to identify with and feel a part of. Is your workplace a
place where people cannot wait to get away from; or is it a place that people enjoy spending a part
of their lives?
 Allow your team to be part of the planning and problem solving process
 This helps with their development and allows you to coach them. Secondly, it motivates them —
people who are part of the decision making process become the owners of it, thus it gives them a
personal interest in seeing the plan succeed. Thirdly, communication is clearer as everyone has a
better understanding of what role they must play as part of the
team. Next, it creates an open trusting communication bond.
They are no longer just the doers for the organization — they
are now part of it! Finally, recognition and appreciation from a
respected leader are powerful motivators.
 Look out for your team
 Although you do not have control over their personal
lives, you must show concern for them. Things that seem of no
importance to you might be extremely critical to them. You must
be able to empathize with them. This is from the German word,
einfuhling, which means “to feel with”, or the ability to perceive
another person's view of the world as though that view were
your own. The Sioux Indian Tribal Prayer reads, “Great Spirit,
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help us never to judge another until we have walked for two weeks in his moccasins.” Also note
that empathy differs from sympathy in that sympathy connotes spontaneous emotion rather than a
conscious, reasoned response. Sympathizing with others may be less useful to another person if we
are limited by the strong feelings of the moment.
 Keep them informed
 Keeping the communication channel open allow team members to have a sense of control over
their lives.
 Make their jobs challenging, exciting, and meaningful
 Make each feel like an individual in a great team, rather than a cog in a lifeless machine. People
need meaningful work, even if it is tiring and unpleasant; they need to know that it is important
and necessary for the survival of the organization.
 Counsel people who behave in a way that is counter to the company's goals
 All the guidelines before this took the positive approach. But, sometimes this does not always
work. You must let people know when they are not performing to an acceptable standard. By the
same token, you must protect them when needed. For example, if someone in your department is
always late arriving for work and it is causing disruptions, then you must take action. On the other
hand, if you have an extremely good department and once in a while a person is a few minutes
late, then do the right thing — protect the person from the bureaucracy!
Informed Acquiescence vs. Value-Based Self-Governance

The most common form of culture in modern organizations is often referred to as informed acquiescence.
They are rule-based in that the workers learn the rules and agree to abide by them. Rules work their way
from the top-down in a fairly controllable and predictable manner. Thus a large organization becomes
management-orientated and in turn, a bureaucracy. And it is this bureaucracy that tends to slow things
down.
However, many of the leading organizations are becoming more value-based self-governance in that rather
than the workforce being governed by “should,” they act upon “can” (Seidman, 2007). They have a small
core set of rules that are valued by the workforce. Rather than being motivated to do better, they are
inspired. Motivation is controlled somewhat by outside factors, while inspired (similar to “esprit”) is more
inside the individual (soul or spirit) and is usually considered the greatest motivator. Being freed from the
crippling pace of bureaucracy, value-based companies operate and move faster.
Probably no organization is solely one or the other, yet the better and faster ones are closer to being value-
based. Nordstrom is perhaps the best known example of an organization that leans heavily towards value-
based self-governance. For example, Nordstrom's rule is to “Use good judgment in all situations.”
Employees are encouraged to ask questions from anyone because they believe that all information should
be accessible to everyone, regardless of seniority or status.
AC2: Indicators of motivation

Counselling
Counselling has a powerful, long-term impact on people and the effectiveness of

the organization. Counselling is talking with a person in a way that helps him or
her solve a problem. It involves thinking, implementing, knowing human nature,
timing, sincerity, compassion, and kindness. It involves much more that simply
telling someone what to do about a problem.
Leaders must demonstrate the following qualities in order to counsel effectively.
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 Respect for employees — this includes the belief that individuals are responsible for their own
actions and ideas. It includes an awareness of a person's individuality by recognizing their unique
values, attributes, and skills. As you attempt to develop people with counselling, you must refrain
from projecting your own values onto them.
 Self-Awareness — this quality is an understanding of yourself as a leader. The more you are aware
of your own values, needs, and biases, the less likely you will be to project your feelings onto your
employees.
 Credibility — Believability is achieved through both honesty and consistency between both the
leader's statements and actions. Credible leaders are straightforward with their subordinates and
behave in such a manner that earns the subordinates' respect and trust.
 Empathy — or compassion entails understanding a subordinate's situation. Empathetic leaders will
be better able to help subordinates identify the situation and then develop a plan to improve it.
The reason for counselling is to help employees develop in order to achieve organizational goals.
Sometimes, the counselling is directed by policy, and at other times, leaders should choose to counsel to
develop employees. Regardless of the nature of the counselling, leaders should demonstrate the qualities
of an effective counsellor (respect, self-awareness, credibility, and empathy) and employ the skills of good
communication.
While the reason for counselling is to develop subordinates, leaders often categorize counselling based on
the topic of the session. Major categories include performance counselling, problem counselling, and
individual growth counselling (development). While these categories help leaders to organize and focus
counselling sessions, they must not be viewed as separate and distinct types of counselling. For example a
counselling session which mainly focuses on resolving a problem may also have a great impact on
improving job performance. Another example is a counselling session that focuses on performance may
also include a discussion of opportunities for growth. Regardless of the topic of the counselling session, you
should follow the same basic format to prepare for and conduct counselling.
Counselling Steps
1. Identify the problem. Ensure you get to the heart of the problem. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of
Toyota, invented a technique called the Five Whys. When confronted with a problem you ask
“why” five times. By the time the fifth why is answered, you should be at the root cause of the
problem. For example:
Tom's work is not up to standards
 Why? — After discussing it with Tom it turns out he has too much of a workload
 Why? — Tom is considered one of the experts, thus he often gets extra work dumped
on him
 Why? — Susan, the other expert, was promoted and no one else is capable of
replacing her.
 Why? — We failed to train and develop the other team members
 Why? — We did not see the necessity of cross-training.
2. Analyze the forces influencing the behaviour. Determine which of these forces you have control
over and which of the forces the worker has control over. Determine if the force has to be
modified, eliminated, or enforced.
3. Plan, coordinate, and organize the session. Determine the best time to conduct the session so that
you will not be interrupted or forced to end too early.
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4. Conduct the session using sincerity, compassion, and kindness. This does not mean you cannot be
firm or in control. Your reputation is on the line; the problem must be solved so that your
department can continue with its mission. Likewise, you must hear the person out.
5. During the session, determine what the worker believes causes the counterproductive behaviour
and what will be required to change it. Also, determine if your initial analysis is correct.
6. Try to maintain a sense of timing of when to use directive or nondirective counselling (see below).
7. Using all the facts, make a decision and/or a plan of action to correct the problem. If more
counselling is needed, make a firm time and date for the next session.
8. After the session and throughout a sufficient time period, evaluate the worker's progress to ensure
the problem has indeed been solved.
There are two types of counselling — directive and nondirective. In directive counselling, the counsellor
identifies the problem and tells the counselee what to do about it. Nondirective counselling means the
counselee identifies the problem and determines the solution with the help of the counsellor. The
counsellor has to determine which of the two or some appropriate combination, to give for each situation.
For example, “Put that cigarette out now as this is a non-smoking area,” is a form of directive counselling.
While a form of nondirective counselling would be, “So the reason you are not effective is that you were up
late last night. What are you going to do to ensure that this does not affect your performance again?”
Hints for counselling sessions:

 Let the person know that the behaviour is undesirable, not the person.
 Let the person know that you care about him or her as a person, but that you expect more from
them.
 Do not punish employees who are unable to perform a task. Punish those who are able to perform
the task but are unwilling or unmotivated to succeed.
 Counselling sessions should be conducted in private immediately after the undesirable behaviour.
Do not humiliate a person in front of others.
 Ensure that the employee understands exactly what behaviour led to the counselling or
punishment.
 Do not hold a grudge. When it is over, it is over! Move on!
SO2: Demonstrate an understanding of self and

team members
AC1: Character and Traits in Leadership
Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. — Warren
Bennis, Ph.D. On Becoming a Leader
Building Excellence
Leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence. Excellence is “being all you can be” within the
bounds of doing what is right for your organization. To reach excellence you must first be a leader of good
character. You must do everything you are supposed to do. Organizations will not achieve excellence by
figuring out where it wants to go, then having leaders do whatever they have to in order to get the job
done, and then hope their leaders acted with good character. This type of thinking is backwards. Pursuing
excellence should not be confused with accomplishing a job or task. When you do planning, you do it by
backwards planning. But you do not achieve excellence by backwards planning. Excellence starts with
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leaders of good and strong character who engage in the entire process of leadership. And the first process
is being a person of honourable character.
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should

be. Be one. — Marcus Aurelius
Character develops over time. Many think that much

of a person's character is formed early in life.
However, we do not know exactly how much or how
early character develops. But, it is safe to claim that
character does not change quickly. A person's
observable behaviour is an indication of her
character. This behaviour can be strong or weak,
good or bad. A person with strong character shows
drive, energy, determination, self-discipline,
willpower, and nerve. She sees what she wants and
goes after it. She attracts followers. On the other
hand, a person with weak character shows none of
these traits. She does not know what she wants. Her
traits are disorganized, she vacillates and is
inconsistent. She will attract no followers.
A strong person can be good or bad. A gang leader is an example of a strong person with a bad character,
while an outstanding community leader is one with both strong and good characteristics. An organization
needs leaders with both strong and good characteristics, people who will guide them to the future and
show that they can be trusted.
Courage — not complacency — is our need today. Leadership not salesmanship. — John F. Kennedy
To be an effective leader, your followers must have trust in you and they need to be sold on your vision.
Korn-Ferry International, an executive search company, performed a survey on what organizations want
from their leaders. The respondents said they wanted people who were both ethical and who convey a
strong vision of the future. In any organization, a leader's actions set the pace. This behaviour wins trust,
loyalty, and ensures the organization's continued vitality. One of the ways to build trust is to display a good
sense of character composed of beliefs, values, skills, and traits
Beliefs are what we hold dear to us and are rooted deeply within us. They could be assumptions or
convictions that you hold true regarding people, concepts, or things. They could be the beliefs about life,
death, religion, what is good, what is bad, what is human nature, etc.
Values are attitudes about the worth of people, concepts, or things. For example, you might value a good
car, home, friendship, personal comfort, or relatives. Values are important as they influence a person's
behaviour to weigh the importance of alternatives. For example, you might value friends more than
privacy, while others might be the opposite.
Skills are the knowledge and abilities that a person gains throughout life. The ability to learn a new skill
varies with each individual. Some skills come almost naturally, while others come only by complete
devotion to study and practice.
Traits are distinguishing qualities or characteristics of a person, while character is the sum total of these
traits. There are hundreds of personality traits, far too many to be discussed here. Instead, we will focus on
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a few that are crucial for a leader. The more of these you display as a leader, the more your followers will
believe and trust in you.
AC2: Strengths and areas of development of team

Traits of a Good Leader
Compiled by the Santa Clara University and the Tom Peters Group:
Honest — Display sincerity, integrity, and candour in all your actions. Deceptive behaviour will not inspire
trust.
Competent — Base your actions on reason and moral principles. Do not make decisions based on childlike
emotional desires or feelings.
Forward-looking — Set goals and have a vision of the future. The vision must be owned throughout the
organization. Effective leaders envision what they want and how to get it. They habitually pick priorities
stemming from their basic values.
Inspiring — Display confidence in all that you do. By showing endurance in mental, physical, and spiritual
stamina, you will inspire others to reach for new heights. Take charge when necessary.
Intelligent — Read, study, and seek challenging assignments.
Fair-minded — Show fair treatment to all people. Prejudice is the enemy of justice. Display empathy by
being sensitive to the feelings, values, interests, and well-being of others.
Broad-minded — Seek out diversity.
Courageous — Have the perseverance to accomplish a goal, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable
obstacles. Display a confident calmness when under stress.
Straightforward — Use sound judgment to make good decisions at the right time.
Imaginative — Make timely and appropriate changes in your thinking, plans, and methods. Show creativity
by thinking of new and better goals, ideas, and solutions to problems. Be innovative!
Retreat Hell! We've just got here! — Attributed to several World War I Marine Corps officers, Belleau
Wood, June 1918 (key ideal — take a stand)
Attributes
Attributes establish what leaders are, and every leader needs at least three of them (U.S. Army Handbook,
1973):
Standard Bearers
Establish the ethical framework within an organization. These demands a commitment to live and
defend the climate and culture that you want to permeate your organization. What you set as an
example will soon become the rule as unlike knowledge, ethical behaviour is learned more by observing
than by listening. And in fast moving situations, examples become certainty. Being a standard bearer
creates trust and openness in your employees, who in turn, fulfil your visions.
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Developers
Help others learn through teaching, training, and coaching. This creates an exciting place to work and
learn. Never miss an opportunity to teach or learn something new yourself. Coaching suggests someone
who cares enough to get involved by encouraging and developing others who are less experienced.
Employees who work for developers know that they can take risks, learn by making mistakes, and
winning in the end.
Integrators
Orchestrate the many activities that take place throughout an organization by providing a view of the
future and the ability to obtain it. Success can only be achieved when there is a unity of effort.
Integrators have a sixth sense about where problems will occur and make their presence felt during
critical times. They know that their employees do their best when they are left to work within a vision-
based framework.
Goddamn it, you will never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me! — Captain Henry P. “Jim”
Crowe, USMC, Guadalcanal, 13 January 1943. (Key words — follow me, NOT “go”)
Perspectives of Character and Traits

Traits (acronym — JJ did tie buckle)
 Justice
 Judgment
 Dependability
 Initiative
 Decisiveness
 Tact
 Integrity
 Enthusiasm
 Bearing
 Unselfishness
 Courage
 Knowledge
 Loyalty
 Endurance
SO3: Apply theories of motivation and group

dynamics
AC1: The Image of Leadership — John School land
What kind of a leader are you going to be — the kind who thinks he is the best?
Or will you be one of the very few greats
who attribute success to the rest.
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The Eleven Leadership Principles
 Be tactically and technically proficient

 Know yourself and seek self-improvement
 Know your soldiers and look out for their welfare
 Keep your soldiers informed
 Set the example
 Ensure the task is understood, supervised and accomplished
 Train your soldiers as a team
 Make sound and timely decisions
 Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates
 Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities
 Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
Organizations consist of three components:

1. The structure gives the organization its form and dictates the way it will interact.
2. The followers respond to the structure and the leaders.
3. The leaders determine the ultimate effectiveness of the organization as the character and skills that
they bring determine the way problems are solved and tasks are accomplished.
23 Traits of Character
 Bearing
 Confidence
 Courage
 Integrity
 Decisiveness
 Justice
 Endurance
 Tact
 Initiative
 Coolness
 Maturity
 Improvement
 Will
 Assertiveness
 Candour
 Sense of humour
 Competence
 Commitment
 Creativity
 Self-discipline
 Humility
 Flexibility
 Empathy/Compassion
Are manager’s leaders? Are leader’s managers?

Managers need to be leaders. . . their workers need vision and guidance! On the other hand, leaders need
to be good managers of the resources entrusted to them.
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Is Character Developed Via Nature or Nurture

(Ridley, 2003)?
I do not believe that the nature vs. nurture debate is linear enough to put percentages on it — on one side
of the fence we have nature and on the other side we have nurture. And while nature (genes) certainly has
its influences on us, the environment (nurture) normally determines the impact of a gene.
For example, one of the classic examples for discussing

genes is Konrad Lorenz's work on the imprinting that occurs
in baby geese — they have it within them to imprint
whatever is moving near them, which is normally their
mother. However, it could be anything else that is moving
around them, such as a person. But no matter what they
imprint on, rather it is their mother, a human, or an
inanimate object, the piece of the environment that they
actually imprint on is going to have a huge impact on their
life. Thus genes provide the goal, but the environment
provides the process. And it is what happens during the process that will determine the outcome.
Piaget was probably the first person to think of children as species equipped with a characteristic mind,
rather than as apprentice adults (little adults). He discovered they went through a series of five
developmental stages that were always in the same order, but not always at the same rate:
1. Sensor motor
2. Preoperational
3. Concrete operations
4. In adolescence they have Abstract Thoughts and
5. Deductive reasoning
Piaget's two contemporaries, Konrad Lorenz and B. F. Skinner took up extreme positions. Lorenz as a
champion of nature and Skinner as a champion of nurture. Piaget, however, dived right down the middle of
this debate. He believed a gene's meaning depends heavily on its context with the surrounding
environment. That is, while a child goes through five stages of development (genes), it is the active
engagement of the mind with the surrounding environment (nurture) that causes development. The two
main forces of the environment are feedback and social interaction. From this, the child assimilates
predicted experiences and accommodates it to unexpected experiences.
For some time it was believed that animals grew no new neurons in the cortex of their brains upon
reaching adulthood, thus their fate was basically sealed by their genetic nature. This was apparently proved
by a Pasco Rakic, a neuroscientist. However, Fernando Nottebohm soon found that adult canaries made
new neurons when they learn new songs. So Rakic replied that it was only adult mammals that could not
grow neurons. But soon afterward, Elizabeth Gould found that rats grow new neurons. So Rakic replied
primates could not. Gould next discovered that tree shrews grew new neurons. Rakic those higher primates
could not grow new neurons. Gould then found them in marmosets. Rakic zeroed it down to old-world
primates. Gould then discovered them in macaques.
Today it is almost certain that all primates, including humans, grow new neurons in response to new
experiences, and lose neurons in response to neglect. Thus, with all the determinism built into the initial
wiring of our brain, experience with our surrounding environment refines and in some cases rewires that
initial wiring.
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Nature may be our internal guide (map), but nurture is our explorer that has the final say in what we do
(destination).
Leaders should not think of themselves as simply managers, supervisors, etc.; but rather as “team leaders.”
Thinking of yourself as a manager or supervisor places you in a position of traditional authority based solely
on respect for the position, which in turn places you in a position of power. By understanding the personal
work preferences and motivations of your team members, you as an individual, rather than your position,
will earn their real respect and trust. All the tools discussed so far in this guide, such as counselling and
planning, provide the basic structure for developing a team. But to go from a group to a team requires a
few extra steps.
This means that the people under you are not simply
followers who blindly go where you go, but rather are
a group of people who are supportive of collaboration
in order to achieve a common goal through mutual
knowledge and skill sharing.
What is a Team?
A team is a group of people coming together to collaborate. This collaboration is to reach a shared goal or
task for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. A group of people is not necessarily a team. A
team is a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a
common goal or completion of a task rather than just a group for administrative convenience. A group, by
definition, is a number of individuals having some unifying relationship.
Team members are deeply committed to each other's personal growth and success. That commitment
usually transcends the team. A team outperforms a group and outperforms all reasonable expectations
given to its individual members. That is, a team has a synergistic effect—one plus one equals a lot more
than two.
AC2: Elements of group dynamics

Shared Mental Models
Team members not only cooperate in all aspects of their tasks and goals, they share in what are
traditionally thought of as management functions, such as planning, organizing, setting performance goals,
assessing the team's performance, developing their own strategies to manage change, and securing their
own resources.
These shared mental models or knowledge

structures allows each teammate to
generate predictions and expectations
about their teammates' roles and task
demands, which in turn, allow them to
make adjustments in order to maintain
effective team performance.
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Major Benefits of Teams

1. Teams maximize the organization's human resources. Each member of the team is coached,
helped, and led by all the other members of the team. A success or failure is felt by all members,
not just the individual. Failures are not blamed on individual members, which give them the
courage to take chances. Successes are felt by every team member, this helps them to set and
achieve bigger and better successes. In addition, failure is perceived as a learning lesson.
2. A Team's output is superior, even when the odds are not in its favour. This is due to the synergistic
effect of a team—a team can normally outperform a group of individuals.
3. There is continuous improvement. No one knows the job, tasks, and goals better than the
individual team members. To get real change, you need their knowledge, skills, and abilities. When
they pull together as a team, they will not be afraid to show what they can do. Personal motives
will be pushed to the side to allow the team motive to succeed.
Most teams aren't teams at all but merely collections of individual relationships with the boss. Each
individual vying with the others for power, prestige and position. - Douglas McGregor
AC3: Plan to strengthen the team

From Group to Team—Getting There
Be Enthusiastic—it's Contagious
Become enthusiastic about one aspect at a time. Start by initially looking for a quick problem to be solved.
Most teams trace their advancement to key performance oriented events that forged them together.
Potential teams can set such events in motion by immediately establishing a few challenging, yet
achievable goals.
First, find a problem and start to talk about it with the team; do not delegate it to an individual or small
group, make it a project for everybody. Choose a simple, but distracting work-related problem and solicit
everybody's views and suggestions. Next, get the problem solved. Demand urgency against a clear target.
There is no need to allocate large amounts of resource or time to this, simply raise the problem and make a
fuss. When a solution comes, praise it by rewarding the whole team. Also, ensure that the aspects of
increased efficiency, productivity, and/or calm are highlighted since this will establish the criteria for
success. When the problem has been solved, find another (preferably bigger) one and repeat.
Develop a Sense of Urgency

Team members need to believe the team has an urgent and worthwhile purpose. Establishing a sense of
urgency and direction will help them know what their expectations are. The more urgent and meaningful
the need to reach a goal, the more likely it is that a real team will start to emerge. The best teams define
their performance expectations, but are flexible enough to allow changes to shape their own purpose,
goals, and approach.
Set Clear Rules of Behaviour

Teams develop rules of conduct to help them achieve their purpose and performance goals. Some rules you
might want to consider:
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 attendance - no interruptions to take phone calls

 discussion - no sacred cows
 confidentiality - personal revelations must remain among the team
 analytic approach - facts are friendly
 constructive confrontation - no finger pointing
 the most important - everyone does real work
Keep Them Informed

Challenge your team with fresh facts and information. New information causes a potential team to redefine
and enrich its understanding of the objectives, thereby helping the team to set clearer goals.
Grow Together
Teams must spend a lot of time together (bonding), especially in the beginning. Yet potential teams often
fail to do so. The time spent together must be both scheduled and unscheduled. Creative insights as well as
personal bonding require impromptu and casual interactions.
SO4: Implement a plan of action to strengthen

a team
AC1: Reinforcement Works Wonders
Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward. Positive reinforcement works as well in a
team context as elsewhere. For example, by being alert to a shy person's initial efforts to speak up, allows
you to encourage continued contributions.
Other methods include:
 Focus on both development and performance. Make teamwork the norm for all actions. Model
teamwork in the way you conduct business and the way you interact with your colleagues.
 Use all your leadership tools, such as coaching, counselling, mentoring, tutoring, and concentrating
on improving performance.
 Use informal processes, such as the way you communicate, showing respect, and appreciating and
celebrating their achievements.
 Your feelings must show commitment, loyalty, pride, and trust in your team.
 Share the credit.
 Create subcommittees for key areas and give them decision making authority.
 Take turns having a different member facilitate or lead the meetings.
 Talk last in discussions, after you've heard from the others.
 Be clear about when you're expressing your own personal opinion, that of the organization, or that
of the whole team.
Leadership shows itself in the inspired action of team members. Traditionally, organizations have assessed
leaders by their actions and behaviours. But, the best way to assess leadership is by the degree to which
people surrounding leaders are inspired. It is this inspiration that leads organizations on to excellent
performance, rather than mediocre performance.
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Team Elements
As a leader, there are a number of elements that you must help to create in a team. Teams learn and
demonstrate behaviours that are not exhibited by mere groups. These characteristics represent the
essential elements of an effective team. Your team will not normally form on its own; rather there is almost
always someone who was the catalyst for bringing the team together. This someone must be you. It's okay
for you to be the focal point at the beginning, but at some point in time the ownership of the team needs
to shift to the other members as a whole.
AC2: Common Elements

A team goal - Although your team might have a number of goals, one of them must stand out. For example,
“To produce 10% more widgets than last year without hiring additional personnel.” A supporting goal might
be, “To provide 40 hours of yearly training for each member.” Everyone must know, agree upon, and be
committed to accomplishing the team goal.
Productive participation of all members - This has four levels:
1. Contributing data and knowledge

2. Sharing in the decision making process and reaching consensus
3. Making the decision
4. Making an imposed decision work
Communication - Open, honest, and effective exchange of information between members.
Trust - Openness in critiquing and trusting others.
A sense of belonging - Cohesiveness by being committed to an understood mandate and team identity.
Diversity - This must be valued as an asset. It is a vital ingredient that provides the synergistic effect of a
team.
Creativity and risk taking - If no one individual fails, then risk taking becomes a lot easier.
Evaluation - The ability to self correct.
Change compatibility - Being flexible and assimilating change.
Participatory leadership - Everyone must help lead to one degree or another.
AC3: Steps to Team Problem Solving

Steps 1 - Define the goal. A team needs to know what to focus on. You can lay out the basic goal, such as
“reduce workplace accidents”, but it is important to let the team define and expand the goal.
Step 2 - Not only must the “what” be solved, but also the “why.” The team should identify what's in it for
both the organization and the team. This is best accomplished by asking “What is the benefit?” In addition,
creating a specific target that builds enthusiasm helps to make the objective appealing.
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Step 3 - Define the obstacles that will prevent the team from achieving what it wants. Focus on internal
obstacles, not on the external environment. It becomes too easy to say, “We can't do anything about it.”
Internal factors are within their reach.
Step 4 - The team now plans its actions or objectives. Lay out four or five concrete steps, and write them
down. Not “we'll try” actions, such as “We'll try to serve customers better.” Rather, you want actions that
can be tracked and monitored. You cannot measure a “try” action. You want observable behaviours, such
as “Greet all customers with a smile and a good morning” or “Customers will be served within 1 minute
upon their arrival.”
Step 5 - Formulate actions to address.
Step 6 - Take action now! This is the most critical step. It is what differentiates an effective team from a
group. Groups have lots of meetings before, if ever, taking action—while teams get it done! Get
commitment from individual team members to take action on specific items.
Team Leadership
Keep the purpose, goals, and approach relevant and meaningful
All teams must shape their own common purpose, goals and approach. While a leader must be a working
member of the team who contributes, she also stands apart from the team by virtue of her position as
leader. A team expects their leader to use that perspective and distance to help them clarify and commit to
their mission, goals, and approach. Do not be afraid to get your hands dirty (lead by example), but always
remember what you are paid to do (get the job done and grow your employees).
Build commitment and confidence

Work to build the commitment and confidence level of each individual and the team as a whole. Effective
team leaders are vigilant about skills. Their goal is to have members with technical, functional, problem
solving, decision making, interpersonal, and teamwork skills. To get there, encourage them to take the risks
needed for growth and development. You can also challenge them by shifting their assignments and role
patterns. Get them out of their comfort zone and into the learning zone, but not so far that they go into the
fear zone:
Staying in our comfort zone makes change and

learning difficult as we have nothing pushing or pulling
us (motivation). However, if we go too far out of our
comfort zone, we enter the fear zone where no
learning takes place because of the extreme
discomfort. When we enter the learning zone, we
become slightly uncomfortable as we are slightly out
of place; therefore we change in order to fit in.
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SO5: Provide feedback and recognise

achievements
AC1: Manage relationships with outsiders
Team leaders are expected by people outside of the team, as well as the members within, to manage much
of the team's contacts and relationships with the rest of the organization. You must communicate
effectively the team's purpose, goals, and approach to anyone who might help or hinder it. In addition, you
need the courage to intercede on the team's behalf when obstacles that might cripple or demoralize the
team get placed in their way.
Create opportunities for others

One of the challenges is providing performance opportunities, assignments, and credit to the team and the
people within it. You cannot grab all the best opportunities; you must share it with your team. This will help
you to fulfil one of your primary responsibilities as a leader—growing the team.
Create a vision
A vision is the most important aspect of making a team successful. Teams perish when they don't clearly
see the vision—why they are doing what they do and where they are going. You must motivate the team
toward the fulfilment of the goals. Workers want to be successful and they know the only way to do that is
by following and achieving great goals.
Are You Ready to be a Team Leader?

 You are comfortable in sharing leadership and decision making with your employees.
 You prefer a participative atmosphere.
 The environment is highly variable or changing quickly and you need the best thinking and input
from all your employees.
 Members of your team are (or can become) compatible with each other and can create a
collaborative rather than a competitive environment.
 You need to rely on your employees to resolve problems.
 Formal communication channels are not sufficient for the timely exchange of information and
decisions.
Common Problems
 Leaders select too many members in their own image. As a result, teams become unbalanced with
too many people overlapping in the same areas, while there are skill gaps in other areas.
 Leaders do not understand their own strengths, abilities, and preferences.
 Individuals in unbalanced teams feel their talents and abilities are not being used.
 Leaders feel they do not know how to motivate people. This is because they do not know them and
their individual needs.
Team members feel that the team does not work smoothly. They believe individual work preferences
conflict rather than complement each other.
It’s time to do some rebuilding if you are facing any of the following problems:
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 Loss of productivity or output

 Complaints
 Conflicts between personnel
 Lack of clear goals
 Confusion about assignments
 Lack or innovation or risk taking
 Ineffective meetings
 Lack of initiative
 Poor communication
 Lack of trust
 Employees feel that their work is not recognized
 Decisions are made that people do not understand or agree with
If you have a team problem be sure to include the team on the rebuilding process:
1. First, have a diagnostic meeting. This meeting should be off-site so that there are no interruptions
and to show them you are truly committed to building a team. This part of the process is not to fix
any problems but to bring forth what is both good and bad with the team in order to formulate
future plans. You need to find out what is working or not working and where they are with their
working relationships with each other, other teams, and you. If the team is large, it might help to
break them down into smaller discussion groups in order to have more lively discussions or to pair
them up and have them report back to the team. Consider the first part of the diagnostic meeting
as a brainstorming session. Do not throw out any problems or ideas that you feel are irrelevant.
After all the data have been made public, have the team determine what is correct and relevant.
2. Next, categorize the issues, such as planning, scheduling, resources, policies; tasks or activities the
group must perform, interpersonal conflict, etc.
3. Once all the information has been categorized, develop action plans to solve the problems.
4. And finally and most importantly, follow up on the plans to ensure they are being accomplished.
AC2: Leadership and Developing Diversity

One of the great challenges facing organizations is getting all employees, from the CEO to the hourly
workers, to realize that to become the best, they have to embrace diversity.
Why Must We Embrace Diversity?

Diversity is about empowering people. It makes an organization effective by capitalizing on all of the
strengths of each employee. It is not EEO or Affirmative Action. These are laws and policies. While on the
other hand, diversity is all about understanding, valuing, and using the differences in every person.
Simply enforcing government regulations will not get you to the best. To obtain that competitive edge, you
need to grow your work-force from groups into teams that use the full potential of every individual. Teams
are much more than a group. A group is collection of individuals where each person is working towards his
or her own goal, while a team is a collection of individuals working towards a common goal or vision. This
helps to create a synergy effect with teams . . . that is, one plus one equals more than one. An individual,
acting alone, can accomplish much; but a group of people acting together in a unified force can accomplish
great wonders. This is because team members understand each other and support each other. Their main
goal is to see the team accomplish its mission. Personal agendas do not get in the way of team agendas. By
using the synergy effect of teams you create a competitive advantage over other organizations that are
using people acting alone. You are getting more for your efforts!
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One of the main failures that prevent a group from becoming a team is the failure to accept others for what
they are. It is only when the group members realize that diversity is the key for turning weak areas into
strong areas does the group start to grow into a team. Failing to accept the diversity of others keeps the
group members from going after team goals. Goals are individual in nature, that is, they are personal
agendas . . . to make them as an individual look good while ignoring the needs of the team.
Embracing diversity is the first item for building teams. Every team building theory states that to build a
great team, there must be a diverse group of people on the team, that is, you must avoid choosing people
who are only like you. Diversity is what builds teams — a collection of individual experiences, backgrounds,
and cultures that can view problems and challenges from a wide-variety of lenses.
Why Is Embracing Diversity A Challenge?

Our bias and prejudice are deeply rooted within us. From the moment when we are born, we learn about
ourselves, our environment, and the world. Families, friends, peers, books, teachers, idols, and others
influence us on what is right and what is wrong. These early learning’s are deeply rooted within us and
shape our perceptions about how we view things and how we respond to them. What we learn and
experience gives us a subjective point of view known as bias. Our biases serve as filtering lenses that allow
us to make sense of new information and experiences based on what we already know. Many of our bias
are good as they allow us to assume that something is true without proof. Otherwise, we would have to
start learning anew on everything that we do. But, if we allow our bias to shade our perceptions of what
people are capable of, then the bias is harmful. We start prejudging others on what we think that they
cannot do.
Simply giving a class on diversity will not erase these biases. Indeed, even the best development programs
will not erase most of these deeply rooted beliefs. Development can only help us to become aware of them
so that we can make a conscious effort to change. Developing diversity is more than a two-hour class; it
involves workshops, role models, one-on-ones, etc. But most of all, it involves a heavy commitment by the
organization's leadership. Not only the formal leadership but also the informal leadership that can be found
in almost every organization
Embracing diversity is more than tolerating people who are different. It means actively welcoming and
involving them by:
 Developing an atmosphere that is safe for all employees to ask for help. People should not be
viewed as weak if they ask for help. This is what helps to build great teams — joining weakness with
strengths to get the goal accomplished.
 Actively seeking information from people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Also,
including everyone on the problem solving and decision making process.
 Including people who different than you in informal gatherings such as lunch, coffee breaks, and
spur of the moment meetings.
 Creating a team spirit where every member feels a part of.
Why Do We Need To Become The Best?

If an organization does not take on this challenge, it will soon become extinct or left far behind. There are
too many competitors who are striving to become the best. They know that customers will not tolerate
lackadaisical service. Those that are the best must continue to fight to be the best or they will soon be
overtaken. You need to strive to be the best in one or more areas such as the fastest, biggest, cheapest,
customer oriented, etc.
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Great companies who remain competitive in one or more areas do not sit around patting themselves on
the back; for they know that there are dozens of others who want to take their place. They do, however,
celebrate accomplishments and achievements. Although most companies will never become the best at
what they aim for, they must compete to do things better than their competitors. They have to let their
customers know that they are willing to go out of their way to serve them in their area of expertise.
What Has This To Do With Human Resource Development

(HRD)?
Most problems in the work place are not that people cannot do their jobs. It is that people cannot get along
with other people. People are hired on the premise that they can perform the job, or with a reasonable
amount of training, be coached into performing the job. Except for some basic courses about the
organization and perhaps a course or two on safety and computer networking, most training given to new
hires involves on-the-job (OJT) training. Normally, this involves very little effort from HRD as OJT is
conducted by supervisors, leads, peers, etc. Although they should become more involved in the OJT
process, e.g. providing coaching classes for the trainers and creating training aids.
HRD needs to make greater efforts in effectively training or developing soft skills. This includes such
subjects as diversity, communication, and people skills that allows people to understand each other and
develop good team skills. Every team member must not only be able to understand and work with all the
other team members, but they must also want to. This should be
HRD's number one priority, to build real teams, not just groups of
people with titles called Teams.
What Exactly Does Diversity Include?

Diversity is not only black and white, female and male, homosexual
and heterosexual, Jew and Christian, young and old, etc.; but the
diversity of every individual, slow learner and fast learner, introvert
and extrovert, controlling type and people type, scholar and sports-
person, liberal and conservative, etc. This is where HRD needs to
focus its efforts. . . helping people to realize that it takes a wide
variety of people to become the best and that they need to have the
ability to be able to rely on everyone on their team, no matter how
different another person may be. An organization needs controllers,
thinkers, dreamers, doers, organizers, team builders, etc. to reach the goals that make an organization the
best. It does not need people fighting and distrusting other team members!
Organizations need an extremely diverse group of people on each and every team. For example, having a
group of team builders will get you nowhere, as everyone will be out trying to create a team. Likewise,
having a group of doers will get you nowhere as everyone will be trying to accomplish something without a
clear goal or vision to guide them. Most organizations picture diversity in very limited terms. The essence of
diversity should NOT be to picture diversity as race, religion, sex, age; but to picture it as the uniqueness of
every individual. Only by accepting this distinctiveness in others, will people want to help the team as a
whole to succeed.
Why Does Culture Matter?

Organizations have to realize that all cultures of the world are their potential customers. Not too long ago,
many businesses focused on the young and/or middle age white classes. This was where the money was at.
Now, thanks to great efforts towards recognizing the many facets of diversity and the good that it brings us,
more and more money is starting to be in the hands of people from a wide range of diverse backgrounds. In
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order to attract this wide variety of cultures, organizations must truly become multi-culture themselves.
They can no longer just talk-the-talk; they must also walk-the-talk. Organizations that only employ “people
of their kind” in leadership and high visibility positions will not be tolerated by people of other cultures.
These cultures will spend their money at organizations that truly believe in diversity. Embracing diversity
has several benefits for the organization:
 It is the right thing to do.

 To attract good people into their ranks, organizations must take the moral path. Good
organizations attract good people, while bad organizations attract bad people.
 It helps to build teams that create synergy — you get more for your efforts.
 It broadens the customer base in a very competitive environment.
What Goals Does HRD Need?

There are two main goals for HRD to achieve. The first is having all leaders within an organization become
visibly involved in programs affecting organizational culture change and evaluating and articulating policies
that govern diversity. To do so, you must display leadership that eradicates oppression of all forms. The
result is enhanced productivity, profitability, and market responsiveness by achieving a dynamic
organization and work force. This is the first goal of HRD, to train the leadership.
The second is inspiring diversity into the work force. Workers want to belong to an organization that
believes in them, no matter what kind of background or culture they come from. They, like their leadership,
want to be productive, share in the profits, and be a totally dynamic work force. If HRD trains the
leadership, this goal will be relatively easy. It is much easier to train people when they have role models to
base their behaviours on. Also, you will have backing from the people who can support you in your efforts.
How Does One Go About Developing Diversity?

The development of diversity is considered a soft skill. Unlike hard skills, soft skills are relatively hard to
evaluate. For example, “Using a calculator, notepad, and pencil, calculate the number of minutes it will take
to produce one widget.” This hard skill is easily measured not only in the classroom, but also on the job.
Now, consider a soft skill, “After the training period the learner will be able to work with others as a team.”
This cannot easily be measured in the classroom. Its true measure must be taken in the workplace, and this
is also very difficult to measure. This is because this type of training program falls more under development,
rather than training or education. For a quick review of the three programs of Human Resource
Development (Nadler, 1984):
 Training is the acquisition of technology that permits employees to perform their present job to
standards. It improves human performance on the job the employee is presently doing or is being
hired to do.
 Education is training people to do a different job. Unlike training, which can be fully evaluated
immediately upon the learners returning to work, education can only be completely evaluated
when the learners move on to their future jobs. We can test them on what they learned while in
training, but we cannot be fully satisfied with the evaluation until we see how well they perform
their new jobs.
 Development is training people to acquire new horizons, technologies, or viewpoints. It enables
leaders to guide their organizations onto new expectations by being proactive rather than reactive.
It enables workers to create better products, faster services, and more competitive organizations. It
is learning for growth of the individual, but not related to a specific present or future job. Unlike
training and education, which can be completely evaluated, development cannot always be fully
evaluated. This does not mean that we should abandon development programs, as helping people
to grow and develop is what keeps an organization in the forefront of competitive environments.
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Soft skills often look as if they might fit under all three terms. Using the team training example, we see that
it has these characteristics:
 Training - it will be used to increase performance on the present job that is, being able to perform
as a team member.
 Education - it will be used to increase performance in a different job, instead of being a group
member, the learner will become a team member.
 Development - it will be used to acquire a new viewpoint so that the organization can become
more competitive.
It is this vagueness with soft skills that make them so hard to train. Are we training, educating, or
developing? Besides being hard to fit within one of the three programs of HRD, there are two other points
to consider.
First, how do you evaluate “works as a team member?” In order to prove that our training is effective, we
must be able to evaluate it. We have no way of knowing if the learning objectives were met if we cannot
measure the task being used on the job, hence, we have no way of knowing if our training is of any value to
the company
Secondly, soft skills generally fall under the domain of attitudes. When we train a task, we are teaching a
person to learn a new body of Knowledge (cognitive), perform a new Skill (psychomotor), and display a new
Attitude (affective) (KSA) (Bloom, 1956). The type of task determines what percent of the KSA is devoted to
each domain.
For example, training someone to operate a forklift requires about 80% skill (eye hand coordination,
deftness with controls, etc.), 10% knowledge (location of controls, rules, etc.), and about 10% attitude
(eagerness to learn, concentrating on precision movements, etc.).
Training someone to set up formulas in a spreadsheet might require about 20% skill (typing, using a mouse,
etc.), 70% knowledge (procedures, reading and interrupting formulas, etc.), and 10% attitude (how hard
they believe the task to be, will it help me do my job better, etc.).
Training a diversity topic would roughly require about 15% skill (interacting with others, soliciting input,
etc.), 10% knowledge (knowing culture differences, knowing the terms, etc.), and about 75% attitude
(responding to others, changing a deeply held belief, etc.)
Attitudes
Soft skill training is mainly changing attitudes — a persisting feeling or emotion of a person that influences
her choice of action and her response to stimulus. It is defined as a disposition or tendency to respond
positively or negatively towards a certain thing (idea, object, person, and situation). Attitudes have been
defined in a variety of ways, but at the core is the notion of evaluation. Thus, attitudes are commonly
viewed as summary evaluations of objects (e.g. oneself, other people, issues, etc.) along a dimension
ranging from positive to negative. Attitudes encompass, or are closely related to, our opinions and beliefs
and are based upon our experiences. Training that produces tangible results starts by changing behaviour . .
. that ultimately changes attitudes.
Since our attitudes are deeply rooted, they are very hard to change. Attitudes are latent constructs and are
not observable in themselves — we can infer that people have attitudes by what they say or do but we
cannot directly measure it. And what they say or do are behaviours. The training developer must identify
some sort of behaviour that would seem to be representative of the display of the attitude in question. This
behaviour can then be measured as an index of the attitude construct. For example, if you are training
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diversity, you cannot be sure that you have eliminated prejudice from a learner. Therefore, you have to
measure behaviours, such as showing respect for all cultures.
This does not mean you cannot go after changing attitudes. It most cases, it is a must. For example, the
1997 Texaco headlines about the racial slurs of its leaders show that attitudes must be changed. If you only
rely upon the correct behaviours being displayed without attitudes being changed, then expect to see a
headline like this about your organization. When we attempt to display behaviours that do not coincide
with our attitudes, then expect to make big mistakes; our behaviours are based upon our attitudes. And as
stated earlier, training diversity is about 75% attitude. Attempting to change only the other 25% will not
work. That 75% attitude is just too great of a number.
Another example is safety. Being able to perform safely in the work environment is not just about
knowledge and skills; it also requires the correct attitude. For many tasks, doing something the safe way
requires more effort or work on part of the individual. Employees must have the correct attitude towards
safety or when it counts the most, they will relapse back into the faster or easier method . . . and this is not
right for all the co-workers involved. They deserve a safe working environment!
Can attitudes be changed? In an experiment by social psychologists Wells and Petty (1980), students were
asked to assist in testing the quality of headphones while the listener was in motion. Three groups of
students put on headphones and listened to music and an editorial about tuition.
 The first group told they were acting as controls made no movements while listening.
 The second group was instructed to move their heads up and down (nodding).
 The third group was instructed to shake their heads from side to side (denying).
Afterward, the students rated the quality of the headphones and judged the material that they had heard.
The material was about tuition. Among the questions was one about tuition. Half the students had heard
an editorial suggesting that tuition be raised to R750 while the other half heard that it should be drooped
to R400. The editorials by themselves were persuasive; they influenced students who listened without
moving their heads. However, movements made by the students as they listened had a strong effect on
their opinions.
When asked what tuition would be fair, those that heard that it should be raised thought, on the average,
that it should be R582. Those that heard that it should be lowered thought that a fair price would be on an
average of R412. The involvement of body movement had a striking effect. Students who nodded their
head as they heard the R750 editorial thought a fair tuition would be on an average of R646, while those
that shook their heads thought it should be on an average of R467.
These motor responses that signal agreement or disagreement had a profound effect on attitudes —
effects that are not trivial.
To train soft skills, HRD practitioners must picture themselves not only as trainers, but also as educators
and developers. To do so, requires a different sort of mind set. With our greater preoccupation with human
relations, the affective domain (attitudes) cannot be ignored, regardless of the difficulties encountered.
What Are Some Pointers For Developing Attitudes?

As stated before, developing attitudes is extremely difficult. At times we want to change attitudes, at
others, the best we can hope for or want to, is to change displayed behaviours. The chart below shows
attitude as running along the vertical axis and behaviour running along the horizontal axis:
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|9
A|8
T|7
T|6
I|5
T|4
U|3
D|2
E|1
| 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
_____________________________
Behaviour
For each degree that you want to change the attitude (vertical axis) of the learner, you must come up with
a training method that changes the behaviour an equal amount of degrees (horizontal axis). Methods will
also have to be devised to measure the behaviour an equal amount. When developing diversity, you are
going to want an attitude change along the scale of 8 or 9. This means you need to make a heavy
commitment to training because the behaviours you want displayed will also be at the end of the scale.
Some attitude changes do not require such a drastic change. For example, when people are outside on
break and they put their cigarette butts out on the ground instead of the ash receptacle calls for less drastic
behavioural change. The effort (and the amount of effort that you would want to expend towards the
problem) to change their behaviour would be on the scale of 1 or 2.
Training Techniques
Go beyond the role of a trainer in diversity development by being a:
 Leader - sets the example and becomes a role model

 Technical Expert - on training and diversity.
 Team Builder - pulls people into a unified team.
 Peace Keeper - acts as a mediator.
 Pot Stirrer - brings controversy out in the open.
 Devil's Advocate - raises issues for better understanding.
 Cheerleader - praises people for doing great.
 Counsellor - provides intimate feedback.
Facilitating Diversity Techniques:
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1. Drawing people out:
 “What do others think?” or “What do you think?”

 “I've heard from (name) so far...are there any other thoughts?”
 “And what else?”
 Silence (20-30 seconds) — gives the learners a chance to think. Longer periods of silence can be
used to force people to talk due to the uncomforting nature of the silence is a group.
 “You look like you have something to say...”
2. Interpreting comments:
 words vs. tune/tone (most questions are not really questions)

 intent vs. wording
 past experiences and personality
 use of intuition
 paradigms and filters
3. Clarifying thoughts / comments
 use of models and experience

 looking for multiple points
 looking for similarities / differences among people
 facilitator bias
4. Sensing group energy
 sparking the group

 taking breaks / timing
5. Balancing the group

6. Handling objections
 try not to personalize (the learners will become defensive)

 reflect / deflect
 encourage conversation
 remember to breath
7. How we treat each other:
 accepting each other into the group

 individual responsibility
 being right verses being successful
 influence verses dominance (pull rank)
 confidentiality / trust
 supporting each other
 active listening
 conflict resolution
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AC3: Evaluating Diversity Training

There are five major approaches to collecting attitude data:
 Records - These include observed behaviour such as attendance records, anecdotal records,
incidents, and interviews.
 Self Reports - Such as inventories of employees reporting directly about their own attitudes.
 Report of Others - These include information, rating scales, and interview results of others
reporting about the attitude of an employee or team.
 Sociometric Techniques - Such as sociograms and social distance scales were members of a group
report about their attitudes towards one another.
 Projective Technique - Picture presentations and sentence completion in where the learner
supplies a response to the stimulus.
Steps for evaluating:
1. Determine from the learning objectives what specific attitude (desired behaviour) is being trained.
2. Determine the behaviour (construct) that will best exhibit this attitude. Concentrate on one or two
specific behaviours during any given evaluation period.
3. Decide on the most appropriate way to get the information.
4. Select or develop an instrument for collecting the information. Collect only the information that
will provide evidence of the desired behaviour.
5. Decide who will be observed and when. Obtain as many observations as possible and review
patterns of change.
6. Confer with the learners to provide feedback.
Precautions in Attitude Measurement:
 Attitudes are impossible to measure directly. The evaluator is relying on inference.

 Behaviours, beliefs, and feelings, are not consistent, even when we assume they reflect a single
attitude. The pattern of behaviour may be very complex and be a manifestation of more than one
attitude.
 Attitudes do not stand still long enough for a one time snap shot measurement. Frequent
measurements at selected intervals will reflect a more accurate representation of a consistent
attitude.
 Certain attitudes do not have a universal agreement on their nature or what the correct
behavioural display is.
 Collection of certain types of personal data about learners may lead to legal complications involving
their rights to privacy.
Working with Others

Objectives:
 To gain a personal insight on how I relate to others.

 What behaviours I need to improve upon to become a better leader.
 To see how others view and perceive my personal behaviours.
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AC4: Behaviours That Are Essential To High Level

Human Relations
Listed below are a number of behaviours that are essential to relating to others. Rate yourself on these
behaviours, using the following scale:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Very Moderately Adequate Moderately Very
Weak Weak Strong Strong
Note: a rating of 5 means that you would consider yourself a resource person (if only minimally so). That is,
in a relationship or group, you would be more of a giver rather than a receiver.
 Feelings: I am not afraid to deal directly with emotion rather it is my own or others. I allow myself
to feel and give expression to what I feel.
 Initiative: In my relationships I act rather than react by going out and contacting others without
waiting to be contacted.
 Respect: I express that I am for others even if I do not necessarily approve of what they do.
 Genuineness: I do not hide behind roles or facades. I let others know where I stand.
 Concreteness: I am not vague when I speak to others. I do not beat around the bush in that I deal
with concrete experience and behaviour.
 Immediacy: I deal openly and directly with others. I know where I stand with others and they know
where they stand with me.
 Empathy: I see the world through the eyes of others by listening to cues, both verbal and
nonverbal, and I respond to these cues.
 Confrontation: I challenge others with responsibly and with care. I do not use confrontation to
punish.
 Self-disclosure: I let others know the person inside, but I am not exhibitionistic. I am open without
being a secret-reveller or secret-searcher.
 Self-exploration: I examine my life style and behaviours and want others to help me to do so. I am
open to change.
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Scoring
There are no correct or incorrect scores. This assessment simply shows you where you stand in your
relations with others. Your goal should be to work on the lowest scores of the 10 behaviours.
Also, have one or two others rate you so that you can get an outside view of yourself as to whether you are
projecting yourself to others as you believe you are.
Group Activity:
Portfolio Activity:
1. Explain six reasons why motivation is important.
2. Explain all the elements of group dynamics according to theory and practice.
Self Assessment
Self Assessment:
You have come to the end of this Learning Unit – please take the time to review
what you have learnt to date, and conduct a self assessment against the learning
outcomes of this Learning Unit by following the instructions below:
 - Some idea
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SELF RATING
NO OUTCOME
  
 Explaining the importance of motivating a team.
 Demonstrating an understanding of self and team members in a
242819
workplace.
 Applying theories of motivation and group dynamics.
 Implementing a plan of action to strengthen a team.
 Providing feedback and recognizing achievements.
Complete the mind map below by listing the main point you remember from the Learning Unit you have
just completed.
1. Explaining the importance of

motivating a team.
2. Demonstrating an understanding ______________________
of self and team members in a ______________________
workplace.
3. Applying theories of motivation
______________________
and group dynamics. ______________________
4. Implementing a plan of action to ______________________
strengthen a team.
5. Providing feedback and
recognizing achievements.
Portfolio Activities
1. Explain six reasons why motivation is important. (12 marks)

2. Explain all the elements of group dynamics according to theory and
practice. (10 marks)
Total marks = 22 marks
Portfolio Activity:
Refer to your Portfolio Guide for the assessment activities related to this section.
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Learner Evaluation Form
Learning Programme Facilitator Name

Name
Learner name Dates of Facilitation

(Optional)
Employer / Work site Date of Evaluation
Learner Tip:
Please complete the Evaluation Form as thoroughly as you are able to, in order
for us to continuously improve our training quality!
The purpose of the Evaluation Form is to evaluate the following:
 logistics and support

 facilitation
 training material
 assessment
Your honest and detailed input is therefore of great value to us, and we
appreciate your assistance in completing this evaluation form!
A Logistics and Support Evaluation

No Criteria / Question
Above Standard
Below Standard
Sufficient
Excellent
Poor
1 Was communication regarding attendance of the programme

efficient and effective?
2 Was the Programme Coordinator helpful and efficient?
3 Was the training equipment and material used effective and
prepared?
4 Was the training venue conducive to learning (set-up for
convenience of learners, comfortable in terms of temperature,
etc.)?
Additional Comments on Logistics and Support
283 | P a g e
Above Standard
Below Standard
Sufficient
Excellent
Poor
B Facilitator Evaluation
1 The Facilitator was prepared and knowledgeable on the subject of
the programme
2 The Facilitator encouraged learner participation and input
3 The Facilitator made use of a variety of methods, exercises,
activities and discussions
4 The Facilitator used the material in a structured and effective
manner
5 The Facilitator was understandable, approachable and respectful of
the learners
6 The Facilitator was punctual and kept to the schedule
Additional Comments on Facilitation
Above Standard
Below Standard
Sufficient
Excellent
Poor
1 2 3 4 5
C Learning Programme Evaluation
1 The learning outcomes of the programme are relevant
and suitable.
2 The content of the programme was relevant and
suitable for the target group.
3 The length of the facilitation was suitable for the
programme.
4 The learning material assisted in learning new
knowledge and skills to apply in a practical manner.
5 The Learning Material was free from spelling and
grammar errors
6 Handouts and Exercises are clear, concise and relevant
to the outcomes and content.
7 Learning material is generally of a high standard, and
user friendly
Additional Comments on Learning Programme
284 | P a g e
D Assessment Evaluation
Above Standard
Below Standard
Sufficient
Excellent
Poor
1 2 3 4 5
1 A clear overview provided of the assessment requirements of the
programme was provided
2 The assessment process and time lines were clearly explained
3 All assessment activities and activities were discussed
Additional Comments on Assessment
285 | P a g e

Module 4 - Learner Guide - Check

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Learner Guide – Module 4

Facilitate and monitor the development of

244484 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of babies, toddlers

244475 Observe and report on child development

242819 Motivate and Build a Team

General to Specific Growth...................................................................................................................... 44

Group Activity .......................................................................................................................................... 96

Gross-motor play. ......................................................................................................................... 114

Holistic Approach................................................................................................................................... 122

Phase I Scanning the System ................................................................................................................. 144

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 169

Information Processing Theories of Cognitive Development................................................................ 201

SO3: Apply theories of motivation and group dynamics .......................................................... 262

What Goals Does HRD Need? ................................................................................................................ 274

National Department of Education South African Police Service (SAPS

Learning Unit 4: Facilitate and monitor the development of

ELO US Type NLRD US Title Level Credits

Elective 242819 Motivate and Build a Team Level 4 10

TOTAL CREDIT VALUE 40

If it is not documented, it did not happen!

Navigating the Learner Guide

Group Activity / Pair Activity:

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the requirements.

Learner Registration Form

Programme Evaluation Form

Welcome to this Learning programme. We trust that this Learning programme

 Complete your assignments with dedication and submit them in time.

 Plan a research assignment

Learner’s class room rules

Unit standard/ Module Learning outcomes

Module 1 1. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of ways of seeing

244484 Demonstrate knowledge and

 Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of ways of seeing the

An understanding of child development is essential, allowing us to understand the cognitive, emotional,

AC3 Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories

Cognitive Child Development Theories

Behavioral Child Development Theories

Social Child Development Theories

Physical includes gross-motor and fine-motor

4 wk Brings hands toward eyes and mouth

6 wk Regards objects in the line of vision

3 mo Holds head steady on sitting

Example toys: puzzles, blocks, pegs, etc...

Example: mirrors, active play-pretend play games, etc...

Language Linguistic Development:

Fine Motor Development:

 Construction and building sets like Bristle Blocks

Gross Motor Development:

Growth in All Areas of Development:

Minuses and Pluses:

Mental Health Issues:

SO1: Knowledge and understanding of ways of

Activity: Work in pairs

AC1 Teaching and early childhood development

Social and emotional development

 Let them push or pull a favourite toy.

The Well-Designed Classroom

The Planning Process

Space for Movement

Classroom Design Guidelines