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CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Author: Matthew Logan
Student No: s267959
Date: 9 May 2014
GDTL Unit: ETP420 A1

ABSTRACT

Child Development is an area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception
through adolescence
(Berk, 2013, p. 4)
This report aims to explore the realm of child development by targeting specific themes and relating them to
a particular scenario. The hypothetical scenario will predominantly focus on adolescence within a secondary
school context as opposed to the development in younger years. The first section of this report will discuss
cognitive development in relation to the scenario. Social well-being and schooling will then be explored,
followed by the importance of peers and gender roles in adolescent schooling. Part B will discuss
approaches to handling this scenario as a teacher, based on the themes previously reviewed.


SCENARIO

During the double lesson on Friday afternoon it is nothing but hair, makeup and gossip from the girls,
and the boys seem to want to wreck everything, including each other and I have to get through the
curriculum.



PART A: THEMES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cognition refers to the inner processes and products of the mind that lead to knowing (Berk, 2013, p.
225). It includes all mental activity attending, remembering, symbolising, categorising, planning,
reasoning, problem solving, creating and fantasising. Berk (2013, p. 226) identifies numerous theories of
cognition within child development, including Piagets Cognitive Development Theory, the Core Knowledge
Perspective and Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory. The latter theory, devised by Lev Vygotsky, is most
appropriate to the social environment found in the scenario. Vygotsky, while viewing children as active
seekers of knowledge, emphasised the profound effects of rich social and cultural contexts on their thinking
(Berk, 2013, p. 266). He states two important features of social interaction in his theory, intersubjectivity
and scaffolding. The first is the process whereby two participants who begin a task with different
understandings arrive at a shared understanding. Scaffolding is adjusting the support offered during a
teaching session to fit the childs current level of performance (Berk, 2013, p. 268). In this particular
scenario, a double lesson on a Friday afternoon is taking place, where the boys are rowdy and the girls
distracted. The students are not demonstrating their wisest cognitive abilities, which is not uncommon for
this time of day. According to Dr Chad Ruoff at Stanford Universitys Centre for Sleep Sciences and
Medicine (MensHealth, January 2014, p. 76), the bodys circadian cycle typically dips between 2pm and
4pm, so a nap is warranted at this time. With all these disruptions to cognitive capacity, how could the
curriculum possibly be taught? This is where Vygotskys idea of scaffolding works to benefit the students
and the teacher. It is still possible to teach the curriculum in this environment by giving responsibility to the


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students through authentic pedagogy, which is predominantly learner-centred (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012, p.
95). Students would not benefit from silent, individual study when they have social agendas and the
weekend on their minds. Vygotsky viewed human cognition as inherently social and saw language as the
foundation for all higher cognitive processes (Berk, 2013, p. 275). It is clear a Vygotskian classroom would
be most appropriate in this scenario whereby emphasis is placed on assisting discovery through teachers
guidance and peer collaboration.


SOCIAL WELL-BEING AND SCHOOLING

Continuing on from Vygotskys socio-cultural theory is the idea of a social-constructivist classroom. This
entails a learning environment in which children participate in a wide range of challenging activities with
teachers and peers whom they jointly construct understandings (Berk, 2013, p. 640). This type of classroom
benefits both cognately and socially from collaboration with teachers and peers. A constructivist classroom
encourages students to construct their own knowledge. Although constructivist approaches vary, many are
grounded in Piagets view of children as active agents who reflect on and coordinate their own thoughts,
rather than absorbing those of others. A glance inside a constructivist classroom reveals richly equipped
learning centres, small groups and individuals solving self-chosen problems, and a teacher who guides and
supports in response to childrens needs. Students are evaluated by considering their progress in relation to
their own prior development. This style of teaching is in direct contrast to a traditional classroom whereby
the teacher is the sole authority for knowledge, rules and decision making and does most of the talking
(Berk, 2013, p. 638). In this environment, students are relatively passive listening, responding when called
on, and completing teacher-assigned tasks. It is quite clear that this style of learning would not suit the
Friday afternoon rowdiness exhibited in the scenario. It may be suitable for other lessons, however a
collaborative class involving peer group discussions around the curriculum is most appropriate. Adolescents
are extremely sociable beings who enjoy the company of peers. We can utilise this need for socialisation
within the confines of a school classroom. Schools are vital forces in childrens development, affecting their
motivation to learn and modes of remembering, reasoning, problem solving, and social and moral
understanding (Berk, 2013, p. 637). Unlike the informal world of peer relations, the school is a formal
institution designed to transmit the knowledge and skills children need to become productive members of
society.


PEERS AND GENDER ROLES

So far we have discussed cognitive development, social well-being and schooling. These themes all co-
relate within the learning environment. Furthermore, a school would not exist without the vast number of
students that make up the community. It is for this reason that discussion of peers and the gender roles
within schools in an important topic to cover. Peer interaction enables children to expand their social-
cognitive knowledge and social skills (Berk, 2013, p. 608). From the pre-school years on, friendship
contributes uniquely to childrens emotional and social development (Berk, 2013, p. 613). Most people
consider the school years to be the best time of their lives. This would not be the case if it werent for peer
group involvement and the social aspect of schooling. An important part of any teenagers life is the notion
of being accepted by their peers. Peer acceptance refers to likability the extent to which a child is
viewed by a group of agemates as a worthy social partner (Berk, 2013, p. 618). Peer acceptance is a
powerful predictor of current and later psychological adjustment. In the scenario, there is evidence of peer
group intimacy, or psychological closeness, as the girls are bonding over hair and makeup, whilst the boys
are involved in rough-and-tumble (Boulton, 1996, p. 271) play. In adolescence, intimacy and loyalty become
defining features of friendship. Girls place a higher value on emotional closeness, engaging in more self-
disclosure and mutually supportive statements with friends (Berk, 2013, p. 617). Boys discussions usually


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focus on recognition and mastery issues, such as achievements in sports and school, and involve more
competition and conflict (Brendgen et al, 2001, p. 395; Rubin et al, 2006, p. 571). This is clearly
demonstrated in this Friday afternoon interactive classroom. There is a clear gender divide in this scenario,
however they all share a common goal, interaction with their peers.



PART B: RESPONSE AS A TEACHER


Adolescence is not only a time of risk but also a time of tremendous opportunity. Teenagers gain a better
understanding of how the world works, greater control over their own social contexts, broader access to
social support, and increased ability to avoid or alter risky behaviours. Families, schools, communities and
nations must create conditions that enable adolescents to exercise their expanding capacity for positive
health practices
(Berk, 2013, p. 221)


Part A of this report demonstrates how various themes co-relate within a particular learning environment.
This section focuses on how teachers can successfully get through the curriculum on a Friday afternoon with
distracted pupils. As mentioned previously, the best bet it to conduct a situation whereby students work with
their peers in a collaborative environment, rather than a traditional didactic approach. Vygotskys
sociocultural theory, aligned with the idea of a constructivist classroom would be most appropriate in
teaching this scenario. These concepts are parallel to authentic pedagogy where students work with one
another to achieve the learning outcomes, while the teacher acts as guiding support. In adolescence,
agemates work on tasks more cooperatively staying on task, freely exchanging ideas, asking for opinions,
and acknowledging one anothers contributions (Azmitia, 1996, p. 133). As interaction with peers is an
important part of schooling, why not utilise this lesson to devise tasks based around verbal communication
and group activities. This would play to the students strengths, whilst still adhering to the curriculum. It
would also be advisable not to start new content in this lesson, but rather work on existing ideas learnt by the
students. In scenarios such as this, it is imperative to learn ways to teach the curriculum that dont involve
hard facts and didactic pedagogy. Authentic collaboration is most suitable in this scenario to achieve
curricular outcomes.



















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REFERENCES


Australian Mens Health. (2014) Australian Mens Health January 2014, Sydney, AUS. Pacific
Magazines

Azmitia, M. (1996) Peer interactive minds: Developmental, theoretical and methodological issues. In P.B.
Baltes & U.M. Staudinger (Eds), Interactive minds: Lifespan perspectives on the social foundations of
cognition (p. 133 162), New York, USA. Cambridge University Press

Berk, L. E. (2013) Child Development (9
th
Edition). New Jersey, USA. Pearson Education, Inc.

Boulton, M. J. (1996) A comparison of 8 and 11 year old girls and boys participation in specific types of
rough-and-tumble play and aggressive fighting: Implications for functional hypotheses. Aggressive Behavior
(Chapter 22, p. 271 287)

Brendgen, M., Markiewicz, D., Doyle, A. B., & Bukowski, W. M. (2001) The relations between friendship
quality, ranked-friendship preference and adolescents behaviour with their friends. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 47, p. 395 - 415

Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (2012) Literacies (1
st
Edition). Port Melbourne, AUS. Cambridge University Press

Rubin, K. H., Bukoski, W. M., & Parker, J. G. (2006) Peer interactions, relationships, and groups . In N.
Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6
th

Ed, p. 571 645). Hoboken, NJ, Wiley