Homework answers / question archive / Applying What We Know about Children’s Learning and Development Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 4

Applying What We Know about Children’s Learning and Development Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 4

Economics

Share With

Applying What We Know about Children’s Learning and Development Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 4.1 Distinguish the meanings of development and learning and describe the relationship between the two. 4.2 Discuss how knowledge of brain development in early childhood informs teaching practice. 4.3 Identify key components of developmental theories (Erikson, Maslow, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bronfenbrenner) and apply them to early childhood practice. 4.4 Identify key components of learning theories (Behaviorism and Social Cognitive theories) and apply them to early childhood practice. 4.5 Explain the role of play in children’s development and learning, and describe ways teachers can support play in early childhood settings. 4.6 Apply theories of development and learning to early childhood practice. © Rawpixel/Fotolia Y vonne Donati is a prekindergarten teacher in an inclusive public Case Study school. One of her goals is to create a caring community in which her energetic youngsters learn how to get along and work together. Yvonne’s approach to guiding children’s behavior is to engage the children in lively discussions of the classroom rules and how to solve conflicts that arise with their classmates. In planning curriculum, Yvonne draws on the children’s interests to integrate literacy instruction with science study of plants or animals, and children often work on small-group projects such as making a terrarium. She and the children have large-group meetings and she sometimes reads to the whole group, but she keeps these periods brief. She tries to find ways to make sure the children are physically active such as doing motions to songs or fingerplays. She also actively engages children’s minds, as when she gives clues for the children to guess what object is hidden in a paper bag or has them take turns figuring out what a new word means in a story. When children encounter challenges in their play, Yvonne helps them to come up with their own solutions rather than solving the problem for them. She asks probing questions: “Why do you think your tomato plant didn’t grow tall?” “Let’s compare your plant and Juana’s—why is hers taller?” Because some children in Yvonne’s class have identified disabilities, she regularly meets with the special education team and cooperates in implementing the children’s individualized education programs (IEPs). Maya has severe behavior problems, and the team works together to plan and implement a positive behavior support program to reinforce her desirable behaviors. After a few weeks of systematically working with Maya, Yvonne observes that the new strategy is working and Maya is less aggressive. After a month of school, Yvonne observes that every day the block area is dominated by boys, while girls prefer the dramatic play center. She isn’t sure if this is just reflecting typical gender differences or if there is another reason. Yvonne knows from studying the importance of play that children benefit from both block building and pretend play and that the benefits differ. She contemplates assigning children to areas, but then she designs an experiment. One week she closes the dramatic play center, and the next week she closes the block center, observing and recording children’s behavior. Yvonne finds that without the availability of the dramatic play center, girls freely enter the block area; some boys play with them while others go elsewhere. On the other hand, when the block center is closed, the girls continue to play in the dramatic center, but the boys seem at loose ends and do not choose pretend play. Based on the results of her experiment, Yvonne institutes a play planning session each morning to make sure that girls have block-building opportunities. She also adds themes and props, such as creating a car wash, to interest more boys in pretend play. ? T his brief visit to Yvonne’s classroom reveals several things about her approach to teaching. Although Yvonne may not be fully aware of it, the decisions she makes, like those of every teacher, actually reflect various theories of how children learn and develop. The purpose of this chapter is to help you understand and apply the prevailing theories of child development and learning. At times, beginning as well as experienced teachers wonder why theories matter or what relevance theories have to their work. We begin by describing how theories of child development and learning are most useful in informing and influencing practice. Next, we describe research on brain development and its implications. Then, we discuss all the major theories and how 101 102 PART 2 Learning and Developing from Birth to Age 8: Who We Teach they apply to early childhood practice. Next, we explain the critically important role of children’s play, which is supported by the key developmental theories. We conclude the chapter with a summary of the main principles of child development and learning derived from research and theory that guide early childhood practice. Understanding Development and Learning Intentional, effective teaching requires that teachers understand how children think and learn, and how best to support their healthy development at various ages in all areas—physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. Both development and learning are complicated processes requiring that teachers not only study research and theory but also study children themselves. What Is Development? development Age-related change that results from an interaction between biological maturation and physical and/or social experience; development occurs as children grow, adapt, and change in response to various experiences. If you spend any time with early childhood educators, you are likely to hear that it is important for teachers to understand child development. This is true. But what do they need to know about development and why is it important? To answer these questions, we must first define terms. Development refers to age-related change that results from an interaction between biological maturation and physical and/or social experience. Development occurs as children grow, adapt, and change in response to various experiences. Consider how language develops. Biology plays a role, with babies all over the world producing similar sounds at about the same age. But language development requires more than maturation. Babies need social interaction with adults and older children who talk to them. As they grow physically and are able to get around on their own, infants and toddlers encounter more examples of language interaction, and their speech starts to take off around age 2 (just as their legs do). Domains of Development Different areas of human functioning, including physdomains of development Areas of human development and functioning that include cognitive, social, emotional, and physical. physical development Biological growth and acquisition of fine motor and gross motor skills. cognitive development Thinking, intelligence, and language abilities. social development The ability to establish positive relationships with adults and peers, make friends, cooperate, and resolve conflicts. emotional development The ability to regulate and appropriately express feelings. domain-general processes Broad abilities that cut across traditionally defined developmental domains. ical, cognitive, social, and emotional, are often described as domains of development. Physical development refers to biological growth and acquisition of fine motor skills, such as drawing, and gross motor skills, such as running. Cognitive development is a broad term encompassing thinking, intelligence, and language abilities. Social development refers to interpersonal relationships such as the ability to make friends, cooperate, and resolve conflicts. Emotional development is the ability to regulate and appropriately express feelings. Discussions of child development inevitably address these domains as if they were separate. In reality, of course, human development does not occur in different categories. Our brains do not have separate compartments for cognition or social development. Aspects of development are inextricably linked, which is one reason we often talk about social-emotional development as though it were a single construct. Domains of development are an artifact of how researchers study development, rather than how development actually occurs. The integrated nature of development requires that teachers maintain their awareness of the whole child at all times. Recently, researchers and educators have begun to focus less on skills related to specific domains and more on abilities that cut across traditionally defined developmental domains, such as executive function and self-regulation (Jones & Bailey, 2014), which we discuss later in this chapter. Bolstered by new findings from brain research, we now know that such broad domain-general processes strongly predict children’s success in school and life. For example, Galinsky (2010) identifies seven essential life skills that every child needs: focus and self-control, perspective taking, communicating, making connections, critical thinking, taking on challenges, and self-directed engaged learning. A similar list is promoted by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (n.d.): critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Another way of describing these skills is children’s approaches to learning—motivation, interest, persistence, curiosity, engagement, and enthusiasm Chapter 4 Applying What We Know about Children’s Learning and Development 103 (Hyson, 2012). These lists of goals are overlapping and consistent, and they demonstrate the connection between development and learning, which we define in the next section. Learning is a change in knowledge or skill that results from experience or instruction. Learning and development are not the same things, although they affect each other. Learning is a similar, though not identical, process whether a person is 3 years old or 33. For example, for a first grader, learning to read isn’t completely different from the way it is for an older person. Because experience plays a role in both development and learning, there is a close connection between these processes, especially in the early years of life when children are growing and changing so rapidly. Sometimes development leads to learning (Piaget, 1952). For example, when a baby develops the ability to grasp objects and begins to put them in her mouth, she learns a lot about the objects in her world. Some are hard, others soft; some taste good, others don’t. In this case, her development fosters her learning. Children’s developmental level can also put limitations on what they are capable of learning. For example, preschoolers can do some abstract thinking, but they won’t fully understand complex, abstract concepts such as chronological time until they are older. Learning also drives development. As children participate in the activities of their cultural groups and come to understand more complex concepts, their cognitive development is affected (Rogoff, 2012; Vygotsky, 1978). What children learn at home and in their cultural community powerfully affects their development. Consider the developmental differences between a 5-year-old child in America, whose primary “job” is to attend kindergarten, and a 5-year-old in rural Africa, whose primary responsibility is to transport water for the family. © Cindy Singleton/E+/Getty Images What Is Learning? During early childhood, children’s development and learning are closely connected. Right from the start, babies put things in their mouths, which teaches them about objects in the world—how they feel and what they do. learning A change in knowledge or skill that results from experience or instruction. The Role of Theory Centuries ago, human beings thought that the world was flat. No one wanted to venture too far out onto the sea for fear of falling off the edge. Slowly, more people traveled farther from shore, and others observed that the tops of arriving ships appeared first and then gradually the rest. If the earth were flat, the entire ship would appear at once. These observations and experiences led to the conclusion that the earth is not flat, but is actually a sphere. This simple example illustrates the power of theories. A theory is an explanation of how information and observations are organized and relate to one another. As we can see, theories are important because they affect how people think and behave. In education, theories of learning and development affect how people treat children, how they structure environments, and how they teach. theory An explanation of how information and observations are organized and relate to one another. The Relationship between Theory, Research, and Practice Where do theories come from? Theories usually evolve from research, which can take the form of systematic observations over time or scientifically controlled experiments. In fact, a theory derives from a hypothesis, which is a tentative explanation for a phenomenon. The more research is available to support the “truth” of a theory, the more useful the theory becomes in guiding practice. Yvonne had a theory about why girls and boys play differently. She tested and then revised her theory by conducting an informal research study. When research findings contradict earlier conclusions, theories evolve, are discarded, or are replaced with new ones. In the early part of the 20th century, the prevailing theory of child development was maturationist. According to this theory, derived from research by Arnold Gesell (1940; Ames & Ilg, 1979), the sequence of changes in abilities and behavior is largely predetermined by children’s biological growth processes rather than by their experiences or learning. hypothesis An assumption about or tentative explanation of a phenomenon. maturationist Theory of development that assumes that the sequence of changes in abilities and behavior is largely predetermined by children’s biological growth processes rather than by their experiences or learning. 104 PART 2 Learning and Developing from Birth to Age 8: Who We Teach Culture Lens The Effect of Culture on Research and Theory An especially important consideration in evaluating theories is the cultural background of the children and families who participated in the research. For decades, one theory of how parental child rearing affects preschool children’s development has been assumed to apply to all children and families (Baumrind, 1971). The theory identifies three parenting styles: Authoritative. Loving, nurturing, involved, and sensitive parents who explain their reasons for discipline have children who are motivated to learn and are well adjusted socially and emotionally. Authoritarian. Restrictive, punishing, rejecting, and controlling parents have children who lack initiative and are inhibited. Permissive. Parents who are warm and accepting of children but minimally involved and laissez-faire about discipline have children with the lowest levels of motivation and achievement. Authoritative parenting is found to be the most effective style of child rearing. Most research on the theory, however, has been conducted with Caucasian middle-class families. More recent research with Head Start families (McWayne, Owsianik, Green, & Fantuzzo, 2008) using culturally familiar language and behaviors identified similar but not identical types of parenting: Active-responsive (e.g., tell child “I’m proud” when he tries to be good). Active-restrictive (e.g., I spank the child when she is disobedient). Passive-permissive (e.g., tell child “I’ll punish,” but don’t). Research with low-income, urban, African American families found no relationships between these different parenting styles and preschool children’s social-emotional skills. What might account for these contradictory findings between diverse cultural groups? When children grow up in poverty-stricken, dangerous communities and face possible discrimination and prejudice, parents’ priorities reflect these conditions. They may express their love by focusing on survival skills and making sure that their children behave maturely and competently in situations where people are biased against them. With these goals in mind, the effectiveness of restrictive parenting makes more sense. In addition, compared to Caucasian middle-class families, African American child rearing tends to be spread among a number of people in the extended family and community. The mother may be relatively passive and permissive, for example, whereas others in the child’s circle such as a grandmother or aunt may be more restrictive or actively responsive. What can we conclude from revisiting a widely accepted child development theory like Baumrind’s parenting framework? Research that leads to a new theory needs to be conducted with diverse populations of children and families. Otherwise, the theory simply can’t be said to apply to them. In addition, research needs to be interpreted through a wide lens that considers the social and cultural contexts in which children live—in this case, the realities of life for low-income, urban, African American families. Sources: “Current Patterns of Parental Authority,” by D. Baumrind, 1971, Developmental Psychology, 4, 1–103; “Parenting Behaviors and Preschool Children’s Social and Emotional Skills: A Question of the Consequential Validity of Traditional Parenting Constructs for Low-Income African Americans,” by C. M. McWayne, M. Owsianik, L. E. Green, and J. W. Fantuzzo, 2008, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 173–192. Maturation theory led to the notion that teachers needed to wait until children were ready for experiences to be effective. Because it was assumed that children were not ready to read until first grade, few literacy experiences were provided in preschool or kindergarten. Research in the intervening years demonstrated that differences in children’s abilities are heavily influenced by their experiences (Sameroff, 2009; Tierney & Nelson, 2009). As a result, maturationist theory has been displaced by other theories. Nevertheless, maturationist theory continues to influence some practices such as kindergarten “redshirting”—holding children out of kindergarten until they are a year older and presumably more ready to learn. Theories can also drive the way research is conducted and findings are interpreted. For example, if a theory is assumed to be universally true for all children, then research that supports the theory is assumed to apply to all children. Even if the research has been conducted only with white, middle-class children, the findings are applied to children of color or children of different socioeconomic, linguistic, or cultural backgrounds. Understanding the role of culture in development and learning requires that theory and research be more cautiously interpreted through these lenses. Therefore, despite the frequent claim that theories are “universal” and apply equally well to all children, they need to be evaluated from a broader perspective, as described in the Culture Lens: The Effect of Culture on Research and Theory feature. Chapter 4 Applying What We Know about Children’s Learning and Development 105 Why Study Child Development and Learning? Understanding theories of learning and development is particularly important for early childhood teachers for several reasons. During the first eight years of life, children grow and change more rapidly than at any other period of the life span. As a result, development and learning are more closely connected in early childhood, making the developmental accomplishments and learning that ...