page 6
The observation is flawed in that it does not reveal how accurate N.B. was in her telling of the story because there is no record of what was actually written on each page as she was telling it. Unless of course, we had the book to hand. The same can be said of the illustrations. It is therefore difficult to gage how much of the story was told from memory and how much was inferred by reading the pictures.
One indication that the story was told from imaginatively reading the pictures is the fact that both Callum and L.L. made the same error(37-38) and N.B. didn't correct them until after she had turned the page and saw their mistake.
N.B. role-play of the teacher was delightful, her attention to detail is noted straight away in the way she held the book (17) facing L.L. She turned to L.L. and Callum when asking 'What's That?' then would give them positive reinforcement when they got the right answer.(18, 24, 33) At the end of the story she even thanked the children for being 'good listeners'(48)
part2
I think I observed reasonably well, however I noticed that in my evaluation I state that N.B. turned to L.L. and Callum for a response. This is not documented in the observation, it was remembered when writing the evaluation. I should be more careful to note this body language, the observation seems a bit lob sided in favour of 'Vocalisations' over 'Actions'. The children were sitting quietly, not moving extensively, but I have a feeling that I skimmed over a lot of what I saw in favour of noting down what I heard.
Page 7
I was impressed with the fluency in which the story was created from pictures. I thought of taking this a step further by facilitating the children in writing and illustrating their own story-book. I will take 2 sheets of paper and give the child 2 sheets of paper. We each draw 2 scenes and then the child may construct a narrative to fit the drawings which I will write on the page. The pages are then stapled together to form a book.
The opportunities offered by this exercise are as follows,
1.May increase confidence and self-esteem as the child realises that they can make up stories from their own drawings just like they do when reading the pictures of other books.
2.The book is created by the child, so every word that is written in the book by an adult should be taken directly from the child. Subsequently the child should know every word on each page which will help when it comes to recognition of these words
3.Gives the imagination a good work-out, firstly when the child is drawing scenes for the book and then when relating these picture scenes to each other while creating the narrative.
Features of Learning:
1.develop confidence and self-esteem; make and express choices, plans and decisions. (E,P,SD)
2.have fun with language and making stories; pay attention to instructions from an adult; use own drawings to express ideas and feelings. (C, L)
3.drawing with pens and pencils; express thoughts and feelings in pictures; recreate/invent situations (E, AD)
4.drawing and colouring in increases control over fine movements of hands and fingers. (PD, M)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Expressive & Aesthetic Task
page 4
The experience I chose to observe was using droppers instead of brushes with paint. The paint droppers where a new experience to the children that week. In previous weeks they had become accustomed to using brushes or stamps. I saw this as an opportunity to observe how the children coped with this change. The child I observed was one who I had previously noted working well at the paint table, he likes to spend time creating his pictures and is adamant about taking them home.
I therefore deducted that he would spend time trying to figure out how to use the droppers to create a picture he would like to take home.
Page 7
The observation aside from the fact that I participated in a non-participation narrative, was very successful. I noted D.R. adaption of his schemata from using a brush (6-10) through using it like a quill pen (11-12) to his discovery of the more conventional method of using a dropper(17-21).
On top of this, the situation D.R. got himself into by literally piling on the paint(26-28) leading to my intervention(29). Inspired my next step of creating symmetrical prints after using a separate piece of paper to spread the paint between the 2 pages(31-33)
page 8
Following on from the new experience of using droppers with paint. I saw the opportunity of introducing the concept of creating symmetrical prints (butterfly prints). I drew a butterfly and a nature scene with a central tree in perfect symmetry photo-copying off 50 sheets of each.
The opportunities offered by this exercise are as follows,
1.It makes it easy for the children to create something beautiful. The nature of the task means that children who are generally quite messy or uninspired can still create a painting that is pleasing to the eye. This can build their confidence and self-esteem.
2.The technical nature of folding the paper allows the children to exercise their fine-motor skills as well as introducing them to the concept of a 'half' and their ability to follow instructions and mimic.
3.The results of the exercise will offer a visual feast of patterns and colour to stimulate the right side of the brain along with symmetry to get the left side working.
4.It will build on this weeks introduction of the droppers offering those who have tried the droppers something new and hopefully attract those who have yet to try the droppers. Exercising and creating new fine-motor skills.
5.As a handy side effect, it will ensure that the mounds of paint stay on the paper rather than drip off onto the floor.
Page 9
Features of Learning:
1.develop confidence and self-esteem. (E,P,SD)
2.pay attention to instructions from an adult. (C, L)
3.visual stimulation; recognise pattern and colour; introduction of mathematical concepts ('half' and 'symmetry'); awareness of everyday technology (dropper). (K, U)
4.Investigate and use a variety of media and techniques. (E, AD)
5.develop increasing control of the fine movements of hands and fingers; practice in the use of tools. (PD, M)
My Role:
I will create simple symmetrical drawings to photocopy, I will then show the children how to create the symmetrical print. I will continue to support and encourage them until I feel that a few children have the technique and can therefor model the technique to any other children who missed my demonstration.
The experience I chose to observe was using droppers instead of brushes with paint. The paint droppers where a new experience to the children that week. In previous weeks they had become accustomed to using brushes or stamps. I saw this as an opportunity to observe how the children coped with this change. The child I observed was one who I had previously noted working well at the paint table, he likes to spend time creating his pictures and is adamant about taking them home.
I therefore deducted that he would spend time trying to figure out how to use the droppers to create a picture he would like to take home.
Page 7
The observation aside from the fact that I participated in a non-participation narrative, was very successful. I noted D.R. adaption of his schemata from using a brush (6-10) through using it like a quill pen (11-12) to his discovery of the more conventional method of using a dropper(17-21).
On top of this, the situation D.R. got himself into by literally piling on the paint(26-28) leading to my intervention(29). Inspired my next step of creating symmetrical prints after using a separate piece of paper to spread the paint between the 2 pages(31-33)
page 8
Following on from the new experience of using droppers with paint. I saw the opportunity of introducing the concept of creating symmetrical prints (butterfly prints). I drew a butterfly and a nature scene with a central tree in perfect symmetry photo-copying off 50 sheets of each.
The opportunities offered by this exercise are as follows,
1.It makes it easy for the children to create something beautiful. The nature of the task means that children who are generally quite messy or uninspired can still create a painting that is pleasing to the eye. This can build their confidence and self-esteem.
2.The technical nature of folding the paper allows the children to exercise their fine-motor skills as well as introducing them to the concept of a 'half' and their ability to follow instructions and mimic.
3.The results of the exercise will offer a visual feast of patterns and colour to stimulate the right side of the brain along with symmetry to get the left side working.
4.It will build on this weeks introduction of the droppers offering those who have tried the droppers something new and hopefully attract those who have yet to try the droppers. Exercising and creating new fine-motor skills.
5.As a handy side effect, it will ensure that the mounds of paint stay on the paper rather than drip off onto the floor.
Page 9
Features of Learning:
1.develop confidence and self-esteem. (E,P,SD)
2.pay attention to instructions from an adult. (C, L)
3.visual stimulation; recognise pattern and colour; introduction of mathematical concepts ('half' and 'symmetry'); awareness of everyday technology (dropper). (K, U)
4.Investigate and use a variety of media and techniques. (E, AD)
5.develop increasing control of the fine movements of hands and fingers; practice in the use of tools. (PD, M)
My Role:
I will create simple symmetrical drawings to photocopy, I will then show the children how to create the symmetrical print. I will continue to support and encourage them until I feel that a few children have the technique and can therefor model the technique to any other children who missed my demonstration.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
How has the concept of childhood changed over the past 100 years?
The concept of childhood is difficult to describe, there are so many factors that can vary the experience of childhood. To such a degree that each persons definition of childhood is different. People tend to talk about childhood and adulthood like they are completely distinct phases of life.
According to our legal system, there is a definitive end of childhood. Our government has determined that people who are 18 should be able to take on adult privileges. But this does not necessarily imply that 18 year-olds are adults; nor does it even imply that society considers them so. The purpose of this definition of adulthood is practical only. It is a rough estimation that lawmakers were willing to settle on because they believed that most people in this age range could handle adult responsibilities.
There are many possible answers to the question of when exactly a child becomes an adult. People have said that childhood ends with financial independence, with the end of formal schooling, with getting married. Some have even suggested that childhood ends when you stop wishing that you were older.
In fact, there is truth to all these statements, but they have a common thread. Childhood ends when you lose the feeling of protection you have had all your life, giving way to a security of your own. When you arrive at a state of independence.
James & Prout (1997) recognise the beginning of the twentieth century as the 'Century of Child' there came a recognition that the future of any nation was dependent on its children. The health of children began to receive serious attention, as did their education. There were campaigns to relieve children from poverty, the first major success being the Family Allowances Act of 1946. But tying the future of the nation so closely to the treatment of children also had a darker side to it.
There was much fear of a ‘degeneration of the race’. In the 1920s and 1930s behaviourism dominated as the method of child rearing, the emphasis on producing an obedient child. There was a reaction against behaviourism in the 1940s and afterwards, but its replacement by a fear of the consequences of ‘maternal deprivation’ did little to alleviate the worries of parents.
Rising standards of living from the post-war economic boom enabled parents to begin to invest hopes and resources in children on an unprecedented scale. The flow of cash now went from parents to children, and by the end of the century children in many families could expect parental support up to their twenties, something unimaginable in previous centuries. At the same time, from the 1970s onwards, children began to acquire new rights. The U.N. Convention on the rights of the child and other supporting Acts established here in this country give children rights in relation to the state and to their families: the right not to be beaten in school (1986), the right to be consulted in the event of parental divorce, and so on. Consequently, childhood itself had in many ways become prolonged, but children had gained a higher status both within the family and in society at large.
Palmer (2006) claims that more recently, in the last decade or so. The modern world has become a 'toxic' environment for children, potentially leading to the 'death of childhood'. She describes the factors leading to this crisis as first and foremost, the television. There is now a whole menu of 24 hour channels dedicated to children, which not only serves as a round the clock baby-sitter, but they are also packed with adverts which are actually designed to make children nag their parents. The industry calls this 'pester power'. Additionally, these clever manipulative adverts impart status creating the idea of 'cool'. Referring to brands which tend to be either imagination-stunting media merchandise or junk-food - which have been shown to be damaging to children's physical and mental development. Another factor Palmer (2006) claims is contributing to this toxifying of childhood is the medicating of childhood. These days parents are choosing to medicalise problems once simply labelled under-achievement or over-enthusiastic. In 2004 the American Academy of Pediatrics recorded on their website that '1 in 6 children were medicated for a developmental disorder and/or behavioural problem' which sets a worrying precedent as our culture becomes more Americanized by the day.
To sum up, 'Century of Child' began with many diverse and revolutionary changes in how we view childhood. However, as our understanding of how children learn and view the world improved from an educational perspective, the mass media exploded using this new understanding to manipulate and market to children 24 hours a day, turning them into ravenous brand-happy consumers. The excess of choice in technological entertainment is killing the concept of childhood as a time full of imaginative energetic play. This has resulted in a phenomenal increase in the number of cases of: obesity, depression, mental-health problems and behavioural disorders than ever seen before. It is clear that the post-modern digital age is not providing and actually appears to be denying children the real-world activity and experience they need to grow up happy and healthy. The concept of childhood is truly at a crisis-point.
References.
James, A. & Prout, A. (1997) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood. 2nd Edition. Falmer press.
Palmer, S. (2006) Toxic Childhood. Orion Books Ltd.
Kehily, M.J. (2007) An Introduction to Childhood Studies. Open University Press.
Mills, J. & Mills, R. (2000) Childhood Studies – A reader in perspectives of childhood. Routledge: London and New York.
Yeo, A & Lovell, T. (2002) Sociology and Social Policy for the Early Years. 2nd Edition. Hodder Arnold.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1632874.stm - 3/11/2008
ADHD statistics: American Academy of Pediatrics website, (www.aap.org) - 3/11/2008
According to our legal system, there is a definitive end of childhood. Our government has determined that people who are 18 should be able to take on adult privileges. But this does not necessarily imply that 18 year-olds are adults; nor does it even imply that society considers them so. The purpose of this definition of adulthood is practical only. It is a rough estimation that lawmakers were willing to settle on because they believed that most people in this age range could handle adult responsibilities.
There are many possible answers to the question of when exactly a child becomes an adult. People have said that childhood ends with financial independence, with the end of formal schooling, with getting married. Some have even suggested that childhood ends when you stop wishing that you were older.
In fact, there is truth to all these statements, but they have a common thread. Childhood ends when you lose the feeling of protection you have had all your life, giving way to a security of your own. When you arrive at a state of independence.
James & Prout (1997) recognise the beginning of the twentieth century as the 'Century of Child' there came a recognition that the future of any nation was dependent on its children. The health of children began to receive serious attention, as did their education. There were campaigns to relieve children from poverty, the first major success being the Family Allowances Act of 1946. But tying the future of the nation so closely to the treatment of children also had a darker side to it.
There was much fear of a ‘degeneration of the race’. In the 1920s and 1930s behaviourism dominated as the method of child rearing, the emphasis on producing an obedient child. There was a reaction against behaviourism in the 1940s and afterwards, but its replacement by a fear of the consequences of ‘maternal deprivation’ did little to alleviate the worries of parents.
Rising standards of living from the post-war economic boom enabled parents to begin to invest hopes and resources in children on an unprecedented scale. The flow of cash now went from parents to children, and by the end of the century children in many families could expect parental support up to their twenties, something unimaginable in previous centuries. At the same time, from the 1970s onwards, children began to acquire new rights. The U.N. Convention on the rights of the child and other supporting Acts established here in this country give children rights in relation to the state and to their families: the right not to be beaten in school (1986), the right to be consulted in the event of parental divorce, and so on. Consequently, childhood itself had in many ways become prolonged, but children had gained a higher status both within the family and in society at large.
Palmer (2006) claims that more recently, in the last decade or so. The modern world has become a 'toxic' environment for children, potentially leading to the 'death of childhood'. She describes the factors leading to this crisis as first and foremost, the television. There is now a whole menu of 24 hour channels dedicated to children, which not only serves as a round the clock baby-sitter, but they are also packed with adverts which are actually designed to make children nag their parents. The industry calls this 'pester power'. Additionally, these clever manipulative adverts impart status creating the idea of 'cool'. Referring to brands which tend to be either imagination-stunting media merchandise or junk-food - which have been shown to be damaging to children's physical and mental development. Another factor Palmer (2006) claims is contributing to this toxifying of childhood is the medicating of childhood. These days parents are choosing to medicalise problems once simply labelled under-achievement or over-enthusiastic. In 2004 the American Academy of Pediatrics recorded on their website that '1 in 6 children were medicated for a developmental disorder and/or behavioural problem' which sets a worrying precedent as our culture becomes more Americanized by the day.
To sum up, 'Century of Child' began with many diverse and revolutionary changes in how we view childhood. However, as our understanding of how children learn and view the world improved from an educational perspective, the mass media exploded using this new understanding to manipulate and market to children 24 hours a day, turning them into ravenous brand-happy consumers. The excess of choice in technological entertainment is killing the concept of childhood as a time full of imaginative energetic play. This has resulted in a phenomenal increase in the number of cases of: obesity, depression, mental-health problems and behavioural disorders than ever seen before. It is clear that the post-modern digital age is not providing and actually appears to be denying children the real-world activity and experience they need to grow up happy and healthy. The concept of childhood is truly at a crisis-point.
References.
James, A. & Prout, A. (1997) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood. 2nd Edition. Falmer press.
Palmer, S. (2006) Toxic Childhood. Orion Books Ltd.
Kehily, M.J. (2007) An Introduction to Childhood Studies. Open University Press.
Mills, J. & Mills, R. (2000) Childhood Studies – A reader in perspectives of childhood. Routledge: London and New York.
Yeo, A & Lovell, T. (2002) Sociology and Social Policy for the Early Years. 2nd Edition. Hodder Arnold.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1632874.stm - 3/11/2008
ADHD statistics: American Academy of Pediatrics website, (www.aap.org) - 3/11/2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
How has the concept of family changed over the past 100 years?
When we use the term 'family', there are two broad interpretations of what we mean. First, there is the sense of family as our universal kinship, everyone we are related to by blood or marriage. Second, the term family is virtually synonymous with household. The kinship link remains important, but additionally there is implicit reference to a shared housekeeping and a common domestic economy.
O'Donnell (1993) asserts that over the past 100 years the Extended family is gradually disappearing as it is being replaced by the Nuclear family as the main operating family unit. The Extended family is a group that consists of parents, children, and other close relatives, living in close proximity. While the Nuclear family is just parents and their children.
In that time there have been dramatic improvements in transport, making it more simple and accessible, allowing families to move further away from their traditional areas without the fear of feeling isolated. Additionally, Improved educational opportunities have increased job prospects that may require relocation.
The women's role within the family was greatly affected by World War II. They picked up the slack as the men went off to fight and the taste of independence and self-reliance they felt from earning their own money would stay with them after the War ended with many of them continuing to work. However, this was only really made possible with the invention and mass-production of the time saving mod-cons that todays families take for granted like the vacuum cleaner, washing machines, refrigerators etc. which greatly reduced the burden of the household chores.
Since WWII, this more affluent population demanded larger and more widely spaced houses accommodating the increased car usage for which terraced streets were unsuitable. Resulting in the ubiquity of housing estates now seen across the country, serving to further tempt young families away from areas where they grew up.
Innovations in contraception resulted in smaller, more manageable families. Coupled with the improvements in state welfare for young families resulting in less need to depend on the extended family for support.
Finally O'Donnell claims that improved standards of health which has dramatically cut infant mortality rates has shifted families perspective away from having many children in order that a few may survive.
However, In the latter part of the 20th century, family life has become increasingly more complex than the Extended and Nuclear family types that it had been earlier. With most western societies experiencing significant shifts in demography of family life. A. Kuper & J. Kuper (1996) argue that a major reason for this increasing complexity is the rising rates of divorce, cohabitation, births to unmarried mothers and reconstituted families. It is because of this that there are more diverse family pathways than in the recent past.
“In particular, the increased incidence of divorce and remarriage has meant that many more people have ex-spouses, absent parents, step-parents, half-sibling, step-siblings and the like.” (A. Kuper & J. Kuper 1996)
These changes have resulted in complicated networks of family relationships which affect the form and content of relationships with the extended family to the point where there can be confusion within a family over who is part of it. Edward Shorter suggests that one of the main reasons for these breakdowns in the modern marriage is the high expectation of the romanticism surrounding it.
Finally, there is the social institution which according to Baudrillard(1983) has affected society above all else; the mass media. He claims that the mass media has become the most important part of our lives in the latter half of the 20th century, especially the television. The media no longer report and reflect reality. Instead, they now shape it. How we think about the world and what we understand as important and relevant is fed to us by the media creating what Baudrillard calls 'hyper-reality'. The Simpsons Family for instance is now the most famous example of a family in the western world, despite being a cartoon. One consequence of this is that people look to hyper-real images as role models, when the images don’t even represent real people. This can cause people to strive for an unattainable ideal, or lead to a lack of healthy role models. The domination of television has taken us to the point where traditional family rituals like sitting round a table at meal-times talking about each others day has been replaced with eating in front of the television watching imaginary families interact. Superbly illustrated in any episode of the BBC sitcom 'The Royle Family'.
In conclusion, we can see that there have been radical changes in the concept of family over the past 100 years. We have gone from a time when the family had clearly defined gender roles; men as the head of the household and bread-winner, women stayed at home as the home-maker and child-carer. Inaccessibility of transport meant that many generations of families lived nearby often under the same roof. The women shared in the household tasks which were labourious, time-consuming and done by hand. Furthermore, children dying of ill-health was a relatively common occurrence. Over the years technology made household tasks less time consuming and travel less daunting. Education shifted perspectives and increased opportunities in employment. Improved contraception has lowered the number of children being born into families although health-care advances has meant that the vast majority of these children live to see adulthood. Legislative changes recognised women as equal to men. While at the same time, the mass media permeated and now dominates all aspects of family life to the point where our concept of family is no longer based on reality but on hyper-real imitations.
References.
O'Donnell, G. (1993) Sociology Today. Cambridge
Kuper, A. & Kuper, J. (1996) The Social Science Encyclopedia. 2nd Edition. Routledge: London & New York.
Shorter, E. (1977) The Making of the Modern Family. Fontana.
O'Donnell, M. (1992) A New Introduction to Sociology 3rd Edition. Nelson Thornes Ltd
Baudrillard, J. (1983) Simulations Trans. Foss, P. Patton, P. Beitchman, P. Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents Series
O'Donnell (1993) asserts that over the past 100 years the Extended family is gradually disappearing as it is being replaced by the Nuclear family as the main operating family unit. The Extended family is a group that consists of parents, children, and other close relatives, living in close proximity. While the Nuclear family is just parents and their children.
In that time there have been dramatic improvements in transport, making it more simple and accessible, allowing families to move further away from their traditional areas without the fear of feeling isolated. Additionally, Improved educational opportunities have increased job prospects that may require relocation.
The women's role within the family was greatly affected by World War II. They picked up the slack as the men went off to fight and the taste of independence and self-reliance they felt from earning their own money would stay with them after the War ended with many of them continuing to work. However, this was only really made possible with the invention and mass-production of the time saving mod-cons that todays families take for granted like the vacuum cleaner, washing machines, refrigerators etc. which greatly reduced the burden of the household chores.
Since WWII, this more affluent population demanded larger and more widely spaced houses accommodating the increased car usage for which terraced streets were unsuitable. Resulting in the ubiquity of housing estates now seen across the country, serving to further tempt young families away from areas where they grew up.
Innovations in contraception resulted in smaller, more manageable families. Coupled with the improvements in state welfare for young families resulting in less need to depend on the extended family for support.
Finally O'Donnell claims that improved standards of health which has dramatically cut infant mortality rates has shifted families perspective away from having many children in order that a few may survive.
However, In the latter part of the 20th century, family life has become increasingly more complex than the Extended and Nuclear family types that it had been earlier. With most western societies experiencing significant shifts in demography of family life. A. Kuper & J. Kuper (1996) argue that a major reason for this increasing complexity is the rising rates of divorce, cohabitation, births to unmarried mothers and reconstituted families. It is because of this that there are more diverse family pathways than in the recent past.
“In particular, the increased incidence of divorce and remarriage has meant that many more people have ex-spouses, absent parents, step-parents, half-sibling, step-siblings and the like.” (A. Kuper & J. Kuper 1996)
These changes have resulted in complicated networks of family relationships which affect the form and content of relationships with the extended family to the point where there can be confusion within a family over who is part of it. Edward Shorter suggests that one of the main reasons for these breakdowns in the modern marriage is the high expectation of the romanticism surrounding it.
Finally, there is the social institution which according to Baudrillard(1983) has affected society above all else; the mass media. He claims that the mass media has become the most important part of our lives in the latter half of the 20th century, especially the television. The media no longer report and reflect reality. Instead, they now shape it. How we think about the world and what we understand as important and relevant is fed to us by the media creating what Baudrillard calls 'hyper-reality'. The Simpsons Family for instance is now the most famous example of a family in the western world, despite being a cartoon. One consequence of this is that people look to hyper-real images as role models, when the images don’t even represent real people. This can cause people to strive for an unattainable ideal, or lead to a lack of healthy role models. The domination of television has taken us to the point where traditional family rituals like sitting round a table at meal-times talking about each others day has been replaced with eating in front of the television watching imaginary families interact. Superbly illustrated in any episode of the BBC sitcom 'The Royle Family'.
In conclusion, we can see that there have been radical changes in the concept of family over the past 100 years. We have gone from a time when the family had clearly defined gender roles; men as the head of the household and bread-winner, women stayed at home as the home-maker and child-carer. Inaccessibility of transport meant that many generations of families lived nearby often under the same roof. The women shared in the household tasks which were labourious, time-consuming and done by hand. Furthermore, children dying of ill-health was a relatively common occurrence. Over the years technology made household tasks less time consuming and travel less daunting. Education shifted perspectives and increased opportunities in employment. Improved contraception has lowered the number of children being born into families although health-care advances has meant that the vast majority of these children live to see adulthood. Legislative changes recognised women as equal to men. While at the same time, the mass media permeated and now dominates all aspects of family life to the point where our concept of family is no longer based on reality but on hyper-real imitations.
References.
O'Donnell, G. (1993) Sociology Today. Cambridge
Kuper, A. & Kuper, J. (1996) The Social Science Encyclopedia. 2nd Edition. Routledge: London & New York.
Shorter, E. (1977) The Making of the Modern Family. Fontana.
O'Donnell, M. (1992) A New Introduction to Sociology 3rd Edition. Nelson Thornes Ltd
Baudrillard, J. (1983) Simulations Trans. Foss, P. Patton, P. Beitchman, P. Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents Series
Friday, October 17, 2008
Children and Young People's Rights
In 1989 the U.N. signed a charter for children's rights that was ratified by all nations except the USA and Somalia. The types of rights are split into 3 categories: Provision, Protection and Participation. Essentially, it states that children should be provided for, while being protected from harm and at the same time facilitated in participating in society.
It is this idea that they should be active in society that has evolved in recent history. Not so long ago, “Children should have been seen and not heard.” The installation of these rights meant that not only should children be heard but they should actually be listened to and allowed to make their own decisions. The idea that children should be provided for and protected are much older concepts that many of us would view so obvious it need not to be stated in a civilized society, such as 'children have the right not to be kidnapped, tortured, killed, sexually assaulted, etc.'
Other rights which are new to history may cause a bit of controversy; “Children have the right to their own space and privacy.” Not so long ago this would have been considered a privilege for adults, never mind children. Unfortunately, our media fuelled hyper-paranoid society will have parents trampling all over the child's right to privacy in their quest to discover whether their child is up to 'no good' or 'being groomed' by the ubiquitous paedophile.
Children's right to their own religion and beliefs is another one I take issue with from a practical viewpoint. Firstly, religious families begin indoctrination of the child at such an early age that it will become a part of their identity before they are self-aware enough to make a decision on the matter. We also have to consider the beliefs involved, if for example the parent's belief involves the child 'burning in hell' for atheism or worshiping a false idol. In my experience, religious families side with their religious documents over political ones.
Cognitive Developmental Theory Report on Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss child psychologist. Although his expertise extended to zoology, mathematics and philosophy, he was first and foremost, a genetic epistemologist. This interest in the processes by which bodies of knowledge grow, develop and evolve is clearly demonstrated in the entire structure and content of his child psychology. After receiving his doctorate he took a job at the world famous 'Binet Institute' in 1919 where he translated intelligence tests taken by children. Piaget began to see definite patterns emerge in the errors children were making according to their age. Consequently he began his quest to understand and describe cognitive development.
He states that the problem:
“from the point of view of psychology and from the point of view of genetic epistemology, is to explain how the transition is made from a lower level of knowledge to a level that is judged to be higher.”
Piaget, J. (1928). The Child's Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Piaget with his wife Valentine, a psychologist in her own right, began keeping diaries documenting closely the aspects of development of their own children from birth. He also enlisted the help of his friends children and performed many experiments to expose the reasoning of the children at different stages of development. It has been widely documented that these experiments were flawed. However they do provide valuable insight into how the child's mind works and have served as a platform of knowledge that has been built on ever since he first proposed his 'Theory of Cognitive Development' in 1928.
Piaget separated cognitive development into 4 main stages which he called Sensori-Motor, Pre-Operational, Concrete Operational and Formal Operational. According to Piaget this sequence is invariant, all children will progress through the stages in the same order.
The Sensori-Motor stage is how children start out in life, they can only know the world around them through their immediate senses. They have no concept of the world or existence and are therefore completely egocentric. Their innate behaviour patterns are exercised and gradually shaped by their environment. This shaping is as a result of the creation of schemas. Schemas are cognitive representations or ideas about what things are and how we interact with them. Throughout this stage schemas are acquired until the general symbolic function allows for object permanence and language to occur. Their sensori-motor actions become coordinated during this activity. They develop an understanding of cause and effect by observing a temporal rhythm of which daily events follow each other. This stage lasts until the child is about 2 years old.
The Pre-Operational stage sees the rise of symbolic representations from sensori-motor representations. The symbolic function arises because of internalised imitation; the result of sensori-motor thought, which can now be evoked without the actions that initially created the imitation. They are still egocentric, they believe that their point of view is the only one that can be held. This relates to another feature of this stage which is Animism, the belief that inanimate objects have consciousness. Because the child can only see from their own point of view, they assume that everything else is like them. Consequently, the chair that they collide with becomes the 'naughty chair'. Moral realism is another feature that is rooted in the child's egocentric thought, the way they view right and wrong is the only view of right and wrong that can exist. Piaget believes this stage lasts up until the child is around 7 years old when they move on to the operational stages.
In the Concrete-Operational stage the child's egocentric thought declines and they become capable of reversibility, the child is able to work back through a situation to where it began. As a result conservation is permitted, the ability to see that although objects may appear different they are in fact the same. The child can now reverse the process that changed the objects and realise that nothing has been lost, although they need to observe or manipulate the object itself to understand this. During this stage they learn to do this with volume, numbers, length, mass and area until around 11 years of age when they may progress to the Formal-Operational stage. It is worth noting however, that several studies have shown that not everybody progresses to this stage.
Formal-Operational is the progression to adult-like thought. Reversibility can be conducted mentally without the need to see the objects in question. They can think about and resolve complex hypothetical and abstract concepts, becoming systematic and organised when approaching a problem or idea.
Piaget's theory, however fundamental in the study of child psychology, did not go without scrutiny. A main figure in the ratification of Piaget's ideas was the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky suggested that language was more important than Piaget implied by taking on a cognitive role rather than being just for social interaction. He highlighted the importance of a child's cultural background in effecting the stages of development. Because different cultures stress different social interactions, this challenged Piaget's theory that the hierarchy of learning development had to develop in succession. The criticism directed at his experiments were that the children were not in their 'comfort zone'; they were tested in places that they weren't used to which can affect the way a child behaves. Using his own children and familiar children may have affected objectivity and he has been accused of using overly complex and therefore age-inappropriate language in the instruction of his experiments which would affect the child's ability to carry out the test. Despite these flaws, Piaget work is recognised as vital in the understanding of child psychology.
Lourenço, O. and Machado, A. (1996) summarize Piaget to make a fitting conclusion, “Piaget is without doubt one of the most influential developmental psychologists, influencing not only the work of Lev Vygotsky but whole generations of eminent academics. Although subjecting his ideas to massive scrutiny led to innumerable improvements and qualifications of his original model and the emergence of a plethora of neo-Piagetian and post-Piagetian variants, Piaget's original model has proved to be remarkably robust”.
References.
Richmond, P.G. (1970) An Introduction to Piaget. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Scott, F. et al. (2008) HNC Early Education & Childcare. Heinemann.
Lindon, J. (2005) Understanding Child Development: Linking theory and practice. Hodder Arnold.
Davenport, G.C. (1994) An Introduction to Child Development, second edition. Collins.
Lourenço, O. and Machado, A. (1996). In defense of Piaget's theory: A reply to ten common criticisms. Psychological Review.
Piaget, J. (1928). The Child's Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
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