Building Blocks of Developmentally Appropriate Practice - Essay Example

Child development is, therefore, not so much about teaching voluminous chunks of knowledge during the formative years or the so-called foundational stage. Rather, child development is about the methodical approach or the “how” in which such knowledge is taught to very young children to guide them through their natural and inherent development.

This paper discusses four of the primary theories of child development as building blocks of developmentally appropriate knowledge based on the exposition of Swim (2008) in one of this week’s readings.

Biological maturation theory

This theory was proposed mainly by Gesell during the 1940s to describe a systematic manifestation of the physical and psychological development generally expected among children from the perspective that all children experience the same phases of development grounded on the natural maturation of their brain and body. The theory disregards influences from culture or individual differences (Levine and Munsch, 2011). As a child educator / paraprofessional, I do find enough utility in this theory because I observed that it places more weight on maturation rather than on learning. This observation was corroborated by Danielson (2007) whose main criticism of the biological maturation theory was that there is “too much emphasis on maturation and not enough on learning” (para. 4 )
Behaviorist theory

The behaviorist theory focuses on what may be directly observed in the absence of a precise method of knowing what happens in an individual’s mind. Butts and Rich (2011) outlined that stimulus conditions both in the environment and the person’s behavior, as well as responses to such conditions, are the only variables that can be observed in any learning situation. Additionally, Swim (2008) reported that this theory molds learning with the provision of rewards and punishment.
Unlike the biological maturation theory, there are apparent uses of the behaviorist theory in teaching young children. It may be recalled that behaviorism supports the position “what is learned can be unlearned by modifying stimulus conditions in the environment or changing the response to stimuli” (Butts & Rich, 2011, p. 206). This area of behaviorism will be very helpful in teaching young children in breaking bad habits developed during their earlier years.

However, I do not believe that banking on behaviorism alone will significantly facilitate the development of appropriate practices in child development. From experience, the behaviorist system of rewards and punishment does not leave any room for abstract thinking since it is categorized under the passive mode. Consequently, even if recent development in this area now classifies behaviorism in education as a reactive approach as indicated in Duczeminski (2009), learning still tends to be force-fed to children rather than the children being given leeway to understand knowledge by the explanations they retrieve from their interaction with the environment or from their observation. My opinion is that proactive is best for children in the knowledge society.
Cognitive development theory

Under this model of child development, learning is centered on “perceptions, thinking, reasoning, memory, development changes, and processing of information that transpires within the learner” (as cited in Butts & Rich, 2011, p. 213). Swim (2008) describes this learning approach as one in which children have the freedom to actively construct their views about the world as part of their learning experience. This is my idea of proactive learning.

I am wont to offer support primarily in the cognitive development theory because it sustains the realistic concept that learning progresses at different rates and in different ways as posited by Piaget (as cited in Sigelman & Rider, 2009). Child development and early learning professionals can benefit much from this theory, as long as they are open to the reality that differences in students’ learning rates mirror that they also have different learning needs. I believe that an effective teacher can serve the varied needs of her students. Eventually, as each need is addressed, children can actively contribute to enriching their learning experiences by being able to ask good questions. These questions provide cues to the teacher on how a specific topic may be taught to maximize student comprehension.

Sociocultural theory

The sociocultural theory initiated by Lev Vygotsky proposed that mental processes, particularly thinking, are affected by the society in which an individual lives. Hence, this model is grounded on the premise that all learning is culturally based (Levine & Munsch, 2011). Genetics has a minor role in learning under this model (Swim, 2008).
To some extent, there is a bit of usefulness in this model for the child education professional. For example, teachers can apply this theory in the classroom to foster interest among some students who are disinterested in a subject matter. This is accomplished by assigning disinterested students to groups where the commitment and interest of the members are significantly observable.

However, there are several criticisms about this theory brought about mainly by its seemingly over-emphasis on the role of language in thought processes, with caveats on overbearing and controlling parents. Moreover, the model also tends to focus on the importance of collaboration and guidance, which could result in negative outcomes when the facilitator overacts in his/her act of supervision (Santrock, 2010). Read More