Appropriate activities for a child or young person in your setting

Instructions

With reference to relevant frameworks and educational theories, plan and evaluate 2 appropriate activities for a child or young person in your setting. Your plans should be prefaced with a rationale. (plans/ observations should be included as appendices.) Above is the task that we have been given to do. I would like you to rewrite me assignment for me as I am unable to link it to theorists. For each plan I have to link them to different theorists and say why the theorist is right about what they are saying but also criticize what the theorists are saying.

 Activity Plan 1

Case Study

Activity Plan 2

Solution Paper

Child development and learning process

Name

Date

Child development and learning process

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children development normally takes four critical steps. The kids in the nursery belong to the Preoperational Stage which is characterized by the ability to lean language and think independently. In this case the theory suggests that children are often unable to see things or do things from other people direction or perspective. In addition the theory also suggests that children have a habit of relying on pictures and at times use words when creating representation due to their ability to use symbols (Zhang, 2002). Through this the Piaget theory suggests that children do not often have the capacity or the notion of relying on the constancy aspect. Therefore, children may question other people direction since they are constantly learning.

From the Jean Piaget's theory the children approached this activity from the play perspective. The children in this case were unable to work on their own and therefore needed help. Furthermore, some of the children kept changing the measurements and without the support they could have not been able to come up with the right measurement. This is in line with the Jean Piaget's theory which indicates at the Preoperational Stage children are often ego centric and largely see things from their own perspective. It is at this point that children had to be helped considering that if this was not the case the right measurements would not have been achieved (Hakvoort, 2002). In order for the children to see things from the instructors perspective, there was a need to ensure that they were assisted to help them in successfully completing the project.  Furthermore, at this stage children tend to think about the environment around them according to the Preoperational Stage which was evident in this case since children were easily distracted by other children. Through this children find it difficult to concentrate on one thing especially when distractions are available. 

According to Preoperational Stage the children normally relies on the symbols in the learning process and this was evident the point in time where they were able to make different things from their imaginations. In this case, it would have been difficult to instruct the children on what to do given that they are largely egocentric and will try to oppose other people ideas. As per the  Jean Piaget's theory if would be important to allow the children to mix the dough on their own in order to identifying what they are likely to do and the end results (Cook-Cottone, 2004).  Providing them with the instructions would be important in order to evaluate if they are likely to follow them and this would help in validating the Jean Piaget's theory on the nature of the children at the Preoperational Stage.

Even though Jean Piaget's theory asserts that children are likely to see things from their perspective, as per this experiment they tend to follow direction when they are given personal support (B, 2019). In this case, the children were able to mix the dough with my direction which shows that children will follow direction if one is persistent. However, if one is not persistent children are likely to execute the set responsibilities as per their imagination.  However, there is a need to tap in to this imagination as one would be able to establish the level of children imaginations on individual level if they are left on their own. If I could have told the child to mix the dough on their own without supervision, there was likelihood that this would not have been successful as different results would have been realized. Others will have participated whether others would have not (Schunk, 1989). Therefore, if this experiment was to be replicated, there would be a need to create a controlled and non-controlled environment in order to identify whether the end results would be similar or not.

Therefore Jean Piaget's theory can be invalidate especially on the children resistance to other people views especially on a controlled environment (Cook-Cottone, 2004). Therefore the success of the Jean Piaget's theory may be determined by whether the environment used is a controlled or not. Children have a tendency of learning from the environment and would tend to replicate what they have learnt from others. In this case, the children did not object to the learning process which contracts the Jean Piaget's theory since it holds out that children may resist other people views (Dacey, Travers, & Fiore, 2002). However, from this project, children did not object much and seemed to appreciate being given directions as it helped them to achieve the set goal.  Furthermore, from the task it was clear that children had different abilities in their ability to learn the language, logic as well as the mathematics.  On the other hand, this task shows that children may not be egocentric and this may be determined with the kind of environment that the children are exposed to. This is in support of the Theory of mind which states that children may tend to develop faster especially between the ages of 2-7. Even though the children approached this activity as a play, they were able to follow instruction with a little support (Fjørtoft, 2001).

The second activity largely involves the risk taking. Children tend to learn depending with the environment they are exposed to and they always explore new things to match their curiosity. The cognitive development of children is determined by the child's sociocultural environment which Piaget's theory does not put in to consideration. According to the Margaret McMillan’s philosophy active learning and learning through first hand experiences is important to the child development (Ms Vicky Cortvriend,Ms Elaine Hallet, Ms Melanie Henshaw, Vivienne Walkup-Taylor, 2008). Children are able to learn on the do and don’t if they are able to learn on their own. Even though the first activity was a bit controlled, the second one was not which therefore may limit the children learning experience. Depending with the type of experience that the children have during the outdoors. Even though children learn through first hand experiences, there is always a need to ensure safety of the children is guaranteed. According to Margaret McMillan’s philosophy there is a need to ensure that the children have time to play which should be the first undertaking in the children development.

The Social theories of child development emphasises on the roles of the social influences, peers, care givers and the parents (Lineweaver, Roy, and Horth, 2017). Even though it is important for the children to learn on their own, Albert Bandura a Psychologist indicated that children often learn by observing others and learning from that process. Therefore the McMillan sister’s theory of allowing the children to learn on their own may derail the learning process unless the children observe what their peers and try to replicate such in the process. This shows the role that social environment play in the child development (O’Connor, et al, 2013). Furthermore, John B. Watson a behaviourist indicated that children learning process is largely modified through observation process. This shows the important of supervision or direction even during the outdoor activities which affects the application of the Margaret McMillan’s philosophy. On the other hand, Erikson’s Psychosocial Child Development Theory also shows the stages in the child development which can be applied in the learning process (Dunkel, and Harbke, 2017).  Stage 2 - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt of the can be used to support the Margaret McMillan’s philosophy given that at this point the children often learn and it is characterized by shame and doubt.

Bibliography

B, P. (2019). The McMillan Sisters and their Open Air Nursery. [online] Running Past. Available at: https://runner500.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/the-mcmillan-sisters-and-their-open-air-nursery/ [Accessed 2 Jan. 2019].

Cook-Cottone, C. P. (2004) ‘Using Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Understand the Construction of Healing Narratives’, Journal of College Counseling, 7(2), pp. 177–186. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1882.2004.tb00249.x.

Dacey, J. S., Travers, J. F., & Fiore, L. B. (2002). Human development across the lifespan.

Dunkel, C. and Harbke, C. (2017) ‘A Review of Measures of Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development: Evidence for a General Factor’, Journal of Adult Development, 24(1), pp. 58–76. doi: 10.1007/s10804-016-9247-4.

Fjørtoft, I., (2001) The natural environment as a playground for children: The impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. Early childhood education journal, 29(2), pp.111-117.

Hakvoort, I. (2002) ‘Theories of Learning and Development: Implications for Peace Education’, Social Alternatives, 21(1), p. 18. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6356231&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 24 January 2019).

Lineweaver, T. T., Roy, A. and Horth, M. (2017) ‘Children’s stereotypes of older adults: Evaluating contributions of cognitive development and social learning’, Educational Gerontology, 43(6), pp. 300–312. doi: 10.1080/03601277.2017.1296296.

Ms Vicky Cortvriend,Ms Elaine Hallet, Ms Melanie Henshaw, Vivienne Walkup-Taylor (2008). Advanced Early Years: For Foundation Degrees and Levels 4/5, 2nd edition. Oxford: Heinemann. 135.

O’Connor, T. G. et al. (2013) ‘Social Learning Theory Parenting Intervention Promotes Attachment-Based Caregiving in Young Children: Randomized Clinical Trial’, Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42(3), pp. 358–370. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2012.723262

Schunk, D.H., (1989) Social cognitive theory and self-regulated learning. In Self-regulated learning and academic achievement (pp. 83-110). Springer, New York, NY.

Zhang, L.-F. (2002) ‘Thinking Styles and Cognitive Development’, Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163(2), p. 179. doi: 10.1080/00221320209598676.