Theories of development are very important as these theories and frameworks can heavily influence current practice and help us to understand the complexities of children’s behaviours their reactions and can also help us figure out different and new ways of learning. Starting with the constructivist approach (piaget).
Piaget worked on intelligence testing and during this period he realised that children would consistently give wrong answers to certain questions so he began to consider and review why this was.
He used his own children in the testing and his theory was often referred to as a constructivist approach as he suggested children constructed thoughts according to the experiences around them. Piaget’s beliefs helped people understand why children’s thinking is sometimes different from our own. The belief was seen to be that as the children develops so does there way of thinking. Piaget’s work has been seen to influence hands on approach to teaching children and also to create a specific teaching plan for an individual child dependent on their way of thinking and learning.
This is something that Priors Court School does engage in their approach to teaching the children we look after. Freud’s theory was one of personality / psychoanalytic, Freud is famous for his psychosexual theory of development which is used to explain unconscious thoughts or actions. Freud’s theories suggested that there were three parts that made up our personality. The “id” the “ego” and the “super-ego”. The id is the instinctive part of a child’s personality, this is said to be the child knowing what it needs in regards to the body, hunger or finding pleasure.
The Essay on Psychodynamic Theories Affect Individual Personality
Individuals differ from one another and each personality is unique. Be it physically, emotionally, intellectually or psychologically, each person portrays distinct characteristics that are exclusive. Many psychodynamic theorists have theorized the origins and contributions that cultivate personality. Highlights of this paper will include contents of Freuds psychoanalytic theory to include the id, ...
A child will be born with its id and once its needs are met ie being hungry and then getting fed is known as gratification. Then the ego works out the best way to meet the id needs of the child. The ego is often seen as the common sense part of our personality and usually starts in the first few months of living. Freud’s theories are generally seen as useful within professional circles and have been criticised for not standing up against scientific scrutiny. Freud’s theory is a good one to look at in relation to the teaching of children but not on to necessarily taken as fact.
Next Maslow, Maslow’s theory was one of motivation and personality, often known as the humanist approach saying that motivation and personality are linked to our basic needs being met. The conclusion of Maslow’s theory was that people have certain fundamental needs which need to be met before they could fill their full potential “self –actualisation” This was demonstrated in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs pyramid. The way in which this links to current practice is that when working with children and young people it is essential that their needs are met.
Professionals working with children need to strive to create a stimulating environment for children and form strong relationships with them. Bandura social learning theory was a behaviourist approach that suggests that people learn from watching others. This is often referred to as observational learning. This links in with current practice due to the fact that children will often learn a lot of social behaviours by the way in which people act around them.
In Priors Court School for example we make sure that we are good role models to our students by being polite and showing positive behaviours. Operant conditioning is a theory that was pioneered by Skinner, and it is a theory that is based on the type of consequence that is given following a particular behaviour. Skinner divided the consequences of actions into three groups, positive rein forcers, negative reinforcers and punishers. Skinner looked at what would happen to behaviour if giving positive reinforcers at different intervals.
The Essay on Positive environments for children and young people
Positive environment A positive environment is one that supports all aspects of the child’s development; staff members/carers can provide the children different ways to extend their developments. By doing activities and guiding the children through their learning, this creates a positive environment for them. Example: Reading and writing activities will help the child or young person’s cognitive ...
Most professionals and practitioners will use this theory in one way or another such as giving rewards for good behaviour or sanctions for bad behaviour so the theory is well used in today’s frameworks and practices. To conclude, the professionals that have looked at the theories of development have greatly helped the framework and current practice of looking after children and young people. And in my opinion helped and improved the practitioners and professionals capability to look after autistic children.
