Essay Sample on Classroom Environment: Impact on Early Cognitive Development in 3-7 Year-Olds

Introduction

Development on early childhood is influenced by various factors mainly experience and interaction. However, some children depict delays in developing some key skill areas including the cognitive and social thinking, social and emotional skills, and the speech and language. Classroom interaction establishes cognitive structure in children of pre-school between the ages of 3-7 years old. The study of cognitive development of this age group is influenced by both psychosocial and physical factors (Sylva, 1994). The study can be related to Jean Piaget theory which investigates the phases in regard to maturity whereby schooling behaviors influence the perceiving arrangement construction allover childhood. The discussion will focus on the outcomes of the classroom environment to the age group of 3-7 years and focus on Piaget's theory of cognitive development to establish the developmental delays and how they influence children in a classroom setting. It will be clear to tell the way children have to develop, how they respond to their environs, how they think, and the stages of their cognitive development. while there are various developmental delays such as motor delays, social and emotional delays, and speech delays, this study focuses on the cognitive delays to understand how various factors like classroom influence intellectual functioning in children.

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Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's study of the features and evolution of child brilliance made him develop the theory of cognitive development that has widely been used in children psychology studies (Wadsworth, 2004). The psychologist created the concept of "ages and stages" that draft which learning systems children accustomed to understanding at the individual developmental stages. The study notably focuses on the realization of how kids attain judgment and understanding the score of knowledge. The phases include the sensorimotor stage that takes place between birth and 2 years and the preoperational stage that is illustrated between the ages of 2 and 7 years (Inhelder, Chipman, Zwingmann, & Piaget, 2012). Piaget then describes the concrete operational stage among children aged from 7 to 11 years while the last stage described by the scholar is the formal operational stage that takes place from the age of 12 years (Inhelder et al. 2012). Focusing on preoperational stage (3 to 7 years), which is the main focus of this study, Piaget's suggests that the teacher should facilitate children with activities and information that correspond with their specific cognitive growth stage. This may be evaluated through schemas like cognitive schemas that explain the developmental functioning in children. Classroom activities are designed to facilitate interactivity where children can effectively develop themselves (Cameron, Connor, & Morrison, 2005). The preoperational stage is characterized by, children beginning to think symbolically and get to use chitchat and depiction to represent something as they get better in conversation.

Executive Functions and Cognitive Response

Executive functions are crucial cognitive processes that facilitate goal-directed behavior to develop in the simulated environment to its maturation, which is an indication of developmental progress and delay of a child. As suggested by Jean Piaget's theory, this requires effort to use. The major chief actions, self-consciousness, goose and mental complaisance where they are combined to backing more compound functions such as outlining and interpretation (Vandenbroucke, Spilt, Verschueren, & Baeyens, 2017). In the classroom context, the executive functions can be demonstrated in doing subjective mathematics that requires the child to recall sum and operations and make the computation. Piaget illustrated in his theory that it is the executive functions that facilitate the understanding of such basic concepts that impact the cognitive development of a child based on the nature of the classroom. However. Children who demonstrate developmental delays are not able to perform such functions when others can. The working mind is important in a child's learning in pre-school as revealed by positive rapport among engaged memory and the kid's school involvement and adherence to the directives in the classroom. Cognitive flexibility requires the children to observe issues from a diverse point of view and competent in handling these aspects in order to adapt to the changing needs of the position. These functions develop children's classroom functioning and learning in relation to their proximal environments.

Impact of the Teacher-Child Relation

The role of teacher-child interactions at this preoperational stage is very crucial as it makes up an important period as the theory of Piaget's clarifies that during which executive functions bring about brain growth and change. This illustrates as demonstrated in the theory that if a child delays on preschool exposure, various aspects of mental development will be delayed hence affecting his/ her cognitive development. This may include the social and emotional skills which influence the child's cognitive development. As a result, the expectations of teachers from the pupil's work might leverage achievement and classroom dealings. In essence, a tutor's outlook effect is well ingrained because teachers are actually accurate determiners of which of their pupils will perform excellently or poorly (Araujo, Carneiro, Cruz-Aguayo, & Schady, 2016). Consequently, other exemplars on tutor-child liaison such as motivation applied in evaluating the aspect of the teacher's executive functions achievement and advancement. As a result, children seem to take teachers dependency as a positive characteristic, whereas they have minimal schooling participation that can endorse their progress. More specifically the focus would be shifted from mannerism forms of reticence to performing conscience, cognitive forms of inhibition and intellectual resilience (Cameron, Connor, & Morrison, 2005). It will help determine which effective behavior of educator might help boost accomplishment and expansion in children who experience developmental delays.

The Role of Academic Self-Concept

At this stage, children tend to construct a composite network of self-concepts. This appears to immediate achievement behavior and motivation. However, children with developmental delays demonstrate fear lack of confidence at this stage. This has an impact on learning achievement way above the effect impacted by intelligence and guardian education (Bertram, & Pascal, 2002). Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development highlights that children tend to choose their friends and the types of toys and games they wish to play. Even though a variation in the maturity at which authentic evaluation is speculated to begin the children learn to compare their social status, performances and manipulated trial during class task-work. It starts to happen from the age of 5-7 years. It is suggested that children start to identify their role, significant others, establish a new classic by which to critic themselves and others (Diamond, 2012). There is also noted changes in self-esteem where other environmental factors influenced their performances whereby teaching strategies and learning processes also affected children cognitively and its evolvement.

Impact of Compulsory Education

Piaget's theory of cognitive development of this age group demonstrates how the pupils are largely influenced by compulsory education from age 3 to 7 years. This has clear effects on children's intellects ability but that cognitive achievements are no longer relevant after the end of the following year at the academy (Vandenbroucke, Spilt, Verschueren, & Baeyens, 2017). It should be noted that the classroom set-up is different from the home setting of the study. Although some parents have considered homeschooling, the effects demonstrate that those two sets of children develop differently. The beginning in school demonstrates a brief conclusive impulse on kid's self-esteem, academic accomplishment, motivation, and communal mannerism. During this period, parental role is minimal since the children spend most of their time with the teacher (Blair & Raver, 2015). The research shows that that presence is excellent, cognitively adjusted pre-school programs which are associated with later academy appropriateness. Besides, parents have admitted that they had noted improvement with their children school performances. It is, therefore, noted that early childhood learning changes the achievement model of most of the family where parent's expectations from their children are achieved.

Application of Piaget's Theory on Delay Development

The research findings regarding the developmental delays demonstrated the learning disabilities based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Cognitive delays, are demonstrated by interference on a child's awareness leading to learning difficulties. Learning disabilities can be identified during the preoperational stage as the findings suggest that there is a delay regarding cognitive development of learning during the elementary years. According to a study by Sylva (1994), the approach to learning in schools necessitate the teachers to evaluate the developmental lag from an epistemological perspective and identify the special lessons and approaches that can be used to help them. Vandenbroucke et al. (2017) noted that such pupils need special attention and curriculum planning are also needed by the institutions to ensure that their special interests are handled outside the normal school routine for other students. Such learners may need face-to-face playful interactions to identify the activities that spark the child's interests and how they can be molded. Assimilation as well as accommodation are strategies that can be effective in modifying the cognitive schemas as illustrated by Piaget to help children with such challenges. Teachers can facilitate assimilation by changing or modifying the information delivery to fit the pupils' schemas. Besides, the information and learning that has already been delivered can be modified to fit the information better among the children with developmental delays. In some cases, notes and even the curricula can be modified to take care of these children's schemas. Additionally, sharing storybooks and role play can benefit them in schools so that they do not feel isolated as Pi...