Growth & Development of Children: Teacher's Role & Child's Needs - Essay sample

Introduction

The growth and development of children depend on several factors that have been presented in most philosophies. One of them is leaning from the environment around them through what they hear and observe. This explains the reason why teachers lay an essential role in their development because they are bound to listen to the teacher more. The Development Appropriate Practice identifies three levels of construction, including child development and learning, the needs of each child, and their social and cultural contexts. This paper aims to discuss theoretical perspectives and the role of teachers in the development of children.

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Several theoretical considerations affect the development of a child. One of the theories is Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Piaget deals with how the intelligence of humans develops through the acquisition and usage of knowledge by human beings (Aubrey, & Riley, 2018). He argues that these are the following items that originate from childhood. The mental status of an individual is a rearrangement of mental processes that come from biological maturation and experiences from the environment.

Piaget's theory affects children in the sense that children tend to understand the world around them and get variation in what they know and the new things they discover. They, therefore, are bound to adjust their minds to fit the changes, and this ultimately affects their cognitive development. The mental status of the child would also have an impact on how they talk and communicate ideas. Parents and teachers are invited to create an environment that is rich enough to provide a natural propensity to grow and learn. An example is when a child comes up with a new idea, and they are helped and encouraged; they are likely to explore more designs, whereas where the child is denied to practice their beliefs, they are likely not to come up with new ideas again.

Vygotsky, in his theory, tries to explain the origin of thinking and internalization. His focus is on language, which influences internalization and conversely translated into thought. Children tend to internalize social relationships from the social environment and thus guide their intentionality. His theory explains more on the purpose of an action, which he explains is from language that is interpreted by the human mind through thought. An example of the intentionality of work is when a child is learning a foreign language would require being intentional, unlike when they would learn their mother tongue.

Vygotsky argues that all mental processes of a human being are mediated by the tool. The tools include language, symbols, and signs. These tools are not inborn but are preferably gained from the environment. They instead reflect human experiences of the human being, which has accumulated and is registered in the mind as the child masters the skills (Minick, 2017). An example is when the child is science concepts; for instance, they are not likely not to get the ideas immediately. The tools do not change the human mind processes, but rather, they alter the processes.

Bandura's social learning theory proposes a regulatory system that controls the behavior of people. Human behavior is influenced by the social environment where people tend to behave in angle to particular models. He believes that learning of a child assumes observations, modeling, and imitation. In view, individuals tend to imitate the other person's behavior, follow their descriptive accounts, and even take inspiration for fiction and exploits. The learning, however, would not place if the person is not motivated towards a particular type of behavior.

Bandura suggests that it does not guarantee behavioral change instead takes place in step. The first thing is attention, where information is first incepted. The second step is retention, which is the ability of the person to retrieve what has been learned. The third stage is the reproduction process, where the person exercises what they have learned and finally would be motivated to adopt it. Then, the learning would be translated into the behavior of the individual.

An example is when children are supposed to go for a break at a particular time (Bandura & Hall, 2018). They will be informed that, for instance, break time is 9.50 am. They would wait until 9.50 am then go out for the break. Over time, they won't have to be reminded because it would have been integrating into their behavior.

The Development Appropriate Practice has influenced the planning for children's experiences. The first one is that it reduces the gaps in learning and improves the achievement of all children. One of these gaps is the lagging behind of children from low-income families and those of the black American and Hispanic origin (Keenan, Eva & Crowley, 2016). They also have little foundational skills, like reading, mathematics, and language. Therefore, this becomes an essential tool in learning their emotional and psychological condition and, thus, taking them at a slower pace compared to the students.

The DAP also enables the teacher to identify the need of each child, such as their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding child development allows the teacher to identify the activities, material, and the interactions that the child requires for better growth and development. DAP also gives an understanding of the social and cultural contexts. This makes the learning of the students meaningful, relevant, and respectful. This would improve the participation of the children and their families.

Dewey dominant his philosophy on what constitutes a good society, the right way of life, and the acknowledgment that changes are a requirement for survival. He says that wisdom knowledge and understanding were fundamental to morality. Learning is a process that starts from a crude beginning and ends with finished results. People tend to go through the transmission of culture as they seek to explore new environments. He argues that every student exhibits four interests, which are conversation, construction, investigation, and creative expression. This, therefore, calls for teachers to create lessons where they converse with the students.

An example is an experimentation of thigs where the teacher and the student try to find out something. A teacher may, for instance, come up with a topic ad encourage the students this investigate it and come up with reports. The teacher would act as a guide to them.

Teacher Role

One of the principles of DAP is that children develop self-regulation through play. Play plays a very crucial role in the life of the child as it serves in several ways. This is because game helps a foundation of literacy in which children learn new sounds and words. It encourages the teacher to communicate with the students and therefore knows there needs (Walch, 2016). Children obtain space, and choices to be spontaneous are what they do, which may encourage innovation. The teacher can understand the body language of the children and cultivate patience and understanding. This would serve to make the learning of the child for growth language.

The physical environment can impact the learning of a child significantly. An inclusive environment creates a pleasant working environment and would be most appropriate for the teaching and the teaching (Barret, Davies, Zhang & Barret, 2017). For example, the environment must allow for easy maneuvering of the students. Silence is also vital so that the students and teachers can concentrate on what they are doing. Lighting is also essential so that the students do not strain. A for flowing air area is also suitable for aeration and, therefore, improved the mental activity of the students.

The teacher and the entire school administration have a role in involving parents and the community around the learning of the children. This is because they are the stakeholders of the school who are close to the children and understand their behaviors. This can be looked at from the view that the activities in the environment around also affect the actions of the children, which would be incorporated into their learning. This has been included through having parents meeting both general and individual to discuss the welfare of the child and solve common problems and mistakes. The community may play a role in things like sporting activities in which they are invited to collaborate with the school.

Another principle of DAP is that social and cultural contexts affect learning ad development. There are also several ways of supporting children's differences, learning styles, and adopting special needs. This is because the children are different. Some are fast learners, and some are slow learners. Such a situation is dealt with by creating extension lessons for slow learners when others go home. For children with special needs, it is the responsibility of the teacher to protect those with special needs by explaining to the rest of the children on their condition and encouraging the students to accommodate them.

Personal Reflection

From the course, I have learned the significance of understanding the individual and specific needs of a child. The behavior of the child may be under influences that are not considered of their development. Some practices may not be because the child is wrong, but because of the environment, they are in. From the theories, it is evident that the language and actions of those around the children influence their behavior.

My three areas of strength are listening to child needs, excellent communication, and friendship with the children. Listening enables me to understand their views and even infer what their issues they are would be exactly. A good flow of information makes the student be free and share everything about their lives. Being friends with children makes them feel they have a parent who can relate to their issues. One area of development would understand more about what influences the behavior and be able to point behavior to a particular topic. For example, I look forward to a day I can look at a child's behavior and determine almost correct that the problem is with the parents or influences from their peers.

This follows the learning and development theories that explain how every action we take is a mental activity, which is influenced by various items. Like social behavior, which suggests that the act of a child comes from observation, which when the action is desired would be imitated. It serves as an encouragement to set an example for the students in such a way that they would want to follow. This includes practicing what I tell the students. An example is giving the students encouraging the students to be timekeepers should first start with me by being a timekeeper. Another area of development is adaptability, especially in dealing with new environments and new students. This is because they are all from a different background that influences their behavior, and understanding them would be very crucial in determining their learning models. The last area of development is a team player, not only to the students but even to colleagues. This would be very key getting to understanding even in the relationship of the students with other students within the school.

References

Aubrey, K., & Riley, A. (2018). Understanding and using educational theories. SAGE Publications Limited.

Bandura, A., & Hall, P. (2018). Albert bandura and social learning theory. Learning Theories For Early Years Practice, 63.

Barrett, P., Davies, F., Zhang, Y., & Barrett, L. (2015). The impact of classroom design on pupils' learning: Final results of the holistic, multi-level analysis. Building and Environment, 89, 118-133.

Keenan, T., Evans, S., & Crowley, K. (2016). An introducti...