Behavioral observation - Case Study Example

Introduction Everyone goes through various stages in life. Theories of human development have been conceptualized to explain what happens in eachdevelopmental stage. It is particularly important for teachers and parents to know developmental milestones and characteristics of children so they will know how to deal with issues and concerns that their children may encounter in each stage. This paper illustrates one example of a preschool child and the interpretations of the behaviors observed of her. Background of Student Sydney is a four year old girl. She is on her second year in preschool. Her teacher says that she is a naturally shy little girl, but with an innate confidence. She performs well in school, although she is not as talkative as her peers. In her first year of preschool, she was usually seen playing by herself. Sydney has slowly found courage in approaching her peers and letting her confidence guide her to establish positive relationships with them. Observations Sydney is a quiet little four year old girl who is rarely seen playing with other children. She was seen standing by herself watching other children play in the playground. Her attention was caught by a group of girls laughing and pretending that they were princesses at the fort of the playground equipment. Sydney approached them slowly, smiling and sometimes laughing along as she inches forward to hear them better. Eventually, one girl asked her what her princess name was and she meekly said “Princess Petal”. Back in the classroom, Sydney was molding with playdough with other children, making balls of different sizes. Ricky took one of her big balls and squashed it to mold another form. Sydney frowned and grabbed back her play dough piece to which Ricky said, “You’re not sharing!” Sydney pounded on her play dough piece without saying a word and moved all her play dough balls away from Ricky. He just looked on and a little while later, Sydney handed him one of the medium-sized balls and said, “There you go.. now go ask Shirley for more coz I’m making a big big ball now”. Cognitive and Moral development Sydney is in Erikson’s Initiative vs. Guilt Stage of Psychosocial Development In this stage, preschoolers are so into doing things on their own and showing everyone how much they have grown in many ways. Thus, they initiate help. However, at this stage, children may be awkward, and their good intentions may backfire as in destroying some things in the process. When this happens, they are overcome with guilt. (Brewer, 2001). In the first observation of her social behavior, Sydney first observed her peers and approached them to initiate interaction. She expressed her interest in joining their play by giving laughing with them in their play and this was accepted by her friends, gaining her access in the group play. “A modern view of the child acknowledges agency, that is, children’s capacity to understand and act upon their world. It acknowledges that children demonstrate extraordinary competence from birth” (Walker, 2009, p.98). Sydney manifested this as she used her own strategy (smiling and laughing along) to be invited and accepted in the group. Socially, play coaxes a shy child like Sydney outside her shell. Play fosters the development of friendships. As children play with other children or adults, they get to know about how other people behave, think and feel. Sydney not only showed that she can stand up for herself when someone tries to violate her personal work space. She also knew how to vindicate herself when accused of “not sharing” by giving away a piece of her play dough to Ricky. This was her concept of justice, as she negotiated that he go somewhere else to get the rest of what he needs because she will be using the rest of her play dough to make a big ball out of it. Sydney is in Piaget’s Pre-Operational Stage of Cognitive Development. In this second stage (extends from 2 to 7 years), rapid growth in representation takes place, although the child’s thinking may still not be logical. Piaget’s concept of conservation is defined as “the knowledge that the number, mass, area, length, weight, and volume of objects are not changed by physically rearranging the objects.” (Brewer, 2001). Simply put, conservation is being able to distinguish that two things are equivalent even if they do not appear to be the same. Children at the pre-operational stage still cannot conserve. This skill is actually mastered in next cognitive stage, the concrete operational stage (Berk, 2008). However, Sydney was aware that if she gave Ricky more play dough, she will not be able to make the “big big ball” she wanted with all the different-sized balls she has already made. Vygotsky (1978) believed that children’s intellectual development is influenced more by social context than by individual experiences. His theory places a great deal of emphasis on effective social interaction. Indeed, Isabelle is gaining much from her socialization with her peers. Sydney is motivated by her need for belongingness and esteem, as gleaned from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. She may project confidence with her peers only because she has known them for a long time. However, her shyness still manifests at times, like in transition periods. The goal for her to be more confident entails that she is always put in a small group of children, preferably rotating her with friends and children not too close to her so she gets comfortable with all kinds of personalities. Her need for belongingness and esteem will be met if she can be successful in dealing with any other child. Theory Identity The observer is aware that Sydney is in Piaget’s Pre-Operational Stage of Cognitive Development, in the Initiative vs. Guilt Stage of Erikson’s Psychosocial Development and is spurred by her need for belongingness and esteem, as gleaned from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Learning Experience Sydney needs to learn to express herself more verbally to others, and to make herself more assertive of her needs and wants. In the first observation, it was obvious that she wanted to join the other girls at play, yet she had to inch her way in by giving an appropriate comment when she found the opportunity. If she did not find that opportunity to comment, or if her comment was not taken well, then it would seem that she would remain a passive player. Katz & McClellan (1997) suggest that building prosocial behavior entail alerting children to other people’s feelings and interests. In Sydney’s case, she needs to learn to alert her peers of her intentions to join them at play and not merely wait to be invited. Although Sydney seems to be slow to warm up to people, she is someone who will not let anyone push her around. She may be shy but she can stand for herself, as evidenced with the observation with Ricky when she did not just let him get her playdough without permission. Being in Erikson’s Initiative vs. Guilt Psychosocial stage of development, Sydney tries to find her place in the social network. In doing so, it allows her to develop and act on her own plans while working inside social and moral boundaries (Nixon and Aldwinckle, 2003). Her conflict resolution skills are very good as shown when Ricky tried to get her playdough and she tried to get it back and just give him a piece she can do without. Marion (2007) also verifies that conflict resolution is an important part of a child’s social cognition skills. Summary This exercise of observing children has opened one’s vision as to the nature of the child. What is observed is only the surface, and one needs to look beyond it to understand the behaviour and to be able to help the child better develop into a confident, self-propelling individual. The theories of wise scholars before us are worthy guides in understanding where the child is coming from and meeting them where they are. Knowledge of these theories gives one a headstart in observing children with relevance. References Berk, L. (2008). Infants and Prenatal through Middle Childhood (6th edtion). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Brewer, J.A. (2001) Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Katz, L. & McClellan, D.E., (1997) Fostering Children’s Social Competence: The Teacher’s Role. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Marion, M. (2007) Guidance of Young Children, Prentice Hall, USA Nixon, D. & Aldwinckle, M. (2003), Exploring Child Development from Three to Six Years, 2nd ed., Social Science Press Australia, Tuggerah. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Walker, T.(2009) Chapt. 8: Modern Childhood. Reader 1.Working With Children In The Early Years, The Open University Read More