Social Development

• Erikson’s psycho-social life-span developmental stages • Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

• Play and social development

• Agents of socialization (family, school, Peers; Media)

• The socialisation process and its impact on children & learning

• Educational implications for teachers

Social Development

Social development refers to the growing ability of an individual to live, move and work as a member of the society, to learns social forms of behaviour such as the social etiquettes, folkways, traditions and customs and to work and get along with others for the benefit and happiness of others as well as himself or herself.

Erikson placed considerable emphasis on the role of family, culture, and society in the development of an individual’s personality.

He recognized that the social environment in which children grow, develop, and learn can influence appreciably the outcomes of personality development.

Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson proposed that we move through a series of eight psychosocial development stages in which our selfhood, independence, identity and self-worth may be developed or crushed, depending on how we resolve issues and interact with others along the way.

Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial crises, or ‘turning point’. During these turning points we experience a temporary state of conflict and disequilibrium that must be resolved before we may move to the next stage of psychosocial development.

According to Erikson, in each psychosocial stage individuals face a choice between two ways of coping. One way is to resolve crises in a positive way, which leads to healthy personality development.

The alternative is to resolve crises in a negative way, which leads to difficulties and problems in later stages if issues are unresolved.

Stage Basic Conflict

Important Events

Outcome

Infancy (birth to 18

months)

Trust vs. Mistrust

Feeding Children develop a sense of trust when caregivers provide reliabilty, care, and affection. A lack of this will lead to mistrust.

Early Childhood (2 to 3 years)

Autonomy vs. Shame and

Doubt

Toilet Training Children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence. Success leads to feelings of autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and doubt in their own abilities.

Stages of Psychosocial Development

Stage Basic Conflict

Important Events

Outcome

Preschool(3 to 5 years)

Initiative vs

Guilt

Exploration Children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose. Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt.

School Age (6 to 11 years)

Industry vs. Inferiority

School Children need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority.

Stage Basic Conflict

Important Events

Outcome

Adolescence (12 to 18

years)

Identity vs. RoleConfusion

Social Relationships

Teens needs to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self.

Young Adulthood (19 to 40 years)

Intimacy vs.

Isolation

Relationships Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation.

Stage Basic Conflict

Important Events

Outcome

Middle Adulthood (40 to 65 years)

Generativity vs.

Stagnation

Work and Parenthood

Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.

Maturity(65 and beyond)

Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Reflection on Life

Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair.

Implications

1.Encourage initiative and creativity; encourage responsibility; balance punishment for wrong doing with encouragement of individuality.

2. Promote industry in elementary school children

3. Simulate identity exploration and discuss different identities and view points with adolescents

4. Value hard work and industry; encourage individuals to their best no matter what their ability; while some competition is healthy, discourage excessive competition, which may lead to feelings of inferiority and low self-worth.

5. Be patient when students make mistake. Avoid public humiliation. When students feel they are not keeping up with their peers, they will want to give up, so develop individual learning programs and encourage students to work at their own pace.

6. Acknowledge successes outside the classroom in sport or other endeavours

7. Provide a forum for students to discuss problems and share ideas. This should be done in a safe classroom environment. Adolescents appreciate the opportunity to express themselves in writing.

8. Teacher’s feedback contributes to students’ sense of industry or inferiority.

Ecological Systems Theory

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological systems theory views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from the immediate settings to broad cultural values, laws, and customs.

Ecological systems theory explains how everything in a child and the child's environment affects how a child grows and develops. To study a child’s development then, we must look not only at the child and her immediate environment, but also at the interaction of the larger environment as well.

Bronfenbrenner’s structure of environment:

1.The microsystem describes interactions in the child’s immediate environment. Structures in the microsystem include family, school, neighborhood, or childcare environments. At this level, relationships have impact in two directions - both away from the child and towards the child. For example, a child’s parents may affect his beliefs and behavior; however, the child also affects the behavior and beliefs of the parent. Bronfenbrenner calls these bi-directional influences.

2.The mesosystem involves connections between two settings. Examples: the connection between the child’s teacher and his parents, type of relationship between parents, etc.

3. The exosystem – this layer defines the larger social system in which the child does not function directly. The structures in this layer impact the child’s development by interacting with some structure in her microsystem. Parent workplace schedules is an example. The child may not be directly involved at this level, but he does feel the positive or negative force involved with the interaction with his own system.

4. The macrosystem – this layer may be considered the outermost layer in the child’s environment. This layer is comprised of cultural values, customs, and laws.

The chronosystem – this system encompasses the dimension of time as it relates to a child’s environments. Elements within this system can be either external, such as the timing of a parent’s death, or internal, such as the physiological changes that occur with the aging of a child. As children get older, they may react differently to environmental changes and may be more able to determine more how that change will influence them.

Implications

1.Think of the child as being embedded in a number of environmental systems.

2. Pay attention to the connection between school and families.

3. Recognize the importance of the community, socio-economic status, and the culture in the child’s development (e.g. poverty can overwhelm their ability to learn).

4. Understand the socio-historical changes (e.g. decline in values).

Play and Social Development How does play foster child’s social development? Discuss different types of play and their benefits.

Types of PlayPretend play or role-play. Domestic play Miniature play Physical play Intellectual play Creative play Water and sand play ..\..\CHILD DEVELOPMENT MOVIE\CD 2 Module 2

• Agents of socialization (family, school, Peers; Media)

I. The family as a social system. The family system influences operate both directly and indirectly

a.Direct Influences.

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b. Indirect influences.. (Bronfenbrenner called these indirect influences the effect of third parties). II. Peer Relations and Socialization.

Peers exert their influence to one another through reinforcement, modeling, and direct pressure to conform to certain expectations.  a. Peer reinforcement and modeling.

b. Peer conformity (e.g. depends on parenting style)  III. Media Influence School Influence – Through your experience in schools, discuss amongst yourselves and generate various factors. Discuss some of the implications for parents and teachers.

Educational Implications

• parents & teachers should practice what they preach. What they do is more important than what they say.

• Have less “Don’ts” and more “Dos”. Emphasize positive behavior.

• Parents and teachers should be consistent in their demands from the child. The inconsistency in expectations creates problems for the child.

• Be on the alert to discover “socially isolates”. Help them to be accepted by the group.

Since good social development is always directed or it is a result of direction, the teachers & parents always serve as good “guides

Reference

Berk, L.E. (2000). Child development (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Krause,K. L., Bochner, S. & Duchesne. S. (2003). Australia: Nelson Australia Pty Limited.

Ryan, J. and Paquette, D. (nd.). Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. . Retrieved from: http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf on 4th May, 2009.

 Shaffer, D.R. (2000). Social and personality development (4th ed.). CA: Wadsworth.

Wagner, V. Kendra. (nd.). Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development. Psychosocial Development in Infancy and Early Childhood. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/psychosocial.htm . on 4th May, 2009.