Culture and Its Impact on Child Personality Development
Culture and the society have a major role to play in the shaping of the personality of a child. This particular essay aims at showing the importance of the culture in developing the personality of a child. The essay is the analysis of a case study where the manifestation of the culture on the child who has immigrated to other region. It has been observed in the case study that the child was facing a problem in adapting to the new environment because of continuous change of place. This had a huge impact on the condition of the child. This is the reason the essay analyses a post-modern perspective addressing the social and the cultural effect on the pedagogical practices. To enhance the analysis the challenges related to the classic as well as the contemporary theories related to the early childhood has been discussed in the essay. The culture makes a child behave in a desired manner. Therefore it is necessary to keep the children in such environment where they can learn good things. The repeated change of place acts as a negative point in the life of the children. In this particular case study the stability of the child was disturbed as he experienced a change in his political, social and cultural change. There is a need to understand the way culture shapes the development of child in order to improve the lives of children in a way that respects their cultural backgrounds.
The boy named Jarid is a five year old boy and he was a refugee. He and his family seek for asylum and his family is struggling for some amount of work. In this process he had to change many schools. This made him go through a traumatic stress. The child was finding it difficult to develop his community and language skills. In a small age he was going through a Diasporic predicament. The development of the children is an important factor that should be considered in every field. It is extremely important in the education life of a child. In this case the child felt left out from the society and was not being able to belong to any particular society. This affects the mind of the child badly (Kolb 2014).
The way the social and the cultural factors influence the development and learning of the child is essential to consider in this context. Culture is usually defined as the set of attitudes, values, behaviors and beliefs that is shared by a group of people. The culture represents the thoughts of certain set of people and their background. The form that behaviors take may appear is the identical culture present across the world. The schools act as a major agent of communicating an existing culture to the children (Newman and Newman 2017). The change of different schools acted as a barrier in the cultural development of Jarid. It is a fact that any kind of behavior that is witnessed within a culture as adaptive will lead to the encouragement by significant others that include the peers and parents. The means by which the given behavior is encouraged or discouraged can be determined culturally. There are other significant constructs that are addressed in the light of culture. It has been found that the researchers typically discuss two cultural phenomena: the first and foremost phenomena are the independent, collectivistic or western cultures and there is another concept on the other hand that is the interdependent, collectivistic, or eastern and southern cultures. There is difference between the eastern culture and the western culture. The eastern and the southern cultures are described as those cultures which is responsible for the harmony of the group and the cooperation between them (Bjorklund and Causey 2017). On the contrary to that the western cultures include that culture for which the members consider factors like assertiveness, expressiveness and competitiveness as important factors. In this case the child had to go both the types of culture. He was at his early stage of life. He was just five years old and at this age before he could extract any particular culture he had to learn another culture. The child had to adapt between the eastern and the western culture and a repeated change and a shift made it difficult for the child to adapt any particular culture. This is how cultural factor is responsible in child development (Bryman 2015).
Case Study: Impact of Continuous Change of Place on Jarid
Apart from this the society has another major role to play in the development of the personality of a child. The society includes the parents, teachers and the surrounding people where someone lives. It can be the locality where the person stays in. The teachers in schools impart proper knowledge about culture to the students. The parents at home reflect the culture in the life of a child (Kostelnik et al. 2014). The community and the people where the student stays have a great influence on the child. In the case that is being analyzed, the child went through changing social nature. It was a stress and trauma for him. He had witnessed the worst times faced by his family and had to go through the harsh environment that is given to the refugees. This was an undesirable incident in his life. This always remained as a trauma in his life. The child could not learn any particular skill as he went to many school and the teachers of every schools taught different language and different culture. It took time for him to get used to one particular language and skill. The most important factor because of this is was the war that took place in his country. His family went in many parts of Europe. They had to move in order to seek shelter and because of some family reasons. The child went through the consequences of the war that was a horrifying one. The consequences of the war are the social factor that acted as a barrier in the social progress of the child (Bornstein and Bradley 2014).
Enhancing the quality of the lives of the young children has become an international issue in the present world. It has been expressed through the contemporary research that has been conducted. There were many researchers who came up with some new post-modern theory on the pedagogical practices that are addressing social, cultural and political changes. This can be considered as a discourse (Grande 2015). In the appropriations of the cultural studies according to the post-modern world, the importance of the cultural studies should be taken into consideration. The cultural studies have been used to transform and enrich critical pedagogy and to provide new intellectual tools and practices to transform the system of education. According to the post modern system of pedagogy, the culture, the social and the political factors play an important role (McLaren 2016).
The Role of Society in Child Personality Development
While analyzing the social factor, this can be said that the society. The world is changing day by day and the role of the teacher has also changed. In the modern education system the teacher is not only supposed to be a talented guide apart from being a helper. The teacher in the traditional time was to be a helper of the subjects inside the classroom and solve the difficulties in the classrooms (Rhoads and Valadez 2016). The contemporary teachers are expected to apply new methods of teaching. The traditional method of teaching followed the process of teaching where the teachers taught the students inside the classroom with the use of certain traditional method. With the changes new expectations came into the scenario. According to the modern concept the contemporary teachers should teach their students to learn using the modern techniques. The teacher not only develops the child inside the classroom but also teaches the child outside the classroom. It was noticed that some of the teachers were the survivors of the political wars. This served as a great help to the students. Their vision helped various societies to gain self-sufficient and financial freedom. In the pedagogy the role of the teachers is to shape the minds of the younger generation. In this case Jarid is a child who has witnessed the worst consequences of the war (Kramsch 2014). According to the modern pedagogy all the teachers should support him by applying modern forms of teaching and they must support the child in order to develop his skills. The teachers must act not only as a guide but also as the philosopher who can help the child to tackle with the trauma that he has experienced because of the war (Fook 2016).
According to the post modernist perspective there are some cultural effects on the pedagogical practices. The post modern opines the fact that issues related to culture, language, cognition, community and socialization are central to learning. In the cultural perspective language plays a vital role. The language exchanges and language vocabularies are essential part of the cultural continuity. The theory states that the culture shapes mind and it provides a person with the tool kit by which they can construct not only their worlds but also their conceptions of their own selves and the powers. It further states that it is not possible to understand the mental activity until and unless somebody takes into account the cultural setting and the resources and those other things that give mind the shape and the scope. Every child must be encouraged to participate in the cultural change. This is the modern concept regarding the cultural aspect in the pedagogy. The child in this case was observed to lack any specific culture. He had to change his place of stay many times and he had to change his schools. The teacher should have used the modern tools in order to develop the cultural skills of the child. The culture has a huge impact on the pedagogy. The child in this particular case came across many schools and as a result he came across many cultures. The pedagogy played the most vital role in shaping his culture. The child liked to go the school while he had to attend it but the post-traumatic experience affected his skills. He was traumatized and this is the reason he suffered from a cultural lag. This avoided him to participate in good activities that were conducted in his school. The pedagogy had the opportunity to shape the personality of the child and recover the worst experiences related to the war. This is was the post modern theory on the way the culture had an impact on the pedagogy.
Post-Modern Theories on Pedagogical Practices and Cultural Effects
The political aspect had a huge effect on the pedagogy. The post modern theory added that the political condition of the state is having an adverse effect on the situation of the student. Jarid suffered from the harsh consequences of the war and this was evident from his poor language skills and the fact that he was traumatized and this was the reason he lagged behind in his school. He could not perform well. The teachers in this case who had the experience of surviving in the war could help the student to overcome the trauma. The post modern theory opines that the politics is having a lot of influence on the system of pedagogy. The incidents of the war should be included in the curriculum of the pedagogy systems.
There are some challenges in both the classical as well as the modern forms of studies. It is because of this challenges that there are huge difference between the classic as well as the modern form of education. While discussing about the challenges related to the classic system of early childhood education it can be mentioned that the tools used during the early education were not well-equipped and they were not up to the mark. The lack of technological advancement was the biggest challenge. The faculty was not trained according to the advancement and this served as the biggest challenge. The training centers for the students were not well equipped. This resulted in a communication gap between the students and the teachers. The communication gap served as one of the biggest challenges in the system of pedagogy in the classic time. The communication between the teacher and the child was limited to the classrooms (Bjorklund and Causey 2017). According to the perspective of the classic early childhood learning the teachers had no connection with the child after the classroom. This was a setback in the part of the system. The setback was less on the part of the teacher but it was more on the part of the system. The concept of early childhood was not promoted in the classic time. There were no concept of kindergarten or there were no concept of new type of schooling. These were the biggest challenges of the teaching in the classic age. It was argued that the traditional system of teaching focused on the individual more and less on the process of teaching (Barth, Barth and Barth 2017).
Conclusion
On the other hand the contemporary perspective of early education had certain challenges even after certain advantages. The recent consultation by the NCCA regarding national frameworks for early childhood learning showed that the questions of assessment in the early years is one that is of great concern (Wellington 2015). This is a major concern to all the practitioners who consider and who support the development and the learning of the young children all over the world (Ritzer and Stepnisky 2017). The inclusive education is lacking in the contemporary system of education. The biggest challenge is the lack of the idea of kind of structure that the teachers want to put on the child. The present curriculum acts as a pressure to the children. The basic principles of the curriculum should be improved. It is difficult to conduct tests in case of the young children (Gauvain and Perez 2015). The challenge therefore is on which ground the students will be accessed. The effectiveness of the early teaching program was questioned. The question arises on what is being taught to the students and what is it helpful for the early children. These were the role of developmentally appropriate practices that includes the importance and the challenges of the system of education (James and Prout 2015).
It is to be mentioned that the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 is the statute governing the legislation related to asylum and immigration since the year 1993 (Legislation.gov.uk 2018). According to section 16 of the act it can be stated that the secretary of the state may make arrangements for accommodation of persons in compliance with this Act. It is to be stated that “accommodation center” as referred to in this act can be defined as a set of premises under this section. Ann asylum seeker in the United Kingdom is eligible to ask for a place to live and a cash allowance to pay for the basic necessities like food and clothing. An accommodation which is provided to the asylum seeker can be hostel, house or bed and breakfast. Asylum seekers are also entitled to cash support of 37.75 pounds per person (Gov.uk 2018). Monetary allowances are generally loaded onto Aspen card every week. Asylum seekers are entitled to free National Health Service healthcare. All children aged 5-17 must attend schools. All state schools are free and children are entitled to get free school meals.
The Children Act 1989 governs the duties allocated to parents, court and other agencies in the United Kingdom in order to ensure welfare of children and safeguard them (Legislation.gov.uk 2018). It can be stated that this act focuses on the idea that children are best taken care of by their parents. However, it also discusses the provisions for instances, when the families of children do not cooperate with the statutory bodies. According to part 1 of the act it can be mentioned that welfare of the children is the primary concern of the courts. The courts assess the emotional, physical and educational needs of the children, the factors that are likely to affect the child, the harm suffered by the child and the ability of the parents of the child to meet the needs of the children.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child is another another authority which governs the rights of children. It consists of 54 articles covering all the major articles of child rights.
It can be said that OFSTED is the Office for standards in Education, Children’s Services and skills. The OFSTED regulates and inspects services of care for children. It also provides education to learners of all stages.
It can be stated that adopting a child centered approach can be beneficial for the development of a child. Multi agency working can be said to bring together practitioners of various sectors in order to provide an integrated way to to support young people and children. This approach puts the child in the center of their learning. Unstructured Style of play encourages children to feel curious and is instrumental in boosting their confidence and self esteem. Further it can be stated that the layout of a room or the setting of the room can have a huge impact on the discoveries made by children and their learning process.
A speech language and language therapist can assess and treat adults and children with language, speech and communication problems so that they can communicate with others to the best f their abilities.
Jean piaget’s cognitive development theory provides explanation for how a child forms the model of the world in his mind. According to him it can be stated that children have a mental structure, which is very basic in nature and on which all knowledge and learning are based. According to Brunner it can be said that thinking is considered to be the outcome of cognitive development. According to Brunner learning outcomes do not only include learning concepts but also the ability of children to invent things for themselves.
It can be said according to Montessori that the learning environment of children must be orderly, beautifully decorated and proper so as engage the senses of the children (Lillard 2016). Children need accessible equipments and real tools in order to develop a better understanding of tem.
According to Vygotsky it can be said that interaction between the children and teachers is instrumental and vital for the development of the personality of the children. Vygotsky has coined the concept of zone of proximal development which is defined as the difference between what a child can do on her own and what he can do with additional assistance.
Conclusion
Therefore while concluding this can be mentioned that the new sociology of childhood is a concept which can be mentioned as a part of analysis of the case that has been discussed in the essay. This includes the theories of social order, social stability and social integration that presume a uniform and that is predictable standard of action from the members who are participating in the process (Hughes, Del Toro and Rarick 2015). According to this theory the children are seen as active agents and distinctive groups in their own right (Mayall 2015). This includes the process of socialization of child in which the child may well be acculturated in order to acquire the culture of the groupings of the human beings in which they can belong. In this case study the child was far away from the process of socialization. The child could experience a set back of his skills. He found it difficult to communicate with the society and in his school (Ryder 2015).
The case can be better understood with the theory of post structuralism. The boy experienced the trauma that was because of the war and he gained personal knowledge from this. He did not gain knowledge about the war from the tales told by someone else but he gained it through his personal experience (Williams 2014). This justifies the post structural theory. According to the post structural theory the knowledge could be found either on pure experience or systematic structures (Peters and Tesar 2015). The essay is therefore the summation of the critical theories accompanied by different perspectives which helps to realize the state of the refugee child.
References
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