Monitoring Children’s Development
Learning is known as a process which changes behavior permanently or knowledge that happens as a result of experience. Due to the nature of learning and development in early childhood education, the assessment process is vital to ensure learning and teaching happens and evolves according to the needs of every child (Miglani, Subramanian & Agnihotri, 2017). Assessment will also help in building a stronger bond with every child and connect with them in a meaningful way.
In an early stage of childhood education, the teachers will be able to monitor the children’s development over time. Some of the categories of development that needs to be identified include social, physical, cognitive, emotional and language skills. By understanding a child’s individual progress, the teacher may realize that a certain child is falling behind in one or more scopes of development (McMonagle, 2012). Assessment makes it easier to have guide discussions with their guardians about these issues and can help in setting future objectives of the child.
Children show knowledge and understanding by being able to show feelings and talk about them. They can also share information with others and express themselves creatively and imaginatively. Educators must recognize, nurture and strengthen positive behavior for the purpose of active behavior. McMonagle (2012) disclosed that children, who do not contain these attitudes fear to take risks, explore, experience new things, motivated, confident, social acceptance, and be independent
There are three important learning theories which include behavioral, cognitive and social constructivist. In the behavioral view, there is a relationship between behavior and the surrounding which means that a change in surrounding results to a change in behavior. Behavioral learning theory suggests that positive reinforcement, feedback, and gradual progress are vital aspects of learning and is broadly used to approach children with additional requirements. The behavioral viewpoint guides the educators to give differentiation on teaching and assessment catering for an individual. It also promotes the child’s competence, social welfare, and to carry out various activities on their own. This theory goes hand in hand with structured approach where the educator is in charge of the child (Textbook, n.d).
In cognitive theory’s viewpoint, the personal and behavior relationship is essential. This suggests that a child responds to the environmental stimulus and their cognitive understanding of that stimulus. Jean Piaget viewed cognitive development as a process that occurs because of biological maturation and the interaction with the habitat Cognitive development was a restructuring of mental processes due to biological maturation and experience of the habitat. Strength based and child led approaches concur with cognitive theory because they focus on the child’s mental abilities and their interests (O’Donnell et al., 2015).
Learning Theories
Social constructivist says that there s a relationship between behavior and the surrounding with a particular focus on the social history of practice gained by the society. The child is an apprentice to the society’s collective knowledge, culture, and skills. Social constructivism says that all cognitive functions like learning depend on interactions with others like teachers and their guardians (Learning theories Behaviorism, Cognitive and Constructivist, n.d).
According to this theory, learning is related to existing knowledge with new data being transformed into and expanding the existing understanding. For teaching and assessment to be done, the educators must understand that a child has his or her own unique way of understanding the world. The children might share their experiences and discuss them with others and therefore new ideas are joined with new ideas and the learner adapts conditions in order to make sense to the world. It is supported by open framework and key persons approaches in which the learner gets new ideas and understands them in their own way. They also share their information with educators so that they can be assisted.
There are contemporary approaches used in teaching and assessment which include structured, strength based, open framework, key person systems approach and child led. In structured approach, the curriculum goals are clearly stated and the educator is in control of the child’s learning. The structured approach provides little initiative on behalf of the child and it explains a curriculum that is directed highly by the adult and didactic pedagogical approaches. The curriculum should be learner centered so that the child can learn new things with his or her effort to encourage hard work at a young age. The child should be able to learn what he or she is interested in (McMonagle, 2012)
Another approach is strength based which focuses on realistic situations and looks for a chance to support and complement the strengths and capacities that are existing instead of focusing on the weaknesses or the problem. It focuses on identifying strategies that works for the child and how the strategies work so that they can be continued and developed to match the ability of the child (Home, n.d).This approach is right because it helps the families and educators to create a picture of the child’s development and learning could be in future.
Open framework is another contemporary approach used because it gives a wide framework for learning and the capability to us endless pedagogical approaches and methods. In this approach, the child is free make choices on the different chances learning has offered. Learning chances gave a span across all learning and development areas and experiences. Open framework is important because it encourages active learning where the child creates his or her own comprehensions within a physical and social surrounding (McMonagle, 2012).
Contemporary Approaches
In key person’s system approach, creates a way of supporting and maintaining close relationships between children, educators and their families. The key person is a labeled member of the staff group assigned to a child personally in their care attending the setting to support the physical, developmental and emotional requirements of the child and to act as the key point of contact with his or her guardians. The key person plays a vital role in providing support for the child’s holistic development especially their emotions. Through this, they take the responsibility of the child’s day which has a great effect on their well being (McMonagle, 2012).
The child led approach encourages the educator to respond to the child’s interests and actions. The themes of the topics and the projects are taken based on the interest of the child. The major emphasis aims at developing the child’s independence, social, and emotional growth and creativity. This provides a learning setting to open discovery and self exploration (Home, n.d.).
In teaching and assessment professional and ethical role is important to the children since it will provide a good platform for the children to showcase their skills. If the educators are disciplined, the children will look up to them and practice positive behavior. This will assist in making the child participate in all activities of the day without experiencing challenges. The educators’ ethical role is to create a conducive environment for learning. This will enable the children will create good interpersonal relationships between the teachers and the children (Burger, Kruger & Vahl, 2016).
The teachers need to maintain confidentiality because it is not right for them to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the child with others. Only the information that has a direct bearing on the child’s day in the program needs to be shared with other staff. The importance of maintaining confidentiality is that it will enable the educator and the child to have a successful interaction and creating an understanding between them. Their role as models will assist the children to reinforce positive attitudes that will enable them to behave well and understand each other (Morss, 2017).
The teachers should always avoid talking about children in their presence to maintain respect and discipline. Educators work as a team to ensure the children’s safety and create a safe environment for them to learn new things. They should be willing to share ideas and learning materials with each other to make sure that learning takes place effectively. The children’s behavior should be understood and treated with care (De Melendez & Beck, 2018).
In conclusion, teaching and assessment are necessary for children to develop. Therefore teachers need to maintain respect and observe the children for better development and learning. All children should betreated in a unique way individually. The uniqueness of every child should be taken into consideration to create a safe environment for learning.
References
Burger, R., Kruger, S., & Vahl, S. (2016). NCV3 Learning psychology: Lecturer guide. Mowbray: Future Managers.
De Melendez, W. R., & Beck, V. (2018). Teaching young children in multicultural classrooms: Issues, concepts, and strategies. Cengage Learning.
Hayler, M. (2017). Self-narrative and pedagogy: Stories of experience within teaching and learning. Rotterdam: Sense.
Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au/
Learning theories Behaviorism, Cognitive and Constructivist. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/learning/theories/
McMonagle, A. (2012). Professional pedagogy project: Supporting every child’s right to early education. Ireland: DCCC Publishing
Miglani, N., Subramanian, J., & Agnihotri, V. (2017). Chapter 5 Unpacking Participation: The Case of Child-Centered Pedagogy in India. Participatory Action Research and Educational Development,129-159. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48905-6_6
Morss, J. R. (2017). The biologising of childhood: Developmental psychology and the Darwinian myth. Routledge.
O’Donnell, A., Dobozy, E., Bartlett, B., Nagel, M., Spooner-Lane, R., YoussefShalala, A., Reeve, J., Jeffrey K. Smith, J. (2015). Educational Psychology, Second Australian Edition. Australia: Wiley Publications
Textbook, O. (n.d.). Social and Behavioral Theories. Retrieved from https://www.esourceresearch.org/eSourceBook/SocialandBehavioralTheories/10Summary/tabid/749/Default.aspx
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