EDUP3023 Child Development

1.

Introduction

The knowledge of child development among future teachers are crucial as it helps in making
the teachers more aware of their role in the process of child development. Other than that, it
is also important in guiding the teachers in planning lessons, activities and providing the
necessary toolkit or teaching aids to further assist the development of the child either
physically or mentally.in order to understand this, teachers must master the concept, basic
principles, and factors that affects the development of children. This includes knowing the
theories of child development and base on that, planning appropriate activities for the
children to enhance their potential, thus, helping the children to develop a brighter future.

2.
2.1

The Concept, Basic Principles and Factors Influencing Child Development

Concept of child development

Child development refers to the psychological, physical and emotional development of a

child from birth to adulthood. The child development concept covers both qualitative
development and the growth of a child. The development of a child happens in an ordered
manner and are progressive and long lasting (Cherry, 2016). The growth of a child covers all
the measurable growth of the childs physical body structure. This includes height, weight
and other measurable physical characteristics (Kennison & Bowers, 2005).
2.2

Basic Principles of Child Development

The basic principles of childs developments are Cephalocaudal principle, Proximodistal

principle and maturation process (Herr, 2008). Based on Cephalocaudal principle, child
development proceeds from the head downwards. This means that the upper body develops
first followed by the lower part. this however differs from Proximodistal development in which
according to that principle, the body develops from the central part of the body, proceeding
outwards (Ruffin, 2009). Lastly, development is also influenced by the maturation process.
Maturation process includes the biological change in the childs nervous system that will
eventually allow the child to reach certain level of development stage. This basically means,
the child will only reach a certain level of development if their nervous system, including the
brain reach a certain level of maturity. This principle is closely related to the childs cognitive
development (Zrgiaoa, 2009).

EDUP3023 Child Development

2.3

Factors that Influences Child Development

The two main factors that affects child development are nature and nurture. Nature factors
usually happens biologically and are not caused by human error or parenting issues (Pem,
2015). Nature factors consist of reproduction factors, abnormalities in the childs
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and gene related illness. Examples of gene related illness are
Down Syndrome and Dyslexia. Nurture factors on the other hand is heavily influenced by the
environmental factors. This includes parenting, school, friends, pets, nature, pollutions and
so on (Pem, 2015). Other than that, nurture factors also influenced by Bronfenbrenners
Ecological Systems Theory. In this theory, the environmental influences in divided into five
levels in which as the level increases, the degree of influence towards the childs
development will decrease. The levels are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem,
macrosystem and chronosystem. Microsystem directly influences the child. for example, the
parents and the childs own self. On the other hand, chronosystem indirectly influences the
child. For example the environmental issues such as pollution or politics (Bronfenbrenner,
1994).
3.
3.1

Theories of Child Development

Jean Piagets Cognitive Development Theory

According to John Piaget, a child develops cognitively to achieve equilibrium. Piaget

classifies cognitive development into four stages;
According to Jean Piaget, as an individual perform adaptation to their schemes, larger
cognitive structure also adapts and changes. This is called macroequilibration. As this
evolves, a larger and more comprehensive or more powerful way of thinking become
possible (Cook & Cook, 2005). This type of development is divided into four main stages in
which in each stage, a child will have a certain limitation and achievement. The limitation is
something that the child will eventually develop in the next stage while the achievements is
what the child is already capable of doing. Table 1.0 shows the summary of the four stages
of development.

EDUP3023 Child Development

Stages

Limitations
1. Infants are unable to

Sensorimotor

form mental symbols.

2. Lack of object

(Birth to 2 years)

permanence
1. Development of new

Preoperational
(2 to 7 years)

scheme
2. Child are egocentric
because of intuitive logic
3. Unable to perform well
in conservation related
1. Logical thoughts based

(7 to 12 Years)

Formal Operation
(12 years and above)

1. Rapid development of
symbolic thought and
object permanence
1. The use of language to
represent mental
imagery
2. Develop in art and play
as representation of
their imagination

task
Concrete

Achievements

on concrete and tangible

materials and
experience only
1. Adolescent Egocentrism
based on imaginary
audience and fables

1. Objective logical
thoughts
2. Operational schemes
3. Success in conservation
related tasks
1. Deductive reasoning
2. Abstract thought
develops

Table 1.0: Summary of Piagets four stages of cognitive development

3.2

Lev Vygotsky Theory of Psychosocial Development

In his theory, Vygotsky emphasizes the importance of social interaction in the cognitive
development of the children. This development is affected by the language and speech of
ones surrounding. This is referred to as social speech in which later on the child will then
adopt to become their own private speech. The child will adopt knowledge and experience
with the guidance of a more knowledgeable others or MKO. During these period of
development, private speeches becomes the basic support of learning as it would directly
affect the child mental ability of solving difficult tasks (Cook & Cook, 2005). Research made
by Rafael Diaz and Laura Berk shows that children who practices more private speech
develops faster than those who dont. On the other hand, those who dont practice private
speech has a difficulty in learning something new and is more likely to no be able to
complete certain task at all (Diaz & Berk, 2014)

EDUP3023 Child Development

Lev Vygotsky also introduces the Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD. The ZPD is
defined as the distance between a childs actual development level and the childs potential
development level. This is basically the range of development between what the child
already knows and are able to do on his/her own and what the child can do but with the
guidance from an MKO. The ZPD stands as a standard in the teaching and learning of a
child in which a teacher should master and utilize (Vygotsky, 1930). Within the ZPD
educators or MKOs can lead the children above their current ZPD by introducing new
challenges and gradually decrease the support or guidance provided to the children over
time. This method is called Scaffolding or support during learning. The main purpose of this
method is to promote independence to the children when solving challenges or problems. In
addition to that, it also helps the children to develop pass their current ZPD through
accommodation of new scheme or skills (Cook & Cook, 2005) (Vygotsky, 1930).
4.
4.1

21st Century Classroom Activities of Potential Enhancement

Spell and Tell

The main purpose of this activity is to refine the childrens language development,
vocabulary size and sentence structuring skill. Since children are ore attracted to graphical
elements that sound or text (Morris, 2008), this activity focuses more on the use of flash
cards and reusable materials to meet the requirements of the 21st century education
framework (Darling-Hammond, 2006). Other than that, this activity also focuses on the
childrens ability to construct a sentence based on an object, this will then help the children
to understand the use of the object or the main purpose of its existence. Before carrying out
this activity, the teacher must make sure that the objects or items shown in the flash cards is
suitable to the childrens ZPD, in which it should not be too easy nor it be too hard or near
impossible for the children to provide an answer (Herr, 2008).

EDUP3023 Child Development

4.1.1
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

Steps in carrying out the activity

Small laminated cards or paper would be provided for the children during this activity
Children will then be divided into groups of three or four.
The activity begins when the teacher shows a flash card to the children.
The children will be given around 30 seconds to discuss among themselves and after
the time is up, they will then be asked to state the number of laminated cards needed

v.
vi.

to spell out the name of the item.

Once done, the children will then need to construct a sentence based on the item
spelled.
The teacher will then determine whether the statement is correct or not and later will
provide positive or negative reinforcement based on the results.

This activity also helps children in refining their fine motor skill suitable to the proximodistal
principle of growth development. This can be achieved through the use of a variety of writing
material such as marker pens and laminated papers.

5.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, having the basic knowledge about child development is important to

teachers as teachers will be one of the biggest influence to the children (Natrajan & MyersWalls, 2004). In conjunction with Malaysias national education policy, it has been stated that
quality teachers must be the ones who owns humanistic and pedagogical knowledge
towards the teaching and guiding of the children during school time (KPM, 2013). Because
of that, the knowledge of the theories and principles of child development is very important to
teachers in the 21st century as children will develop faster than before due to informational
surge and ease of access of the internet which lead to unlimited knowledge (DarlingHammond, 2006).

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EDUP3023 Child Development

6.

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological Models of Human Development. New York: Oxford

University.
Cherry, K. (24 April, 2016). Psychology. Retrieved 24 August, 2016, from VeryWell:
https://www.verywell.com/early-childhood-development-an-overview-2795077
Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child Development: Principles and Perspective. Boston:
Pearson Education.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constucting 21st Century Teacher Education. Stanford:
Standford University.
Diaz, R., & Berk, L. (2014). Private Speech : From Social Interaction to Self-Regulation. New
York: Psychology Press.
Herr, J. (2008). Working With Young Children. Illinois: Goodheart-Willcox Publication.
Kennison, S., & Bowers, J. (2005). Understanding Children's Development.
PsycCRITIQUES, 2-48.
KPM. (2013). Pleliminary Report Malasia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Kuala Lumpur:
Malaysia Education Blueprint.
Morris, B. (2008). Physical and Cognitive Developement in Infancy. McGraw-Hill Ryerson
Ltd.
Natrajan, R., & Myers-Walls, J. A. (2004). Positive Reinforcement and Rewards. ProviderParent Partnership, 1-4.
Pem, D. (2015). Factors Affecting Early Childhood Growth and Development. Golden 1000
Days (pp. 1-4). Bhutan: OMICS Publishing Group.
PPPM. (2015). Ciri-ciri Guru abad ke-21. Malaysia: Buletin Anjakan.
Ruffin, N. J. (2009). Human Growth and Developement. A Matter of Principles, 1-2.
Vygotsky, L. (1930). Play and its role in the Mental Developmenf of the Child. Moscow:
Soviet Psychology.
Zrgiaoa, D. H. (2009). Growth and Developement. Growth and Developement, 1-15.