Influences on childhood development

As everyone is different it is very difficult to assess what would be the greatest influence on a child’s development with out making generalizations. There are many factors that can influence, however in this instance the affect that gender, having high expectations and the T.A as a role model will be discussed. It is possible to suggest that taking a holistic approach when discussing the development of a child would give a more in depth and accurate analysis, and that in fact all three of the aforementioned influencing factors are heavily interlinked.

Whether or not we are male or female is something that affects each and every one of us right from birth, although the study of gender is relates to sexual identity as opposed to physical sex. Thompson (1975) suggests that children become aware of their sexual identity at around 3 years old. This is the phallic stage according to Freud and it is during this stage of development that children become aware of sexual stereotypes such as activities and roles that are associated with a particular sex, thus gender begins influencing us from a very young age.

Adults, however are responsible for stereotyping children right from birth, the baby x experiment conducted by Smith and Lloyd (1978) outlines quite clearly how stereotyping can affect behaviour. For example, babies that were dressed in blue, a colour strongly associated with baby boys were treated with less obvious affection and were told they were “big” and “strong, where as the babies that were dressed in pink, a colour associated with girls were held for longer and were told they were “cute” and “pretty”. In doing this we are imprinting certain gender stereotypes and labeling children from a very young age and this is something that follows us throughout our lives.

Although as a society we have broken a lot of the old fashion gender ideologies they are still very much ingrained in our thought. This was highlighted when observing child A, she considers herself to be more feminine, she likes to play with make up, dress up and bake often activities that are associated with females. However she does have an interest in football but was reluctant to join the school team or even go to practice because she thought that it was only for boys and that she would be made fun of. Although this would probably not have been that case it outlines perfectly the affect that gender stereotyping can have on a child.

But to what level does gender effect pupil performance and development? Biologically girls most reach puberty earlier than boys and are often considered more advanced in a lot of areas. Research conducted by Croxford et al (2000) suggests that boys are often catching up with girls in terms of academic achievement. It could be argued that by putting emphasis on more masculine activities such as outdoor play and rough and tumble and by having strong male sporting role models, young boys have less of an interest in quieter more feminine activities such as reading and writing and because of this are underachieving academically. However there are still academic expectations placed on all pupils regardless of weather or not they are male or female.

Every body has expectations either or themselves or others but usually both. In terms of pupil development and regardless of gender, having specific expectations can have a fundamental effect.

Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) illustrated how the self-fulfilling prophesy as suggested by Merton in the 20th century can have a profound affect on development. The self fulfilling prophecy suggests that we become what others expect us to become and they undertook a study that looked at the effect that a teachers expectations have on pupil performance by studying a group of children in a school. At the beginning of term selected children took I.Q tests. The teachers were told that certain children had achieved highly and were bloomers, even though this was not the case, they were also told that selected children has achieved poorly and were therefore not bloomers. At the end of term the children took another I.Q test. The results of those considered bloomers were considerably higher than the in the first test and those considered non- bloomers, whose results were even lower than the test they originally took.

It transpired that the teachers had been paying more attention, giving more encouragement to and praising the bloomers far more than the non-bloomers who often took a back seat in class and were treated differently. The experiment, although a little unethical highlights how expectations or pre conceived ideas can have an affect on development and performance. In this instance high expectations have positively affected the bloomer pupils in terms of academic achievement however specific expectations can sometimes be a double-edged sword as the non-bloomer pupils suggested.

It has already been suggested that having high expectations of a pupil can be positive. However from personal experience I know too well the physical and emotional affect that high expectations have. For example, during 6th form my English teacher who had a huge amount of faith in me nominated me to lead a group in a public speaking competition. The subject was genetics a topic I knew little about, although I rehearsed and prepared thoroughly I felt an enormous amount of pressure to do well, however when I actually had to deliver my speech I crumbled and could not finish.

Hans Seyle (1936) suggested that we all react to stress. Although his approach is fundamentally a biological idea he outlines the physical effects that stress can have. He suggested that we go through 3 stages of stress, the first one being Alarm; I certainly felt alarm when I was standing in front of a room full of people and there was also a marked physical response, my heart rate was significantly raised and by palms were sweaty. The next stage he suggests is resistance, I tried to cope and find my words but very quickly I moved on to the exhaustion stage, in the end I cried and gave up. Although this taught me valuable lessons I will never forget this experience.

In this instance it could be suggested that the belief and encouragement my teacher had in me accompanied with the high expectation I had of my self somehow lead me to be very unsuccessful in this particular task. However I do feel that it was more the lack of self-belief and low self-esteem I had that lead me to fail not the high expectations of the teacher, and had he not pushed me to leave my comfort zone I may have never learnt the lessons I did.

Self-esteem is something that is closely linked to expectation. Low self-esteem is thought to foster delinquency and poor academic achievement in children and it may be the case that low-self esteem should be considered when working with a particularly difficult child (Rosenberg, Schooler and Schoenbach 1989). Mehan et al (1994) suggested that support and believing in pupils could dramatically improve academic achievement and boost self esteem. This is where the Teaching Assistant (T.A) can be of great influence and can be a positive role model.

The Social learning theory as suggested by Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) clearly addressed how we model ourselves and imitate others. We learn behaviour and copy those we look up to, for example Child B has a strong interest in languages and this stems from her sister taking Spanish in school. When asked why she wanted to study Spanish she answered rather flippantly “Well Emily did it so I thought I would”, quite clearly her older sister has affected her choices and therefore has been a role model. The T.A is often considered to be a role model for children so it is important to consider what makes a good role model.

When taking all of the above into consideration it is the role of the T.A is present to guide instruct and inform pupils and positively reinforce a wide range of topics and by doing this in accordance with the ECM agenda (2008) they can play a big part in encouraging pupils to achieve there potential.

However a T.A can only have a positive affect on the development of the child if they follow the guidelines set by the EMC agenda (2008). When undertaking the role of a T.A professionalism and positive behaviour is highly important.

Dr R Silverman (2008) suggests that there are 7 characteristics that a role model has that must remain constant to have a positive effect. For example, make positive choices and being aware that your choices are being watched. Think out loud where possible, when you are faced with having to make a decision talk to the pupils about it and weigh up pros and cons. Apologize and admit when you make mistakes, children need to see that it’s ok to make mistakes but they need to learn to be humble and know when an apology is necessary. Follow through; always complete tasks and practice self discipline. Pupils need to see that setting and achieving your goals boosts self-esteem and leads to rewards. Show respect the simple philosophy treat others as you wish to be treated can be applied in this instance and it something that should be instilled in children from a very young age. Be well rounded pupils need to see that their role model can be many things and can adapt to many situations. It may encourage them to think if they can do it so can I. Last but by no means least he suggests that to be a successful role model you need to have confidence in who you are. Understanding the curriculum, having good organizational skills and good communication with the teacher can give a T.A a great deal of confidence in the classroom.

How can a T.A influence the development of a pupil? Norman Triplett (1898) published the earliest research regarding social facilitation. The idea of social facilitation suggests that a person performs more effectively when being watched by another person, when working in a group with their peers or when presented with positive stimuli such as reward charts or incentives. A T.A can be responsible for delivering rewards or informing the teacher that a child has achieved. They are also able to observe and be aware of any pupils that are falling behind or that are not included in the task because of this they are able to encourage and guide those that are falling behind by facilitating a group.

The Every Child Matters agenda (2008) ensures that Teachers and T.A’s are able to support the child academically, socially and emotionally. As a T.A it will be your role to support the pupils you work with in this way. It could be argued that in some instances the T.A is the greatest influence particularly if they spend a lot of one-to-one time with a pupil. However, T.A’s can face challenges because of this. If they are working with a child one-to-one it is usually because they have a learning or behavioural difficulty of some degree, this in itself can sometimes hard to deal with especially if there is no support from the parents and or teacher. As previously suggested it is important to remain professional and therefore not get too emotionally involved.

This essay addresses the fact that there are many factors that influence a child’s growth and development and it is very difficult to suggest what the greatest influence is. In certain circumstances the T.A can have a huge affect on a pupils development but without understanding and appreciating the challenges that they may face and the background of the pupil it is impossible to suggest that they are the main influence. As we have seen gender and high expectations can also impact heavily and including the fact that the T.A is a role model can be taking into consideration exclusively. We must look at many factors that influence a child to be able to draw any substantial conclusions and also remember that everyone not every one is the same and will therefore react differently to certain influences.

M. Tweedie

References:

Brain, C. and Mukheri P (1988) Understanding Child Psychology. Cheltenham. Nelson Thornes LTD.

Cheminais, R. (2008) Every Child Matters, A practical guide for teaching assistants. Oxon. Routledge Taylor Francis Group

Walton, A. and Goddard, G (2010) Supporting Every Child A course book for foundation degrees in teaching and supporting learning. Exeter. Learning Matters.

http://powerfulwords.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/are-your-teachers-positive-role-models-for-children/ Accessed Dec 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_facilitation Accessed Dec 2010

http://www.scotedreview.org.uk/pdf/171.pdf Accessed Dec 2010

http://people.stfx.ca/x2005/x2005eko/Pysch%20260/winter%20paper/1130189.pdf Accessed Dec 2010

http://www.jstor.org/pss/2095720 Accessed Dec 2010