Introduction
The socio-cultural theory or constructivism may be compared to the process of establishing a building. The theory holds that people learn through attaching meaning to the things they come across in their day-to-day activities.
Constructivism is similar to the erection of a building since it holds that information is structured starting from the most elemental to the most sophisticated levels in the memory of an individual. Its access also calls for a successive assessment of the information layers. This paper defines children’s behavior based on the above theory. It also analyzes the conduct before providing reasons that explain it in the context of the socio-cultural presumption.
Behavior Definition based on the Socio-cultural Learning Theory
From the paradigm of the socio-cultural theory, the learning process is a social activity, which calls for collaboration and negotiation of various learning community members (Shaki & Gevers, 2011). The parties include learners and instructors. Instructors facilitate information sharing by engaging learners in challenging activities (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012).
This strategy has the implication of fostering critical thinking and the evaluation of concepts learned. The socio-cultural theory postulates that teachers have the role of considering the experiences and knowledge that learners bring in classrooms. This role is necessary since students may construct their knowledge and skills by participating in the active inquiry.
Relating the theory with Bulotsky-Shearer, Dominguez, and Bell’s (2012) quote, children who reveal the behaviors are likely to be encountering socialization challenges in various public systems they belong to. The systems include the family, peers, instructors, and even the entire school community. With such challenges, children cannot collaborate or negotiate effectively with learning community members.
Paying attention may arise from various experiences in social systems. For example, the socio-economic status may exert great disparities between some children and their peers. Therefore, some of them perceive themselves as inferior compared to those of higher socioeconomic status (Porter, 2008). Hence, whenever these two different groups are put together in the learning context, social interactions that are necessary to guarantee effective learning according to the socio-cultural theory do not form.
The Behavior in a Socio-cultural Construct
An understanding of the behavior portrayed by a child in the learning process begins with the appreciation of how the scholarship process occurs in a socio-cultural construct. Vygotsky believes that learning is a social process that originates from people’s intelligence, which is enshrined in the culture or society (Jonathan, 2009).
Hence, social interactions are important in enhancing cognition development. Relating this argument to Bulotsky-Shearer et al. (2012) quote, the regulation of emotions, paying attention, initiating interaction with peers, and sustained engagement in the learning process are issues that the culture or the society significantly contributes through its values and norm systems.
For example, a child may be growing in a family with domestic violence where one of the parents is dictatorial and/or does not listen to other family members’ opinions. Such a child is likely to develop a perception that any other party should not prove otherwise what one regards as right or wrong. Consequently, in a classroom setting, the child would not take any other opinion in any discursive forums.
Such a child will not have the ability to initiate peer interactions since the endeavor requires listening to others without engaging in destructive conflicts. This situation is detrimental to the learning process, especially where instructors use active-learning approaches to encourage knowledge sharing among students. Indeed, sustainable engagement and paying attention are important aspects that are rooted in social-cultural norms.
Traditionally, instructors assumed the active process of teaching while students only turned in with no proof of whether they understood what was taught or not. However, with active learning, students go beyond listening. They have to read, compose, deliberate on what is taught, and/or be occupied with taking care of life issues (Westermann & Rummel, 2012).
Active learning emphasizes the need for the involvement of students in acquiring knowledge and skills. Active learning persuades learners to be involved in activities that require deep thinking such as assessment, analysis, and brainstorming. Participation requires them to possess the ability to initiate peer relationships, remain engaged in the learning process, and/or pay attention to details. The development of these skills is not initiated in school settings. They start demonstrating the tactics during the early stages of social development in pre-school years.
Analysis of the Behavior
Bulotsky-Shearer et al. (2012) explore important issues that when addressed make it possible to foster effective learning. The authors are concerned about the hindrances to effective learning. For example, the state, “children who have difficulty regulating their emotions, paying attention, initiating peer interactions and sustaining engagement in learning tasks are at risk for school difficulties” (Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2012, p. 421).
From this statement, various behaviors that may hinder learning can be identified. Emotion regulation involves behaviors such as overreaction to issues that range from negative comments about one’s personality by peers or overreaction when the instructor or peers oppose an individual’s point of view in the attempt to induce more deliberations on a given topic under study or evaluation.
The inability to pay attention may be explained by various factors, including disorders such as autism and depression. However, the socio-cultural-theory does not explain such problems in the context of mental disorders. Rather, it attributes any destructed attention behavior to the socio-cultural experiences of the children. Therefore, from the context of the challenges of paying attention, the behavior of destruction of concentration as it may be noted from a child’s acts such as stopping to write while others are writing and consistent disjoints in the learning process can be observed.
The problem of not initiating peer interactions can be noted from behaviors such as isolation in plays with other children in a way that a child mainly spends the better part of the day alone. It may also be noted by behaviors such as always maintaining silence when other children are making noise.
Sustained engagement implies continued participation in common social activities among children or continued participation in the learning process. This problem may be noted from behaviors such as a child talking and then running out of words all over sudden, falling to connect through a set of ideas that lead to the development of certain knowledge or skill, and engaging in inconsistent activities.
In the case of children with difficulties in controlling emotion, the demystification of one’s point of argument may mean that other children are demeaning and undermining one’s line of thought while accepting those of other peers. This situation gives rise to emotional stirrups, rather than making the child whose ideas have been demystified acquire a new way of understanding ideas.
Therefore, such a child faces incredible difficulties in learning. Applying the principle of engagement, children with social challenges that keep on destructing them in the learning processes may not acquire knowledge and skills acquired by other students who have remained active in the learning process without lapses of destructed attention.
Children learn the skill of active participation in social processes through their caregivers at an early age. This assertion supports the socio-cultural learning theory, which holds that learning is a collective process. Through socialization, cognitions are developed with the help of caregivers. Children begin to acquire the skill of critical thinking while decisively questioning certain issues in the immediate environment, which the child is brought up in. Such skills are then manifested in the form of active learning.
Hence, socio-cultural aspects of a child’s upbringing may or may not guarantee the participation of children in problem-solving (Renkl, Atkinson, Maier, & Staley, 2002) 2002). The implication is that the socio-cultural context influences a child’s learning process by emphasizing the development of various cognitive skills and learners’ participation in chores that enhance their attitude and value. These elements are important aspects of addressing learning challenges among some children as quoted by Bulotsky-Shearer et al. (2012).
Reasons for the Behavior based on the Socio-cultural Theory
The behaviors associated with the issues identified in the quote adapted from by Bulotsky-Shearer et al. (2012) may be attributed to various reasons as advanced by the socio-cultural learning theory. The first reason is the familial socialization process. Jonathan (2009) states that a family “fulfils important social functions such as providing emotional support for those in the network, establishing and maintaining culturally appropriate social order, and educating the young to be competent members of the community” (p.393).
Hence, the family plays the responsibility of shaping children’s capacity to form new relationships. In case a family fails to achieve this function, children may develop incompetence in forming relationships to the extent that they cannot initiate new interactions with peers who they meet in school settings. Such peers are pivotal in supporting the learning process.
Also, parenting styles may create situations that encourage the development of coping strategies with emotional stirrups. A parenting style varies according to the prevailing culture (Jonathan, 2009). In some societies, authoritative parenting that is dominated by listening to children’s opinions, affection, and the establishment of limits of behavior are normalized as the best child-raising style. For example, in American society, such a style is believed to guarantee the development of high self-esteem and social skills (Kenninson & Goodman, 2008). Therefore, such children can easily initiate peer relationships in school settings, a strategy that lowers the risk of learning difficulties.
Besides, the behaviors may be explained via identity formation. For example, social cognition as a socialization process or culture contributes to their development since children can construct their self-identity. Children learn that they are different from others and that they are fully in control of their thoughts and actions (Jonathan, 2009). Through self-identity, they recognize the traits that make them special for who they are. Such identities preclude their ability to listen to others since they are different from them.
Conclusion
Based on the expositions made in the paper, a child actively listens to others in an attempt to know and understand what others think about a given issue since they are different in a special way. Consequently, regarding the socio-cultural presumption, a child with a well-developed identity can remain engaged, pay attention to what other people think, and can easily initiate a conversation to understand others better. In a class environment, these merits of having well-developed self-identity translate into a reduction of learning difficulties in the context of the social-cultural learning theory.
Reference List
Bulotsky-Shearer, R., Dominguez, X., & Bell, E. (2012). Preschool classroom behavioral context and school readiness outcomes for low-income children: A multilevel examination of child- and classroom-level influences. Journal of Educational Psychology 104(2), 421-438.
Jonathan, D. (2009). Child development: theory and practice. London: Longman.
Kenninson, P., & Goodman, P. (2008). Children as victims. Exeter, England: Learning Matters.
Porter, L. (2008). Young children’s behavior: Practical approaches for caregivers and teachers. Sydney, Australia: MacLennan & Petty.
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2012). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Renkl, A., Atkinson, K., Maier, H., & Staley, R. (2002). From example study to problem solving: Smooth transitions help learning. Journal of Experimental Education, 70(4), 293–315.
Shaki, S., & Gevers, W. (2011). Cultural characteristics dissociate magnitude and ordinal information processing. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(2), 639-650.
Westermann, K., & Rummel, N. (2012). Delaying instruction: Evidence from a study in a university relearning setting. Instructional Science, 40(4), 673-689.