Introduction
Every child goes through a number of developmental stages as he/she move from childhood to adulthood. Each of the stages of growth as demonstrated by a number of the developmental theorists suggests that growth and development is a process and each of the stages involved is very crucial in the determination of a child’s personality. Theorists such as Sigmund Freud and Erik Erickson formulated a number of developmental stages that a child passes through. According to them, the manner in which the child is handled in each of the stages plays a big role in determining whether the child develops a strong personality or a weak one.
The Observation and discussion of the results
In my observation, I was working with a five year child whom I observed as she played with a number of new play materials that I had just introduced her to for about thirty minutes. First, I gave the child six pairs of cards that were of the colors; blue, red and yellow. The cards were also in pairs of rectangular, oval and triangular shapes. I then told the child to arrange the cards by putting the similar ones together using any of the properties that they had. She managed to arrange them in three groups on the basis of their colors. I felt so impressed and actually congratulated the child by telling her how a bright child she was and that I believed she could do much more than that. This in fact made the child feel so happy. She then rearranged the cards in terms of their shapes and this made me appreciate her intelligence even more. This was returned by a show of enthusiasm on the child’s face; she was in fact challenging me to give her more complex tasks.
Erickson’s theory of human development explains that a child between the ages of five and eleven is at the stage of industry vs. inferiority (Wagner, 2010). He explains that at this stage, children tend to develop a sense of pride in their achievements and abilities through social interactions (Wagner, 2010). If a child at this stage is complimented for his or her achievements then they develop competence and belief in their abilities. However, if the child does not receive any compliments from the parents or teachers, he/she more often than not doubts his/her ability to accomplish a given task successfully (Wagner, 2010).
As I observed the child play with the cards I had given to her, I realized that when the child managed to successfully arrange the cards according to their colors and I complimented her, she got so encouraged to show me that she could even do more -she went ahead and arranged the cards according to their shapes. I could not believe that she as able to notice the different shapes of the cards. When she received more compliments from me, she got so enthusiastic and she even wanted to continue with the play.
By relating this to Erickson’s theory; one realizes that at this stage of growth, it is very important that the teachers, parents or guardians appreciate the little efforts and achievements the children make. This is important for the development of the child. It will help build the child’s self esteem and competence. The compliments do not really have to be very long statements. A simple statement appreciating the child’s efforts and encouraging them to do more is just but enough.
This stage of development is quite crucial in the development of the child. A child who has been socialized to feel industrious and capable of achieving a number of duties will definitely grow up into a very capable adult who believes in himself or herself. If the children were never encouraged to feel that they are capable of achieving anything or successfully accomplish a given task, then, they may carry such attitudes into adulthood (Boeree, 2006). This is so because such individuals have grown up viewing themselves as very incapable individuals.
In relation to the observation I made, I also realized that appreciation of the child’s efforts encourages initiative; an initiative to do the same task successfully once again or to accomplish other greater tasks. Initiative though is developed in the stage that precedes this stage but from real life experiences, one realizes that complimenting a child’s achievement promotes initiative too (Bronfenbrenner, 1997, p. 89).
When children are never complimented for their successful achievements, they will tend to believe less in themselves and this may end up creating a feeling of inferiority and loss of self esteem (Boeree, 2006). The feeling of inferiority may also be carried into adulthood. A feeling of inferiority may not only prevent a child from unleashing their talents but it may also adversely affect their learning process.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 states that, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heaven (Biblica, 1984, p. 470). This verse is very significant in understanding the development of human beings. As we have already seen, development does not occur at once but in stages. Each of the stages is unique and all follow each other in predefined sequence. This verse also helps in the understanding of human development in the sense that there is always a time for the achievement of a given developmental milestone in the life of a child. Not all the children will achieve these milestones at the same time but at least each one of them has that specicific time of their lives when they will be able to achiever specific developmental milestones.
Conclusion
The tabula rasa theory states that children’s brains are like empty plates that continue to pick information from the child’s surroundings as they go through life’s experiences. The information collected from the surroundings will therefore determine the child’s personality; thus, it is important that the parents, guardians and teachers expose the children to the desirable experiences, enrich their surroundings so as to enhance learning and to assist the children as they go through their daily experiences so that they pick the right information from such experiences. Both parents and teachers should therefore develop a strong culture of giving compliments for the efforts and achievements made by the learners; this will encourage industry and discourage inferiority.
References
Biblica. (1984). Holly Bible; New International version. Colorado Springs: International bible society.
Boeree, G. (2006). Personality theories; Erik Erickson. Web.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1997).The ecology of human development: experiments by nature and designs. Washington: Library congress.
Wagner, K. (2010). Stages of Psychosocial Development. Web.