UNIVERSITY

OF SANTO TOMAS

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

EDUC 702



SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social Development
-involves learning the values, knowledge and skills Development of Social Competencies
that enable children to relate to others effectively 1.Peer Interaction
and to contribute in positive ways to family, school 2.Mixed – Age Grouping
and the community. 3.Friendship
4.Gender Role Development

Erik Erickson’s Theory of Psychosocial Characteristics of socially competent children:

Development (1963)
• “Development is a lifelong process.”
• Emphasized importance of feelings & social
relationships in person’s development
• Though more emphasis was on SOCIAL influences
than biological.
•Personal relationships and societal expectations
influence the way we respond to certain needs.
Stages of Psychosocial Development
•Children face new developmental tasks or issues
they must resolve as they mature.
• + - outcome for each developmental stage
• An unhealthy resolution of a particular issue
could impair later development.
•Infancy lays foundation for development of
–Self-esteem & self-efficacy
•Early & middle childhood: development of
–Self-control, initiative & purpose
• Relate well to other children ( + interaction)
•Interaction: give and take in which each
child in a pair responds to and draw out
behavior from other child (demonstrated as
early as 2nd yr. of life)
•Relationships: with knowledge of each
other and with a series of interactions
• Tune in to the Social Setting
o Good observers
o Do not argue when rebuffed.
o Pick up on the ongoing play theme and
extend it
Assessing Children’s Social Competence
1.Interviewing a child’s peers
2.Anecdotal notes
3.Event sampling (specific category)
4.Checklists

AGE STAGE Social Skills

Birth – 1 yr Trust vs Mistrust •Observable behaviors through which a child
1-3 yrs Autonomy vs Shame and demonstrates that he can regulate thoughts and
doubt emotions (Marion, 2010).
3-5 yrs Initiative vs guilt
6-10 yrs Industry vs inferiority •KEY SOCIAL SKILLS:
–Identifying emotions
10-20 yrs Identity vs role confusion
–Regulating emotions
Early adulthood Intimacy vs isolation
–Correctly interpreting another’s actions
Middle adulthood Generativity vs stagnation
–Turn-taking
Late adulthood Integrity vs despair
–Following directions

–Coming up with good solutions to conflicts

–Carrying on a conversation, and

–Persisting at tasks


How Children Learn Social Skills ( Marion,

2010)

•Formal Approaches
–Modeling
–Role-playing for older,early childhood
children
–Puppet play for younger children
–Cooperative learning
–Anger management
–Self-control strategies (monitoring oneself)

1

•Informal Approaches
–Daily interaction
–Classroom routines (greeting, listening)
–Play
John Bowlby – Attachment Theory
“…early relationships with caregivers play a
major role in child development and continue to
influence social relationships throughout life.”
Attachment is the process whereby one
individual seeks nearness to another individual.
Social Attachments
Attachment to Caregivers
(Schaffer and Emerson,1964; Ainsworth,1973)
• The Development of love for parents
apparently follows a regular developmental
schedule under normal conditions.
Four main phases
1.Birth to 3 months – asocial interest
2.3 months to 6 months – indiscriminate social
attachment
3.6 months – discriminative social attachment
4.2 years – detachment
1. Asocial -shows interest in social stimuli but
not people as such.
2. Indiscriminate Social Attachment
–At about 3 months the picture changes
dramatically, seemingly as part of the board
shift that also results in more mature visual
perception and the appearance of positive
emotional reactions.
–Now people count
–Coos and laughs become part of the reaction
–The baby seems to want to be picked up, held,
smiled at, and played by people.
*Protest at being put down or left alone is
perhaps the best index that this all reflects
attachments.
3. Discriminative Social Attachment
*about 6 to 9 months old - clear signs of
attachment to particular people seen for the
first time (Schaffer & Emerson, 1964)
Reactions to separation- show the new
pattern clearly. A parent can no longer hand the
baby to a friendly stranger and walk away in
peace and quiet.
•-Now this action produces protest.
•-Baby’s face sobers, often cries.
•*Not only being held or talked that counts
now; the person matters.
Another sign of the baby’s new
differentiation between people often appears
when strange adults approach the baby
(strange anxiety)
Babies show affection for special people in
many ways.
They invite play and respond with smiles
and laughs when parents start a game with
them.
4. Detachment -the child becomes more and
more likely to stay with peers or toys when
parents leave the room.
*The best way of seeing if there is
attachment to something is to see what
happens when that something is removed.
-Schaffer & Emerson, 1964
Types of Play (Piaget and Smilansky)
1.Functional Play
2.Constructive Play
3.Symbolic or Dramatic Play
4.Games with Rules
Parten’s Stages of Social Play
1.Unoccupied Play
2.Onlooker Play
3.Solitary Play
4. Parallel Play
5. Associative Play
6. Cooperative Play
Implications
•Early childhood –Stable and caring relationships
•Middle childhood –Self-sufficiency and
competency
•Adolescence –Search for identity
General implications
1. Provide a secure school environment and caring
relationships with adults in order to maintain a
sense of trust needed for personal development.
2. Offer opportunities to initiate new activities and
to feel a sense of accomplishment from a job
well done
3. Provide opportunities to find unique strengths
and to develop them
4. Provide opportunities to learn about different
viewpoints and career options as they begin
search for identity
Multiple Influences on Social Development and
Learning (Marion, 2010)
•Relationships with adults
•Individual developmental variations
•Culture
•Media violence
Social Growth and Development
A. Social Growth
1. Socialization
2. Bias
3. Social Competence
4. Social Cognition
B. Social Skills in Early Childhood
- have developed good social skills
when they have temperament qualities of
persistence, flexibility, and a caring attitude and the
good skills lead to being judged as socially competent
2
Social Cognition Schools play an important role in the development
•the study of how people make sense out of of children’s social and emotional competence
themselves and others (Meece & Daniels,2008).
•attempts "to understand and explain how the
thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are Creating a Caring Classroom Community
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied
presence of others” (Huitt,2006) •Encourage acts of generosity and
Individual developmental variations compassion
•Supports cognitive growth and emphasizes
1.Temperament- the predictable way that a child teaching key social skills :
responds to events; the biological part of –Cooperation, responsibility, self-control
personality
–Some children are slow to adapt to change,
might react with stubbornness if forced to References:
change prematurely and withdraw from •Bandura, Albert. (2012). Encyclopædia Britannica.
new events or stimuli Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite.
Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
2.Disabilities •Essa, E. (2007).
•Exceptional needs, mild cognitive delays and •http://www.education.com/reference/article/socialdeve
emotional disturbances lopment-
à problems with forming friendships and preschool-children/
establishing relationships, resolving conflicts and •Huitt, W. (2006). Social cognition. Educational
often challenge other children in a hostile manner Psychology
Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University.
3.ADHD, autism and bipolar disorder Retrieved
BIPOLAR: [date], from
•A mental illness characterized by depressive http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soccog
and/or manic symptoms .html
•Can show both depressive and manic symptoms ( Introduction to Early Childhood Education: 5th Edition.
extreme changes in mood, e.g. extremely happy or United
irritable and aggressive or extreme sadness) States: Thomson Learning.
–Cease to enjoy things and activities formerly •Cherry, K. John Bowlby – Attachment Theory.
treasured Retrieved
–Affects more children than adults January 6, 2013 from:
–Socially isolated http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/ss/at
–Extremely sensitive to rejection and failure tach
and might have difficulty communicating mentstyle.htm
–-> psychiatric treatment ( understand oneself and
build relationship)

4.Chronic medical problems

•Persistent, ever-present problems e.g. asthma,
sickle cell anemia or otitis media or middle ear
infection
–à play alone more often and have fewer interaction

5.Child abuse and neglect

•Has long and short term effects
–Relationship problems (withdrawn and passive)
–Have disturbances in how they view their “self”
–Poor peer relationships
–Physically abused: likely to interpret, incorrectly
the actions of peers and then to respond
aggressively
–Children who witness family violence tend to
engage in less social behavior and are often
aggressive.