Theories Focusing on the Systems in which Children Develop

 Ecological Systems Theory – Urie Bronfenbrenner

 Child development & growth – affected by the child’s nature & environment (e.g.
family, home, school, community & society – systems closest to the child

 Family Systems Theory

 Child’s behavior – reflect what goes on at the child’s home
 Factors – boundaries, rules, roles, hierarchy, climate, equilibrium

Theories Focusing on How Children Construct Knowledge

 Pragmatic Theory/Pragmatism – John Dewey (1859 – 1952)

 One of his main aims – foster they type of thinking that helps to flourish democracy
 Children are interested in:
o The desire to investigate and discover things
o The need to communicate
o The joy in construction
o Artistic expression
 Cognitive Theory – Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980)
 Children go through a “biologically determined sequence of stages” in the process of
growing & learning.
o Sensorimotor (0-2 years) – infant explores the world through direct sensory
and motor contact. Object permanence & separation anxiety develop during
this stage.
o Preoperational stage (2-6 years) – The child uses symbols (words & images)
to represent objects but does not reason logically. The child also has the
ability to pretend. During this stage, the child is egocentric.
o Concrete operational (7-12 years)
o Formal operational (12 years – adult)
 3 processes are essential in understanding how children learn:
o Schemas – prior knowledge
o Assimilation – like assimilating
o Accommodation – modifies or even form new knowledge to deal with a new
object/event
 Heuwinkel (1996) suggested some things to do when teaching children:
o Take on a constructivist approach
o Facilitate rather than direct learning
o Consider child’s knowledge & level of thinking
o Use ongoing assessment
o Promote student’s intellectual health
o Turn classroom into a setting for exploration & discovery

 Sociocultural Cognitive Theory – Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934)

 He also believe that children actively construct their knowledge, but emphasized on
the roles of culture & social interaction in cognitive development.
 Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – a range of tasks that can be too difficult for a
child to master alone, but can be learned with some sort of guidance & assistance
from MKO (more knowledgeable others) such as adults or more-skilled children
 Scaffolding – providing support & adjusting the level of support based on the child’s
progress in completing the task
 For scaffolding to happen, adult-child interaction, normally engaged in a dialogue
 This interaction can help a child to understand concepts
Theories Focusing on Psychological, Emotional & Social Learning Needs

 Theory of Psychosocial Development – Erik Erikson

 Hierarchy of Needs – Abraham Maslow

 Adlerian Theory (individual Psychology) – Alfred Adler

 He believed that we all have only one desire & goal: to belong and to feel significant
 When we feel encouraged – leading to us cooperating with others
 Discouraged – engage in unhealthy ways by competing (which can be unreasonable),
withdrawing or giving up
 For us to feel fulfilled & optimistic, need to find ways of express & accept
encouragement, respect & social interest from others around us
 “A misbehaving child is a discouraged child”
 Helping children to have a feeling of value, significance & competence is often the
most effective strategy in coping with difficult behaviors

 Rogerian Theory (Personal Theory) – Carl Rogers

 He believed that every one of us have the power to ourselves to solve our own
problems
 Self-actualization – humans are born with a desire to be the best they can
 It is the motivating force for an individual to achieve their full potential
 Social Learning Theory – Albert Bandura
 Children learn from one another – imitation, modelling & observation
 Attention, memory & motivation
 Explain human behavior regarding continuous interactions between cognitive,
behavioral & environmental influences