EED305 Assignment One: Case Study

Child: Rosie
Age: 5 years
Gender: female
Height: 110cms
Weight: 22kgs
Location: Lavington
School year level: Kinder
Family status: nuclear, child 3 of 4.

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Context.

According to child psychological theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner, a child is influenced by many layers of
what he describes as an ecological system (Paquette et al, 2001, pg 1-2). The ecological system of
the child in my case study (Rosie) is made up of several layers:

Microsystem which is comprised of Rosies immediate environment. It includes her family, school,
peers, church and neighbourhood. Her nuclear family (dad, mum and three siblings) along with her
grandparents, have the most impact on her development as she spends most of her time with
them. The school which she has attended for two years (starting in a pre-kinder class at age three)
also has a significant impact on her life both socially and academically. Her familys involvement
with a church has strongly influenced her moral and social development and she already identifies
herself as having faith in God.

Mesosystem provides relationships and connections between the factors in the microsystem that
have a direct impact on a child. For example, the healthy relationship that Rosies mother has with
her school has enabled her to maintain a family-like relationship with her teachers, trusting them
unequivocally which I believe has had a very positive impact on Rosies performance at school. Her
social interactions are mostly limited to school and church, many of them being interconnected.

Exosystem describes the greater societal setting that the child is not directly in contact with but will
still influence the childs life. Influences in Rosies exosystem include the Government and the way
it supports her (for example free healthcare and education), her parents economic status which
allows them to provide her basic needs, parents work commitments that dictate that she has to
spend time in the care of her grandparents as well as access to other community services such as
the library, swimming pool and public transport.

Macrosystem reflects the general values, customs and laws of the society in which Rosie lives. For
example, Rosie lives in a democratic society where children are valued and many beliefs stem from
Christianity. The effects of the outer macrosystem penetrate all layers of the ecosystem to influence
the child.

2. Learning

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Cognitive development:

Sociocultural cognitive theorist, Lev Vygotsky, placed huge importance on social interaction and culture
in the cognitive development of children. His theory states that children use the tools of the culture
(such as language) to construct knowledge from their experiences (Santrock, 2008, pg 44 & 104).
Facilitators or mentors (in Rosies case, the adults in her family and her teachers) provide opportunities
for her to build understanding through physical experiences and progress from physical operations to
more abstract concepts as she gets older. I believe the vast array of resources (including mentors,
language, books and time for play) that Rosie has had available to her from birth have played a major
role in her cognitive development and her ability to construct meaning from her experiences.

Piaget explained that children between the ages of two and seven are generally said to be in the
Preoperational stage during which children do not understand concrete logic, are not able to mentally
manipulate information and are egocentric or unable to take the view point of another person (Edwards
et al, 2000 & Cherry, 2010).

I developed a range of activities for Rosie to participate in to help determine which of Piagets stages
she is operating within. The results (appendix A) indicate that she is in between Piagets Preoperational
stage and the Concrete Operational stage. She demonstrated characteristics such as animism
(assuming objects have a conscious) and inability to think abstractly which places her in the earlier
stage and yet her awareness of others and their point of view is quite developed and fits more within
the characteristics of the Concrete Operational stage (Cherry, 2010) .

Physical development:

Psychologist Arnold Gesells mid-twentieth century research concluded that childrens physical
development parallel an orderly process or a predictable sequence that is genetically determined
(Encyclopaedia of Psychology, 2010).

Rosie undertook a number of physical activities to demonstrate her proficiencies in the area of physical
development according to Gesells Schedules of Development (Gesell, 1979) and Berk as outlined in
Motor Development and Play (2002). They suggest that at Rosies age she should be able to perform
such tasks as run and skip with fluid movement, vertical jump and broad jump ten centimetres and
ninety centimetres respectively, print the alphabet and copy two-dimensional shapes. (pg 425 & 426).
The activities and results (outlined in appendix B & C) show that Rosies gross and fine motor
development falls in line with Gesells theories and is at or above the expected level for her age. Rosie
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demonstrated her physical abilities confidently and always with a positive attitude that could stem from
her previous successes (such as winning the long jump at her schools athletics day and the praise she
receives when writing and drawing).

Social/Emotional Development:

Albert Banduras self-efficacy theory states that Perceived self-efficacy is defined as people's beliefs
about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events
that affect their lives. Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and
behave (Bandura, 1994).

During my time with Rosie, she displayed self-confidence in every task that she was asked to perform.
She showed no hesitation when attempting tasks, even when they were beyond her ability level and
was happy to make more than one attempt in such cases. Her positive self-talk (I can do that, Im
good at that) is proof that she has high self-efficacy which, as Slee (2002) suggests, contributes to
healthy growth and development (pg 362).

Her social interaction with her peers fits within Eriksons Initiative versus Guilt stage of development
that states purposeful behaviour is needed to cope with the responsibilities of controlling ones own
behaviour in an increasingly social environment (typically pre-school) (Santrock, 2008). Rosie has a
good understanding of what it means to be a friend and understands the concepts of leading and
following, reading other peoples emotions and acting accordingly. Although her social play time at
school is mainly make-believe type games, she is starting to enjoy team sports (netball) on the
weekend where she practices social behaviour (outside of her usual peer group) such as cooperation
and following rules. Her social behaviour amongst her siblings is slightly different as she places more
emphasis on the act of being fair and is already starting to exhibit some compromising skills.

Language Development:
Linguist, Noam Chomsky, proposed that children are genetically programmed to learn language from
birth and that language is developed in a social context from the people in the childs social and cultural
setting. However, he reasoned that without innate mechanisms for speech development, it would be
impossible for children to learn a language from adult speech alone (Clark, 2009 pg 15).

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It is clear from my interactions with Rosie that her language and speech is very well developed. She
can clearly convey a message using words and body language and demonstrated during our time
together that language is socially constructed and used. Whilst interacting with her younger sister (who
is three) she adapted her speech so that it was (what she deemed as) appropriate for her audience.
Rosie speaks clearly and confidently (although with a slight lisp) and has developed a large vocabulary
and repertoire of body language and facial expressions that help her to communicate meaning and
emotions. Rosies use of language and speech mirrors that of an adult which suggest that she is
already developing adult language as outlined in the explanation of Mark Hallidays language
development milestones below.

Linguist, Mark Halliday proposed that children develop their language in three distinct phases: proto-
language, transition and developing adult language. Phase three witnesses the expansion and
grammatical encoding of language functions and the expansion of language uses through social
interaction (Kies, 1995).

Motivation:

Behavioural theorist, Skinner emphasized the scientific study of observable behavioural responses and
their environmental determinants (Santrock, 2008, pg 45). This style of motivation involving reward
and punishment for behaviour has been used with Rosie from a very young age. At the age of five, she
now understands that her behaviour will determine a response from those around her. She has some
concept of delayed gratification: she eagerly showed me her Nintendo DSi that she purchased with her
saved pocket money.

Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs, the basis of which is that people are motivated by
unsatisfied physiological, safety, social and esteem needs to ultimately reach self-actualisation.
(Cherry, 2010b). I determined during my time with Rosie that her physiological (food, sleep), safety
(shelter, comfort) and social (family, peers) needs are all being adequately met and it seems that it is
now her need for esteem that motivates her. Motivation for esteem, in Rosies case, is usually extrinsic
in the form of positive feedback and rewards from the adults in her life (home and school). She
enthusiastically told me about several merit awards she had received at school and she believes it is
important to get merit awards so everyone can see how good youve been. She does show some
signs of intrinsic motivation as she strives to participate in tasks that make her feel proud of herself.
When asked What made you finish the puzzle? she replied Because it makes me feel good and Im
proud of myself.

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Summary:

Based on my observations of cognitive, physical and social behaviour (in accordance with the
developmental theorists discussed above) Rosie appears to be a very healthy, active, inquisitive, well-
rounded five year old girl. She displayed an extremely positive attitude and a willingness to participate
in all activities that I had set for her. She is easily motivated by verbal praise and shows pride in both
her physical and cognitive abilities.

Although still quite egocentric, Rosie displays an acute awareness of those around her and what
behaviours affect them. She is able to share and often helps others, her peers in particular, putting
their needs before her own. Her social and emotional development has been heavily influenced by
three main sources: family, school and church.

Although none of her immediate or extended family are tertiary educated, Rosies parents place a high
value on education. An emphasis on literacy and numeracy was encouraged by a family friend,
substantiating the influence of Bronfenbrenners microsystem in his ecological theory. Rosies writing
and drawing ability is above that of an average five year old according to her school reports. Her
sample (appendix D) displays similarities to Berks explanation of what most children can achieve by
age six: draws people in three segments, can write own name and other words (2002, pg426).

In general, Rosie exhibits many characteristics that are typical of 5-8 year olds according to the
theorists discussed throughout this case study. Assuming there are no major changes in Rosies
circumstances, she should continue to progress normally through middle childhood.

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 References

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of human behaviour

(Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). San Diego: Academic Press. Retrieved on 08/09/10 from:
http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/BanEncy.html

Berk, L.E. (2002). Motor Development and Play. In Infants, children and adolescents (4th ed.) (pp. 425-
434). Sydney: Allyn and Bacon.

Cherry, K. (2010). Stages of Cognitive Development. From about.com a New York Times company.
Retrieved on 03/09/10 from: http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory

Cherry, K. (2010b). Hierarchy of Needs: The Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. From
about.com a New York Times company. Retrieved on 03/09/10 from:
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

Clark, E.V.. 2009. First language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University. Retrieved on 09/09/10
from: http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=412764

Edwards, L., Hopgood, J., Rosenberg, K. & Rush, K. (2000). Mental Development and Education.
Retrieved on 01/08/10 from:
http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/Piaget/stages.htm#sensory%20motor

Encyclopaedia of Psychology, (2010). Gesell, Arnold (1880-1961). April 06, 2001. CBS Interactive.
Retrieved on 12/08/10 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2699/is_0001/ai_2699000150/

Gesell, A. (1979).Gesell Developmental Schedule. Retrieved on 29/08/10 from:

http://www.gesellinstitute.org/pdf/GesellSchedules.pdf

Kies, D. (1995). Language Development in Children. Hypertext Books. Retrieved on 06/09/10 from:
http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/grammar/lgdev.htm#socialexplanations

Paquette, D. & Ryan, J. (2001). Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory. National-Louis

University. Retrieved on 01/08/10 from: http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf

Santrock, J. (2008). Adolescence (12th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Slee, P.T. (2002). Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood. In Child, Adolescent and
Family Development (2nd ed.) (pp. 358-380). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

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 Appendices

A- Cognitive development activities

B- Gross Motor activities
C- Fine motor activities
D- picture and writing sample
E- general notes
F- general notes

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