Assessing young children's social concept development

A number of questions regarding the nature of social concept development in young children were investigated in this study. In an earlier study, a social concept picture-sorting task was developed to obtain normative data on young children's social concept development. For this replication study, a larger more heterogeneous sample was used consisting of 64 kindergarten and 65 first grade public school students from lower to upper middle-class socioeconomic levels. Profile analysis was used to compare grades, sex, and racial groups. All three variables had a significant impact on performance. Significant differences in difficulty were found among the nine concepts measured. Three of the most difficult concepts (family-not family, those who protect us, and past-present) are commonly included in early childhood curriculum. These results suggest that the level of concept development needs to be considered in planning social studies curriculum and instruction for young children.     

Schools,families, and the development of young children

From a developmental perspective, hothousing is a matter of concern, for it is based on a conception of the preschool child's future which is too narrow to include the complex creative and social needs these children will face. The idea that children must be prepared for a technologically dominant future may be responsible for a mandate for hothousing. Preschool children need a “Back to Basics” preschool program which focuses on broad psychological goals and a developmental base rather than the limited achievement goals usually associated with such programs. Outside of the school, parents influence the preschool child's attitudes about intellectual growth, individuality and belonging, and coping with change. Parents and schools should provide complementary systems to deal with the challenging developmental needs of preschoolers.     

Images of the family: on interviewing young children about their social concepts

The empirical study explores children's perceptions of the family and family membership. 300 four‐, six‐ and eight‐year‐old children were interviewed with a semi‐structured ‘Family Concept Interview’. Interview strategies and research findings are presented and discussed. Establishing field entry rituals and determining appropriate modes and levels of discourse are important factors for creating an interview situation in which children are continuously attentive and motivated. Findings indicate that children do have a generalised and complex image of the family. The majority construct relatively large families with two or more children; over half the children include grandparents (father and mother)’, but one‐parent‐households are also accepted as ‘a family’, regardless of the child's own family situation. ‘Common residence’ is an important but not a necessary criterion for family membership. The findings show significant age differences concerning some aspects of children's family concepts.     

Mothering young children: Child care, stress and social life

This study focuses on mothers’ and young children’s everyday social experience by analyzing their social relationships, social support in child care, mother-child interaction, and mothers’ evaluations of all these aspects. Three hundred and eighty-four mothers with a child aged between I and 3 years, living in a city in Central Italy, were interviewed. A Principal Components Analysis was performed on items concerning mothers’ and children’s social experience and mothers’ evaluations. Four PCA generated factors were regressed on the mother’s and Four PCA generated factors were regressed on the mother’s and child’s characteristics. Results show that, even in a context characterized by social conditions supportive to mothering, there is a comparatively widespread desire for social interaction with other mothers and children. A stress related to intensive mothering was found in a minority of the mothers and was predicted by the mothers’ continuous commitment in child care during the whole day. Results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that social contacts with other mothers may have a mitigating effect on mothers’ stress. One implication is that early educational services that provide the opportunity for social intercourse among parents can be an important resource for them.     

Recontextualizing psychosocial development in young children: a model of environmental identity development

This article presents an Environmental Identity Development model, which considers the progression of young children’s self-cognitions in relation to the natural world. We recontextualize four of Erikson’s psychosocial stages, in order to consider children’s identity development in learning in, about, and for the environment. Beginning with Trust in Nature vs. Mistrust in Nature, we argue that cognitions of comfort in the natural world vs. discomfort, provide the foundation for healthy environmental identity development. This trusting bond/relationship with nature allows children to gain Spatial Autonomy through collectively or independently creating their own sense of place in nature vs. feelings of doubt or Environmental Shame. As children progress, they gain Environmental Competencies, creative innovations to use the environment for both personal and social purposes vs. separation from nature or Environmental Disdain. Such competencies promote children’s agency in exercising Environmental Action, applied care/ethics aimed at building a sustainable future, as opposed to behaviors that cause Environmental Harm. Young children’s environmental identity develops in diverse ways and in distinct sociocultural and geographical contexts. Caregivers/educators play a unique role in recognizing and supporting the needs of individual children as they progress towards healthy environmental identity development.     

A compassion framework: the role of compassion in schools in promoting well-being and supporting the social and emotional development of children and young people

ABSTRACT

Our current social and political context is awash with pronouncements about the growing number of children and young people with mental health issues. This paper explores how school culture that is founded upon a compassion framework is well placed to support the promotion of pupils’ mental health and well-being. Drawing upon experiences of being a senior leader in a specialist social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) educational setting and of supporting a wide range of mainstream schools in the area of SEMH and well-being, this paper outlines some of the conflicting interests and ubiquitous tensions that present challenges in the contemporary UK education system. Conceptualisations of compassion and other relevant theoretical perspectives are referred to in order to illustrate how the, often, at times, competing needs of different constituencies (pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff, management, parents and carers) within school communities are best served when disentangled from each other and addressed with attention and clarity.     

Effects of social comparison on aggression and regression in groups of young children.

The influence of negative, equal, and positive social comparison and of nonsocial comparison upon 4- and 5-year-old black children's subsequent aggressive and regressive behavior in 3-member groups was investigated. The group behavior of boys included more physical agression following negative social comparison than the other treatments, and their group behavior also consisted of more nonverbal teasing behavior following the negative comparison treatment than that of the equal and nonsocial comparison groups. When the behavior of the nontarget partners was controlled, children initiated more physical aggression, nonverbal teasing, and regression after experiencing negative social comparison with the partners than after following the other treatments. There was some evidence to support the reciprocal influence of children's aggressive behavior on each other, particularly for boys following imbalanced social comparison treatments.