Two Factors Affecting Development

Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect children and young people’s development including: background, health and environment. Children and young person’s development is affected by many different factors and influences including background, health and environment. In my experience there is no stronger influence than that of their parents as they tend to be a Childs first influence, teacher and care provider. Although children begin school, make friends and have influences from peers, teachers and family members a parent tends to be the foremost influence. Background

A Childs background can include many different things but there are some pivotal moments that can affect a child for a huge part of their childhood as well as their adolescent and adult life. One of these being divorce: A child of divorce may be left feeling vulnerable and unable to express their feelings as they feel it may upset the remaining parent or they may feel unable to open up because they do not think how they feel may matter. During and before divorce it is likely that the child may have experience fighting between the parents which can cause the child to feel that perhaps they are the reason for the divorce and become introverted. This may lead to the child shying away from interacting with other child creating a social delay as they will not learn how to correctly interact as they develop. Another aspect of divorce may be that the child copies how his or her parents behave (Bandura theory of children see, children do) so may become more aggressive and argumentative as well as lashing out at other children or adults.

The feeling of being angry may distract them away from their usual daily routines at school and affect their work and the chance of making friends as other children may become scared of them. Another side of divorce may be the financial implications. It could be the remaining parent does not work and the child may have a short coming in the resources they once had or may even be subjected to poverty as the remaining parent struggles to balance their finances. Lack of money can make it hard for the child to be able to go on social outings delaying their social development once again or cause them to become a target for bullying because they may not have the correct uniform for school or their clothes may be tatty.

Bullying can cause a delay in emotional development because the child may development a sense of low self-worth and cause a feeling of depression. On the other hand the remaining parent may throw themselves into work leaving the child primarily in child care. Although a child in this situation may have social interaction on a regular basis it may be that emotionally they feel as though their parent is not interested in them giving them a poor sense of importance and once again a low self-esteem issue. Health: Epilepsy

An example of developmental delay from health perspective could be a child suffering from Epilepsy. Epilepsy can have a big have an impact on a Childs development. Not only does it affect them health wise it can cause delays within all different aspects of development. Seizures and seizure control medication can have an effect on behaviour. In my own experience both can cause hyperactivity in children, and a feeling of being different. From my own experience of dealing with a child from their first seizure and the start of their medication they became more aggressive and withdrawn at nursery and their attention span seemed to reduce significantly. This caused a lot of the other children to become fearful of him and tend not to ask him to play or interact with them. Socially this made it hard for him to make friends and consequently he became withdrawn and tended to avoid social situations.

Intellectually a child can be affected by missing school due seizures and also the fact that if the medication they are taking has side effects e.g. hyperactivity and behavioural problems or physical side effects such as hair loss. This could result in the child being asked to leave lessons because they are disrupting others or avoiding school all together because they are embarrassed of of the side effects they may be experiencing. This results in the Childs learning being delayed and possibly falling behind. Emotionally a child is at risk of feeling down or lonely because they cannot control and do not understand what is going on with their bodies. The element of embarrassment from incontinence while fitting can make a child fearful of what their peers may think and whether they may be bullied for being different. Environment: Poverty

A child who is born within poverty has a higher chance of being born with a disability or poor health as well as having a low birth weight or being premature. As well as this if the housing is overcrowded there can be long term affects on a childs health and well-being as well as reducing their chances of a good education. Not having their own space means that there is unlikely to be anywhere for a child to sit quietly and do homework or have one on one time with a parent to sit and practice reading. If they are in an overcrowded home the child may not receive the emotional support they need as they are growing such a reassurance and love attention from their parent(s). If it is a single parent home the parent may feel stressed over money worries or having to deal with multiple children and neglect the fact that children need this care and attention to help build self-worth and self-importance.

The lack of nutrition associated with poverty can affect a childs physical development by hindering healthy bone development and brain development. Usually a child in this sort of environment can also have outside factors from peers as well as their own family of criminal activity. Given that there is usually a low achievement of education you can find that people can turn to a life of crime enabling them to get money they otherwise would not be able to earn themselves. If a child grows up being shown this is the only way to survive they are more than likely to follow suit and see this as “normal”. This affects their behavioural development as they are not being shown what is right from wrong and that it is fine to break the law and intentionally affect other people as long as it benefits themselves.

Unit 2.1 task 3
3.1 identify the transitions experienced by most children and young people Children and young children go through many transitions as they develop. These can be large or small changes that can impact on their development. Some of these transitions can include:

1. Beginning nursery and being separated from their mother or father from the first time. This can cause distress for the child as well as the parent. Until the child feels comfortable in the new environment they may become introverted and avoid social situations. 2. Making new friends and losing contact with old ones.

This can make a child either blossom in a new environment where they find making new friends easy and without much distress or make the child become slightly introverted for a short period of time as they do not feel comfortable making new friends and feel a loss of the friends they may have left at a previous school or perhaps lost contact with. 3. Moving home.

Moving home can be very stressful for children as the surrounding they are so familiar with may have completely changed. They may move not far from where they lived before or moved into a completely new area which in turn has meant they have had to move school leaving them feeling alone or perhaps resentful of the fact they have no control of what is going on around them. Behaviourally it may cause the child to act out at home and school because they are angry with the changes they have been presented with. They may struggle to make new friends at school and become introverted and avoid social situations. 4. New siblings.

New siblings may have a large impact on a childs development and behaviour because they may feel as though they are being pushed out or forgotten about. This can leave them feeling emotionally vulnerable as they not feel they can turn to their mum or dad about how they are feeling and may become resentful towards their new sibling. 5. Starting a new school.

Starting a new school may be stressful for children because they are going into a completely new setting and are unaware of what to expect. Transitioning from a lower school to a middle school may be upsetting and stressful because they may feel they struggle with the extra workload or if they have come from a small village school setting with few children they may struggle with the larger classes and feel intimidated by how many more children there are. 6. Puberty.

Puberty can have a huge effect on a child as they go through so many new changes physically as well and dealing with hormones. Task 3.2.Identify transitions that only some children and young people may experience e.g. bereavement

Although most children experience all of the above transitions there are certain transitions that only some children will experience while developing such as: 1. Bereavement.
Bereavement can have a huge effect on how a child develops especially if it is a close family member or friend. They may feel alone in how they are feeling as well as feeling as though they have little control over the situation and how they may be feeling. It come with some major obstacles in which they need to overcome and this can be very stressful for them. 2. Long term illness of a family member.

Dealing with a family member with a long term illness especially if it is a parent can be very challenging for a child or young person especially if they are their parent’s carers. They may feel socially detached from friends and other peers as their primary responsibility id that of their parent. Emotionally they may feel alone in the fact they know nobody else who is going through the same transition as them as well as although loving their parents may at times feel resentful that they are unable to do the things their peers can do because of their responsibilities. 3. Divorce.

Divorce can be a very lonely and emotional time for a child as their whole outlook of their life will change. They can go from having the constant support of two parents at home all of the time to just the support of their primary carer. This can be aq emotionally distressing time for the child as they may question whether they are somewhat responsible for what may have caused the divorce and ask themselves questions such as “If I was was better behaved could I have prevented this” etc. 4. Being diagnosed themselves with a long or short term illness or disability. Being diagnosed with a long or short term illness can leave a child feeling alone as none of their peers may be experiencing the same transition as well as perhaps worrying about whether they may be bullied for being different.

Task 3.3 describe with examples how transitions may affect children and young people’s behaviour and development.

Transition can effect children’s development and behaviour in many different ways. Things that we as adult may not find stressful can be very stressful for a child or young person as they grow and develop. They present children with challenges that they must overcome and can be juss stressful for the child as they can be for an adult. For example:

A big transition for all children is that into puberty. Both girls and boys go through huge changes to their bodies as well as the changes in hormones affecting how they may feel about themselves, their confidence etc. Physically the transition will include:

Girls:
1. Periods will begin.
2. Increased Body hair.
3. Increased breast size.
4. Increase in height.
Boys:
1. Increased body hair and facial hair.
2. Voice will begin to break.
3. Penis and testes will increase in size.
4. Increased height and strength.
These physical changes can have an effect on the emotional and social development of the child/young person as they may become self-conscious of these changes and try and cover up and shy away from social interactions due to embarrassment. The stigma of whether their changes are deemed as “normal” as many children/young person’s tend to go through this transition at different rates it may leave them feeling as though they are not socially accepted by their peers or perhaps worry about being bullied due to the fact that are transitioning earlier than their peers. This transition may also affect the Childs behaviour if they feel as though they are different. If someone comments on how they are changing physically and they are feeling self-conscious it may cause them to lash out and get angry towards their peers as a sort of safe guarding mechanism.

Example2:
Another transition a child or young person may experience could be divorce. Divorce can be very a very stressful time for a child or young person as everything they know may change overnight. They can go from have the full support of two parents at home to only one. There can be financial implication meaning that the child may a reduction in the resources they are used to or may have to move home. It can affect the Childs development and behaviour in many different ways for example: Although divorce doesn’t particularly affect a child physically it may have a large effect on emotional and social development as well as behavioural development. They child may hold resentment towards one or both parents for causing the breakdown in marriage or may even believe they are to blame for the divorce themselves. This can have a large impact on the child emotionally as they may feel they are not good enough and seriously knock their confidence or they may become depressed and angry.

The child may feel scared that the parent leaving the family home may abandon them leaving them fragile to emotional distress if someone comments on the future of their family. This can also cause the child act out towards other people angrily. If the child is put in a position where they have to move due to the divorce they may be left feeling socially alone as they may have to leave friends behind at their previous school and then struggle to make new ones at a new school. A young person in adolescence may turn to peers they may not have before as a way of acting out and becoming anti-social. Intellectually they may be affected because of lack of interest in school or lack of money to become involved in extracurricular activities. This may mean a lull in their grades or falling behind in class.

TDA: 2.3: communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults.

1.1 Describe how to establish respectful, professional relationships with children and young people. Establishing a respectful and professional relationship with children and young people is very important to be able to help them progress into their education as well as making it easier to help us recognise possible developmental and behavioural indicators. As TAs it is important to make the child feel comfortable in our company enabling the child to learn and develop at ease. There are many ways that we can help establish a respectful and professional relationship with a child or young person with listening being one of the most important. By listening to them without interrupting the child will feel as though what they have to say is important and respected by us. It is important that we maintain good eye contact as well as physically lowering ourselves to the childs level as it displays that we have an interest in what the child is talking about and also conveys that at that point in time the child is considered and equal.

Being clear and concise with children and young people helps to give them the guidelines of how to gain respect. By setting rules and explaining the consequences the child has a clear guideline as to what is expected. Obviously a child will not always follow exactly what is expected of them so it is important to always give them time to explain their version of events as well as not jumping to conclusions about the situation as the child may feel blamed when they have may have not be the instigator. Children tend to copy what they see so if we are polite, respectful, honest and ensuring that we are listening to them they are more likely to respond in to us in the same manner.

1.2 Describe with examples how to behave appropriately for a child or young person’s stage of development. Children of nursery age:
When working with children of nursery age or younger we can act appropriately by speaking to them calmly and showing an interest in what they have to say. By coming down to the childs level and giving them eye contact as by doing this it helps to eliminate the feeling of intimidation they may feel if we are towering above them. It also helps to reassure them by smiling while talking. It is important to avoid interrupting the child when they are speaking and not to shout as it can be very upsetting. If a child has fallen down and hurt themselves we can show them a sense of empathy by putting our arm around them to comfort them.

Children of lower school age:
When working with children of a lower school age we need to ensure that we again bring ourselves down to the childs level, maintain eye contact and smile while talking. We need to stay positive and encouraging when talking to the child to give them the confidence to take pride in their work. It is also very important to avoid sarcasm as a child of this age may not understand leaving them feeling as though we have been mean to them and may damage any relationship we have managed to build with the child up until that point. Children of middle school age:

When working with children of middle school age we can act appropriately by being respectful to the childs thoughts and feelings, understanding that certain issues may be personal to the child. It is important to show patience and understanding towards the child when speaking to them and also give explanations of what we are trying to say. By doing this the child will not feel as though what they are saying isn’t heard and also feel at ease to talk to us when they may be struggling to understand certain things. It is important to encourage the child to express their own opinions. Children of upper school age:

When working with children of upper school age it is important to speak to them respectfully as that is how we in return expect to be spoken to by them. At this age they may feel more mature and expect to be spoken to as an adult rather than a child. We must clearly explain the rules we expect them to follow and the consequences they may get in return for not following in them. It is important to listen and understand how they feel and just in general. If there is a situation where they may have been hurt or upset by someone else it is important to show them sympathy and show that we understand who they may be feeling. Although children of this age group may seem more mature than a child of middle school age it would be inappropriate to use sarcasm as they may not fully understand and we may unintentionally upset them.

1.3 Describe how to deal with disagreement between children and young people.

It is important that when dealing with children and young people you talk to them calmly and listen to what they have to say. It is important to start at the beginning and ask each child involved in the disagreement what they believe has happened and listen to each childs individual point of view. We then need to establish who is in the wrong and if an apology is required or a punishment if necessary. It is important that we talk about the childs feelings and emotions and show sympathy towards how they may be feeling at that point in time. We must talk to the child and encourage them to understand and respect others feelings. It is important to inform the teacher so that future behaviours can be monitored to help prevent the same sort of situation occurring again between the same children. 1.4 Describe how own behaviour could:

a) Promote effective interactions with children and young people. As adults it is important that we act as we expect the children around us to act. In the school setting as a TA we are an example to the children as well as an aid to help the children to learn what we as adults expect of them. If we are polite, and respectful to the teacher we are working with then the children should then in turn learn that, that is the right way to communicate towards the teacher as well as their peers. By following the guidelines and rules set in place by the teacher and the school we are showing the children the importance of doing what we are asked and expected to do. Another way of showing children correct behaviours can be through showing them sympathy when they need it and listening and making them feel that what they say or do is important in turn showing them this is how to treat other people. b) Impact negatively on interactions with children and young people.

Taking into consideration that we as adults are role models for children if we show anger towards them or lack of patience it is very likely they will mimic this and in return either communicate in the same way towards us or other peers. If we do not follow the guidelines and rules set by the teacher and school it likely that the children in our setting will also copy this as they may think that it is unimportant to do as they are told because we as adults are ignoring them ourselves. If we swore in front of child, it is likely that they will not understand that this is an inappropriate form of communicating and then mimic us. By speaking to each other in this way we are telling the child it ok to use these words and no consequences will follow as they haven’t when we have communicated to another peer in this way ourselves. If we show a lack of interest in what the child has to say or if we ignore their feelings we are showing them that they are unimportant may leave them feeling as though they are not good enough and they may also begin to treat others in the same way.

2.1 describe how to establish respectful, professional relationships with adults When dealing with adults you will usually find everyone will have different views and opinions about different subjects although some may expect you to see things as the do. It is important to understand that although we may not agree with what they have to say we need to respect that it is their opinion and they are entitled to that. It is important to communicate effectively and how you would expect them to communicate with you as well giving them time to express their feelings and listening rather than interrupting or making them feel as though we look down on what they have to say. Politeness when responding to each other or just in general is very important as you do not want another adult walking away feeling as though you have been rude. This can make it harder to then build a professional relationship.

It is important to correctly address other adults appropriately depending of the setting. For example in a class room environment it is important to address them by Miss, Mrs or Ms Jones for example where as in a personal setting they may like to be addressed by their first name or a nickname. It is very important not to talk or gossip about other adults as this can be very damaging to any kind of professional or personal relationship that may have been formed and leave them feeling as though we are not to be trusted and also an animosity between each other which can be very uncomfortable especially when working together. To ensure effective relationships with parents it is important to make them feel involved with how their children are progressing at school as well as keeping them informed. It is important not judge on their own personal situations and to take their views into account when discussing their child. We need to make sure we are polite and listen to what they have to say.

2.2 Describe the importance of adult relationships as role models for children and young people. Working within a school setting as teaching assistants it is important to conduct ourselves in a professional manner when communicating with other colleagues. As role models for the children is it important that we speak to each other respectively and politely as this is how we expect them to communicate with their peers. It is important that we act professionally even if we may have had a disagreement with a fellow colleague and do not let our personal feelings affect how we act and communicate towards them when in the classroom.

If we let our negative feelings and emotions come out whilst in the classroom it can make the children and young people feel uncomfortable thus negatively affecting how they may communicate with each other and us. This links in with Banduras social learning theory that “behaviour is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.” He believed that we as “models” enable the children to imitate and mimic what they see us as “models” doing. Positive and negative reinforcement can both lead to a change in a person’s behaviour. He believed that children will learn what behaviours to display based on the outcome of other people’s behaviour (Vicarious reinforcement) If it meets their personal needs. http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

3.1 Describe how communication with children and young people differs across different age ranges and stages of development.

Communication with children and young people varies depending in the age range you are dealing with. It is important to understand the level of ability and development of the child to ensure the correct level of communication needed and also the correct way to portray this. For example:

If you are in a class of 4 year olds and one of the children asks you to help them with a task they have been set it is important to kneel down beside the child and use eye contact when speaking to help the child feel at ease and know that you are there to help them and showing an interest in what they have to say. Being so young the child may lack then confidence to be able to get out what they are saying straight away so it is important to be patient and not interrupt what they are trying to say. Using a simple vocabulary can help the child to understand what you are explaining to them and understanding that you may need to repeat yourself more than once for them to get it. Whereas if you were communicating with a 12 year old child about a piece of work it is important to understand their personal needs and that they are individual to the other children in the class.

You can use more complex words and may not have to repeat yourself to help them understand. Showing patience is key when speaking to the child so that they feel at ease and encouraged to ask for help again in the future. Once the child reaches the age of 16 it is important to speak to them on more of an adult level as they feel more mature. It is important that we speak to them respectively and guide them clearly to help them achieve what they are working towards in class. It was important that we listen to their input on subjects and refrain from responding to them in jargon or sarcastically as they may not fully understand the point we are trying to get acroos or tale it the wrong way.