Child Development and Behaviour (Higher)

Transcription

1 National Unit Specification: general information NUMBER D74Y 12 COURSE SUMMARY This unit enables candidates to gain an understanding of the holistic development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Candidates will investigate a range of theories and influences on child development. OUTCOMES 1 Investigate a theoretical approach to the study of growth, development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. 2 Describe the physical growth, development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. 3 Describe the emotional, personal and social development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. 4 Describe the cognitive development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. 5 Describe the linguistic development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. 6 Evaluate the use of developmental theories in the study of development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Administrative Information Superclass: PK Publication date: August 2001 Source: Scottish Qualifications Authority 2001 Version: 01 Scottish Qualifications Authority 2001 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes provided that no profit is derived from reproduction and that, if reproduced in part, the source is acknowledged. Additional copies of this unit specification can be purchased from the Scottish Qualifications Authority. The cost for each unit specification is 2.50 (minimum order 5.00).

2 RECOMMENDED ENTRY While entry is at the discretion of the centre, candidates would normally benefit from having attained one of the following: Standard Grade at Credit level in any relevant subject A course or units in Care at Intermediate 2 Courses or units in any relevant subject at Intermediate 2 Scottish Group Award at Intermediate 2 SVQ or SVQ units at level 2 in a related subject. It is acknowledged that there are a variety of prior learning experiences which are relevant to candidates wishing to undertake this unit. CREDIT VALUE 2 Credits at Higher CORE SKILLS Information on the automatic certification of any core skills in this unit is published in Automatic Certification of Core Skills in National Qualifications (SQA, 1999). Unit specification 2

3 National Unit Specification: statement of standards Acceptable performance in this unit will be the satisfactory achievement of the standards set out in this part of the unit specification. All sections of the statement of standards are mandatory and cannot be altered without reference to the Scottish Qualifications Authority. OUTCOME 1 Investigate a theoretical approach to the study of growth, development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Performance criteria a) Investigate fundamental concepts in theories of growth, development and behaviour in children 0-7 years. b) Describe methods for studying growth, development and behaviour in children 0-7 years. Evidence requirements Please refer to Evidence requirements for the unit at the end of the Statement of Standards. OUTCOME 2 Describe the physical growth, development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Performance criteria a) Describe features and principles of growth, physical development and behaviour of children. b) Describe the main influences on a child s growth, physical development and behaviour. Evidence requirements Please refer to Evidence requirements for the unit at the end of the Statement of Standards. OUTCOME 3 Describe the emotional, personal and social development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Performance criteria a) Describe relevant theories in relation to emotional, personal and social development and behaviour of children. b) Describe the main influences on the child s emotional, personal and social development and behaviour. Unit specification 3

4 National Unit Specification: statement of standards (cont) Evidence requirements Please refer to Evidence requirements for the unit at the end of the Statement of Standards. OUTCOME 4 Describe the cognitive development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Performance criteria a) Describe relevant theories in relation to the cognitive development and behaviour of children. b) Describe the main influences on the child s cognitive development and behaviour. Evidence requirements Please refer to Evidence requirements for the unit at the end of the Statement of Standards. OUTCOME 5 Describe the linguistic development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Performance criteria a) Describe relevant theories in relation to the linguistic development and behaviour of children. b) Describe the main influences on the child s linguistic development and behaviour. Evidence requirements Please refer to Evidence requirements for the unit at the end of the Statement of Standards. OUTCOME 6 Evaluate the use of developmental theories in the study of development and behaviour of children 0-7 years. Performance Criteria a) Describe a theory of children s development and behaviour. b) Evaluate this theory in terms of research methods, criticisms and other relevant research. Evidence requirements Please refer to Evidence requirements for the unit at the end of the Statement of Standards. Unit specification 4

5 National Unit Specification: statement of standards (cont) EVIDENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE Outcomes 1-6 Written and/or oral evidence to ensure coverage of all performance criteria. Assessment should be carried out under supervision. Unit specification 5

6 National Unit Specification: support notes This part of the unit specification is offered as guidance. The support notes are not mandatory. While the exact time allocated to this unit is at the discretion of the centre, the notional design length is 80 hours. GUIDANCE ON THE CONTENT AND CONTEXT FOR THIS Candidates will gain an understanding of: fundamental concepts in theories of growth, development and behaviour in children the methods used by psychologists and educationalists for studying children s growth, development and behaviour the relevant theories and influences on the child s development covering the following strands of development: - physical - emotional, personal and social - cognitive - linguistic evaluating the use of developmental theories in relation to an identified aspect of the behaviour and development of children 0-7 years the impact of culture on the child s development and behaviour Outcome 1 At the outset it is important to be clear about definitions. Studying children s growth, development and behaviour is a holistic process, yet the three aspects can also be examined apart. Growth: Development is the process by which cells divide to increase the size of the body from Child Care and Education, Tassoni, Beith and Eldridge. Development: Development is the process by which children master the control of their body from Child Care and Education, Tassoni, Beith and Eldridge. Behaviour: A person eats breakfast, rides a bicycle, talks, blushes, laughs and cries. All these are forms of behaviour those activities of an organism that can be observed from Introduction to Psychology, Atkinson, Atkinson and Hilgard. This unit considers children s growth, development and behaviour, but does not particularly focus on the positive and negative aspects of children s behaviour. These aspects of behaviour are studied closely in the unit Promoting Positive Behaviour. Performance criteria (a) introduces the candidates to fundamental concepts relevant to theories of growth, development and behaviour in children. An understanding of the concepts will assist the candidate when studying specific theories. Unit specification 6

7 National Unit Specification: support notes (cont) The candidates should focus on the following concepts: Views of childhood Reasons for studying children s growth, development and behaviour The nature/nurture debate Environmental influences Interaction of nature and nurture Continuous development or stages of development Maturation Culture Types of theories: Psychoanalytic, Cognitive and Learning theory. Performance criteria (b) focuses on the methods used by psychologists and educationalists for studying children s growth development and behaviour. Case studies Surveys Experiments Naturalistic observation Outcomes 2-5 Candidates should consider why it is important to look at all the areas of growth, development and behaviour, as in Outcomes 2-5, and how this study helps to inform a holistic approach to childcare and education. Throughout the study, of the influences on the strands of development, particular focus should be made on the impact of the cultural background of children and their families. Candidates can also consider how naturalistic observation is used within child care and education settings to aid curricular planning. The work for Outcomes 2, 3, 4 and 5 should focus on the particular strands of development: physical development emotional, personal and social development cognitive development linguistic development These should be examined in turn, identifying relevant theories, including recently published research and the factors which may influence a child s development in that specific strand. Theories and influences (It is suggested that some of the main theories listed here be explored alongside some of the more recent research. Lecturers will decide on appropriate numbers of theories to look at considering time allowed in a 2 credit Higher Unit). Unit specification 7

8 National Unit Specification: support notes (cont) For outcome 2 the following features and principles could be explored:. Growth Motor development The newborn child Sequences and patterns of growth and development Influences the effects of: Diet Exercise Environment Ante natal care Hormones Genetics Health/illness Birth circumstances Culture For outcome 3 the following may be explored: Theories: Bowlby Erikson Freud Skinner Rogers Schaffer Ainsworth Rutter Bandura Influences: Parenting Peer group Position in family Life events Social influences Bonding Siblings School Gender Conditional/unconditional positive regard Culture Unit specification 8

9 National Unit Specification: support notes (cont) For outcome 4 the following may be explored: Theories: Bruner Piaget Vygotsky Fischer Donaldson McGarrigle Hughes Bower Influences: Pre-school School Genetics Stimulation Parents Experiences Medical conditions Culture For outcome 5 the following may be explored: Theories: Chomsky Skinner Vygotsky Trevarthen Brown Whitehead Tough Influences: Parental involvement Experiences Siblings Physical development Emotional development Cognitive development Education Culture Unit specification 9

10 National Unit Specification: support notes (cont) Outcome 6 This outcome should provide the candidate with the opportunity to explore a particular area of interest in terms of theories of development and behaviour. For example, one candidate may wish to study gender theory/theories, another may wish to look at a theory or theories of cognitive development. The content of this outcome should include descriptions of the theory/theories, criticisms, and appropriate replications. The candidate should aim at having a good understanding of how useful the theory is in explaining children s growth development and behaviour. Suggested Resources books Tina Bruce and Carolyn Meggitt Child Care and Education Hodder and Stoughton 1997 ISBN Cara Flanagan Applying Psychology to Early Child Development Hodder and Stoughton 1997 ISBN Rob McIlveen and Richard Gross Developmental Psychology Hodder Stoughton 1997 ISBN Nicky Hayes and Sue Orrell Psychology an Introduction Longman 2 nd Edition 1993 ISBN Laurence Steinberg and Roberta Meyer Childhood McGraw-Hill, inc 1995 ISBN X GC Davenport An Introduction to Child Development Collins Educational 2 nd Edition 1994 ISBN William Crain Theories of Development Prentice Hall 3 rd Edition 1980 ISBN X Gleitman Psychology Norton Publications 5 th Edition 1998 ISBN Atkinson, Atkinson and Hilgard Introduction to Psychology HBJ 1983 ISBN Ann Birch and Tony Malim Developmental psychology from infancy to adulthood Macmillan Education ISBN Unit specification 10

11 National Unit Specification: support notes (cont) GUIDANCE ON LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES FOR THIS In delivering this unit there should be a balance between teacher/lecturer exposition and candidate centred learning. This can be taught using a variety of methods: brainstorming small group exercises group discussion case studies worksheets individual research videos lectures Outcome 1 PC(a) Lecturer input will be necessary at this stage of the unit. Candidates should be guided towards texts for individual research on the various concepts. Groups discussion will be beneficial especially in relation to the nature/nurture debate and views of childhood. Videos will also be helpful. Lecturer input will assist understanding of the types of theories. Candidates should be encouraged to take notice of current research on children s growth, development and behaviour from sources such as newspapers, magazines, internet, televisions and radio. PC(b) Lectures and worksheets can assist the candidate in gaining an understanding of research methods. Outcome 2 For physical development, much use can be made of video materials showing an overview of child development highlighting factors which affect development, and studying the physical development of children at various stages of development. Outcome 3 The candidate might carry out research using psychology texts to study emotional personal and social development. Videos and class discussions will also be beneficial. Group presentations would be a useful way of sharing information. Theories of personality, attachment and social learning theories should be explored. Outcome 4 In studying cognitive development theories, the candidates may wish to try to replicate some of the famous experiments with children in play situations for example using farm sets and animals to explore egocentrism; or sorting things into categories to look at classification, among others. Video material is also useful to demonstrate cognitive theory. Outcome 5 As well as carrying out investigations into the various theories on language development, it will be useful for the candidates to focus on language transcripts of children at various stages, perhaps recording their own tapes of children s language and looking at these in groups, highlighting common grammatical errors etc e.g. I digged the garden. Using these examples candidates could discuss the various theoretical accounts of language acquisition. Unit specification 11

12 National Unit Specification: support notes (cont) Outcome 6 Over the study of outcomes 1-5 the candidate should have gained an understanding of research methods and theoretical perspectives on children s growth, development and behaviour. Candidates could choose an area of interest, and by using of individual/group research could carry out a more detailed evaluation of the relevant theory/theories. There may be scope for group or individual presentation. Candidates should evaluate theory/theories in terms of research methods, criticisms and other relevant research. They should also consider how it might influence the promotion of children s development and learning in a child care setting eg. in the provision of experiences and the role of the adult. GUIDANCE ON APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT FOR THIS A variety of approaches to assessment could be used. These would include: case studies with associated questions stimulus materials with associated questions written or oral reports, which could be based on investigative/project work essay questions extended and/or restricted response questions. Integration of assessments across outcomes should be used where this is considered appropriate. Assessment should be carried out under supervision. SPECIAL NEEDS This unit specification is intended to ensure that there are no artificial barriers to learning or assessment. Special needs of individual candidates should be taken into account when planning learning experiences, selecting assessment instruments or considering special alternative outcomes for units. For information on these, please refer to the SQA document Guidance on Special Assessment and Certification Arrangements for Candidates with Special Needs/Candidates whose First Language is not English (SQA, 1998). Unit specification 12