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Child Development an Introduction Encyclopaedia of Child and Family Welfare Series CHILD DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CHILD AND FAMILY WELFARE SERIES CHILD DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION Editor-in-Chief LAXMIDEW INSTITUTEFOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LUCKNOW & ANMOL PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. 'NEW DELHI-hO 002 (INDIA) ANMOL PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. 4374/4B, Ansãri Road, Daryaganj New Delhi-hO 002 7 Ik J Membersof Editorial Board Laxmi Devi, Member Secretary, ISD Dr. Mukta Mittal, Director, ISV (Lucknow Hqs.) Dr. Arun Kumar, Director of ISD, (Bihar Branch) Mr. Ajay Kumar, Executive Member, ISV Mr. Bibhuti Yadav, Executive Member, ISD Mr. Arvind Kumar, Executive Member, ISD Mr. Kashi Yadav, Director, ISD \, Child Development: An Introduction Copyright © Institute for Sustainable Development First Edition 1998 ISBN 81-7488-926-4 be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or [All rights reserved. No part of this publication may recording or otherwise, transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, without prior written permission of the publisher.J PRINTED IN INDIA New Delhi-hO 002 and Printed Published by J. L. Kumar for Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., at Mehra Offset Press, Delhi. Contents Preface 1. Theories of Child Development vii 1 2. Child Development Theoretical and Conceptual Issues 16 3. Growth and Development of Children 27 4. Stages and Principles of Child Development 31 5. An Introduction to Principles andPractice 60 6. Aspects of Development 70 7. Genetics 76 8. From Conception To Birth 82 9. The Body Develops 91 10. Basic Factors in Development ofChild 97 11. The Developing Child 111 12. The Newborn Infant 137 13. Physical Growth andDevelopment 140 14. Physical and Motor Development 151 15. Motor Development 160 16. Motor Development in Children 166 17. The Brain Develops 174 18. Language Development 183 19. Language Development in Children 193 20. A Functional Approach to LangUage Development 203 vi 21. Social Development 212 22. Social Development in Children 220 23. Socialisation 230 24. Emotional Development 253 25. Emotional Development in Children 293 26. Emotions and Motivation 302 27. Moral Development 313 28. Cognitive Development 319 29. Scientific Study of Behaviour and Development 334 30. The Development of HumanUnderstanding 339 Preface Children are an end and means of progress. It is high time to attend the needs and rights of children not as "a mere by-product of progress but as an end and means of progress itself." Millions of children the world over are growing up in circumstances under which they will never be able to fulfil the mental and physical potential with which they are born. This is a human tragedy which contains within itself the seeds of its own renewal is imperative tobreak the self- perpetuating cycle which is central to development process. Without this all otherinvestment in food production, Community Services and Human Resource Development will be less effective because a significant proportion of people neither be able to contribute fully to them nor benefit fully from them. According to UNICEF's report the two tests of civilization ishow well, it protects vulnerable and how well it safeguards its future; Children are both vulnerable and its future. Children are backbone of a Nation. On their health and prosperity depends the health of a Nation. India has the second largest child population in the World. Therefore, planning for child development needs special care and falls in the category of target based planning. Itis to be viewed in totality-as a part of national social well-being. India is a developing country and quite seeable section of its population suffers from he problem of poverty, inadequate sanitation, sub standard housing, malnutrition and lack of education. Thus the development of the children in this country will basically depend on overall development of the society and people of this country. The problem of child welfare thus can not be viewed inisolation. In the earlier days child care services were confined to the voluntary sector. These services were mainly organised for victims of destitution, delinquency, abuse, etc. In mid-twenties, voluntary organisations such as Indian Council for Child Welfare, the Indian RedCross Society, the All India Women's Conference, the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, the Balikaji Ban, the Children's Aid Society, etc. organised programmes in the area of care, health nutrition and education for children. The primary institutions of the society such as family and in most cases, the joint family had been the responsibility of child care. The child's physical, psychological, social and cognitive development was assured by the resources and the surrounding of the joint family.The transition from joint to nuclear family and changes in socio-economic status have brought many changes in society. Because of the new constraints, traditional caresuffered progressive erosions. Child neglect, abuse and exploitation followed. (viii) Several disciplines are involved in understanding the growth and development of this vulnerable group. By its very nature, therefore, this is an inter-disciplinary area of knowledge and work. Social workers and educationists have been for a long time concerned more with child development and have contributed a great deal in focussing the attention of the people to the importance of several factors which should be taken care in helping children to develop fully. Considerable public opinion and the pressure of interested groups have led towards greater investment of public funds as well as private funds for the cause of development of children. It is however, necessary to understand the scientific basis of child development so that public opinion can be more informed and teachers, social workers and specialists can really contribute in a larger measure towards adequate attention of children in our country. In view of this the present encyclopaedia encompasses a wide range of contents and approaches in its ambit and, as such it is expected to be of much interest to a vast spectrum of scholars. This Encyclopaedia is designed for use of neo-leamer and divided into following six volumes: 1. Child Development: An Introduction; 2. Health, Nutrition and Early Childhood Education; 3. Policies and Programmes related to Child Development; 4. Child Labour; 5. Social Attitude Towards Children; and 6. Child and Family Welfare. A number of colleagues and friends have provided valuable advice and assistance, hence we shall be failing in our duty if we do not express our gratitude to them. Finally we are indebted to Shri J. L. Kumar, Managing Directoi, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi for bringing out this work in a very short duration. Laxmi Devi I 1 Theories of Child Development TheNature of Theories in Science and in Child Development It can be argued that we do not need a theory of child development since everything can be explained by common sense. Indeed, there are some who dismiss all psychology as common sense dressed up in statistics. But one need consider only the history of opinions on the shape of the world to be made wary of common sense. For thousands of years it was self-evident that the world is flat; just look and you will see. A proper wariness of the self-evident has led to the development of theories in natural science based on two major features: 1. Hypotheses must be testable: A statement must be capable of disproof if it is to be incorporated into a scientific system. Thus I can say that my Aunt Mabel is a bad cook. This statement can be tested by getting her to cook several dishes and trying them out. In theory it would be possible to imagine her producing a stunning meal which would show me to be wrong. On the other hand, if I were to say that my Aunt Mabel will never win the football polls I cannot devise an experiment that will show this to be wrong because one day she may win. A popular saying, 'The exception proves the rule', is actually a shortened version of the more correct 'The possibility of an exception supports the rule'. 2. Observed phenomena must be repeatable: Anyone carrying out research in the natural sciences must describe the work so that another person may repeat it and thus verif' it. Behind this insistence on repeatability is a search for general laws leading to experiments that can be carried out at will. To take an example: there is mild interest in the story of someone who has a dream about another person who subsequently dies; there would be tremendous scientific interest in anyone who could have such a dream repeatedly. Scientific laws might be generated if the dreams could be experienced on command. Is a Science of Child Development Possible? The answer to this question is a qualified 'yes'. One can certainly make coherent statements which are testable. It is possible to carry out experiments or other investigations in a way that enables others to repeat them. But there are some aspects of child psychology and therefore of child development Child Development An Intmduction which are less suitable for this rigorous approach. The work of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, discussed below, is seen by some commentators as falling outside the boundaries of science because so many of its statements are untestable. Even if untestable theories are rejected one is left with a choice between several others. The would- be scientist has two choices open: either to select from the range of alternatives that which seen the most plausible and most far reaching in its application and to reject all others, or to take here and there from several, selecting those aspects of theories that seem most helpful. In either case it will be necessary to become aquainted with as many approaches as possible. Why have a Theory? At this point the reader may wonder why theorising is necessary.
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