SOME THEORIES AND APPROACHES RELEVANT TO SCHOOL AGE CARE

Educators should consider a range of theories and approaches to inform and guide their practice. This knowledge assists educators to develop a professional approach to working with children and helps to develop a deeper understanding of the children they work with, their needs and interests. With this knowledge, they are able to effectively plan for children’s recreation and leisure time.

This summary is not an exhaustive list and educators are encouraged to expand on the list of theorists and approaches. Because all theories have strengths and limitations, it is preferable for educators to consider a range of theories rather than relying only on one.

The summary is not meant to convey rigid divisions, as some theories have common features, and interpretations of some theories and theorists change over time. For example, Vygotsky contributed to developmental theory, but is now commonly seen as a socio- culturalist theorist.

Use the summary to undertake the ‘Try Out’ section of ‘Linking Beliefs and Theory with Practice’ chapter of the Guide, or to stimulate further learning on the subject. Take the time to also read and use the scenarios below to promote discussion.

ATTACHMENT THEORY Psychologist John Bowlby was the first attachment theorist, who described attachment as the “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (1969, p.194). Bowlby’s main premise was that the earliest bonds formed between children and their caregivers during children’s first years of life have an enormous impact, which continues through life.

The feelings of safety and comfort which a child experiences, knowing their mother (or other primary caregiver) is nearby enables the child to explore and interact in the world. Children who feel this sense of secure attachment are more likely to easily develop other relationships and social skills.

Mary Ainsworth expanded on Bowlby’s work during the 1970s, coming up with three different styles of attachment: secure attachment, avoidant attachment and ambivalent attachment. Later work by researchers uncovered a fourth category for problems with attachment. Understanding these four different styles of attachment can assist educators when working with children (and adults), as more recent research has confirmed these styles impact on behaviours in later life.

Mrs White drops Samantha off at morning school care. She signs her in while Samantha places her bag on the racks outside. Samantha comes back kisses her mother and sits down at the breakfast table as she waves goodbye to her mum who is walking out the door. She starts chatting to her favourite educator, Ashlea at the breakfast table.

Simon races in as you hear his mum’s car race off in the distance. He storms across the room as someone tries to say hello to him. He doesn’t respond. He throws his bag outside, and comes back in and pushes into the front of line of an indoor game of handball. The kids yell at him. He yells back and walks over to the couch where he pokes someone. They get annoyed

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so he laughs and goes off to find another group. He doesn’t stop to speak to any of the adults who say hello to him.

These two children have developed very different patterns of attachment over the years.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. Basic Books: New York Ainsworth, M. and Bowlby, J. (1965). Child Care and the Growth of Love. London: Penguin Books.

BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL THEORY Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory looks at how a person’s development is influenced by the social context in which they live. It is the person’s perceptions of their interactions with others which determine the learning. Bronfenbrenner’s theory suggests that educators should try to understand how other aspects of a child’s life might be influencing children’s learning and development at the service.

This theory suggests that individuals have a microsystem which connects all the various social contexts in their life. A school age child’s microsystem might consist of school age care, her neighbourhood, her family and her school. In all of these environments, the child is interacting directly with other individuals and these interactions have an impact on her development. Bronfenbrenner suggests we should try to develop links with other components of the child’s microsystem. Changes or conflict in any one of the components of the child’s microsystem may cause a ripple effect in the others.

Educators also need to be aware of how their own microsystems (such as relationships, family culture and personal values) are affecting what they are doing in the setting. Educators need to recognise that the child’s personality, appearance, and so on may be having an influence on the educator’s own behaviour.

Bronfenbrenner also argues we should recognise how societal values affect families, children, and the program planning. We also need to recognise that how the child interprets the educator’s behaviour is as important as what the educator is doing. For example, if we ask children to help plan the snacks for the next week, some children may be keen to contribute, but others may interpret the educator as being lazy in his role and be reluctant to participate.

Sam is leaving the school and the state next week, but her family have told her that she is not allowed to tell anyone. How might this impact on her time at school, in after school care and with her friends?

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Urie_Bronfenbrenner

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PIAGET Ben is five and has lost his lunch box...again. The educator has asked him to go back to all the places he has come from to look for it. He seems to bumble around not knowing what to do. Then the educator remembers that at five years old, he is not at the developmental stage yet where he can think in reverse – only in one direction. So she takes him by the hand and they systematically walk around to all the areas where he might have left his lunch box.

Piaget theorised that children’s cognitive development passes through a series of stages (as outlined in the table, below). While all children will go through all of the stages, they will go through them at their own pace. Knowing how each stage influences a child’s thinking can help educators interact appropriately, and provide more appropriate learning experiences for them.

Children in school age care settings can cover a wide age range and we cannot expect children of different ages to behave or think in the same way. For example, until around age seven, when a child reaches concrete operations, he can only think in one direction. He lacks reversibility in his thinking. Therefore, according to this theory, it does not make sense to ask a five year old to re-trace their steps to find their missing lunch box – they (most likely) haven’t reached that stage of development. Pre-operational children are also egocentric and only see the world from their own perspective. They can’t take in others’ perspectives yet.

As children enter the concrete operations stage they can reason better and follow the logic of games with rules. Children reach the formal operations stage at around age 11, which is marked by the ability to think logically and in hypothetical terms. Children at this age can engage in deep debating such as ‘Is it wrong to steal food if your children are starving?’

Developmental Stage Approximate Ages Description Sensorimotor Birth to 2 years Children construct an understanding of their world through sensory experiences and physical actions. Preoperational 2 years to 7 years Children use their understanding of language and symbols to help construct their knowledge of the world. Concrete Operational 7 years to 11 years Children are able to reason logically in real-life situations and use their understanding of logical reasoning to help construct their knowledge of the world. Formal Operational 11 years and older Children and adults are able to reason logically when dealing with abstract concepts and use abstract thinking to help them construct their knowledge of the world (both ideal and real).

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MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Abraham Maslow was the leader of the humanistic psychology movement of the 1950s and 1960s and was interested in what motivated individuals and the link between this motivation and their social, emotional and cognitive development. The theory suggests that individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs and that the lower needs must be met before the individual can move on to the higher level needs. According to his theory, everyone goes through the stages at his or her own pace.

Andrew has just got out of a long boring school day (for him anyway). He was kept in at lunchtime to complete his unfinished homework and he is hungry and grumpy and looking forward to running around. He comes into after school care and is asked by the educators to sit down and be silent while they call the roll. He gets annoyed and yells and swears at a younger child next to him who accidently trod on one of his fingers while sitting down. What needs does Andrew have that aren’t being met well in this scenario?

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ERIKSON’S PYSCHOSOCIAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT The focus of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is on social and emotional development. The theory spans from birth to late adulthood. Erikson’s theory indicates the significance of focusing on adult development, as educators deal with children’s families as well as children. Different adults at differing stages will interact differently with educators.

Erikson’s Stage of Approximate Ages Description Development Trust v. mistrust Birth to 1 year Through interactions with (infant) parent/caregiver, child develops a sense of trust or mistrust of the world. How well the child’s needs are met will influence the outcome of this crisis. Autonomy v. shame 1 to 3 years Child begins to seek autonomy, self- control and control of her interactions with her world. Responses of others can foster this or lead to a sense of shame and doubt. Initiative v. guilt 4 to 6 years Child wants to make choices, meet (preschool) challenges, and solve a variety of problems. At the same time, he is learning that not all explorations and approaches are acceptable. Adults who are supportive of a variety of explorations can help a child’s initiative. However, if adults respond negatively to too many of the child’s initiatives, the child may develop a sense of guilt. Industry v. inferiority 6 to 12 years Child wants to become accomplished at (school age) many of the tasks that society values. If she is successful at accomplishing these skills and if she is recognised for her accomplishments, she will have a sense of industry, but if she has difficulty achieving success or receiving recognition for her success, she may develop a sense of inferiority.

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KOHLBERG Kohlberg’s theory of moral development consists of three levels of moral reasoning, with each level consisting of two sub-stages for a total of six developmental stages. These stages are sequential in nature and are influenced by four factors. The four factors affecting moral reasoning are: level of cognitive development, motivation, opportunities to view situations from another’s perspective and the justice structure of the society in which the child lives.

Level 1: Pre-conventional morality Stage 1: Punishment: Make moral decisions strictly on the basis of self-interest; avoidance and obedience determine if an action is good or bad by whether it results in a reward or a punishment. Stage 2: Exchange of favours Recognise that others have needs, but make satisfaction of own needs a higher priority; the idea is ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.’ Level 2: Conventional morality Stage 3: Good boy/good girl Make decisions on the basis of what will please others; be concerned about maintaining interpersonal relationships. Stage 4: Law and order Look to society as a whole for guidelines about behaviour; think of rules as inflexible, unchangeable. Level 3: Post-conventional morality Stage 5: Social contract Recognise that rules are social agreements that can be changed when necessary. Stage 6: Universal ethical Adhere to a small number of abstract principles based on principle human rights that transcend specific, concrete rules/laws; answer to an inner conscience

Coby and Kellen were having a discussion about stealing. Kellen, who is several years older than Coby, said ‘I would just steal it.’ Coby was horrified. He said, ‘You can’t steal. You will go to jail.’ Kellen’s reply was ‘only if I got caught’. This confused Coby; you could see by the look on his puzzled face. Kellen then asked him, ‘What if you were starving to death and the only way you could get food was to steal it?” Coby replied that he didn’t want to go to jail.

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GARDENER’S THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES While traditional schooling focuses heavily on numeracy and literacy, Howard Gardener argues that there are at least eight different intelligences and we should not just be focusing on a couple. Gardener argues that individuals have varying strengths and limitations in all of the eight areas and we all learn differently, depending on our strengths. The eight different intelligences, characteristics for each one, and experiences which support each intelligence are laid out in the following table: Intelligence Characteristics of the Some experiences that support the intelligence intelligence Linguistic Strengths in areas requiring oral storytelling, chanting and written language. Uses role-playing language effectively to express documentation concepts and emotions. reading books, etc. writing word search activities, etc. Logical- Strengths in areas that require construction play mathematical logical thinking and problem- puzzles solving, seeing patterns and math organising skills Sudoku and logic games Weaving, folk art, origami, etc. cooking, baking, gardening Interpersonal Strengths in areas that require group meetings working with others and dramatic play understanding others’ emotions, construction thinking, and body language leadership experiences peer mentoring Intrapersonal Strength in areas requiring self- music reflection: understanding your own art skills, abilities, and emotions reading writing unstructured experiences with loose parts available construction play Spatial Strengths in areas that require the art ability to see and understand construction dimensional relationships between dance objects sports and active games cooking charting Bodily Strengths in areas that require the sports kinaesthetic understanding of what is needed to dance effectively control your body in a art variety of experiences obstacle courses musical concerts Musical Strengths in the areas that require air guitar one to recognise, understand, and singing and chants appreciate various aspects and playing instruments component of music writing and creating music

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listening to a variety of music

Naturalistic Strengths in areas requiring an gardening appreciation and understanding of taking care of pets the interplay of the various outdoor experiences (e.g. digging, elements of nature, including field trips) people caring for indoor plants

Gardener’s Theory is very relevant in school age care settings, as the emergent, less structured programming methods can be readily adapted to children’s various strengths and needs in all eight areas.

Matilda, Riley, Jessica and Nicholas look forward to coming into after school care. They throw their bags on the rack, wash their hands, get signed in and grab some fruit to eat. Matilda wanders off with a group of her best friends and they sit down on the couches and laugh about the day they have had. Riley grabs a soccer ball and races outside to have a game with the other group of boys who are soccer-mad. Jessica brings her book in from her bag and finds a cosy spot on the bean bag in the corner to settle in and continue her exciting novel. Nicholas grabs the watering can. It is his job to water the garden and he loves it because he also gets to search for worms and looks at other bugs in the garden. All of these children have strengths and interests in a variety of different areas – which are all met at the same time in their well planned environment.

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VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory focuses on how children learn. Vygotsky’s main principle is that children learn through interactions with others. He argues that family and culture have a huge impact on what children learn and thus all children will learn and react differently – and as educators we cannot expect similar results for all children.

A key component of this theory is that individuals need to be in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) for learning to occur. The zone refers to the level of engagement of the child where it is challenging them to learn new concepts.

Another key concept of Vygotsky’s theory is the notion of scaffolding. Scaffolding comes in a variety of forms and can be undertaken by educators or peers. Vygotsky recognised that children will acquire new skills or knowledge quicker when given a little support to keep them motivated to continue learning. For example, children trying to solve a problem in the sand pit may be ‘scaffolded’ through the educator (or peers) providing different equipment, or by asking a few key questions to stimulate their thinking. Recognising when to give support and what support to give can be a challenging concept for educators.

Tameeka is working on her own outside. She is making perfume by chopping up flower petals and mixing them with water. Caitlin wanders up and asks what she is doing. When Tameeka tells her, she responds excitedly that they should colour the perfume. Tameeka goes off and comes back with some pieces of paper she has coloured red with texta. The girls notice with pride how the ‘perfume’ turns pink when they take the coloured pieces of paper out. The two continue to work together, to feed their ideas off each other about how to improve their ‘perfume’ and bottle it.

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ROGOFF Barbara Rogoff’s work builds on that of Vygotsky by acknowledging the fundamental importance of social experiences in children’s development. Rogoff argues that not only does social interaction cause development, but that children’s thinking is transformed as they engage in social practices. For Rogoff, engagement in social practice does not necessarily have to be an active process. Rather she recognises that children’s development occurs as they participate in the experiences of their communities: through observation, social interaction and direct teaching.

Bethany’s mother is absolutely stunned when she walks in to collect her daughter and she is sitting down with a group of girls eating chicken curry. She says to Bethany ‘But you don’t like chicken curry...I can’t even get you to try my chicken curry. How come you will eat it here?’ The educator looks at the mother and shrugs her shoulders and tells her that other parents had said similar things to their children about other food choices. ‘Maybe it’s because all her friends do it here, which makes it more acceptable.’ Her mother shakes her head and walks off in amazement.

GLASSER’S CHOICE THEORY Glasser’s Choice Theory focuses on the importance of relationships. He explains that unsatisfying or disconnecting relationships are the source of almost all crime, addiction, mental illness and school, family and marital failure. For progress in human relationships, he explains that we must give up the punishing, relationship-destroying external control psychology which tends to dominate in this world. Glasser offers an alternative non- controlling psychology, Choice Theory, which gives us the freedom to sustain relationships – which lead to healthy productive lives.

David seems to be having a bad day. He was asked to go outside because of his loud physical indoor play. Then he gets angry in a game of handball and storms off swearing. When an educator tries to talk to him he gets angrier and tells her to rack off. The Director recognises that David has lost control of his emotion and recognises that relationships are the most important thing in this situation. She doesn’t want to do anything to damage relationships. She gives David five minutes to calm down a bit and then carefully approaches and says to David “Hey David, you seem to me to be having a pretty lousy day today. I know what it feels like to feel angry and frustrated. Do you want to come and talk to me? I want to find out if there is anything I can do to help.”

David may or may not take her up on the offer, but the important thing is that the Director’s approach has preserved the relationship between the two of them and she can then go on to build on it and try to guide David through understanding his feelings and consequential actions. If she took a more heavy-handed approach it may have driven David further away at a time when he was already struggling with high emotion.

Glasser W (1999) Choice theory: a new psychology of personal freedom, Harper Collins, New York

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REGGIO EMILIA APPROACH The project work in Reggio Emilia, Italy, has attracted much interest in early childhood education in recent years. Reggio Emilia is not a particular theory or model, but a vision which arose from a particular time in history (post World War Two) and the social situation of the time. Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994) founded the Reggio Emilia approach at a city in northern Italy called Reggio Emilia. The approach appreciates children’s potential and current developmental abilities within the particular context of the community. The approach requires children to be seen as competent, resourceful, curious, imaginative, inventive and possessing a desire to interact and communicate with others.

One of the features of this approach is the documented project sharing between children, their families and their communities. Children work collaboratively on projects they have initiated and negotiated with staff. There is no pre-determined concept of what may be learned – it is explored as they go along. Children are viewed as capable learners and able to express their ideas and feelings through a range of forms and media. This gives rise to the notion that children have ‘one hundred languages’ and we should not limit them in their expression and ideas.

Here are some key features of Reggio Emilia's early childhood program: • Within the Reggio Emilia schools, the educators are very concerned about what their school environments teach children. Hence, a great attention is given to the look and feel of the classroom: it is often referring to the environment as the ‘third teacher’. • The aesthetic beauty within the schools is seen as an important part of respecting the child and their learning environment • Teachers organise environments rich in possibilities which invite the children to undertake extended exploration and problem solving, often in small groups, where cooperation and negotiation will dominate. • Documentation of children's work, plants, and collections that children have made from outings are displayed both at the children's and adult’s eye level.

A small group of children are busy creating an underwater theme. They are working at a table and wander off regularly to access the resources they need. One child is drawing some fish but she needs some help to draw a dolphin. She goes to the bookshelf but cannot seem to find a book with dolphins in it so she wanders over to the computer and searches the clipart section until she finds a picture she likes. She prints it out and brings it back to the table to copy. Another child is busy cutting up pieces of green cellophane to stick on her underwater scene. She wanders over to the labelled baskets in the area and pulls out the one with shells in it. She carefully selects a couple of shells for her art work and returns the basket to the shelf. Another of the children is not interested in sea life, so she is doing a picture about dogs.

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MONTESSORI Maria Montessori’s ideas about early learning were based on a series of principles she saw as important in educating children. These principles are commonly reflected in many of the practices that traditionally inform early childhood education. For example, Montessori believed in respecting the child as a learner and in the idea of the ‘absorbent mind’. Because Montessori believed children would absorb knowledge from their world, she also valued the idea of an educational environment that was prepared by the educator. Setting up such an environment would enable children to self-regulate their own learning. Montessori also promoted the notion of sensitive periods in children’s development when they would be better able to learn specific skills than at other times. Amongst the most important of Montessori’s ideas was that of ‘child-centred’ learning and the provision of prepared environments for children to work within. (Edwards 2009)

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