Development of social systems occurs through the interweaving of the biological (inherited) and cultural heritage. * Happens on 2 levels:- Social Psychological ( personal)

Relationships and communication with others is the most significant Social constructor of children. How does this Occur? … how children play is significant in their ability to make sense of their world and demonstrate their understanding of their cultural norms. PLAY Rogoff calls this the “creative process” the child actively constructs his/her meaning of the social world.

Constructing the Social World

Children need to construct representations to understand the “ laws” of the social world They are active participants in this construction of understanding;- Through interactions with significant people in their lives, thus allowing them to function as members of these groups. Membership to each group may necessitate in children adapting and re-adapting to the social norms/ expectations of each group… Social Rules  Home… language, ways of doing things (rules)  Educational Setting…language, ways of doing things (rules)  Community…………..language, social and cultural expectations

Thus children’s social knowledge includes  Knowledge about types, categories of people, social relationships, social and organisational roles…teacher, police etc and structural systems…shop/customers, bank etc

How then do children acquire this knowledge ? Rogoff would argue that this learning takes place in a socio-cultural context… learnt actions from observing, interacting and modeling from those around them

What aspects do you believe impact on a child’s Social Development ?            

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) predicted that newborn babies born now 32% of their marriages will end in divorce. Leading to:-  Different family structure  Single parent families, step families, blended families… yours, mine, ours  Internal poverty for some These can underpin children’s sense of security, place in the social world. These socio-emotional attachments can undermine future social relationships.

“The health and well being of the present generation of children is so concerning that they may be the first generation in history to have a lower life expectation than their parents.” para phase of “Stanley et el (2005)”

Educational theorists posit how children construct their social world.The most notable being:  Bronfenbrenner,  Parten,  Bandura,  Kohlberg  Bowlby

Brofenbrenner’s social, ecology model

Uri Bronfenbrenner

Parten

Developed theory of play stages:  Unoccupied -- Not engaged in play..  Solitary (Independent) -- Playing separately from others, with no reference to what others are doing..  Onlooker -- Watching others play. May engage in conversation but not engaged in doing. True focus on the children at play...  Parallel -- Playing with similar objects, clearly beside others but not with them. (Near but not with others.)..  Associative Play -- Playing with others without organization of play activity. Initiating or responding to interaction with peers...  Cooperative Play -- Coordinating one’s behavior with that of a peer. Everyone has a role, with the emergence of a sense of belonging to a group. Beginning of "team work."

Albert Bandura 1925-present

Social learning theory posits that people learn from one another,via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation.

Kholberg

- how children develop a sense of right, wrong, and justice. Kohlberg observed that growing children advance through definite stages of moral development in a manner similar to their progression through Piaget's well-known stages of cognitive development. Theory of moral development

Bowlby

Attachment theory: that early experiences in childhood have an important influence on development and behaviour later in life. Our early attachment styles are established in childhood through the infant/caregiver relationship. believed that attachment had an evolutionary component; it aids in survival. "The propensity to make strong emotional bonds to particular individuals [is] a basic component of human nature" (Bowlby, 1988,).