Issues In The Early Childhood Stage: Childhood Construction, Well-being Movement, And Ethics

Childhood Construction

Question:

Summarise and Critically analyse three of the five Early Childhood Issues.

The pre-school stage is considered as the early childhood in Australia. The future credibility of student has been seeded in this stage and therefore, proper care is needed. Certain issues have been generated in this stage regarding future development feasibility. A strong and rich program has to be adopted in this stage and certain standards of quality are required to be maintained in this stage. Many issues are there to represent the development of the early childhood criteria of whom three have been identified in this case. The issues can be categorised as construction of childhood, well being movement and early childhood and ethics in early childhood (McLean, Sandall & Smith, 2016).

The first issue is based on the childhood construction. The period of childhood is regarded as time of freedom where there is no fear of harsh experience of life. However, experts are opined that proper care is needed in this stage; else, the future leadership ability of the child will be shadowed. Montgomery has stated that the nurturing of a child depends on the circumstances and the family well-being. April Mackay has pointed out some stages regarding the child development construction and changes (Mackay et al., 2014).

The first stage highlighted by Mackay is from middle age era where the children have to face same punishment as adults and they have to work as cheap labour. The second stage is being considered as Victorian era where the child was divided into two classes such wealthy class and starving class. Society did not interfere in the well-being of the child rather neglect the starving class’ child as “spoilt brat”. Behavioural changes of the society regarding the child have been observed in the third stage according to Turansky. The society has learnt to separate the principle of punishment and discipline. In the later stage, certain evil nature of the child has been observed and as per professor Sorin, these children were involved in criminal activities. The fourth stage has concentrated on the period of child development for the year of 1970 to 1980. At this stage, the children were trained with adult education and cultural changes had been grown in them (Gordon, & Browne, 2013). Mentality of the society for educating the child in their early childhood has grown in the twentieth century. It is regarded as the last stage. A child was considered as the saviour and the conception of commodity child has been abolished (Campbell et al., 2014).   

Well-being Movement

Professor Ressa Sorin had worked on the child development process and raised his voice against the involvement of child in political agenda. He had pointed out certain issues like whether the treatment of every child in a similar manner is right or wrong (Sorin, 2014). Professor Sorin has redefined the construction stages and he support the role of the parents in the child development process. He was of the opinion that the nature of the treatment should be supportive. The main discussed topic regarding his thesis is that he believed that even the children with criminal mentality should be treated morally. According to his view, family dispute or society makes the child criminal and therefore, there is a necessity to change the mentality of the society and family towards the children (Robinson, 2013).

Professor Sultana Ali Norozi (2016) has reviewed childhood construction theory from social aspect and argued the matter within the hypothesis of childhood research. According to her, the construction theory is differed from society to society and factors like gender or belief. She has concentrated over the knowledge construction of a child and points out the perfection that are needed to grow the mental condition of a child.

Source: (Thompson, 2018)

According to James Allison, a growth has been observed in case of sociological interest of the childhood. He not only focuses on the sociological aspects, but concentrates on the political, cultural and historical sides also. He made a division to the sociological model such as pre-sociological and transitional model. 

The second issue regarding the early childhood is the well being movement. The standard of the people’s livelihood is being identified as the wellbeing. The index of wellbeing is enhanced on meeting the personal and social goals. However, according to June Statham, the definition and applicability of wellbeing in case of adult and the child is different. The role of wellbeing in case of child development process is important. However, there are certain challenges present in these cases. In the words of Hinkley, it is important to comply with the cultural matters while working on the wellbeing of a child (Hinkley et al., 2014). Cultural implication on the wellbeing has not been mentioned properly. Proper documents are unavailable regarding the age, gender or disability of the children.

Professor Nansook Park had stated the strength of well being and concentrated on the development of standard of childhood and various child related operations. However, well being of a child is depended on certain stage of development such as physical development, social development, emotional development, cognitive development, communication development and learning development. According to the social scientists, growth should not be mesh mash with physical development. Growth is a result of cell division and it plays no role in the development of a child. Physical skill or fitness can be regarded as physical development. Social development can be grown up in a child through his or her family and the atmosphere around them. Emotional development helps a child to get pleasure from a hale and hearty wellbeing. Apart from simple emotional expression, a child has to learn the proper expression of trust, mistrust, shame, doubt and guilt. Every child has certain cognitive elements that help them to develop their brain such as memory, knowledge, intelligence, reasoning, thinking and logic. A child has to develop all the skills to maintain a proper lifestyle in future. However, according to McDevitt (2013), society has created certain implications on the cognitive theory and the awareness has gained by the student on te basis of social harmonisation.

Environmental Implications

Environmental implication on a child is important in nature and it has been observed that the independent nature of the environment encourage the child to stay same and do their task independently. A child can improve his communication skill by adopt the language method properly.         

Angela Owen has explained the wellbeing process of the child in a systematic manner. She concentrates on the overall welfare of a child. She wants the educator to concentrate on the practical health and safety of the child (Wahlstrom & Owens, 2017). It has been highlighted by the National Quality Standard that every child has a right to get education and lead a safe life. Therefore, the wellbeing of the child needs to be promoted and shared. The key point of the wellbeing is to provide good health option to the child. Angela Owen also concentrates on the psychological wellbeing of the children. The educators should try to attach with the children emotionally and they have to know the demands of the children. If an interactive relation could be established in between the educator and the child, mental stability and growth can be done in a systematic way. A secured and supportive relationship will develop the level of self-confidence within a child (Gordon, & Browne, 2013).

On the other hand, Professor Cook and Davis concentrate on the mental acceptability of the society for the wellbeing of a child. It is a recorded proof that the one of the main obstacles regarding the childhood wellbeing is child abuse. The interference of the family or the educator is not enough for the overall development (McLean, Sandall & Smith, 2016). The society has to take positive part to curb this. Certain matters should be taken into consideration in this case such as the child protective service, mental health, law enforcement and the health care protection.

According to the words of Angela Owen, educators are playing the most significant role in case of child wellbeing and therefore, their mental conditions are required to be stable (Wahlstrom & Owens, 2017). Brain development process depends on the mental health of the child and therefore, the Australian government should invest for the mental development of the children at the early childhood period.

The matter related to the kids is multidimensional. Therefore, the suggestion regarding the kids should be carefully chalked out. Awareness is required regarding the common risk factors of the children. Necessary responsibilities should have to adopt to secure the wellbeing of the children. Sufficient environment should be created for the development of the skills and effective support should be given to the child by coalition with the parents.

Ethics

Ethics is the most important part of the human life. It is also known as moral philosophy. It helps to bring a behavioural change in human being and therefore, application of ethics is significant in nature (Fontana et al., 2015). The ethical responsibility of the educators reflects pedagogical research and it should follow the principles of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Ethics plays an important role regarding the well being of child. It should be bored into mind that the Code of Ethics is not intended to change the way of nurturing the child, but to maintain certain ethical perceptions along with the traditional approaches. The main thing of ethical learning is that it teaches how to take decision on everyday’s action with respect. Ethical approaches help to maintain a relationship with the parents or the community that is trustworthy in nature. It is based on the principle of justice. According to Botkin, the main objective of the early childhood code of ethics is to ensure the fact so that every child gets the opportunity to get proper education (Botkin, 2016).

The Code of Ethics helps to build a respectful relationship between the child, their parents and the educator. This process helps to develop the emotional character of the child and essential for the wellbeing of the child. In Australia, the process was first time introduced in the provinces of the Tasmania. It has been observed in certain cases that the children become belligerent with their learning process and the situation can be termed as scaffolding. This can be cured at the early childhood stage (Wightman, & Freeman, 2016). It is the duty of the educator to teach the children certain ethics so that they can deal with the situation in a respectful manner. Ethics are also important to develop a positive relationship. If a child does not know how to talk with other and what are the ethical approaches that are important to apply during any conversation or keeping relation, negative impression will be created on the relationship.

However, the educators have to fulfil all the mandatory requirements regarding the purpose and the families of the child should get involved in the process positively. Engagement of the parents will help the overall upbringing of the child and this is also helpful to build ethical perception within them.   

It is the right of every child to lead a abuse free life. If any situation occurs where his or her parents harass the child, fruitful initiative should be adopted. The first duty is lying on the educator. If it has been observed that the family dispute affected the mentality and character of the child, he has to inform his parents about the same and build a collateral relation with the parents for the betterment of the child. Ethical learning can also prove to be helpful for the child. However, there are different kinds of abuse. In case of the sexual abuse, special care is needed and necessary action should be taken. Certain protective actions ought to take (Downes, Kelly & Westmarland, 2014).

The parents have also faced certain problem regarding the nurturing the child in case they are working man or woman. A study reveals that many parents avoid telling the truth to his or her boss about their illness. This affects their relationship with the child too. Necessary ethical steps should be taken to deal with the situation

References:

Botkin, J. R. (2016). Ethical issues in pediatric genetic testing and screening. Current opinion in pediatrics, 28(6), 700-704.

Campbell, F., Conti, G., Heckman, J. J., Moon, S. H., Pinto, R., Pungello, E., & Pan, Y. (2014). Early childhood investments substantially boost adult health. Science, 343(6178), 1478-1485.

Downes, J., Kelly, L., & Westmarland, N. (2014). Ethics in violence and abuse research-a positive empowerment approach. Sociological Research Online, 19(1), 2.

Fontana, M. S., Farrell, C., Gauvin, F., Lacroix, J., & Janvier, A. (2013). Modes of death in pediatrics: differences in the ethical approach in neonatal and pediatric patients. The Journal of pediatrics, 162(6), 1107-1111.

Gordon, A. M., & Browne, K. W. (2013). Beginnings & beyond: Foundations in early childhood education. Cengage learning.

Hinkley, T., Teychenne, M., Downing, K. L., Ball, K., Salmon, J., & Hesketh, K. D. (2014). Early childhood physical activity, sedentary behaviors and psychosocial well-being: a systematic review. Preventive medicine, 62, 182-192.

McLean, M., Sandall, S. R., & Smith, B. J. (2016). A history of early childhood special education. In Handbook of early childhood special education (pp. 3-19). Springer International Publishing.

Robinson, K. H. (2013). Innocence, knowledge and the construction of childhood: The contradictory nature of sexuality and censorship in children’s contemporary lives. Routledge.

Sorin, R. (2014). Sharing postcards about where we live: early childhood environmental understanding. International Journal of Early Childhood Learning, 20, 35-49.

Taylor, K. R., Mackay, A., Truffaux, N., Butterfield, Y. S., Morozova, O., Philippe, C., … & Carcaboso, A. M. (2014). Recurrent activating ACVR1 mutations in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Nature genetics, 46(5), 457-461.

Thompson, K. (2018). The Social Construction of Chilhoood. ReviseSociology. Retrieved 8 January 2018, from https://revisesociology.com/2015/05/06/social-construction-of-childhood.

Wahlstrom, K. L., & Owens, J. A. (2017). School start time effects on adolescent learning and academic performance, emotional health and behaviour. Current opinion in psychiatry, 30(6), 485-490. 

Wightman, A. G., & Freeman, M. A. (2016). Update on Ethical Issues in Pediatric Dialysis: Has Pediatric Dialysis Become Morally Obligatory?. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, CJN-12741215.