The Importance of Positive and Respectful Relationships for Children's Learning and Development by Madhushika Ramanayake

Question:

madhushikarm — 2020-11-17 07:01:00 UTC

Why is it important to be responsive to children's needs?

Context:

madhushikarm — 2020-11-17 07:04:57 UTC

I was doing the remote placement for 0-2-year-old children through video documentation for five days and I used the different video links given in the VU Collaborate and watched some other videos in YouTube as well. I noted down two ordinary moments of children per day and altogether it was ten ordinary moments when I completed my placement. “Babies and Toddlers: Amazing Learners” which has a collection of videos developed for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and highlight and showcase selected examples of significant learning in infants and toddlers is one web page which I used for my video documentation. In addition to that, I used the web pages “Life at 1”, “The inner world of infants”, “Infants: Social and Emotional Development”, “Infants: Physical Development”, “Infants: Cognitive Development” etc.

Rationale:

madhushikarm — 2020-11-17 07:08:50 UTC

Jaren is a fourteen-months old kid, and he is the youngest child of a family of eight children. He is having a strong bond with his brothers and sisters, and when they get ready to go to school, he is also getting ready to say goodbye to all of them with lots of hugs. He was singing and playing with them once they come home after school, and most of the time, they are the teachers of Jaren. He turned a plastic bin into a spinning top, played with a toy truck in the backyard mountain, had his food by himself and he was a master of packing for schools for his brothers and sisters as well.

Anastasiia is a one-year-old kid and her parents are working full-time. Therefore, most of the time Anastasiia is looked after by her grandmother, because her parents have decided that she should be looked after by the members of their immediate family only. She is spending a great time with her grandmother who is very much loving and caring. She is crawling, moving up on the stairs, touching different objects on the table as well as clapping and laughing together with her grandmother.

This observation demonstrated how secure the crucial relationship between the mother and the child. A one-year child was playing with toys with her mother in a classroom. Suddenly, the child’s mother left the classroom closing the door. Then, the child started to cry. Once, her mother came back she stopped crying, and she was calm down, when she saw her mother. Initially, she had only interest of her mother, but not with the toys. Shortly, she began to show little interest with the environment and with the toys.

I was observing how a baby of one-year old having insecure relationship with his mother. The baby was playing in a classroom with his mother and after some time, the mother left the classroom for a while. When mother was leaving, the baby cried and went to the door following her. Once his mother came back, he showed a sad expression from his face and he was silent for the whole time. He had no idea to engage with the environment or play again.

Analysis:

madhushikarm — 2020-11-17 07:09:33 UTC

Both Jaren and Anastasiia receive a great attention and support from their family members for their all kinds of needs which helps to improve their physical, emotional, cognitive and social development. How Jaren’s brothers and sisters are spending the time with him by singing songs, telling stories and doing different play activities is really helpful for him to improve his physical and cognitive development as well as build up strong bonds with each other. According to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, children’s development is influenced by their relationships with parents, family and friends; their experiences in settings such as childcare and school; and by the customs, laws and the cultural values of the community. (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Their parents and other family members are responsive to Jaren’s and Anastasiia’s needs and according to John Bowlby’s and Mary Ainsworth’s Attachment Theories, this helps to develop attachment and trust with the children, feel comfortable with the children, build up relationships and learn to value the quality of the interactions that occur between parents and the children. How Anastasiia’s grandmother is loving and caring her and responding to all of her needs helps to create an attachment and trust between each other and this in result helps Anastasiia to deal with the separation anxiety from her parents who are working full-time. As well as according to John Bowlby, as teachers if we have good relationships with families then their children are better placed to form a secure attachment with us. According to Lev Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory also, children’s cognitive understandings are enriched and deepened when they are ‘scaffolded’ by parents, teachers or peers (Berk, 1996). Children learn in the context of their families and families are the primary influence on children’s learning and development. Professionals too, play a role and by uniting around a shared vision for all children, early childhood professionals work together with children and families to facilitate learning and development (VEYLDF, P. 3). According to Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory, children are considered as, active learners and active participants in their own learning and one example for this is when Jaren picked up a plastic bin, initially he had no idea of what to do with the bin. But he was doing some experiments and later at one time, he identified that the plastic bin can be turned into a spinning top. As well as, I was impressed when he chose the backyard mountain to play with the toy truck, because he might be thinking that it is the best surface suitable for his toy truck. As a pre-service teacher, in this kind of situations, I always value children’s strengths and differences and communicate high expectations to them (VEYLDF, P. 10).

Provocation:

madhushikarm — 2020-11-17 07:09:48 UTC

Children’s relationships affect all areas and stages of their development. In fact, positive and respectful relationships are the foundation of child development. Through relationships, children learn vital information about their world. For example, children learn whether the world is safe and secure, whether they are loved, who loves them, what happens when they cry or laugh, and much more. Children also learn by seeing relationships among other people, for example, by seeing how we behave with other family members. This learning is the foundation for the development of the children’s communication, behaviour, social and other skills. Children learn in the context of their families and communities. From birth to eight years, children continue to establish learning dispositions and patterns of engagement with others that have a profound influence on their learning, behaviour, motivation and capacity for being confident and involved life-long learners (VEYLDF, P. 21). As educators, we should get to know children and the families from the beginning and demonstrate sensitivity and initiate warm, trusting and reciprocal relationships with children and their families. Develop learning programs that are responsive to each child and build on their culture, strengths, interests and knowledge, recognise when a child learns something significant and apply this knowledge to strengthen learning relationships that reflect the uniqueness of the child and their family, support families’ choices and decision making, help children to establish secure attachments and develop self-regulation and demonstrate respect and understanding of the views of other professionals and families when communicating and interacting across cultures (VEYLDF, P. 11) are some of the plans we can organise as educators in order to build up positive and respectful relationships which directly influence children’s learning and development.

References

madhushikarm — 2020-11-17 07:10:02 UTC

Early Childhood Australia 2012, ‘What have theories got to do with it?’, National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program e-Newsletter, vol. 31, Early Childhood Australia, pp. 1–4, viewed .

Education.vic.gov.au. 2016. Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 November 2020].

Vu.kanopy.com. 2008. Kanopy. [online] Available at: [Accessed 17 November 2020].

Yorganop 2016, Theories and theorists in early childhood: who they are and what they tell us? ideas for practice, Yorganop, Perth, WA, viewed .

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