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CHCFC301A: Support the development of children

Support the emotional and psychological development of children of the same age

Contents

Theories of emotional and psychological development 4

Some key theorists 4

Stages of development of self-awareness, self-concept and self-esteem 9

Developing a sense of self 10

Emotional development in infancy 10

Emotional development in toddlers 13

Emotional development in preschoolers 16

Emotional development in school-aged children 21

Involve children in decision-making where circumstances safely allow 31

Autonomy or independence 31

Helping toddlers make decisions 32

Acknowledge, encourage and appreciate children’s efforts and identify and celebrate children’s social, emotional and psychological successes 34

Self-esteem 34

How can we support the development of self-concept and self-esteem? 34

Give individual attention to each child 36

Temperament 36

Respond to children’s feelings openly and with respect 37

Recognise issues of concern related to child’s participation in experiences, for emotional and psychological development 38

Conduct and record, in line with work role, observations of children’s behaviour or other expressions that may indicate social, emotional or psychological concerns 38

Certificate III in Children’s Services: CHCFC301A: Reader LO 9248 © NSW DET 2010

Theories of emotional and psychological development

Let’s now look at three of the theorists specifically associated with emotional and psychological development.

Before we start, here are a couple of useful definitions:

• Self-concept relates to the picture we have of ourselves in terms of our abilities and qualities.

• Self-esteem relates to how we feel others see us in terms of our abilities and qualities.

• Self-awareness is the understanding of who we are as an individual.

Some key theorists

Erik Erikson (1902–1994)

Erikson emphasised social influences on the developing self-concept and personality. His theory is called a psychosocial theory of development.

Erikson identified eight stages of development over the entire human lifespan, not just childhood and adolescence. Each stage was marked by a crisis. If that crisis was resolved with a positive outcome, the individual would develop high self-esteem, would be more likely to deal with the next crisis in a positive way and would develop a healthy personality. If the crisis was resolved with a negative outcome, the individual was likely to develop low self-esteem and it would be more difficult to resolve the next crisis in a positive way.

How does Erikson’s theory apply to the care of children?If we understand the crisis of each stage of Erikson’s theory, we can help children resolve these conflicts in a positive way. For instance, if we meet babies’ needs in a consistent and prompt way, we can help them develop a sense of trust.

If we provide achievable tasks, encourage self-help skills and allow toddlers plenty of time to do things for themselves, we can help them develop a sense of autonomy.

Certificate III in Children’s Services: CHCFC301A: Reader LO 9248© NSW DET 2010

When working with preschoolers, we can encourage them to plan their own play by providing environments that foster pretend play.

Erik Erikson’s eight stages of development and the crises that mark each stage

Stage Crisis Age Description

1 Trust v mistrust

Infancy:

0–18 months

If infants’ needs are met promptly and consistently, they will develop a sense of trust; however, when this doesn’t happen they will not be able to trust others.

2 Autonomy v shame and doubt

Toddlerhood:

13 years

If toddlers are encouraged to start to do things for themselves, they will develop autonomy, but if things are done for them or they are punished they will develop feelings of shame and doubt.

3 Initiative v guilt

Preschool:

35 years

As children’s skills increase, they can plan and carry out actions.

If this is supported, they will develop initiative; however, if they are punished, they will develop a sense of guilt.

4 Industry v inferiority

Middle childhood:

5–12 years

During middle childhood, children start to learn the skills of their culture.

If they experience positive feedback and success, they will develop a sense of industry; if they experience failure, they will develop a sense of inferiority.

5 Identity v role confusion

Adolescence:

12–19 years

Adolescents start to answer the questions ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I fit?’. They start to make decisions about their future.

When this doesn’t happen, they become confused about their role and future.

6 Intimacy v isolation

Young adulthood:

1940 years

Individuals now work at ways to establish intimate ties with others. When this is not successful, they will feel isolated and alone.

7 Generativity v stagnation

Middle adulthood:

4065 years

The focus for this stage is to provide for the next generation, so adults are busy child rearing, engaging in meaningful work and contributing to the community.

When this doesn’t happen, there will be a lack of meaningful accomplishment.

8 Integrity v despair

Late adulthood: 65+ years

Individuals now reflect on their life. If they feel satisfied, they will develop a sense of integrity; if they feel disappointed, they will experience despair.


Development of autonomy and independenceIt is essential that children develop autonomy and independence in order to function in the world, make appropriate decisions and solve the problems and challenges that will face them on a daily basis. We will examine Erikson’s stages in more depth. Erikson’s work is very closely linked to children developing control of their lives and gradual independence.

• trust versus mistrust: 0–18 months• autonomy versus shame and doubt: 18 months–3 years• initiative versus guilt: 3–5 years• industry versus inferiority: 5–12 years

Trust versus mistrustInfancy correlates with Erikson’s first stage: trust versus mistrust. In this stage the infant is beginning to interact and engage with the people they come into contact with to deal with the first crisis identified by Erikson. This crisis is to determine whether the infant should trust the world and the people in it or mistrust the world and its people. Trust or mistrust in the world will be determined by the type of care the infant is receiving from the adults. Trust, like attachment, is built through our basic caregiving strategies. Feeding a hungry baby, cuddling and soothing a fearful baby and allowing the tired child to sleep helps build trust.

Autonomy versus shame and doubtIn toddlerhood, the child is now moving to a new stage in their development. Erikson describes a new crisis that must be dealt with. Again, the real usefulness of this theory is in the information it gives us about the appropriate caregiving strategies that we need to employ to help each child reach their full potential.

In this toddler stage, Erikson describes the crisis as being one of autonomy versus shame and doubt. During this stage the toddler will learn that they are an autonomous, independent person who has control in their world or they will learn that making independent decisions is something to be ashamed of. This is often a challenging stage for many adults. Our first word is often ‘NO’. Being told ‘no’ all the time leads to feelings of shame and doubt. We need to ensure that we give toddlers the opportunity to make limited decisions. We will discuss decision making in more detail later.

Initiative versus guiltNow that the child is a preschooler, a new crisis is emerging. Erikson now tells us that the child is moving into the initiative-versus-guilt stage. In this stage the child will either gain a sense of initiative by being able to make decisions, plan activities and events and see them carried through, or a feeling of guilt as they are


continually told ‘no’ or have their ideas squashed. Caregivers need to ensure they are allowing the children in their care the opportunities to make plans and see them carried through to fruition.

Erikson stresses that a person’s personality emerges from the child’s interactions and experiences with significant people. Much of this interaction occurs around all the different skills that are developing during the preschool years.

During the preschool stage we find that children are ready and eager to learn and achieve goals. They learn to plan and to carry out these plans. They are also developing a sense of right and wrong. They see themselves as being able to do more things but realise there are limits – if they go beyond these limits, they will feel guilty. By four years the preschooler should be able to formulate a plan of action and carry it out. The positive outcome is a sense of initiative – the sense that one’s desires and actions are good and OK.

Industry versus inferioritySchool-aged children between six and 12 years of age are beginning to settle down to the serious business of learning to read and write as well as the many other skills that are being developed at this stage. They are often in a routine involving school and their peers. Erikson’s fourth stage, industry versus inferiority, is usually being demonstrated at this time.

Erikson saw this stage as the time when children will begin to be industrious and work towards their future careers and lives. They will learn the skills associated with their society. Children who are reared in a positive, appropriate way will navigate through this stage with positive outcomes. They will feel good about themselves and their abilities. Children who are receiving negative messages from the people around them will feel inferior to those around them and thus will come through this stage with negative thoughts.

John BowlbyBowlby is a theorist who examined the attachment relationship between parents and their children. He identified four phases in which attachment develops. He believed that children are born with a variety of behaviours that encourage parents and others to be near to them. These proximity-seeking behaviours include laughing, gurgling and crying. Attachment of the child and parent develops over a period of time and is mainly achieved by the routine caregiving tasks that parents and children are involved in (Berk 1996).


Mary Ainsworth Ainsworth built upon Bowlby’s work in the 1970s. She developed an experiment to test the quality of the attachment relationship between mothers and their children. The 'Strange Situation' will determine whether the infant is securely attached, insecurely attached or avoidant of the parent (Berk 1996).


Stages of development of self-awareness, self-concept and self-esteem

Our aim as caregivers is to foster high self-esteem in the children we care for. The journey towards high self-esteem begins with infants becoming self-aware.

Infants gradually become self-aware in the first 6–7 months of life. An experiment by researchers has shown that full self-awareness occurs by 15 months. The researchers placed a red spot onto the infant’s nose and put the infant in front of a mirror. If the child took the red spot off their own nose, they were thought to be self-aware. If they tried to take the spot off the child in the mirror’s nose, they were not fully self-aware. (Vialle et al, 2000)

From self-awareness, self-concept grows. During the toddler years, children begin to form understandings about themselves and their characteristics. They will form understanding about gender, their abilities and other characteristics that make up who they are. Self-concept statements generally are a statement of fact such as ‘I am a boy’, ‘I have brown hair’ and so on.

Self-awareness

Self-esteem is the value we place on our attributes. This will begin to occur during the toddler and preschool years. We will begin to hear preschoolers say such things as ‘I’m a good runner’ and ‘I’m very clever’. Statements like this indicate that a child has a positive self-esteem in these areas.


Emotional development terminologyAs with the study of any developmental area, there are a number of words that are significant to the topic that you must be familiar with. Try the exercise below dealing with emotional development terminology.

Activity 1

Developing a sense of selfWhat do we mean by the development of a ‘sense of self’? Can you remember a time when you did not think of yourself as ‘you’, an individual? Somewhere in our lifetime, we developed an understanding of who we are and what constitutes ‘me’ as a separate person from those around us. We understand that each of us is a separate, individual person. This understanding of our separateness is called self-awareness. Before we can gain any self-concept of ourselves or develop self-esteem, we must first develop self-awareness.

When babies are born, they do not have self-awareness. Initially, their actions are merely reflexes to given stimuli. There is no recognition of themselves in a mirror, nor do they recognise that their limbs are part of themselves.

Have you ever seen babies exploring their toes with their mouth and then screaming when they suck too hard or bend their toe? We laugh, of course, but, at this point, the infant has no perception of what is self and what is not.

If you place a red dot on a 14-month-old baby’s forehead and then place her in front of a mirror, you will know if she has developed self-awareness by her reaction. If she tries to remove the red dot from the mirror, you will know she has not yet developed self-awareness. If she tries to remove it from her own forehead, you know that self-awareness is developing. She now knows that it is herself in the mirror—not just another interesting baby to watch.

Emotional development in infancyDuring infancy, there are major developments in the social and emotional domain. Remember that the social emotional domain involves the growth and change of our feelings and interactions with others.

During this stage, infants will develop social and emotional skills that allow them to express affection and annoyance when appropriate and to establish relationships with others.


Feelings and emotionsThe neonate basically has two emotional states: content (not crying) and discontent (different types of cries). Emotions become more complex with maturation, experience and cognitive development.

By the time an infant is 18 months old, he or she is able to express a much greater range of specific emotions or feelings in response to different situations.

Infants learn emotional responses from those around them. Read this scenario and you’ll see what I mean.

Harry, aged nine months, is squealing with laughter every time his three-year-old sister Jane pops her head around the couch and says ‘boo’.

His mother also starts to laugh and says to Harry, ‘Jane is being a funny girl, isn’t she, Harry?’

Harry’s mother is reinforcing the happiness he is experiencing with his sister Jane. He is learning that happiness is an important emotion. He is getting feedback from his mother about this feeling.

By ten months of age, many infants are able to interpret the emotions of others. For instance, if their carer seems happy and relaxed, it is more likely that the infant will be happy and relaxed. On the other hand, if the carer seems stressed and anxious, the infant will pick this up and respond by being irritable and hard to settle.

The increasing complexity of the developing emotional responses of infants

Age Emotional behaviour

5–6 weeks Around this age, baby’s first social smile appears (a social smile is in response to social interaction). (It’s a smile eagerly awaited by parents.)

3–4 months Babies will laugh in response to such stimulation as tickling.

About 6 months Babies will laugh when someone makes a funny face.

8–12 months Strong emotional tie with primary caregiver develops (ie feelings of trust and security).

By 8–12 months Babies will express distress and sadness when they are separated from the carer(s) to whom they attached. The sadness may be expressed through heartfelt sobbing or withdrawal or listless behaviour (depending on the temperament of the child).

About 12 months

You can get a laugh from a baby by doing silly things like putting on a silly hat.

By 13–15 months

The young child will express anger as a result of being frustrated or prevented from doing something or having something.


Does culture influence the expression of early emotions?Research has suggested that basic human emotions are universal. Feelings such as fear, happiness and anger are part of human interactions with all cultural groups and are expressed through similar facial expressions. However, what may vary from culture to culture are the times and places when certain emotions are expressed. For example, there are differences about when it is appropriate to laugh or cry.

Children of Japanese and Chinese families are often taught to avoid outward expressions of anger. African and African-American children are encouraged to express feelings openly. Think about the expression to show ‘a stiff upper lip’ in relation to the British upper class. Compare this to the outpouring of emotions by Italians and Greeks.

As caregivers, we need to be mindful of the cultural backgrounds of children in our care. We need to be sensitive to the appropriate cultural behaviours in relation to supporting infants’ emotional development.

How can we support the development of self-awareness in infancy?During the first 18 months of a child’s life, there are lots of things we can do to support the development of self-awareness. However, the most important thing we can do is encourage babies to explore their environment and ensure that we respond to their signals consistently and sensitively.

As infants act on the environment, they will notice different effects. This may help them identify themselves as separate from other people and objects. For example, if they have the opportunity to bat a mobile, they will see it swing in a pattern different from their own actions. This will tell the baby about the relationship between the self and the physical world.

When they smile and vocalise at a carer and that carer smiles and vocalises back, this will help give them information about the relationship between their self and the social world.

Have you ever seen young babies looking at and playing with their hands? Watching the movements of one’s own hands provides another kind of feedbackone that they are controlling. They learn that they can know and control their own body more than other people


Emotional development in toddlersToddlers tend to be emotionally fragile little people at times. One moment they are chuckling as they move around their new and exciting world and the next moment there can be tears and tantrums when they are confronted with frustration or the unexpected.

Activity 2

Temper tantrumsI am sure that you have seen a toddler having a temper tantrum. Temper tantrums are episodes of loud crying or screaming and may include the children throwing themselves on the floor and kicking out. Some children in the throes of a temper tantrum may lash out and hit those nearby. The first thing we need to understand is that temper tantrums are part of expected behaviour for toddlers. Tantrums can arise for many different reasons. Most, however, can be linked to either frustration or fatigue. Often toddlers are frightened or overwhelmed by their own emotions during tantrums, and need us to take control and comfort them.

Earlier in this topic we learnt that toddlers’ developing gross and fine motor skills allow them to do more things for themselves. However, they experience frustration when their body doesn’t allow them to do what their mind wants them to do. Because their language is still developing, they don’t always have the words to express their desires, ideas or needs. This then leads them to experience feelings of frustration. Their frustration is expressed with tears, stamping of their feet, waving their arms and a loss of control.

Sometimes we can place unrealistic expectations upon toddlers. For example, we expect them to share toys or food when they are not yet able to do this. At other times, we may expect them to wait when they are not yet able to delay gratification. Think of toddlers you have observed in the checkout queue at the supermarket.

It’s late on a Friday afternoon. The father is looking tired and harassed and the toddler is sitting in the seat of the supermarket trolley. The queue is ten deep and there is a large display of sweets just near the cash register, right at toddler eye level.

The toddler reaches out for one of the sweets. The father says ‘No’. The toddler is stuck in the seat of the trolley where she has been sitting for over an hour while they shopped.

Initially, she glares at her father. She points to the sweets this time and whinges, ‘My want that’. Her father shakes his head. The next thing, the


toddler’s lip drops, her forehead creases, she arches her back and lets out a loud scream, ‘My want it!’.

When the father repeats ‘No’, the toddler starts to throw her legs and arms about and really yells and cries ever so loudly. By the look on his face, the father’s patience is wearing thin. He sharply tells his toddler to stop making such a fuss, only to find his two-year-old acting more out of control and screaming even more loudly. It’s not a pretty sight, nor a comfortable situation for either party!

The father heaves the toddler out of the trolley, leaves the groceries behind him and stalks out of the supermarket.

We need to anticipate sources of frustration for toddlers. We need to ensure that they receive adequate rest and sleep and are not restricted for extended periods of time. We need to arrange outings when the toddler is well rested and ensure we are home before they get overtired and hungry. It’s a good idea to take restoring food and water with us when going out with toddlers and perhaps something to play with.

Toddlers need a balance of active and quiet times during the day. Sensory and messy play can be relaxing for toddlers. They need to hear words and stories that will help them identify and express their feelings.

By allowing toddlers time to do things for themselves and ensuring that tasks are achievable, we are reducing the chances of them losing control with an outburst of temper.

Perhaps above all we need to avoid places that are not child-friendly shops and supermarkets are not places where children can touch objects and freely explore, so are high risk for tantrum throwing.

Aggression during toddlerhoodPhysical aggression is not uncommon in the social interactions of toddlers. Because they have limited language skills and are not yet able to control and express their feelings in socially acceptable ways, toddlers may exhibit aggressive behaviours. It is not uncommon for toddlers to hit and bite when they don’t have the words to express their feelings.

It’s tricky, I must admit. One way to respond is to verbalise the frustration, such as, ‘Yes, I can see you wanted that toy, but you hurt Billy when you bit him, and I can’t let you do that’, then turn to the victim and give most of your attention to them.

From my experience, the more attention you give the aggressor (even negative attention) the more likely the behaviour is to recur.


Ignoring the aggression makes it less likely to recur

Toddlers’ fearsAs children’s cognitive awareness and functioning develops, they are able to retain and create images in their mind. One of the characteristics of children between two and three years of age is that they are often unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Because of the interplay of these two characteristics, toddlers may develop fears that were not present at an earlier age.

Common fears for toddlers are fear of the dark, being sucked down the plughole in the bathtub, dogs, trucks, monsters and anything that makes an unexpected and loud noise such as lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners.

Toddlers often have trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy

How do we respond to toddlers’ fears?These fears are very real for toddlers and should not be laughed at or dismissed as being silly. Carers need to accept toddlers’ fears as being real to them. We need to be patient and understanding in our responses and we need to find solutions that are gentle and will make toddlers feel comfortable.

Forcing toddlers to confront their fears will only intensify the fear. For example, if a toddler is afraid of cats, forcing him to pat a cat will only frighten him more. Perhaps it might be better to introduce him to stories about cats, then encourage him to look at a cat from the safety of his carer’s lap. Then over time introduce the toddler to an older, more placid cat. These would be sensible steps to help the toddler overcome this fear.


Activity 3

Emotional development in preschoolersBetween the ages of three and six, all young children go through the process of starting to learn how to cope with the emotions they feel. During this time, children develop coping strategies that may last a lifetime.

Between the ages of three and five years, children’s emotional responses become increasingly complex. This is influenced by their cognitive awareness of their social and cultural environment.

Preschoolers spend a lot of time figuring out the roles they are expected to play in their world. They learn how to be themselves, how to know themselves and how to interact with others. They learn to control extremes of emotions and how to express themselves through many different media.

Preschoolers will experience strong feelings as they develop a sense of personal identity. They start to learn how to handle a wide range of feelings. They then start to learn the socially acceptable way of expressing these feelings.

We need to remember that what is socially acceptable in one culture may not be socially acceptable in another.

Preschoolers learn that some feelings are good feelings. These can include happiness, excitement, affection and sensuality. They also learn that other feelings such as anger, jealousy, fear and anxiety do not feel so good.

The biggest change in terms of expressing emotions and feelings is that preschoolers now are learning to use words to describe how they feel. As carers we sometimes need to help these children find the words to describe how they are feeling.

By helping children to talk about how they feel we will reassure them that it is OK to feel positive emotions such as joy and excitement and more negative emotions such as anger, sadness and jealousy. It is OK to feel all these emotions—we all do from time to time. We must help them find socially acceptable ways of expressing their feelings.

Children need to be reassured that all kinds of emotions are acceptable and normal. Children especially need to be reassured that feeling angry or jealous or whatever does not make them bad people.

As well as learning to verbally express their emotions, children also need to be guided in learning socially acceptable ways of releasing emotions.

Encourage children to release their feelings through play, for example:


• water play will relax and soothe• hammering will release anger and jealousy• physical exercise will help to release feelings of anger and aggression• creative play such as drawing and painting can help fears and anxieties• dramatic and pretend play can help children cope with fears and anxieties• talking about their feelings during play will help them to understand

themselves and others.

Self-concept in preschoolersThe development of body awareness helps form a beginning self-concept in infancy and toddlerhood.

Below are the kinds of awareness preschoolers develop:

• They are aware of themselves as individuals and start to compare their characteristics and abilities to those of others. They start to describe themselves as good at craft or as being tall or, maybe, as the only person with red hair at preschool.

• They begin to be aware of what skills and behaviours are valued by their family and their social group. For example, if a child’s family plays a lot of sport, the child will be very pleased with herself as she develops skills of kicking, throwing or batting.

How we think and feel about ourselves is important. Much of how we think and feel is related to the feedback we receive from significant others in our world. If the feedback is positive and our characteristics, skills and abilities are valued, we will develop positive self-esteem.

We need to understand that preschoolers listen very closely to what others have to say about them. They are also clever at reading body language and very quickly interpret a gesture of disappointment or pleasure. As carers of preschoolers, we need to be very careful what we say about them in front of them and indeed behind their backs!

None of us will ever have an entirely positive or negative self-concept. It is more likely to reflect recent experiences and our current physical state. What we do know is that when we are happy we are more likely to approach tasks in a positive way and are more likely to succeed. When miserable, we tend to be reluctant to try new things and are more likely to experience a sense of failure. This is as true for preschoolers as it is for us as adults.

Perhaps one of the strongest indicators of positive self-esteem is the ability to take negative experiences and learn from them and develop some resilience. If we have low self-esteem, the negative experiences will strengthen those feelings of low self-worth and impair our ability to learn and grow.


Developing initiative in preschoolersAs preschool children grow physically and their cognitive abilities mature, they develop an increasing sense of their own ability to make things happen. Preschool children delight in their own ability to figure things out. They learn to plan and to carry out these plans.

By the time children reach four years of age, they can formulate a plan of action and carry it through. During the preschool stage children (if caregivers encourage it) develop initiative—the sense that their own ideas and schemes are valued and encouraged.

Encouraging initiative in preschoolersWhat can a caregiver do to encourage initiative in preschool children, while still letting them know they can’t do certain things (for example, take a sharp knife from the kitchen and use it for cutting up things)?

• Ask children to suggest activities that could be included within the program.

• Treat children’s ideas and suggestions seriously: do not dismiss them with ridicule or laugh at them.

• If children’s ideas are unacceptable (for example, flooding the playground with water to make a lake), discuss alternatives that are socially acceptable.

• Children will develop guilt and shame if:• they are continually punished for initiating and carrying out plans• their ideas are rejected out of hand, or laughed at or ridiculed or ignored.

If displays of initiative lead to punishment, rejection and guilt, then children will stop making plans and suggesting ideas and direct their energies into being obedient and conforming to avoid feeling guilty.

For example, a group of children want to make a cubby. They drag some mats and boxes together and start to build. There is great energy and excitement as children discuss and share ideas of what should go where.

A caregiver can respond in a positive way to the cubby building activity by suggesting materials to use, suggesting a number of locations that are out of the way of other children’s activities so the children plan and build within the limits. The result is that the children feel successful.

A carer can respond in a negative way with statements such as:

• ‘You can’t use that mat.’• ‘It’s no good building it there.’• ‘It’s nearly pack-up time so you can’t start a cubby now.’


The result here is that the children feel naughty and guilty about their ideas and activities.

Preschoolers—fearsOne characteristic of preschooler’s thinking is that they have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy, and their imagination is growing rapidly! This can lead them to have a fear of the dark, fears about monsters or ghosts or they can be frightened by costumes or an adult pretending to be a lion — even if the lion is the friendly ‘Paddle pop’ promoting the famous ice-creams.

Preschoolers also fear being separated from their parents or being abandoned in some way. They may experience nightmares that are either related to some scary television program, story or something they have overheard.

We need to avoid talking carelessly in front of children about such things as fires and burglars. It really is important to accept and acknowledge preschoolers’ fears as real.

Sometimes children can pick up on the fears of adults. For instance, if a parent is afraid of spiders, their anxiety can cause the preschooler to become even more afraid of spiders.

We also need to monitor their television viewing so that they are not exposed to scary programs. This includes the nightly news.

Pre-schoolers—aggressionAs we learnt earlier, preschoolers are now more aware of having really strong feelings. Some of these feelings make them feel good, others not so good. Sometimes when preschoolers are experiencing the negative feelings of anger and frustration, they behave aggressively.

Aggression is violent and destructive behaviour that is directed towards other people and things in the environment. Aggressive behaviour includes biting, punching, spitting, kicking, screaming, temper tantrums, snatching and grabbing, pushing hard, breaking and destroying things. It also includes verbal aggression. Older preschoolers are more likely to be more verbally-aggressive than younger preschoolers.

When a preschooler starts being aggressive, your first priority is to try and stop the aggressive behaviour immediately and then help support the child in developing ways of releasing those strong feelings in a more socially acceptable way. This, of course, is much more difficult than it sounds.


During an aggressive episode, it is important to try and remain calm. If the is also out of control, it’ll make the situation worse. At times it may be necessary to restrain a child if they a re hurting themselves or someone else. You need to be firm but calm when you are doing this.

It may be possible to redirect the child who is being aggressive to another activity and perhaps find him something to do that will allow him to release those feelings. This could be a physical activity; it could be a water play or painting activity. Remember the golden rule: the concern is always the behaviour, not the child!

Moral development during the preschool yearsMoral development is about how children learn to decide whether a behaviour is right or wrong. Children under two do not understand the concept of a behaviour being right or wrong. It is no good appealing to a two-year-old to ‘do the right thing’.

After about two years of age, children start to learn that specific behaviours are wrong and you might hear them saying out loud, ‘No, no, no’ while they are doing what they shouldn’t do. Knowing that a particular behaviour is wrong won’t necessarily stop the child from doing it. Caregivers must be realistic about young children’s understanding of right and wrong.

During the preschool stage, children begin to develop a conscience and experience uncomfortable guilt feelings if they do something they know is wrong. However, at this stage, moral standards are inconsistent and will change from one situation to the next. Children will apply the standard to other children’s behaviour but not their own. Children will apply the rule in one particular situation but not in other similar situations.

For example, young children know that you can’t take lollies and eat them when the lollies belong to someone else, but that doesn’t mean that they understand that stealing is wrong. They might think it is alright to take someone else’s toy to play with, for example.

Even though children know a particular behaviour is wrong, they may forget, or they may not always heed the rule. Young children operate in the present and are unable to foresee the consequences of their behaviour. They are egocentric (unable to see situations from another’s point of view) and so often the urge to meet their own need at a particular time is greater than their feelings of guilt. With greater cognitive maturity, experience and the development of altruism, preschool children gradually develop greater understanding of what is right and wrong and will apply this in more and more situations.


Children face moral problems in day-to-day situations. They have to work out fair ways of sharing things. They have to decide whether to tell on another child who has broken a rule. They have to decide whether or not to steal the chocolate another child had put down for eating later. Children have to learn what is right and what is wrong and they have to learn to resist temptations. This takes time, experience and maturity.

Activity 4

Activity 5

Activity 6

Emotional development in school-aged children

The world of school-aged childrenDuring middle childhood, the child’s world begins to expand beyond the home and local community. By the end of this stage children:

• begin to form a society of their own• greatly start to enjoy and value the companionship of their peers• share fewer of their inner thoughts with adults• are more capable and self-sufficient and so demand less of their parents’

time.

In some aspects there seems to be less dramatic change during this stage, compared to the earlier stages. Personality traits are usually well established and tend to persist throughout these years.

Social and emotional developmentAlthough we may not be as privy to the school-aged child’s world any more, we can learn a lot about them. This is because during this period their development has reached a stage where:

• they express themselves readily in language• their memories are well formulated• they start to develop and learn the skills and behaviours of their culture


• they can participate in all the leisure activities that adults doperhaps not with the same refinement or precision but certainly with the same enthusiasm

• their minds are curious: when supporting school-aged children’s development, carers will find themselves being constantly challenged by curious minds and growing social abilities and interests.

Remember, there are individual differences in the rate of development of school-aged children—just as in the earlier stages.

School-aged children’s development in the social–emotional domain strongly influences the way they develop in the other domains. They now experience new relationships and interactions. These have major effects on their social and emotional development. While many children meet these new challenges with excitement and success, others become overwhelmed and stressed.

The theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner sees the world in which children grow as having a major influence on their development. You will remember that he describes this as a two-way influence. The nature of the child will influence the way people in the environment will interact with that child. Bronfenbrenner identifies family, school, peers and friends as having a significant influence on children’s development. He also believes that the relationships between these influences (ie family and school; friends and family; etc) could have an effect on children’s’ development.

Self-concept and self-esteemThe development of self-concept has been identified as the most significant milestone of the child aged five to 12 years. You will remember that self-concept is the picture that we have of ourselves in terms of our skills, qualities and abilities. Self-esteem is the value we place on our skills, qualities and abilities and how we believe others value us in terms of our skills and abilities.

In middle childhood there is a shift in children’s self-concept. Their self-concept is no longer based on their physical characteristics and skills. They now start to describe themselves in terms of qualities and abilities. For example, they might describe themselves as being a kind person, a good child, a good fielder or a terrible reader.

School-aged children now start to compare themselves with others. They start to judge their skills and abilities against the skills and abilities of others. They also look for more information about themselves from more people. For example, how they compare to others at school, their friends down the road or people in their sporting team. They also become more skilled at reading the messages they gain from other people and consider tone of voice, facial expression and body


language as part of the feedback. They may then modify their self-concept and this can change their self-esteem.

During middle childhood, children need to learn skills and to be involved in tasks where they feel a sense of achievement and responsibility. They need to feel important to other people and valued by other people.

It’s important to look at success in terms of effort, not only in terms of achievement. Coming first or winning awards or being best are not the only ways of being successful. Children need to learn that success can be looked at in different ways. The amount of effort or playing fairly or sticking at a task are all ways children (or adults) can be successful.

During middle childhood children no longer seem content to play just for the enjoyment of playing. From about six years old, children want to put their energies into producing something real.

If children’s efforts and achievements are praised, respected and encouraged then children feel successful and competent. If children’s efforts and achievements are laughed at, criticised or ignored, they will feel a failure and incompetent.

Children also become very aware of how others expect them to perform and will begin to feel incompetent if they don’t live up to the expectations of others.

A child who feels successful and competent:

• has a happy personality• is keen to try new things• shows persistence at tasks• has friendships with other children• will take on responsibility.

Children during middle childhood can:

• be very sensitive to the criticism of others• be very sensitive about how well they do things (eg, read, write, play

sport, make friends, speak publicly, make things in craft)• experience mood changes• worry about what others think of them.

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Significant people in a child’s life are people who matter to the child. Strangers (for example, a person on the bus) may say something negative or positive to a child but this does not have the same impact as when a father or a particular friend says the same thing.

Significant others in a child's life

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Influences on the development of self-concept and self-esteemFrom the scenarios above, you can see that the feedback children receive from significant others will influence their development of self-concept and self-esteem.

FamilyA child’s family can have a big impact on their development of self-concept and self-esteem. However, as they begin to spend more time away from their family, the influence can lessen.

Today, children grow up in a wide range of family types. There are nuclear families (two parents and children), single-parent families (the mother or father is responsible for the care and upbringing of the children), extended families (families which include aunts, uncles, cousins and/or grandparents), same-gender


families (the parents are of the same gender) and blended families (families whose members include children from both parents’ previous relationships).

No matter which family type children grow up in, if they feel loved, safe and secure they will develop a sense of belonging and they will develop positive self-esteem. However, if they feel unsafe and insecure they may develop feelings of low self-worth and low self-esteem.

The way children’s behaviour is managed in the family will also influence their developing self-concept. If they are harshly criticised or humiliated when punished, they are more likely to develop a poor self-concept and low self-esteem. However, where rules are clearly and fairly developed through discussion and children are able to relate actions to consequences, they are more likely to develop positive feelings about themselves.

SiblingsWhen we talk about siblings we mean brothers and sisters. Did you grow up with brothers and sisters? Do you remember fights and squabbles or were your siblings close friends?

Siblings can be a great source of support for school-aged children. Older brothers and sisters can help school-aged children with the development of skills, homework, or help them resolve conflicts that they are experiencing outside the home.

However, siblings can also be unsupportive. They can be overly competitive; this is called sibling rivalry. In some family situations, when school-aged children do something, excel at some activity or gain some skill, they may get negative feedback from their brothers or sisters. This may be because their siblings feel threatened by the achievements or jealous that others have learned to do something that they have not yet been able to do. If school-aged children continually get negative responses from their siblings they are more likely to develop low self-esteem. Sibling rivalry is quite common and it is also common for siblings to be both supportive and critical at different times.

PeersPeers have a significant influence on school-aged children’s development of self-concept and self-esteem. The feedback that school-aged children receive from their peers is valuable because peers are viewed as being equals or having equal status. The peer group will allow children to gather some self-knowledge about their skills and abilities. So if the peer group recognises that a particular child is a really good swimmer, then the child is more likely to believe it than if their parents told them.


During middle childhood children make friends with others of the same gender and of similar socio-economic background, popularity and interests. At school there are usually a number of peer groups within each class. There is usually one group which everyone would like to be part of. This is often referred to as the popular group, or the ‘in’ or ‘cool’ group. Children’s happiness and feelings of self-esteem can be influenced by whether or not they are included in this group on any particular day.

Carers and teachersWere you ever treated unfairly by a carer or a teacher when you were a school-aged child? My guess is that if you were, you still remember the incident as if it happened yesterday. When my father was in his eighties he used to recall a story about how he was punished for something he didn’t do when he was eight years old!

As carers or teachers we play a significant role in children’s lives. If we treat them with respect and fairness we will enjoy positive relationships with them. We will be able to support their development of positive self-esteem. However, if we criticise them, or are harsh in our judgments and inconsistent in our responses, we will have poor relationships with children and will contribute to their low feelings of worth. Remember, we need to only criticise the behaviour, not the child!

School-aged—stressStress is the term we use to describe the pressure or anxiety we feel when events seem to overwhelm us and seem out of our control. School-aged children can experience stress in a number of situations. Stress can interfere with positive social relationships, the development of social skills and self-esteem.

School-aged—fearsMuch of the school-aged child’s stress is related to their fears. Because they are less egocentric now, have broader social experiences and have a more effective memory and thinking skills, they have new concerns. They are now much more aware of issues such as physical safety, media events, school expectations, family relationships, peer relationships, health issues for family members, hospitalisation, abuse and poverty.


School-aged children are more aware of media events

For example, if they see a report on an earthquake disaster on television, they may worry that they too may experience an earthquake. If they know that their friend’s parents have divorced, they may start to worry when they hear their parents arguing. If a relative has died in hospital, they may start to fear that if anyone they know goes to hospital they too may die.

It’s important that we accept children’s fears as being real. When we provide information about their fears, they are more likely to be able to deal with them. The difficulty is, of course, that many children will hide their fears because they think people may think that they are silly or they may worry about being teased. When this happens, they may engage in acting out or withdrawn behaviour. We therefore need to be sensitive to children’s moods. If we develop positive relationships with children, they are more likely to feel comfortable in telling us about their fears and we can then help them come to terms with these fears.

School-aged—angerThe causes of anger and the way children express angry feelings also change in middle childhood. As children become older and less egocentric they become angry about such things they view as ‘unfair’ or ‘not right’ (eg cruelty to animals, unfair punishment). Frustration about not being able to do something will still lead to angry feelings.

Children in middle childhood tend to express their anger by:

• physical aggression—this is more common among boys than girls and declines for both boys and girls as they get older

• verbal outbursts; this is more common among girls than boys• sulking.

School-aged—bullyingBeing bullied is unfortunately not a new situation. Bullying has been going on in school, out of school and in neighbourhoods for generations. Children have been


thumped, harassed and humiliated for years. Both boys and girls can be the victims of bullying and both boys and girls can be bullies.

In recent years there has been more media attention given to bullying and its effects. There is a changing attitude towards bullying and schools and out-of-school-hours services for children have developed policies and strategies to try and prevent bullying in these environments.

The victims of bullying behaviour often develop poor social skills, experience nightmares and perhaps fears about walking to and from school. They are less likely to learn at school and usually develop a poor self-concept and low self-esteem.

It is important that we discourage bullying when working with school-aged children. We need to work with children to set firm limits for unacceptable behaviour, monitor both indoor and outdoor play spaces and reward consistent positive behaviour.

School-aged—crisesA crisis can be described as an event that is traumatic and unexpected. A crisis is stressful and causes huge anxiety for those who are involved.

Typical crisis situations include separation or divorce of parents, death of a parent or sibling, hospitalisation, chronic illness, moving house, domestic violence or the death of a pet. Any of these situations can be severely stressful for a child.

Even though their thinking skills now allow them to understand more about how things happen, they still can’t always understand the way things happen and the broader implications.

A crisis can affect all areas of development. If you read the following story you will see how this can happen.

Recently a ten-year-old girl was diagnosed as having a very rare form of cancer. The family were in a crisis situation, not only for the ill child but also for the parents, siblings and grandparents. The parents immediately took the child to the city for treatment and the siblings were entrusted to their grandparents. Routines were disrupted, responsibilities changed and anxiety and fear ran rampant within this family. For the next few months, each of the family members were filled with anxiety. To some degree, each was experiencing their own crisis. The ten-year-old was scared and thrust into the unfamiliar environment of the hospital. The siblings aged five and eight were separated from their parents and moved into the home of their grandparents. Their safe, secure and predictable life had been disrupted. The grandparents were no longer relaxed in their retirement for they once again had to deal with caring for young children and the responsibilities associated with that task. Of course the parents


not only were filled with anxiety about their child’s uncertain future but also how they were going to be able to keep their jobs to pay the bills.

The responses of the children were significant. After some days, the five-year-old started asking for his family and appeared to start to lose confidence in both new and familiar situations. He would cry when left at school and stayed close to the teacher at all times. He started to wet the bed and developed a constant whining tone when he spoke. Later he became angry and expressed his desire for everyone to return home.

The eight-year-old appeared to be grieving the loss of her family and her sibling, especially as she was also her best friend. Until this time she had been a spirited child. Gradually she started to become overly compliant and extraordinarily helpful to her grandparents and at school. As the weeks wore on and the absence of those she loved extended, she wished she was the one who was sick because then she would have her mum and dad’s undivided attention. Then it seemed to hit that her sister might die. She started having nightmares about her sister and her parents dying.

The ten-year-old initially seemed too sick to care. However, as her treatment progressed and her illness was explained by doctors, hospital staff and her parents, she seemed to develop a new confidence and sense of control of her destiny. She seemed to develop an inner strength as she learned more about her progress and at the same time because of her increased interaction with adults, started to become precocious. When she returned home, she appeared detached from her siblings and unable to relate to them.

From this situation, it is possible to see that because the five-year-old had less understanding of what was happening, his stress was expressed by him reverting to earlier behaviours. The eight-year-old had more understanding of the crisis, however, and it changed the way she interacted with other people. The ten-year-old understood more about the crisis but had the support of her parents and so her thinking skills developed and she extended her language and social skills with adults.

When children are experiencing a crisis it is important that we listen to what they are saying about it and what they are not saying. We may need to comfort and reassure them. If we ensure that we develop positive relationships with children, we will gain their trust and then we will be able to provide more support for them. We can look at practical options that could be available to support the children and their families during crisis situations.

School-aged—happinessNot all emotions school-aged children experience are negative. They also experience the positive feelings of joy, pleasure and mirth. If you walk past a


school playground at recess you will usually hear peals of laughter as children play and interact with one another.

When children are feeling good about themselves and enjoying the companionship of others, they will show happiness. If they receive a gift or are looking forward to a birthday party or visits from relatives, they will show happiness. If you have been involved with a sleep-over you will know about the giggling and laughter that goes on for hours into the night! This is happiness.

When children are not happy, their body language tells the story. Shoulders are drooped, faces are sad and movements are sluggish. Children who have no friends or who don’t feel valued or happy at home will demonstrate this behaviour. When things aren’t going well in children’s lives and they are unhappy, they may become withdrawn, demanding or aggressive. How do you behave when you aren’t happy? I know for me it’s not much different to this.

Steve Biddulph’s book, The Secret of Happy Children, includes some useful suggestions to help children feel happy. It’s worth a look if you have access to a TAFE library.

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Activity 10


Involve children in decision-making where circumstances safely allow

Autonomy or independenceEloise has always been a very easy-going baby, but at the age of 20 months she seems less so. She screams ‘No!’ when it’s bedtime, dinnertime or even when it’s time to go outside to play. When it’s time to get dressed, she insists on putting her own shoes on then throws a tantrum if her mother tries to help her or if she gets them on the wrong feet.

What has happened here? Why has Eloise changed from an easy-going baby to a somewhat obstinate toddler? Eloise has discovered that ‘no’ is a powerful social word and that it seems to have a great impact on her mother.

Toddlers are well-known for their negativism

Toddlers are well known for their negativism. Negativism is defined as the toddler’s absolute and intentional refusal to do as an adult asks. Toddlers shout ‘no’ or they ignore the adult completely. Negativism is an attempt by the child to be independent and exert control over a situation. Negativism is at its most intense between the ages of 18 months and three years. After age three this behaviour starts to decline.

Significant social and emotional changes lead toddlers to behave in new and challenging ways in the second year of life.

Toddlers are now aware of themselves as separate beings. They are moving away from total dependence on their carers and wanting to do things for themselves. The new skills they are developing give them the necessary tools for doing some things independently.


Their gross and fine motor skills now enable toddlers to go where they want to go and do tasks for themselves. Their new cognitive skills mean that they can now think about their own ideas and experiment and discover things for themselves. Their language skills enable them to tell others what they want or need or what they are interested in.

What are the implications for carers?We have learnt that toddlers need to feel independent. They need to have support, encouragement, achievable tasks and time to do things for themselves. However, they also need to be protected from harm and guided so that they learn what is acceptable behaviour. They need to have their attempts at independence recognised and valued if they are to develop a sense of autonomy and positive self-esteem.

We can promote toddlers’ striving for autonomy by providing an environment and materials that allow as much independence as possible. We do, however, need to set reasonable limits on behaviour and be consistent in managing and maintaining limits. The limits should be put in place to protect the child.

It’s important that toddlers are encouraged to make choices. However, if you want toddlers to do something, you will need to limit those choices. For example, you are likely to gain more cooperation if you say to the toddler, ‘Will you have your dinner before or after your bath? If you ask the question, ‘Do you want to have your bath now?’ or ‘Are you ready to have your dinner now?’, the most likely response is ‘no’ and you will find yourself in conflict with a very obstinate little person.

Helping toddlers make decisionsIf we give toddlers the opportunity to make simple decisions, we are helping them develop a sense of competence and autonomy. When we encourage toddlers to decide whether they want a glass of milk or a glass of water, we are helping them develop a greater sense of themselves as being important and competent individuals. However, as I said earlier, it is better to limit their decision making to choosing between two acceptable options.

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Cultural differences in the development of autonomyCultural beliefs and practices may affect the degree to which children will seek autonomy. For instance, indigenous American parents have been found to


emphasise restraint and control in toddlerhood, not independence and self-expression. Puerto Rican mothers encourage physical closeness, respect for and obedience to adults, tranquil behaviour and good manners, even during the toddler stage.

It seems that parental expectations will have an effect on the development of autonomy, as, too, will methods of discipline and a child’s personality. It seems that when parents foster independence, they will be more supportive of the development of autonomy. However, when dependence and obedience are valued, behaviour guidance strategies are put into place so that children are less autonomous.


Acknowledge, encourage and appreciate children’s efforts and identify and celebrate children’s social, emotional and psychological successes

Self-esteemSelf-esteem is an important part of a person’s self-concept. (If you remember, self-concept is the picture we have of ourselves and self-esteem is the value we place upon those qualities, skills and attributes.) Toddlers who develop a sense of autonomy or control over their lives are more likely to develop positive self-esteem. Much of this is dependent upon the feedback they receive from us as carers.

Self-esteem begins to emerge in toddlers’ second year. The feedback they receive from us as caregivers will help facilitate the development of self-esteem.

Toddlers now need recognition for their achievements. So, if we give them praise and encouragement for a newly accomplished skill, they will feel good about themselves. For example, if they pour milk from a jug into a cup without spilling too much, we need to give them positive feedback for their efforts.

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How can we support the development of self-concept and self-esteem?Children need support in developing new skills. They also need positive feedback from us for their efforts. If we give children achievable tasks then we allow them to experience success. Sometimes it is necessary to break tasks down into smaller steps so that they are more achievable.

Children need opportunities to demonstrate and practise their skills, so sometimes by giving them responsibility we will be recognising their skills. This


will contribute to them having positive feelings about themselves and motivate them to try new things.

They also need to be accepted and valued by their teachers, carers, family and friends. They need to have a sense of belonging to a culture, a family, a class, a team and a peer group. Sometimes children will need help to gain acceptance by their peers. Sometimes we as carers will need to intervene by helping particular groups of children to focus on the less popular child’s particular skills. We could also help a child develop some special interests that could be shared with others in the group.

We can help shy children in our care become assertive. We can role-model socially acceptable behaviours and give children support as they enter a group situation. We can give them opportunities to take on a leadership role and help them learn cooperative behaviours. We can encourage them to do activities with one other child so that they can develop a relationship with that child.

When children have high self-esteem they are not only happy but they are more likely to succeed and be keen to try new things. They will persist at tasks for longer periods and they are more likely to be accepted by peers and will develop friendships with other children. In short, they will develop a healthy personality.

A final note on self-esteemWe need to note that children do not have either high self-esteem all the time or low self-esteem all the time. It is possible for children to have high self-esteem in some areas such as sport or reading and have low self-esteem in other areas such as maths or music. Children’s judgments of themselves sometimes change when they get new responses from significant people. If they start to get positive feedback for their efforts in maths, for instance, they may start to feel better about themselves in terms of maths and start to develop higher self-esteem in this area.

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Activity 15


Give individual attention to each child

TemperamentTemperament refers to the inborn or natural way we respond to events, experiences and people. Some believe that a baby’s temperament is the beginning of the child–adult personality which will develop over time as a result of environmental influences.

You can probably identify different temperaments among your family and friends. You may know someone who is very placid and slow to react in different situations while another person may become very excited or angry quickly. Someone else may resist change and like routine so that their life is predictable.

Each newborn baby enters life with his or her own unique temperament. This basic inborn temperament will influence the way the baby responds to the world and the way caregivers and others will interact with them.

Three basic temperament types have been identified:

• The ‘easy’ baby: this baby is placid and accepts change easily. About 40 per cent of babies fall into this category.

• The ‘slow to warm up’ baby: this baby initially withdraws, but given time and encouragement will accept change. About 15 per cent of babies fall into this category.

• The ‘difficult’ baby (sometimes called ‘high need’ babies): this baby is easily distressed and is disturbed by changes to routines. About 10 per cent of babies fall into this category.

This accounts for 65 per cent of babies, so there are another 35 per cent of babies who don’t fit neatly into these well-defined types but rather are a mixture of all three.

What sort of baby were you? You might like to ask people who knew you as a baby the following questions.

• Did I sleep a lot?• Did I cry a lot?• Did I smile a lot?• Was I easy to settle?


The answers to these questions may give you an idea of your temperament when you were a baby and maybe the kind of temperament you have today.

Temperament and caregiving implicationsTemperament can influence the relationship and interaction between a caregiver and a baby. Good caregiving practice is sensitive to the baby’s temperament. The term ‘goodness of fit’ has been used by researchers to describe a meshing of the caregiving style with the baby’s temperament. When the caregiving style meshes with the baby’s temperament, things are easier for both caregiver and baby.

Babies with a ‘difficult’ temperament will usually thrive in a structured, predictable environment with routines for sleep, feeding and bathing. They don’t respond well to being taken out to new places and being fed and put to sleep in strange environments. They cry with great intensity when distressed.

Sometimes a baby may be identified as a baby with a difficult temperament when really the baby is distressed because she or he is uncomfortable or has a particular condition. If a baby is continually distressed and hard to settle, then advice should be sought from a doctor or early childhood nurse. For example, a baby may have a condition known as reflux (milk is brought up after a feed) and in this case the baby needs to be fed on demand rather than on a strict schedule.

A child with an ‘easy’ temperament ‘goes with the flow’, as they adapt to changes quite easily. A caregiver can take the baby out to new places and the baby will cope with changes to feeding and sleeping arrangements.

‘Slow to warm up’ babies need time to feel comfortable in new situations. A caregiver needs to work in with the baby’s need to be introduced slowly to new experiences.

Respond to children’s feelings openly and with respectSome of the ways you can ensure that your interactions with children are frequent, caring and respectful are to:

• spend time with each child• communicate interest and respect• follow up on interactions• respect children's privacy.

We need to ‘tune in’ to children in order to make sure our interactions are appropriate to their individual requirements. In this way we accord children the


respect they deserve and can be sure that interactions and provisions we use will interest and stimulate individual children.

We particularly need to encourage children aged two to six years to identify their own feelings, express them appropriately and develop coping strategies to deal with change and stress in their lives.

Praise and encouragement given to children needs to be sincere and realistically reflect what has happened—it is inappropriate to just say ‘well done’ or ‘good boy/girl’. Caregivers need to ensure that children know what they did and why it is valued.

Recognise issues of concern related to child’s participation in experiences, for emotional and psychological developmentAs children learn more about how to interact positively with others, there may be an increasing incidence of children withdrawing from a group situation if they are feeling uncertain or not included. Alternately, these children may become quite disruptive and antagonistic towards others to ensure that the group is noticing them. Children may begin to mask their true feelings by displaying one that they think is more acceptable, especially to hide uncertainty or embarrassment.

It is extremely important that carers get to know each child well and are able to quickly identify the messages the child is communicating through non-verbal methods. If carers are able to do this successfully, the child continues to feel valued and respected.

Conduct and record, in line with work role, observations of children’s behaviour or other expressions that may indicate social, emotional or psychological concernsYou need to develop your observational skills to be able to gather key information about individual children. We are often very good at picking up on other adults’ reactions during interactions but are sometimes less skilful in seeing and interpreting children’s behaviour. Sometimes this is difficult as we cannot rely on


children using sophisticated language to tell us what they want, and some of the cues children use may be quite subtle.

Caregivers need to know the children in their care and notice when changes in behaviour occur. These changes should be discussed with the family and with the other room staff so possible causes can be explored.

Sometimes stress and associated behaviours are short term and can be easily managed whereas long term concerns need to not only be addressed and strategies developed to manage the stress but also monitored on a regular basis.

Remember from your Readings for CHCCHILD401A the signs that may indicate emotional abuse:

Signs in children

constant feelings of worthlessness about life and themselves

inability to value others

lack of trust in people lack of people skills necessary for daily functioning

extreme attention-seeking behaviour other behavioural disorders e.g. bullying, disruptiveness, aggressiveness

exposure to domestic violence suicide threats or attempts

persistent running away from home

Children who are experiencing emotional, social and/or psychological difficulties may experience sleeplessness, nightmares, stomach aches, headaches, nausea and may become withdrawn or engage in acting our behaviour. However, school age children become very skilled at hiding their feelings and it might not be obvious to carers that they experiencing stress. Often a child’s inappropriate response or behaviour conceal deeper underlying feelings. If you feel concern for any child in your care, even if they are not displaying any of these symptoms you should report your concerns to your supervisor.


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