Question

Consider the aspects of children’s age and developmental maturity that influence children’s risk for injury. Discuss ways teachers should adapt their supervision practices for each of the following age groups: infants, children ages 1 to 4 years, and children ages 5 to 9 years. Because of the differences in developmental skills, should children be grouped by age? Can a mixed-age class group be safe? Explain your answers.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) A child’s understanding of their surroundings and development of risk management skills largely depends on their age. Based on their age, the information they have absorbed is assimilated and understood in a particular way. One might refer to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. This is because an understanding of child psychology is essential for developing a plan to take care of these children.

Jean Piaget’s Stages of Development: Piaget’s stages of children’s cognitive development –

Sensorimotor (0-2 years) Infant develops learning based on what is absorbed through the senses.

Preoperational (2-6 years) Child uses images to understand objects but does not understand them logically.

Concrete operational (7-12) Child can think logically about concrete objects. They can add, subtract and observe.

Formal operational (12 and up) The child understands abstract terms and is able to hypothesize.

One of the basic advantages of this theory is that it is sharply outlined by age. This makes it easy for a teacher who isn’t perhaps well-versed in paediatrics or child psychology, to understand. Furthermore, teachers can plan everyday activities based on these stages of development. For instance, teachers can talk more openly to their children about logically solving problems between the ages of 7-12 since that is the age where their concrete operational abilities are to be nurtured.

Recreational activities like playing can be based on these stages as well. The sensorimotor activities develop well during the ages of 0-2 years; teachers (or caretakers) can ensure buying toys that administer this development. However, the most pivotal benefit is that teachers need not overburden a child by trying to progress through the stages too quickly. Neither will it be that parents coddle or shield their child too much. Also, parents can spot abnormalities in a child’s cognition if the progress of these stages is not fulfilled.

Course modules and the teacher’s methods of running a class should be based on the child’s age and the stage of development they are in. It would be difficult to talk about “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “photosynthesis” in the same class. It would mean that the group that isn’t being catered to, would become restless. Also, the safety measures for a two-year-old would be different from that which is taken around a 10-year-old. This is why it would be safer to design a module and safety guidelines based on the age group of the child. In order to do this, it would be important to groups the children based on their age and administer a befitting module.