Case analysis

Keisha

Yuhang Cheng
CEP 891
Michigan State University
           Summary of the case 

Keisha is a 5 year’s old Africa American girl. She is an only child of two professional

parents and lives in a middle-class urban neighborhood in the northeast United States.

Now, she studies at a private girl’s school in urban and she is the only Africa American

enrolled in this all-day kindergarten program. In this case, the interviewer discussed

Keisha’s development with her teacher and parents. They talked about the primary issues,

such as social skill development, social cognition, peer and family relationship, and

kindergarten readiness. Furthermore, they discussed Keisha’s cognitive and language

development, self-perception, teacher-student interaction, play, family-school relations,

and classroom management.

           

           Discussion Questions

1. Q：Characterize the parenting style of Keisha’s parents. Do Keisha’s development

and behavior seem consistent with what research says about the results of the

parenting style you believe Keisha’s parents exhibit? As parents of an African

American child, what additional parenting issues might concern Keisha’s parents?

A：Keisha's parents are all from close-knit families. They are willing to spend time

with Keisha. For example, reading books with her, doing sports, etc. They think it's

more effective for a child to make rules and communicate with her to solve problems

than to yell at her. 

       According to Baumrind’s classification of parenting styles, I think Keisha's

parenting styles belong to the authoritative style of parenting. Authoritative parents

 have a clear vision of what they want their children to do, but they also respect their

children and provide them with warmth. Compared with other children, children of

authoritative parents often show self-reliance and independence, high self-esteem,

high level of activity and exploration behavior, and social ability. They have high

achievement and performance motivation in school. Keisha's performance in the

interview and the classroom also proves that she is a child who has strong

independence, abides by the rules, and is willing to express and share her ideas. These

characteristics are consistent with those of authoritative parents' children. 

         Keisha is the only African American in her class. In the future, Keisha might

encounter the situation about cultural background differences, racial differences and

ethnic identity development. How to make Keisha face these problems correctly will

become a problem that Keisha's parents need to consider.

2. Q: Speculate on the changes that might occur in Keisha’s development were she to have a

younger sibling. Support your speculation with the results of research you have studied in

class and in course materials.

A: If Keisha has a younger brother or sister, it will have some impact on her social

and emotional development. But there should be some positive effects. In many

cases, we are not hard to find out the children spend more time with their siblings in

the early years. Dunn indicates that siblings make a unique contribution to one

another’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. They serve many functions,

including giving physical care, providing emotional support and nurturance, offering

advice and direction, serving as role models, providing social interaction that helps

develop social skills, and making demands and imposing restrictions. So Keisha will
 learn how to sharing, cooperate, and take care of the younger siblings. She will

become more reliable and caring. Her social skills will also improve. Because of her

interaction with her brother and sister is also a kind of social interaction. Dunn points

out children spent the amount of time with their sibling in the early years, their

interactions are often emotionally loaded and marked by both positive aspects

(cooperation, teaching, nurturance) and negative aspects (conflict, control,

competition). As an older sister, Keisha might also become dominating than her

younger siblings.

3. Q; Predict the effect on Keisha’s future ethnic identity development should her school

environment stay the same in terms of ethnic enrollment.

A:  Keisha is the only African American. She likes her present school very much. She

is also on good terms with her teachers and classmates. However, if this school

maintains its current enrollment status, I think it will have some influence on Keisha.

According to a study by psychologist Stephen Quintana and lisa rabasca, we can

conclude that children undergo several levels of understanding of ethnicity and race.

Children between the ages of 3 and 6 generally think in physical terms of the racial

differences. Children aged 6 to 10 generally understand that race is an ancestral issue

that affects not only the physical appearance but also one’s language, diet and leisure

activities. From the ages of about 10 to 14, children tend to link ethnicity with social

class. 

       Keisha has not yet realized the difference of race. In her opinion, the difference

between people is only the difference of appearance. But as she grows up, she will
 find that the differences between her and her classmates are not only about

appearance, but also about culture, language, faith and so on. Keisha hasn't realized

the difference of race. In her opinion, the difference between people is just the

difference of appearance. But when she grows up, she will find that the difference

between her and her classmates is not only appearance, but also culture, language,

belief and so on. Although teachers will actively create a multi-cultural environment

in the classroom, I don't think it can satisfy the development of Keisha's sense of

ethnic identity. In the worst case scenario, Keisha might feel embarrassed and not

want to identify with their ethnic group of origin when her peers send some negative

messages about her ethnic group. 

4. Q: In what ways should the research on culturally relevant pedagogy influence the

curriculum and instruction in Keisha’s kindergarten classroom? What suggestions, based

upon research, do you have for Keisha’s teacher to help her create a truly inclusive

environment?

A: Culturally responsive (or culturally inclusive) education entails that learners from

all ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds are welcomed and viewed as valuable

and as capable of benefiting from instruction.( Çelik, S. 2020)  According to Gay

(2000), providing a culturally inclusive environment looks like: Legitimizing

cultural heritage in terms of its impact on students’ attitudes and approaches to

learning; Building bridges between home and school; Diversifying instructional

strategies to address a range of learning styles; Promoting awareness and appreciation

 in students for their own cultures and those of their peers; Integrating multicultural

content and materials in the learning process.

       So based on the guidelines, I think Ms. Sommers’s classroom can be improved in these

aspects. 

        First, physical environment, the classroom setting should be warm and inviting. (Çelik, S.

2020) Arranging the seats for students to interact with teachers and peers easily. Posting cultural

posters, culturally items and students’ works in the classroom. Second, teaching context.

According to the curriculum, the teacher can collect various text about the different culture and

share with students. By reading the text about culture, students have chances to experience the

different culture around the world. Third, teaching approach. During the teaching, the teacher

can create more opportunities for students to interact to each other. in the group work or pair

work, students can get more opportunities to know their peers.

Applying Theoretical Perspectives

1. Using clues from the case, outline Keisha’s development through Erikson’s stages of

personal and emotional development. Thus far, has she overcome the various “crises”

described by Erikson? What are they, and how would you characterize Keisha’s

resolution of these stages? In outlining Keisha’s progress in these areas, detail what

factors in Keisha’s environment Bronfenbrenner would consider in analyzing Keisha’s

development.

A: According to the description of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, Keisha

is at the stage of Initiative versus Guilt. The developmental task is on this stage is to add

initiative—planning and attempting to achieve that which one has chosen. The

preschooler is on the move and becomes proactive. Keisha has already pass the stages of
 “Trust versus Mistrust” and “Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt”. In the interview, we

can find Keisha is an independent and optimistic girl. She will actively raise her hand to

share her story, and will also be very active to prepare to complete the task given by the

teacher. If criticized, she will not be happy to become emotional. Her father described her

as trusting people. She was a caring child who cared about the people around her. She

gets along very well with her classmates. The teacher described her as a very gifted child

at verbal ability. She likes learning and trying new things. 

      In the Ecological Systems, Bronfenbrenner would consider the family factor, school

factor, peers factor, and neighborhood playground factor in analyzing Keisha’s

development.

2. Q: What theoretical perspective(s) and theorist(s) within such perspective(s) (other than

Erikson and Bronfenbrenner) provide the most insight into Keisha’s cognitive, social,

emotional, and physical development? Note that different perspectives and theorists may

account for different areas of Keisha’s development. Use details from the case and

support your answer with information from the text. You may want to “map” or “chart”

the various areas of Keisha’s development in order to organize your thoughts.

A:  At Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, Keisha is on the stage of

Preoperational. In this stage, the child begins to represent the world mentally, but thought

is egocentric. The child does not focus on two aspects of a situation at once and therefore

lacks conservation. The child shows animism, artificialism, and objective responsibility

for wrongdoing. In this case, Keisha is a thinking child. She can say why she likes the

characters in the story and give reasons for her liking. She can say what her dream job is
 and why. She can sum up things in her life. She wants other people's attention. For

example, I want other people to listen to her. If she didn't listen, she would be sad and

angry.

 We also can evaluate Keisha’s development through “Social Cognitive Theory”. Social

cognitive theorists, such as Albert Bandura (1986, 2011, 2012), have shown that much of

children’s learning also occurs by observing parents, teachers, other children, and

characters in the media. In the class, Keisha listens to Ms. Sommers instruction very

carefully and also can follow the instruction correctly. She is excellent at art, music, and

drama. 

3. Q: What developmental theorist(s) is Ms. Sommers embracing in her classroom methods,

and how is Keisha apparently responding to that environment? Be specific, using details

from the case and details on the theorists from your course. 

A:  In my opinion, Ms. Sommers applied Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological theory in the class.

In the ecological theory, environmental factors like family, school, and cultural

backgrounds are crucial for a child’s emotional development. All the factors interact to

each other in this system. Ms. Sommers took this into account in her teaching and hoped

that the school would play a positive role in the development of her children. For

example, considering the ethnic differences, she will prepare Angel pictures of different

colors for her children; considering the continuity of students' learning, she suggests that

the school let her continue to be the teacher of these students; she also actively interacts

with the parents in teaching, so that the parents can participate. 

 Reference
 
Rathus, Spencer A (2013). Childhood & adolescence : voyages in development (Fifth edition).
Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Belmont, CA
Celik, S. (2020). Çelik, S. (2020). Culturally responsive education and the EFL classroom. In S.
Çelik (Ed.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: Contemporary issues in EFL education (pp.
23-34). Vizetek. Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: Contemporary Issues in EFL
Education, 23–34.