Educational Psychology

EDU-202
Spring -2021
Dr. Fouad Yehya
fyehya@aust.edu.lb

1
 Big goals

In this session, you will:

• Describe two modern perspectives on socioemotional
development:
- Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
- Erikson’s life-span development theory.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
• Language is a form of communication—
whether spoken, written, or signed—that is
based on a system of symbols.
• Language consists of the words used by a
community (vocabulary) and the rules for
varying and combining them (grammar and
syntax)
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
• Language involves five systems of rules:.
- Phonology: Every language is made up of
basic sounds
- The morphology of a language refers to the
units of meaning involved in word formation.
A morpheme is a minimal unit of meaning; it
is a word or a part of a word that cannot be
broken into smaller meaningful parts.
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
- Syntax: The way words are combined to form
acceptable phrases and sentences is their syntax.
- Semantics: The term semantics refers to the
meaning of words and sentences. Every word has
a set of semantic features, or required attributes
related to meaning. Girl and women, for
example, share many semantic features,
but they differ semantically in regard to age.
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
• Pragmatics: the appropriate use of language
in different contexts. Pragmatic rules can be
complex, and they differ from one culture to
another
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Biological and Environmental Influences
• Children are biologically prepared to learn
language as they and their caregivers interact.
• Children benefit when parents and teachers
actively engage them in conversation, ask
them questions, and talk with, not just to,
them.
• In sum, biology and experience interact to
produce language development.
 Language Development
• Language acquisition advances through stages.
- Children make advances in phonology, syntax,
semantics, and pragmatics in early childhood.
- Vocabulary development increases dramatically
during the elementary school years, and by the
end of elementary school most children can apply
appropriate rules of grammar.
 Language Development
• Self-Reflection (10 min)
- How have teachers encouraged or discouraged
the mastery of language?
Social Context and Socio-
emotional Development
 Children growth and
development
• Children grow and develop rapidly in their
first five years across the four main areas of
development. These areas are motor
(physical), cognitive, communication and
language, and social and emotional.
• Children’s social and emotional development
influences all other areas of development.
What is Social and Emotional
Development?
• Social and emotional development means how
children start to understand who they are,
what they are feeling and what to expect
when interacting with others.
 The Community’s Learning
Opportunities and Supports
Activity (15 min)
• Use of the community and culture are very
important and have powerful influences on the
child’s development . Describe the
community’s value for your students.
 Bronfenbrenner's Ecological
Theory
• Bronfenbrenner’s theory shows educators that
a student’s environment is a key factor in how
they develop. Not only do the teachers play a
part of the environment, but so do friends,
family, administrators, neighbors, and many
more.
 Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
• The ecological theory focuses on the social
contexts in which children live and the people
who influence their development.
• Ecological theory consists of five
environmental systems that range from close
interpersonal interactions to broad-based
influences of culture
 Ecological theory
• The five environmental systems are the:
microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem,
macrosystem, and chronosystem
• Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory
shows how the systems all interact with each
other.
 Ecological theory
• A microsystem is a setting in which the
individual spends considerable time, such as
the student’s family, peers, school, and
neighborhood.
• Within these microsystems, the individual has
direct interactions with parents, teachers,
peers, and others. The student is not a passive
recipient of experiences but is someone who
reciprocally interacts with others and helps to
construct the microsystem
 Ecological theory
• The mesosystem contains connections
between microsystems. Examples are the
connections between family experiences and
school experiences and between family and
peers.
 Ecological theory
• Exosystem is a people and social settings that
a person may not directly interact with.
• The exosystem is at work when experiences in
another setting influence what students and
teachers experience in the immediate context.
For example, libraries, which can help or
hinder a child’s development.
 Ecological theory
• Macrosystem involves values, morals, and
traditions in a culture. Culture is a very broad
term that includes the roles of ethnicity and
socioeconomic factors in children’s
development. It’s the broadest context in
which students and teachers live, including the
society’s values and customs (Shiraev & Levy,
2010).
 Ecological theory
• Chronosystem: The chronosystem includes
the sociohistorical conditions of students’
development. It is events and transitions that
occur over time
• For example, the lives of children today are
different in many ways from when their
parents and grandparents were children
(Schaie, 2010, 2011).
Evaluating Bronfenbrenner’s
Theory
 Bronfenbrenner’s theory
• It provides one of the few theoretical
frameworks for systematically examining
social contexts on both micro and macro
levels, bridging the gap between behavioral
theories that focus on small settings and
anthropological theories that analyze larger
settings (the study of humankind).
• Shows how different contexts of children’s
lives are interconnected.
 Criticisms of Bronfenbrenner’s
theory
• Bronfenbrenner (2000) added biological
influences to his theory and subsequently
described it as a bioecological theory.
However, ecological, environmental contexts
still predominate in Bronfenbrenner’s theory
(Gauvain & Parke, 2010).
 Criticisms of Bronfenbrenner’s
theory
• It gives too little attention to biological and
cognitive factors in children’s development
• It does not address the step-by-step
developmental changes that are the focus of
theories such as Piaget’s and Erikson’s.
Strategies for Educating
Children Based on
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
 Bronfenbrenner’s theory:
Application
• Teachers need to consider not just what goes
on in the classroom but also what happens in
students’ families, neighborhoods, and peer
groups.
 Strategies Based on
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
• Think about the child as embedded in a
number of environmental systems and
influences.
• Pay attention to the connection between
schools and families. Build these connections
through formal and informal outreach.
• Recognize the importance of the community,
socioeconomic status and culture in the child’s
development.
 Developmental view of
people’s lives in stages
• Activity (10 min)
How do you think your own socioemotional
development can be described?
 ERIKSON’S EIGHT
LIFE-SPAN STAGES
 Erikson’s theory
• Erik Erikson presents a developmental view of
people’s lives in eight development stages.
1-Trust versus mistrust is Erikson’s first
psychosocial stage. The development of trust
requires warm, nurturing caregiving. The
positive outcome is a feeling of comfort and
minimal fear. Mistrust develops when infants are
treated too negatively or are ignored.
 Erikson’s theory
2- Autonomy versus shame and doubt (1 to 3
years of age).
• Infants begin to discover that their behavior is
their own. They assert their independence and
realize their will.
• If infants are restrained too much or punished
too harshly, they develop a sense of shame and
doubt.
 Erikson’s theory
3- Initiative versus guilt (3 to 5 years of age)
• Young children need to engage in active,
purposeful behavior that involves initiative.
• Children develop uncomfortable guilt feelings
if they see themselves as irresponsible or are
made to feel too anxious.
 Erikson’s theory
4- Industry versus inferiority (elementary
school years, from 6 years of age until early
adolescence (10 years)).
• children direct their energy toward mastering
knowledge and intellectual skills.
• The danger in the elementary school years is
that of developing a sense of inferiority,
unproductiveness, and incompetence.
 Erikson’s theory
5- Identity versus identity confusion (10-20
years).Adolescents try to find out who they are,
what they are all about, and where they are going
in life.
6- Intimacy versus isolation (20s-30s). The
developmental task is to form positive close
relationships with others. The risk of this stage is
that one will fail to form an intimate relationship
with a romantic partner or friend and become
socially isolated.
 Erikson’s theory
7- Generativity versus stagnation (40s-50s)
Generativity means transmitting something
positive to the next generation. Stagnation as the
feeling of having done nothing to help the next
generation.
 Erikson’s theory
8- Integrity versus despair (60d- death). Older
adults tend to review their lives, reflecting on
what they have done. If the retrospective
evaluations are positive, they develop a sense of
integrity. In contrast, older adults become
despairing (hopeless) if their backward glances
are mainly negative.
• Which stage of Erikson’s theory are you in?
• Does Erikson’s description of this stage
characterize you?
 Evaluating Erikson’s Theory
• Erikson’s theory captures some of life’s key
socioemotional tasks and places them in a
developmental framework.
• His concept of identity is especially helpful in
understanding older adolescents and college
students.
 Criticism
• Experts point out that his stages are too rigid.
• Identity, intimacy, independence, and many
other aspects of socioemotional development
are not appear in packaged age intervals.
• The eight stages always occur in the order and
according to the timetable he proposed has not
been scientifically documented.
 Strategies for Educating
Children Based on Erikson’s
Theory
 1- Encourage initiative in
young children.
• Children in preschool and early childhood
education programs should be given a great
deal of freedom to explore their world. They
should be allowed to choose most of the
activities they engage in.
• Provide exciting materials that will stimulate
their imagination.
Encourage initiative in young children.
• Help children assume responsibility for putting
toys and materials back in place after they
have used them.
• Criticism should be kept to a minimum so that
children will not develop high levels of guilt
and anxiety.
• Structure activities and environment for
successes rather than failures by giving them
developmentally appropriate tasks;
 2- Promote industry in
elementary school children.
• Teachers could provide an atmosphere in
which children become passionate about
learning.
• It is important for teachers to encourage
motivation for mastery and curiosity.
• Give students meaningful tasks to accomplish
that are challenging, but not overwhelming.
 3. Stimulate identity
exploration in adolescence
• Student’s identity is multidimensional. Ask
adolescents to write essays about such
dimensions, including vocational goals,
intellectual achievement, and interests in
hobbies, sports, music, and other areas,
exploring who they are and what they want to
do with their lives.
• Have people from different careers come and
talk with your students about their work
regardless of the grade you teach
 3. Stimulate identity
exploration in adolescence
• Encourage adolescents to think independently
and to freely express their views by listening
to, reading about, and participating in debates
on religious, political, and ideological issues.
• Understand that adolescents often express their
developing identities through their appearance,
language choices, and peer group choices.