Life Span Development II: School age and Adolescence 3 (2+1)
Lesson 12 : Role of Family, School and Peers on Overall development of School age children
Role of school in the context of development
Teachers should interact more and generate more responsiveness from children. They should have reliable expectations that are then transmitted to the child. The child may internalize these expectations and perform in accordance with it. If the expectation is low, children may perpetuate to poor performance.
Influence of Teacher-Child Relationships
Teachers act as role models, caregivers and mentors for children. Relationships between teachers and children have important effects on children’s social and emotional development and their adaption to the school environment. Children who have warm, secure and positive relationships with teachers are more cognitively and socially competent. As well poor teacher-child relationships are predictive of behavior problems (Henricsson & Rydell, 2004). The quality of teacher-child relationships predicts children’s social and academic outcomes years later. They are more predictive than is the quality of the child’s relationships with his or her parents.
Teachers can have a significant influence on children’s social development. This influence can be quite positive, encouraging feelings of competence and well-being. To enhance positive outcomes for students they should
Reduce the tendency of students to compare themselves with one another
Use cooperative interaction strategies in the classroom
Promote beliefs about student’s competencies rather than their deficiencies,
Increase chances for students to be successful and
Children’s behaviors: teachers generally respond more positively to students who achieve, conform and agreeable and complaint. They give attention to students who make demands that are appropriate to classroom activities, but they are indifferent to students who are silent or withdrawn.
Children’s racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds: Teachers sometimes stereotype children on the basis of race, culture and social class. Teachers may attribute failure in school to a child’s class or ethnic background. Some teachers accept less from lower-class and minority children, even when these children have abilities similar to those of other children.
Children’s gender: Teachers treat boys and girls differently. They generally give boys more attention than they give girls and more freedom. They believe that boys posses greater school-related skills than girls do. So boys receive more approval, instruction and time from their teachers. Teachers believe that being nice and obedient is related to intellectual skills in girls but not in boys.
Participants