Social Development and socialization

 

Social
development is the process through which children learn what behavior is
acceptable and expected. A set of standards is imposed on the child at birth
that reflects values of the family and the society in which the child lives.

Indeed
enhancing social intelligence builds a set of skills that may be among the most
essential for life success of many kinds.

Social
development begins at birth. Within the first few months of life, the
infant smiles, coos, and plays in response to a human voice, face or physical
contact. Young children are influenced from birth by a deliberate attempt on
the part of adults to guide them in ways that society expects.

·        
Parents attempt to
transmit behavior patterns that are characteristic of their religion, culture,
and gender, educational and ethnic background. Children imitate what they see;
they adapt social expectations to their own personality.

·        
The family, caregivers,
and the community contribute to the children’s’ social world and to the values and
attitudes that are developed.

·        
Cooperation, generosity,
loyalty and honesty are not inborn, but they must be passed on to the child by
older people.

·        
Through socialization,
the customary roles that boys and girls play are also transmitted. Children
come to understand how mothers, fathers, grandparents, males and females are
supposed to act.

From
the home setting, the child then moves to the school and the teacher.

·        
In general socialization
process in a school revolves around the child’s relationship with other people.

·        
During this time of their
lives, children work out a separate set of relationships with adults other than
their parents. They establish different relationships with adults than they do
with other children and most importantly they learn to interact with other
children.

·        
Another important facet
of socialization in the school involves the development of a sense of
community. A program me’s emotional climate and teacher’s behavior contribute
not only to the children’s sense of personal safety and belonging, but also to
the value of a web of relationships that is sustained by a process of
communication.

Social
competence

This
involves the skill and personal knowledge children develop to deal with
challenges and opportunities they face in life with others. They generally
focus on an individual’s ability to initiate and sustain a satisfying
reciprocal relationship with peers.

Components
of social competence

·        
Emotional regulation:  Ability
to regulate emotions

·      Social knowledge and
understanding: knowledge of enough language and norms to interact successfully.
Understanding others’ feelings and reactions.(empathy)

·  Social skills:  social
approach patterns, attention to others, exchange of information and handling
aggression.

·        
Social disposition:  habits or characteristic way of responding to experiences.

Why
is social competence important?

·        
Such children are happier
than those who are less competent.

·        
Children’s social
relations have been linked to academic achievement.

·        
Lack of social competence
has been linked to rejection by peers, poor self-esteem, and poor academic
performance.

Dimensions of Child’s Social
development

All
areas of children’s development play a part in learning social skills;

·        
Having the confidence to
try joining a group calls upon emotional skills

·        
Remembering children’s
names or how a game works is a cognitive task.

·        
Using your words to
express ideas or feelings requires language.

·        
Being able to play chase
or walk in high heels for a dress up game requires certain physical dexterity

In the early years, children mature socially in discernable developmental stages. From
birth to age three, children’s interest in others begins with a mutual gazing
and social smile in the early months (birth through to eight months), continues
with exploration of others as some anxious behaviour around strangers in the
crawler and walker stages (eight to eighteen months) and develops into the enjoyment of peers and adults along with awareness of other’s rights and
feelings as a toddler and a two-year-old preschool (eighteen months to three years)

In
consideration years, children learn to control their aggressive impulses, think
about others besides themselves, and resist doing what they shouldn’t do this
learning translates into four basic expectations. They will;

• ·
  Show interest in others
• ·
  Learn right from wrong
• ·
  Learn to get along with
  others
• ·
  Learn a role for
  themselves that takes into consideration their own unique self, gender, race,
  ethnicity and abilities.

For
a young child, social development means the steady movement away from the egocentric
position of self as a central point towards a more social-centric viewpoint.

Children
learn social skills in several, predictable ways;

·        
First, the brain is wired
to look for patterns when an infant smiles and is met with a reciprocal smile,
a pattern of responsiveness and attachment is begun.

·        
They are active learners,
asserted Piaget and others, who will observe and experiment, learning first-hand what happens when they try something.

·        
Next children have
multiple ways of learning. As Gardner (1993) points out there are at least
eight ways to express intelligence. Since teachers do not

Know
each child’s way of learning; it is best to try a variety of approaches when
teaching social skills.

Social
skills in early childhood

Social
skills are strategies children learn that enable
them to behave appropriately in many environments. They help children learn to
initiate or manage social interactions in a variety of settings and with a
number of people. These are skills learnt with adults, with peers, in a group
and as an individual.

Social
cognition

Social
cognition is the application of thinking to personal
and social experiences

·        
Social cognition requires
children to interpret events and makes decisions, to consider the impact of
their behaviour on others and to consider the cause as well as consequences of
an action. Cognitive skills are necessary when we ask children to seek
alternative solutions to social problems.

The
role of the teacher

·        
A major role for the
early childhood teacher is to see that children have enjoyable social contacts
and to help motivate children towards a desire to be with each other.

·        
The teacher has an
important role to play as children learn the give and take social interaction.

·        
In the role of social
organizer, the teacher creates a physical and inter personal environment that
promotes the development of children’s social skills.

·        
Plan and arrange a social
environment. Establishing co-acting environment, declares Bos (1990) helps
children in a way of interacting with others more

Often
one-on-one than in larger groups, with an emphasis on process rather than
product.

·        
Help children develop
trust- trusting, in themselves, their peers, and their teachers is an
essential part of learning about social relationships. Teachers enhance
children’s social knowledge as they gradually improve their sense of trust.

·        
Facilitate children’s
interactions and interpret their behaviour- to help young children understand
each other and to pave way for continued cooperation, the teacher reports and
reflects on what is happening.

Conclusion

Early
in life, children become aware of their social nature. The socialization
process begins under the guidance of parents and family members. When children
enter group settings, they are further exposed to behaviour, social rules and
attitudes that foster social development. Much of the child’s social repertoire
is learnt by playing with other children. 

Children learn a great many social
skills in these early years they learn to enjoy and trust adults other than
their parents. In their relationships with others, children learn ways to
cooperate, disagree share, communicate and assert themselves effectively.
Teachers plan and arrange the early childhood environment in ways that will
promote social growth and interaction. The adults help children understand each
other’s actions and motivations by interpreting the behaviour of the children as
they play.