1.1 Introduction 1.2 Being a Child 1.3 The Socio-Cultural Context of Childhood 1.3.1 Gender 1.3.2 Social Class 1.3.3 Religion 1.3.4 Family Structure and Interrelationships 1.3.5 Ecological Contexts 1.4 Summing Up 1.5 Glossary 1.6 Aswers to Check Your Props Exercises
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Can you recollect some of the incidents of your childhood and your thoughts and
feelings as a child? Some happenings stand out in one’s memory, others are hazy and
some are forgotten. This Unit aims to recapture some of the experiences and feelings of a child. There are many similarities among children. but each child’s experience of childhood is a different one. An understanding about children helps in interacting with
them and is basic to organizing services and programmes for them. Objectives
After studying this Unit, you should be able to:
describe some experiences and characteristics common to children studying
discuss how different socio-cultural settings influence the experience of childhood
Mala, an active five year old girl, is served roti and potato curry for lunch. The curry
has rai seeds in it. During the course of the meal she sees a rai seed, takes it out of the
bowl and starts to play with it. She puts it on the sable, moves i about, and says, “Look
mummy, this is a tiny ball. I wonder if the ants play with this ball!”
Three year old Manoj , t0 his amazement, sees that there is now an infant brother in the
house with whom he has to share his parents’ love and attention. He does not like the
situation very much, but he tries to accept his brother and be friendly with him One
day, when the mother was late in getting ready because of the baby, Manoj remarked
vehemently, “Mummy, let’s give the baby away, then we will not be late.
Tara is going to be four. She enjoys playing in the rain as most children do. One rainy
day, she was playing outside and the members of the family were sitting together in a
room. After every few minutes Tara would come laughing into the room, hug her curs
and go out again to continue her play. On being invited to sit with the rest she would
protest, “No, no! I want to play outside.” This continued for quite some time.
These anecdotes reveal the feelings and playfulness characteristic of children. It is only
child who can see a ball in a rai seed or pretend that a ball of mud is a piece of cake
and a tin box is a toy house. Make-believe comes easily to them and they endow
objects with qualities they do not actually have just as Mala did. In the second anecdote
is reflected the reaction of the child to the birth of a sibling which is ambivalent and
may range from jealousy and dislike to joyful acceptance. The third anecdote reflects the child’s early steps towards being on her own. She is realizing that she can do things by
herself and does not always need to have the protection of adults. However, while she is learning to be independent, she needs to reassure herself of the presence of loved and trusted persons. This she does by coming inside now and then.
Views that adults have about children’s capacities may not always be right. It is often
assumed that a child does not know what is happening around her and cannot make
sense of events. This is not true. It is also felt that children begin to think and
understand when they begin to speak. But we do know that infants understand many
words before that period. Some people expect children to run errands, look after
themselves and start attending school without emotional or other support from adults.
On the other hand, some think that children are immature, irrational, inaccurate in
their understanding of events and therefore, cannot do any task given to them.
Adults sometimes wrongly believe that nothing of consequence happens during
childhood.
Children have thoughts and emotions just as adults do, though they view the world in a
different way and their ways of expressing feelings are also different. A newborm can
sense feelings of love and affection by the way the parents hold her and look after her
needs. An eight month old child is able to comprehend a scolding or an endearment
even though she is not able to talk. She also understands and responds to sentences like,
“Give it to me” and “No, don’t do that.” If a game of peek-a-boo is played with a
10 month old child, she participates in the game by looking for the person and
anticipating her appearance. This reflects that the child is thinking. Achievements such
as these may seem very simple, but you have only to observe a child who has just
learnt to walk to see how gleefully she walks around the house for the pleasure of it
and bow she picks herself up again after falling down. Notice how she takes a few bold
steps and then looks back at the mother for reassurance. You would have observed
many instances, where the child is learning and developing. Do they not bring forth a
picture of children as intelligent beings and of childhood a valuable time for
learning? Childhood is also a period when the child learns to form relationships with
people-first with parents, then with the wider family circle and later with other
adults and children. This requires considerable courage and confidence. Imagine what
you would feel if you shifted to a new town and had to make friends with new
people.
Children are keen to explore the world and are untiringly curious. Exploration and
questioning are the ways through which children learn. It is often difficult to make a
child sit still for even five minutes. They like to examine things and objects around
them. A new object is thumped, squeezed, banged, licked and often dismantled in an
“Aha! A new toy ”
attempt to examine it Notice the rapt look on the child’s face as she does so! Any new
event of experience brings forth a stream of “why?”, “how?” and “when?” so that the
child’s questions often tax the adult’s patience.
Children are fascinated by the adult world. Their desire is to be like adults in many
ways and to grow up as quickly as possible. They imitate the adults and pretend to be
like them by wearing their clothes and trying to talk and act like them. Some of the
games of children such as “Doctor-Doctor” and “Police-Thief” reflect their imitation of
the activities of adults.
All is not fun and play in childhood, as many adults tend to think. Children also learn
that many things are forbidden — they must not touch something, they must not bit other
children, they must stop playing after a specific time and so on. Many of the
instructions they are required to follow seem unreasonable to them. There often follows
a battle of wills between the parents and children. Learning to obey a rule is sometimes
painful because it prevents children from doing what they want to do. During the period
of childhood they also learn the ways of eating, dressing, talking and behaving
considered appropriate in their society and culture.
Children from diverse backgrounds, regions and countries are similar in many ways.
Many experiences of childhood are universal and an inevitable part of growing up.
However, childhood has a different meaning for every chid. In the next Section you
will read what makes childhood a different experience for each child.
Check Your Progress Exercise 1 1) From your experiences and recollections note down an example of one of the following in the space provided beiow. a) Children’s curiosity b) Children’s imitation of adults
Answer:
a) Children’s curiosity(ପିଲାମାନଙ୍କର କତୁହଳ |)
The more curious a child is, the more he learns. Nurturing your child’s curiosity is one of the most important ways you can help her become a lifelong learner.
Babies are born learners, with a natural curiosity to figure out how the world works. Curiosity is the desire to learn. It is an eagerness to explore, discover and figure things out.
Parents and caregivers don’t have to “make” their children curious or “push” their children to learn. In fact, research shows that it is a child’s internal desire to learn (their curiosity), not external pressure, that motivates him to seek out new experiences and leads to greater success in school over the long term.
Curiosity is something all babies are born with. They come into the world with a drive to understand how the world works:
A newborn follows sounds, faces and interesting objects with her eyes.
An 8-month-old shakes a rattle and then puts it into his mouth to see what this object can do.
A toddler takes a stool to reach the countertop where the phone is—a “toy” she loves to play with.
A 2-year-old pretends she is the garbage collector and puts all her stuffed animals into the laundry basket “garbage truck” to figure out what it feels like to be in the other person’s shoes.
b) Children’s imitation of adults(ବୟସ୍କମାନଙ୍କ ପିଲାମାନଙ୍କର ଅନୁକରଣ |)
One of our biggest responsibilities is to be a good example to our children. This is because children, especially during the first 5 years of life, imitate everything they see in adults.
For better or for worse, children imitate adults. Almost without us realizing it, their small eyes study and hone in on us, working in behaviors, copying gestures, and internalizing words, expressions, and even roles. We know that children will never be exact copies of their parents
Children don’t only imitate their parents. As we well know, they don’t simply experience isolated scenarios. Nowadays, they have more social stimulation than ever, and even “models” outside their own home or school. We also can’t forget television and those new technologies they use from a very early age.
Everything they see, hear, and happens around them influences them. We adults make up that vast theater of characters that they imitate and that will influence their conduct and even their way of understanding the world. More on this later.
1.3THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT OF CHILDHOOD (NEXT CLASS)
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