Chapter 2- Historical Perspectives and Research in Early Childhood Development

This chapter will examine the roots of child study. We will explore historical views of childhood as well as research methods of the past and present. Research methods can directly influence adult-child interactions in the home and classroom.

New teachers often rely on the thinking and practices of their own teachers or parents. An example of this is using a strategy such as issuing a warning and then a time-out. Another example is insisting that students sit quietly, listen, and display absolute deference during a story. This may indicate that one considers children to be little grown-ups who can learn and behave as adults if properly trained.

1. A history of child study

1. Western perspectives on childhood

1. Until the Middle Ages, there was no concept of childhood in the minds of most adults in Western society. Until children reached the age of 6 or 7, they were considered infants that is nonpersons who were sometimes uncared for and unwanted. Infanticide was common. Little value was placed on the early years of child development in Europe during this period.
2. Once children reached the age of 7, they were viewed as little adults. The expectation was that children would behave as adults.
3. During the Renaissance, perspectives on childhood began to change. Children were gradually viewed as distinctly different human beings. They were believed to have been born bad, and it was the role of adults to train them in the teachings of the Church and to beat the devil out of them.
4. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were periods of relative enlightenment. A new emphasis was placed on socialization. The raising of a child became a process of training rather than conquering. When the Industrial Revolution brought about the need for a large labor force, concern about the welfare of children whose parents were at work began to surface. Public schools and eventually childcare programs were established to aid in every aspect of development.
5. The late twentieth century brought about a growing concern for children's physical, emotional, social, an intellectual needs.
6. Stressors that may put children's development in jeopardy include divorce, substance abuse, domestic violence, parental depression, and exposure to violence.

2. Non-Western perspectives on childhood

1. African history

1. The strong kinship and tribal bonds of early African families suggest that adults showed a high degree of concern and caring toward children as they did toward members of their families and communities.

2. Native American history

1. A theme woven through the ancient stories, family histories, art, and music of most Native American cultures is the interdependence among and respect for all living things.
2. Children were highly cherished and protected
3. Child rearing was a collective effort
4. Children were socialized to become part of a group

3. Chinese and Japanese history

1. Attitudes toward children in China and Japan were influenced by the writings of Confucius
2. Children were viewed as inherently good
3. Children were encouraged to learn through observation and imitation; asking questions was valued
4. Children should be guided in self-directed learning
5. Only moderate amounts of punishment or reinforcement should be given

4. Slavery and Colonialism

1. Family and nonfamily members banded together, pooling resources and sharing caregiving tasks
2. Puerto Rican families practiced compadrazgo or co-parenting by relatives and nonrelative and hijos de crianza which is informal adoption of children by nonfamily members
3. Through the family, slaves received affection, companionship, love, and empathy and some semblance of self-esteem
4. African slave parents adopted firm and directive practices in order to protect their children from dangers. They restricted children's actions and encouraged self-sufficiency at an early age
5. Native American parents taught young children not to cry as a necessity for survival
6. Oppression led to a striving for educational achievement within the dominant society. However, in some cultures, children may judge their self-worth not on success as defined in Western terms, but on achievements related to their own culture

2. Research on young children

1. Research findings merely provide good guesses about the relationships between children's behavior, learning, or other characteristics and their experience and genetic makeup
2. The aim of early work in child study was to describe normal development and determine its causes
3. John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau recognized the importance of environment in children's development and wrote about the origins of goodness and sinfulness in childhood. Goodness was adherence to the teachings of the Church and the standards of society. Deviation from mainstream thought or behavior was viewed as abhorrent
4. G. Stanley Hall was the first to test child development theories using larger and more representative samples children. Hall invented a now-common research tool, the questionnaire, to gather data.
5. Results were reported in normative charts which presented milestones in physical, mental, or social development for each age level of childhood
6. Correlational studies consists of observing two or more behaviors or developmental characteristics for a particular group of children in an effort to determine whether relationships exist among the behaviors
7. Some correlational studies are cross-sectional meaning factors of interest are examined by observing a group of children of many different ages only once or a small number of times
8. Some correlational research is longitudinal meaning a group of children is followed over a period of time in order to observe changes in their behavior and development at various age levels
9. Keep in mind that just because two characteristics or behaviors are found to be related does not mean that one causes the other
10. Experimental studies consist of the researcher causing something to occur in the lives of children and then measuring the outcome. The aim is to determine whether an intervention causes a positive change in children's learning or behavior
11. Caution must be used in interpreting the results of experiments. Child and family characteristics, positive parent interactions, or even biased research may explain positive outcomes, rather than the services themselves
12. Multicultural critique- researchers have systematically excluded subjects of traditionally under-represented groups. Professional must use care not to assume that conclusions and recommendations of researchers always apply to all individuals or ethnic groups
13. Qualitative/ ethnographic studies- traditional correlational or experimental studies make extensive use of quantitative methods in which children are observed and their behaviors are tallied or rated numerically. The numbers that are obtained are then entered into sophisticated computer programs, and in-depth statistical analyses are performed
14. Qualitative research is gaining popularity. It involves open-ended observations of children usually in natural settings. The purpose is to provide a thick description of children's development that captures all aspects of their lives: classroom environment, friendships, parents and family lives and community
15. The results of qualitative studies are usually presented as detailed narratives.
16. The purpose is to describe individual behavior or development within a particular environmental context moving away from an effort to identify what is normal for all children
17. The method of ethnography utilizes the traditional procedures of the anthropologist to study children's development within cultural context such as spending a great deal of time as participants in the culture of subjects being studied. Ethnographic research provides the fullest picture of child development from a multicultural perspective
18. Studying children in your own classroom- Observing children in the classroom in a thoughtful and organized way in an effort to answer pressing questions related to classroom life is known as action research
19. Sometimes teachers want to gain an understanding of children's growth and development in a particular area. In this case, quantitative observation methods may be used. The most common is the developmental checklist which is a listing of developmental milestones for behavioral characteristics of interest to a teacher
20. In event sampling, teachers make a check or notation on a coding sheet every time a particular behavior is observed
21. In time sampling, teachers observe children at regular intervals and record interactions that occur within that time frame
22. Qualitative methods of classroom observation may be most useful to teachers because they are relatively easy to administer and because they provide rich descriptive information about children which can be shared with parents and other professionals
23. Two common methods of qualitative observation are:

1. anecdotal record- notes are taken on classroom observations and then rewritten later in a more full and descriptive way. The steps followed are:

1. selecting a child to be observed
2. selecting the focus of the observation
3. taking notes during observations
4. writing up observations
5. interpreting anecdotal records

2. case study- an accumulation and interpretation of information from many different sources across time. Information included in a case study consists of:

1. anecdotal descriptions of classroom behavior
2. information on peer relations, classroom friendships, and interactions with teachers
3. descriptions of previous school experience
4. physical descriptions/health an medical information
5. interests and activity patterns in school
6. informal observations of the competence
7. formal assessments of the competence
8. descriptions of the child's family live and culture
9. descriptions of the child's neighborhood
10. descriptions of what the child does outside of school

1. after this information has been assembled, a descriptive narrative is written to summarize and interpret the findings. Conclusions and recommendations are often included

3. Critical concept 1

1. Perspectives on what children are like have changed throughout history

4. Critical concept 2

1. In spite of improvement in the treatment of children in recent times, services and educational opportunities are still not available to all children

5. Critical concept 3

1. Non-Western cultures have a different history.

6. Critical concept 4

1. Much of the research cited in this book involves quantitative methods

7. Critical concept 5

1. Qualitative research is gaining favor among child development researchers