K is an 8-year-old girl who lives with her parents and a nanny. She has a good relationship with other kids, as she loves playing with them. Other than playing, she loves arts and crafts, which is evident from the paintings in her room, which she has drawn from a younger age. K loves interacting with her dog, which she has grown fond of since it was bought into their home as a young puppy. K is girly and has an interest in girly things, including makeup, hair, and nails. From the observation, it’s clear that K is very open to expressing herself and is very confident. The sociocultural theory suggests that parents and caregivers play a key role in the development of higher-order functions. In Vygotsky’s view, learning is more of an inherently social process (Babakr et al., 2019). The confidence that she has is because her parents have made it a habit to listen to her since she was a young age. The confidence is definitely cultured from the environment in which she is growing. An interaction with her immediate family has played a key role in defining her understanding of the world. Her mother is fond of makeup and beauty products, which she seems to take after also a part of the social learning theory.
K’s behavior matches the normal development milestones of a child. In this stage, a child gets to think logically about events, though they have difficulty in understanding the abstract concepts. For instance, K comforted a child who got hurt as they were playing. In her own logical understanding, she is able to give comfort; though she might not exactly know the best way to do it, she just does it without the hypothetical concepts.
I believe that K believes in such a manner because of the environment in which she has been brought up. Despite having a nanny, her parents have always assured her of their love, even when they are away. Her mom has taught her on feelings, which is the main reason why she can easily offer compassion and empathy to other children even without a proper understanding of what she is doing. She has captured a lot of her behaviors from her environment, which is reinforced by constant guidance in her environment. K is also very creative, which led to her interest in arts and crafts. From time to time, her father took her on a painting date when she was three, which created her interest in the arts. The biopsychosocial factors that have influenced her development and behavior are the environment that she has grown in. The social factor defines how a child has been raised and the different interactions that happen around her. If the environment that the child is raised in is harsh and negative, the child turns out to be withdrawn emotionally.
On a biophysical assessment, K’s development and behavior match that of her age in terms of learning and her ability to grasp emotions from the environment around her. Her social behavior and development are great, as she can easily learn and interact with other children (Taber, 2020). Her psychological development is at the concrete operational stage, where she can think logically about events.
K’s future development is greatly dependent on her environment and the different events that will occur in her life. In four years, she will get to the formal operational stage, where she will develop the ability to think through abstract concepts. She will also get skills such as logical thought, systematic planning, and deductive reasoning.
References
Babakr, Z., Mohamedamin, P., & Kakamad, K. (2019). Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory: Critical review. Education Quarterly Reviews, 2(3).
Taber, K. S. (2020). Mediated learning leading development—The social development theory of Lev Vygotsky. Science education in theory and practice: An introductory guide to learning theory, 277-291.
write