My Garden of Thoughts: Reflection #2 -- Historical & Theoretical Influences of Childrearing

 

https://www.lifehack.org/799027/child-rearing 

    During the beginning part of this week's reading material, we focused on the first chapter in the book Parent-Child Relations by Phyllis Heath. Its discussion progressed from describing the many changes and adaptations in research literature surrounding parent-child roles and relationships to discussing where our current knowledge on this topic will lead us in the future.

    The chapter began with taking the reader through a timeline of historical research done in relation to parents and their children. I was extremely intrigued to follow along and see just how far we have come in American research concerning this topic and across the globe. The timeline in the textbook started with early 19th century beliefs, models, and theories and succinctly made its progression all the way to the present time in the 21st century. As it illustrated how much has changed in our views over time, it was clear that researchers, educators, and scientists have been in pursuit of finding out what the best parenting strategies and techniques are so that every future generation has better successes in life than the ones before them. 

    As the textbook explored the ways that theories and science had progressed over the last few centuries, I began taking note of how ideas relating to childrearing had advanced and adapted.

Belief that children are adults: 

    The 19th century was dominated by Puritanical beliefs and a view of parenting as an autocratic system. Thomas Hobbes and John Calvin were the main scientific and religious voices at the time, which led to much of the population merging both their ideas of believing that children's wills and autonomy should be denied by strict and formal parenting. It was believed to be good for the child development.  

    Today, I believe the majority of Americans view this style of parenting as borderline abusive toward children. I can only assume that this is partially because of the extensive research that has been done, but also because we have lived to see how children who are treated this way turn out. The diversity of our society has also led to viewing parenting style through multiple religious lenses, rather than just one religious belief (Puritan).  

Belief that children are NOT adults: 

    Later in the 19th century, G. Stanley Hall brought about the idea that children should not be treated like adults because their development wasn't as fully matured as adults. He began the Child Study Movement which advocated for more effort to be put behind developing better psychological and educational resources about the true nature of children's needs. 

    Some of Hall's efforts were thwarted, though, when John Watson came to the forefront of American psychology. He studied human behavior and argued that parents needed to become less responsive to their children in fear that they may spoil their development with too much attention or affection. This scientific research was actually disproven by scientific studies and it also seemed to parallel earlier erroneous view like the Puritan/Hobbesian View ideals which centered around parental techniques of ignoring children to develop them correctly.

    Today, it is clear that G. Stanley Hall was actually on the right path to discovering very important elements in childhood development. Children's brains are not at the same functioning capacity to comprehend things the way adults to. It is also shown to be essential that caregivers must be responsive to young kids in order for their emotional abilities to grow and develop. Not doing that leads to stunting emotional capabilities and has led to a lot of the mental health crisis we see now. 

    

Roles of the Parent vs. Roles of Education:

    After the research proved that children should now be viewed at a different functioning level developmentally than adults, the question arose of how to address their specific needs as a parent and as an educator. Several researchers began studying what type of parental behaviors would illicit good results in children (B.F Skinner), while others wanted to illustrate how parents could also hinder or help their children's ability to resolve different crises throughout their lifetime depending on how they treated their child (Erikson). In addition to these theorists, many voices rose out of the educational realm with ideas on how to cater to children's academic needs that had largely been unaddressed.

Figures like Maria Montessori and Caroline Pratt argued that children's minds were very plastic and absorbent, making their early years extremely formative. They believed children should be given more autonomy when it came to the learning process and when playing.

    This section really stuck out to me because I personally went to a Montessori school during Preschool and Kindergarten. I can say that this type of schooling is specifically geared toward making sure children are given many avenues to have hands-on experiences with the materials they are learning about. I can still remember several lessons we studied and many of the "toys" we were given to play with in order to learn ( I say toys, but they were more educational than I realized and they that related to each lesson. They were fun to play with though!). I strongly believe that this type of schooling did help me develop better overall in my ability to critically reason, deduct, and independently take charge of my education. The research is right: children who are given more personal responsibility for their learning process will value it much more later down the road because they made it their own.

Final Thoughts:

    Even though the chapter discussed even more theories, specifically ones that focused on family systems and external factors other than parents that influence a child's life, they all point to a very important fact: children are unique in their development apart from adults AND they require our utmost effort to try and teach and raise them affectionately with boundaries. Research has shown that children thrive best when they know they are loved and they know how far they can push the limits. Both elements are essential to their development into adulthood.

    Hopefully this base level of knowledge will provide us with ways we can care for and rear children who are born in future generations.

- E.