Psychosocial development is the process by which a child learns how to distinguish between right and wrong. It can also be called moral development. This development occurs alongside physical and cognitive developmnet. A child's understanding of fair treatment and cordial behaviour begins to be formed at an early stage. Their are some activities that can enhance the experience of learning and help the child meet their developmental milestone sin time. The activities are designed to be suitable and appropriate for each age group (Van Hoorn et al., 2014).
The first activity will be carried out in the infant room. This room will have care givers interacting with children below the age of two years. The care givers will guide the children through different play activities that include each child playing with a stuffed toy. The child will not be allowed to take another child's toy. The care taker will enforce this rule strictly by withdrawing the child from the activity when they do not adhere to the rules. However, the child will then be allowed to join the activity after some minutes. The care givers will have to be consistent in this activity in order to avoid confusing the child on what is expected of them.
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This activity reflects the concepts found in Kohlberg's theory of moral development. The infant stage fall under level one of the theory. Since the children belong to the preconventional stage, they are only able to understand morality from the aspect of consequences. They also accept their parents and other care givers as the rule makers. The activity above teaches infants to respond to rules. Withdrawing play time is then understood as a consequence of taking some one else's toy. This teaches action and punishment because this is the farthest level that a child can reason at this age. The concept is derived from part 1 of level one in the theory. It teaches obedience and punishment orientation (Lind, 2017).
The activity will also be useful in helping the child to develop emotional control. Children at this stage act out on their impulses and they are often very quick to respond. This activity will give the child structure and help them develop alternative methods of dealing with others (Van Hoorn et al., 2014).
The second activity will take place in the early childhood room. Children here will fall under the ages of 2 as a lower limit and 7 as the eldest child. The children will be paired in groups and asked to play together. Activities will include collaborative games such as tic tac toe. By now, the child is familiar with the role of authority figures play. They are more likely to follow instructions than before. The child who plays well with their partner will be rewarded with a gold star on his chart. The child who is uncooperative or aggressive towards his partner will be punished by getting a gray egg on his chart. The meanings of the symbols will be explained to the children. The charts will be hang up on the wall for all children to see.
Children in this age group fall under the second level called convention. By this time, the child is familiar with structure and he understands punishment. However, he begins to develop a sense of order that determines his comfort within society. Unlike in the first stage, this child can reason and understand. The child is therefore not limited by his fear of punishment. They are also motivated by the desire to co exist peacefully with others. Kohlberg describes this stage as the good boy, nice girl orientation. Older children in this stage operate under the law and order orientation (Lind, 2017).
This activity teaches the child that diffrent activities have different consequences. The child then makes the connection that good behavior is rewarded while bad behaviour is punished. The child is generally encouraged to make the right decision so as to get a positive outcome.
The third activity takes place in the adolescent room. This room holds young adults in their teenage years. The activities here will focus on writing. The attendants will be asked to write a story that brings out several moral values. The story should also describe the consequences of various actions and classify them as either punishment or reward. The participants will then exchange each other's writings so that it can be clear whether they agree or object to the views expressed. Another version of the activity could have the care givers read out stories with moral lessons. The attending participants will then point out the moral lessons or lack thereof.
This age group falls under level three. Here each person believes in individual values and qualities. The stage is called the post conventional stage. People in this stage have come to the realisation that not all rules or persons in authority are right. The person is also able to explain why they believe in certain rules and not others. However, some people in this stage still believe in the absoluteness of the rules. They choose to obey even if it does not feel right. The first school of thought falls under the social contract orientation. The second school of thought falls under the universal ethical principal orientation (Van Hoorn et al., 2014).
Writing and reading activities help a child to develop reasoning skills that now precede action. The child is also able to object to any actions that they see as wrong by creating their own perfect sense of justice. Exchanging stories helps the children develop empathy as they see the world from the perspective of others.
References
Lind, G. (2017). The Theory of Moral-Cognitive Development A Socio-Psychological Assessment. In Moral Judgments and Social Education (pp. 25-48). Routledge.
Van Hoorn, J. L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B., & Alward, K. R. (2014). Play at the center of the curriculum . Pearson.
