“The social competence of Latino kindergarten and growth in mathematical understanding” is an article written by Galindo and Fuller. The authors provide explanations on the existence of disparities in social competence level among young Latino learners. They present research data that allows readers to understand how Latino children joining kindergarten are at risk of having weak social development. The result indicates that; the Latino children’s degree of social competence is relatively lower than those of the white students. However, kids brought up in middle-class Latino families display minimum variation in social development than those coming from a poor background. The application of ecocultural theory helps in explaining the existence of social competence disparities (Galindo & Fuller 2010). According to the theory, children form supportive and warm parenting environments often nature strong social skills, thus help in providing protective factors against the difficulties existing in poor communities.
Notably, cultural heritage also contributes to the disparities existing in social competence in kindergarten. For instance, children from Puerto Rican presented a broader gap in social competence compared to white kids. The findings prove that continual parent adaptation to surrounding norms such as class-related attributes frequently affect socialization practices. Also, the findings displayed that growth in mathematical comprehension depends on the level of parental expectation for school achievement and learner’s knowledge in English. For instance, kids from families where English is a dominant language present strong mathematical scores, unlike monolingual homes. Competency in the English language makes children have good cognitive development and social agility, making them score excellently in math (Galindo & Fuller 2010). Apart from parental support at home, the ability of teachers to become agile in establishing activity structures can help learners perform well, especially those that fail to show connection practices to learning.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Personal Reflection
The research provides results that are important to both teachers and Latino parents. It helps in understanding the existence of disparities among Latino children. Indeed, the family’s social class position and differing parental activities in Latino homes may reduce the development of social competence in children. Therefore, practicing persistence culturally binding socialization practices such as adaptation to local norms can bring good results to ethnic children. I agree that children acquire social competence by engaging in relevant routines set and structures by adults and teachers. The activities help children learn ways of becoming a legitimate member of the community and help them develop cognitive skills that enhance their efficacy levels. As a result, I agree that it is fundamental for educators and social analysts to help children differentiate between cognitive and social domains of development to establish good competency.
Article Critique
Good social competence enables young learners to adapt to cognitive learning in a school environment effectively. Galindo and Fuller understand the need for strengthening the students’ competence skills mainly due to their exposure to the education field. The authors have carefully done their research and presentation to understand the impact of parental and teacher contribution towards learners’ development and social behavior. The article is relevant because of the inclusion of the ecocultural theory concept, which helps in emphasizing how learners establish social competence through participation in routine activities in homes and schools.
The arguments presented are valid. For instance, the authors have used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The analysis of the methods has helped in expounding information on the relationship between learners’ ethnicity with competence level. The discussion segment of the article has also helped in summarizing the research result in a simple form, making it easy for readers to comprehend the information well. The use of multiple references also makes the article look compelling because of the comprehensive integration of information.
References
Galindo, C., & Fuller, B. (2010). The Social Competence of Latino Kindergartens and Growth in Mathematical Understanding. American Psychology Association . https://doi.org/10.1037/0017821
