Developmental Theories in Early Childhood

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Introduction
The process of learning in the early childhood depends in three principal parameters
and this includes belonging, being and becoming (The Early Years Learning Framework For
Australia 2019). According to the World Health Organisation (2019), the developments in the
early childhood (ECD) encompass the physical, socio-emotional, cognitive and motor
development. These developmental stages co-exist up to 8 years. As per the neuro-scientific
evidences majority of the children are at the risk of the sub-optimal development of the child
and thus effective interventions along with holistic approach is required to be undertaken for
facilitating proper development of the child. The following paper is based on the observation
of 2 years 10 month old child in physical development skills, communication skills and
psychosocial developmental skills. The therapeutic communication skills executed by the
pedagogy experts will also be critically examined followed by recommendation to improve
the process of childhood development.
Developmental theories in early childhood
Developmental theories are associated with early childhood are Erikson’s
Psychosocial Developmental Theory, Bowlby’s Attachment Theory, Bandura’s Social
Learning Theory and Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental theory.
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development represents eight stages of
psychological development that coincides with the different stages of life of a person.
According to this theory, proper completion of each phase of development results in the
development of healthy personality and acquisition of the basic requirement of life. The first
stage of this theory is trust Vs mistrust. This stage initiate at the time of birth and lasts up to
18 months of age. During this stage the toddler remains unsure about the world in which they

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resides and mainly look up to the primary care givers for stability and consistency in care
(Villar and Pratt 2015). In relation to the case study it can be said that girl child observed in
the Kindergym during the session of gymsports was 2 years and 10 month old. However,
during the entire day in the gym sport it is significantly evident that she has a trust issues with
the unknown persons and is only comfortable in communicating and playing with her mother
who is her primary care giver. Due to her trust issues, she has only one friend in the kinder
gym. Knight (2017) are of the opinion that if the care of the infant is consistent and is
predictable or reliable, the child develops a feeling of trust trust which help them to carry
other relationships and they are able to feel secure even when they are threatened. The girl
child analysed in the case study, refuse the feel secure in the absence of her mother as she
always made sure that her mother is sitting closer to her when the event of singing was
happening in the story time sessions. She was also shy to the strangers but was interacting
comfortably with her mother. Thus it can be extracted from the case study that there is a
delay in the psychological development for this concerned girl child. The second stage of the
Erickson psychosocial development is autonomy vs shame and doubt. This stage occurs from
18 months of age and last for up to 3 years. During this phase, the children are focused on
developing personal control in the domain of physical skills along with the development of a
sense of independence. Zhang (2015) are of the opinion that success at this stage depends that
encourage and support given to the child in order to increase their level of independence and
become self-confident and secured about their own ability in-front of the world. However, as
per the observation of the girl child in the kinder gym it can be said that she lacks the
required confidence. Like during the story time, when few of the kids started doing some
actions while singing, she preferred to sit down with her mom and refused to come forward.
She also rarely plays with other kids. In order words it can be said that she lacks the required
confidence in order to take active initiatives to interact with the world. But when it comes of

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some physical performance like jumping over the trampoline or playing fishing and playing
ball fit, she is confident and shows excellent performance. Thus problem lies in her
psychosocial development and not physical development.
Figure: Eight different stages of Erickson theory of psychosocial development
(Source: Zhang 2015)
According to the Bowlby’s attachment theory, the major portion of the childhood
attachment is based on the innate need of the child in order to form the attachments. These
attachment mainly involves involve the number of people, things, places and these effects
ultimately have a significant effect on the onward developmental patterns throughout the life
of the child. There is a strong co-relation with the theory of Bowlby’s and the Erickson first