Developing Empathy through Storytelling

Ensuring holistic development is crucial for children's growth. The assignment content emphasizes the importance of fostering cognitive, emotional, and communication skills in children. To achieve this, educators can use various strategies such as providing explicit instructions, identifying others' emotions, developing social skills through reading, establishing model and expected behaviors, encouraging children to reflect, and teaching non-verbal skills. Additionally, responding to gestures and emotions, talking and listening to children are also effective ways to build on these skills. The content highlights the significance of considering the emotional and communication development in conjunction with cognitive and social skills.

Summative assessment 1
Question 1
The code of ethics can be considered as a set of expected behaviour of the early childhood
professionals. The Code of Ethics provides the healthcare professionals with a framework to identify and
reflect on the ethical responsibilities of the early childhood care professionals in Australia. The code of
ethics is developed on basis of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1991)
(Gialamas et al., 2015).
For instance, the first code indicates that the childcare professionals should address that every child
possess unique strengths and interests. The childcare professionals also need to recognize that every
child has unique capacity to contribute for the society.
The intent of this code is showing respect to the capabilities of every children of the nation. As per the
UN convention, every child should receive the treatment and environment which fosters full
development of the personality. The children should also grow in an environment of love, happiness and
understanding. The current code also, focuses on enabling the childcare professionals to identify the
unique strengths and capabilities of children and provide them an environment where the children can
build on those strengths and capabilities. The code also enables the professionals to provide the children
with a favorable environment for full personality development.
Reference:
Gialamas, A., Mittinty, M. N., Sawyer, M. G., Zubrick, S. R., & Lynch, J. (2015). Time spent in different
types of childcare and children's development at school entry: an Australian longitudinal study. Archives
of disease in childhood, 100(3), 226-232.
Question 2
The UN Convention considers the children as the human being. The UN convention also indicates that
the children deserve all the rights that the other human beings deserve. The UN convention also gives
importance on treating the children with care. As per the convention, the children should be provided
with the family environment. The children also need being grown in a happy, understanding and lovely
environment for developing their personality (Freeman, 2018). Use of UN convention in code of ethics is
important for providing the suitable environment for development to the children in their early age.
Incorporation of UN convention also enables the early childhood care professionals to understand the
ideal ways of behaving while dealing with the children. The UN convention also promotes equal
behaviour and opportunities towards the children irrespective of their background (Freeman, 2018). The
code of ethics in Australia also gives importance on ensuring that the values and culture of each child
are being respected and they are being treated equally irrespective of their background.

Reference:
Freeman, M. (Ed.). (2018). Children's Rights: New Issues, New Themes, New Perspectives. BRILL.
Question 3
The detailed information on the National Quality Framework in Australia can be obtained from the
ACECQA website. The link is provided below--
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/about
The detailed information on National Quality Standard can be obtained from the below link—
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-quality-standard
The relevant information on a Early Years Learning Framework are obtained from the following link—
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/.../belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_lear...
As per EYLF, the children in Australia are expected to achieve the following five outcomes by the age of
five—
 The children should possess a strong sense of identity
 The children should be able to connect and contribute to the world
 Children should have a strong sense of well-being
 Children should grow as a confident as well as involved learner
 Children should be able to communicate effectively
Question 4
The quality area 1 and quality area 7 focus on holistic development of the children.
The quality area 1 includes three standards. The standard 1.1 indicates that the educational program
should enhance the learning and development of each child. The standard 1.2 enables the educators to
facilitate and extend learning and development of each child. The standard 1.3 emphasizes on
assessment and planning of the education programs for the children. The standard facilitates the
educators and the co-ordinators for adopting the reflective and planned approach for program
implementation for every child.
The quality area 7 focuses on promoting the management and leadership that leads to development of
the quality environment for learning and development of the children. The quality area 7 also gives
importance on having well-documented policies and procedures for boosting learning effectiveness of
the children. The quality area 7 also ensures that that the early childhood care centers are functioning as
the learning community and incorporating the reflective practices. As per the quality area 7, the

education in the early years can be considered as an ongoing cycle of planning, reviewing and enhancing
engagement with the families.
The standard 7.1 indicates that the early years childcare centers should have a governance system that
supports the quality service to the children at their early age. The standard emphasizes on having a
philosophy and purpose of statement that shapes all aspects of the service operations. The
management standard also enables the management of childcare centers to manage the risk and
provide quality service continuously. The roles and responsibilities of different professionals in the
childcare center should be clearly defined and the roles and responsibilities should support effective
decision making. The standard 7.2 of the quality area gives importance on promoting positive
organizational culture and developing the learning community. The standard also focuses on continuous
improvement of the quality of education offered to the children. The standard also gives importance on
promoting educational leadership and developing the childcare professionals.
Question 5
Developmental theory
As per Erik Erikson’s cognitive approach, the psychological development of a child occurs at eight
different stages. The first stage of the development deals with Trust vs. Mistrust. The first stage occurs
at the age of 0 to 1 year. The trust is developed on the behaviour of caregivers (Britto et al., 2017). The
theory also states that the psychosocial development of an individual occurs during the early years of
childhood. On the psychosocial development, the children obtain a greater sense of personal control.
The second stage or the stage of psychosocial development is also described as the autonomy vs shame
and doubt phase. The third phase of development is described as the Initiative vs. Guilt phase. It occurs
during the pre- school years when the children start to show their power and control over the world
through play and other social interactions.
The fourth stage or the stage of Industry vs. Inferiority takes place between the years 5 to 11. During this
phase, the children start developing a sense of pride in their abilities and accomplishments. The fifth
psychological stage or the stage of identity vs confusion occurs during the adolescent years. During this
stage, the individuals develop a sense of personal identity. The psychological development stage 6 or
the stage of intimacy vs isolation takes place in the early adulthood. During this phase, the individuals
learn to develop close and committed relationship with others. The stage 7 of development or the stage
of Generativity vs. Stagnation takes place during adulthood. The individuals in this phase continue
building the lives and career. The psychological development stage 8 or the stage of Integrity vs. Despair
occurs at the old age. At the stage 8, the individuals reflect back on the life.
The behaviorist approach of B.F. Skinner is focused on the concept of operant conditioning. As per the
concept of operant conditioning , the behaviour of an individual is influenced by the consequences
(Efevbera et al., 2017). An individual is expected to repeat a behaviour on basis of the reinforcements or
the punishments. The approach used by Skinner also indicates that the psychology can be studied in the
most scientific way by analyzing the behaviors.
Early brain development

The Cognitive Development Theory of Piaget consists of three components-- the schemas, the
adaptation process of an individual and the different stages of cognitive development. The schemas are
considered as the building blocks of knowledge. The adaptation process makes the individuals able to
transit from one stage of development to another (Efevbera et al., 2017). The stages of cognitive
development can be categorized into four phases including the sensorimotor stage, the pre-operational
stage, the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage. The sensorimotor stage
continues for the first two years after birth. During the sensorimotor stage the child forms a mental
representation of the object. The pre-operational stage lasts between the age of 2 and 7 years. During
the pre-operational stage, the young children become able to think in symbolic manner. The concrete
operational stage continues between the age of 7 and 11. During the concrete operational period,
children can converse number, mass and weight. They also become able to operate internally. The
formal operational stage occurs after the age of 11. During the formal operational stage, the individuals
become able to think about abstract concepts and can test the hypotheses logically.
Urie Bronfenbrenner has formulated the Ecological Systems Theory for explaining the influence of
environment on the inherent qualities of a child. The environments that influence the inherent qualities
of a child are the family and home-based ecological systems, the larger school-based systems and the
society as well as culture based system (Richter et al., 2017). As per the Ecological aspects, each of the
systems interacts with each other and influence different aspects of the life of the children. According to
the Ecological Systems Theory, the environment of a child can be categorized as the microsystem,
mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem.
The importance of the early years for subsequent educational success
Gardner’s theory indicates several types of intelligences including the visual-spatial intelligence,
linguistic-verbal intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, logical-mathematical
intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence and naturalistic intelligence (Black et al.,
2017). For assessing the overall intelligence level of a child, all aspects need to be considered.
Kohlberg’s Moral Development theory explains development of child in two distinct phases-- the pre-
conventional phase and the conventional phase (Britto et al., 2017). During the pre-conventional phase,
morality of a child is controlled externally. The pre-conventional phase can further be categorized into
the obedience and punishment orientation and the instrumental orientation. In the first stage, the child
takes decision on basis of the punishment. In the instrumental stage, the child takes decision on basis of
the incentives for an action. During the conventional phase, the sense of morality of a child is dependent
on the social and personal relationships. During this phase, the children seek for approval from
others and also learns to follow rules and regulations.
References:
Black, M. M., Walker, S. P., Fernald, L. C., Andersen, C. T., DiGirolamo, A. M., Lu, C., ... & Devercelli, A. E.
(2017). Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. The
Lancet, 389(10064), 77-90.

Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., ... & MacMillan, H. (2017).
Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 91-102.
Efevbera, Y., McCoy, D. C., Wuermli, A. J., & Betancourt, T. S. (2017). Early childhood development plus
violence prevention in low and middle income countries: A qualitative study.‐ ‐ Children & society, 31(2),
98-109.
Richter, L. M., Daelmans, B., Lombardi, J., Heymann, J., Boo, F. L., Behrman, J. R., ... & Bhutta, Z. A.
(2017). Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood
development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 103-118.
Question 6
The factors that can affect development of the children areas follow—
 Genetic characteristics-- The genetic characteristics of a child influence the health and mental
developments.
 Family values and culture-- The family values and culture shape the learning expectations and
behaviour of the child.
 Exercise-- The exercise influences the mental and physical growth of a child.
 Nutrition-- The nutrition at early years influence health of the children.
 Social Interaction-- The social interaction influences the communication skill and language
development among children.
Question 8
The symbol system is used for the children who have difficulties to use the speech effectively. Such
children can need symbols for representing their thoughts and understanding the messages conveyed
by others. For the children with visual impairments, the tactile symbols which can be felt. On basis of the
abilities of the children, the symbols can be printed, alphabetical or braile.
The symbol systems can broadly classified as the picture symbol systems and the tactile symbol systems.
The picture symbol system is tailor-made for meeting unique needs of a child. Using actual photographs
of the items or activities can be effective to make the children understand the current objects.
The tactile symbols are developed and used for meeting the needs of every individual child (Bishop &
Hsu, 2015). In case of tactile symbols, an object can be used for representing an activity.
For example, the pillow or the blanket can be used to represent bed-time to a child.
Reference:

Bishop, D. V., & Hsu, H. J. (2015). The declarative system in children with specific language impairment: a
comparison of meaningful and meaningless auditory-visual paired associate learning. BMC psychology,
3(1), 3.
Summative assessment 2
Ensuring holistic development is necessary for every child to grow them as a responsible citizen. The
holistic development of a child depends on the physical, social, cognitive, emotional and communication
development. In the early years, the educators require incorporating different strategies to foster the
overall growth of a child (Hargie, 2016). A child in her early years, spend a significant amount of the time
in childhood education and the care service environment. So, the early education and care service
providers require giving special attention to the education and development of the child. The current
research aims at identifying the needs of every child and promotes different strategies for physical,
social, cognitive, emotional and communication development.
Physical development: The physical development is one of the key growth areas of the early year’s
development. The physical development of a child in the early years is measured in term of moving and
handling objects and taking health and self-care (Espelage et al., 2016). The moving skills include gaining
control over small and large movements. In addition, the children are also expected to coordinate
between different movements. The children are also expected to handle the tools and the equipment
efficiently. For instance, in the early years of education, the children are expected to use pencils for
writing.
Being able to take health and self-care is another key physical development goal for the children. The
children, in the early years of education, require being able to know the importance of a healthy diet
and physical exercise (Raghavendra et al., 2016). During the early years of education, the children need
to know the importance of self-hygiene. For instance, the children require being able to do the dressing
and going to the toilet without taking others’ help.
The educators can promote physical development among children in different ways—
• The children can be encouraged to take part in simple physical activities. Encouraging the
children to climb up and down stairs can be effective to improve their balance and movement. However,
the children may need support from the professionals to reduce the risk of fall and injury. The children
can start from learning their alternate feet before being able to climb. The babies and the toddlers can
also be provided with large blocks learning how to crawl and walk.
• Enabling the children to feed themselves is another effective technique for improving their
movement (Merrell & Gimpel, 2014). When the children become able to feed themselves, the fine
motor skills improve. Additionally, the children learn how to use fingers. The hand-eye coordination also
improves when the children are consuming foods with fingers. The close supervision, in this case, is also
necessary to avoid the risk of choking.

• Climbing slopes is another activity that the kids enjoy. The children can be encouraged to climb
up small slopes. Climbing up the slopes can enable the children to improve the coordination between
different parts.
• Dancing is another simple activity that enables the children to improve the motor skills and
coordination between different parts of the body. Dancing with music is an excellent activity for physical
development.
• The children can also be encouraged to take part in physical exercises as per their age and
health condition. The toddlers can be provided with the opportunity to walk and run outside for the
development of physical skills.
Social development: The Early Year Learning Framework ( EYLF) in Australia gives importance to making
the children able to develop social skill such as making relationships with others. The EYLF also gives
importance to ensuring that the children are being able to contribute to their own world. Social skills
among the children can be developed in the following ways—
• Making the children able to learn the importance of personal space-- enabling the children to
understand the importance of personal space is one of the crucial parts of developing social skills. The
concept of personal space can vary with cultures. So, the educators should explain how and why
children need to respect the personal space of others by considering the traits of different cultures.
Along with it, the children also need to learn the importance of their own personal space as well. For
instance, the children should know the importance of asking and giving permission from others when
they are hugging others or being hugged by others.
• The children should learn basic courtesy skill such as saying ‘Please’, ‘Thank You’ and ‘Excuse
Me’ during communication. The educators can provide clear instructions and make the children
understand the situations where the basic courtesy needs to be maintained.
• The children should learn the importance of empathy during the early years of education. The
educators can encourage children to use their imagination and think any situation from the perspective
of others. The educators can also focus on knowing the feelings of children in different situations.
Sharing the feelings about others can help the children to develop empathy.
Cognitive skills: As per the EYLF, the children should be able to use their creativity and curiosity in
different situations. The EYLF also enables the children for relating their past experience to the new
learning. The cognitive skills can be improved in several ways—
• For instance, the children can get the chance to the use their imagination in craft and painting.
The educators can ask the children about their thoughts behind the craft and painting. Asking questions
can help the children to think further.

• The children also need to be exposed to new situations. Whenever a child encounters a new
situation, he/she should be asked to remember if the past learning can be related to the situation in any
way. Asking such questions can encourage children to think and use previous learning in current
situations.
Emotional and communication development: According to the EYLF, children should be able to develop
the individual sense of well-being. The children should also be able to express their uniqueness and
feelings in the proper way. The educators can teach children, the right ways of expressing different
emotions such as excitement, sorrow and anger. The educators can also work with the families for
developing the skills and habit of positive interaction with others. The children should also be able to
learn new words to express their feelings.
The emotional and communication development can be fostered in the following ways—
• Providing explicit instructions-- The educator should provide children with explicit instructions
for expressing emotions. For example, educators can provide children with picture cards which show
different emotions. The educators also provide children with the opportunity to learn the names of
different emotions so that the children can use those when needed.
• Identifying others’ emotions-- The children also need to identify the emotions of others. The
educators should also give importance to building on the existing social and emotional skills of children
in collaboration with their families.
• Developing social skills through reading-- The children can learn different new emotions through
reading. The educators can read the book to the children and can encourage them to identify the
emotions of different characters. It can help the children to see situations from the perspectives of
others and also can help to identify their emotion.
• Establishing model and expected behaviours—The educators can describe the expected
behaviour from the children clearly. The educators can also make the children able to comprehend the
ideal behaviour to express emotions and act accordingly.
• Encouraging children to reflect-- The children should be encouraged to reflect on their emotion
and feelings. When the children reflect on the emotions, they become able to identify the reasons
behind it. The children also need to learn self-control to control the emotion.
The communication skill of the children can be developed in the following ways—
• Responding to the gestures and emotions of children-- The adults and the educators should
respond to the gestures and emotions of the children. The babies become encouraged to communicate
through gestures and the emotions more when they receive the responses.
• Talking and listening to children-- Talking and listening to the children is another effective
technique to build on the communication skill (Kundu & Suresh, 2018). Asking children questions is also
effective for improving their language skills. When the children are asked questions, they become

encouraged to use the vocabulary. It, in turn, helps the children to learn new words and develop
language skills.
• Teaching children with non-verbal skills-- The children should be provided with the knowledge
on non-verbal skills. Along with the words, the children should also be able to understand the gestures
of others.
References:
Espelage, D. L., Rose, C. A., & Polanin, J. R. (2016). Social-emotional learning program to promote
prosocial and academic skills among middle school students with disabilities. Remedial and Special
Education, 37(6), 323-332.
Hargie, O. (2016). Skilled interpersonal communication: Research, theory and practice. Routledge.
Kundu, S., & Suresh, V. (2018). A Study on Developing Communication Skill among Children with Autism
Using Verbal Instruction. International Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 6, Issue 1,(No. 3), 6, 38.
Merrell, K. W., & Gimpel, G. (2014). Social skills of children and adolescents: Conceptualization,
assessment, treatment. Psychology Press.
Raghavendra, P., Newman, L., Grace, E., & Wood, D. (2015). Enhancing social participation in young
people with communication disabilities living in rural Australia: Outcomes of a home-based intervention
for using social media. Disability and rehabilitation, 37(17), 1576-1590.