Childhood Education: Construction of Childhood in Aotearoa New Zealand

This essay delves into the construction of childhood within the context of early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand, using the scenario of a four-year-old child named Dai as a focal point. It examines how childhood is defined and shaped by cultural, social, and political factors, emphasizing the significance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and its impact on educational practices. The essay explores various childhood development theories, including those of Freud, Erikson, and the behaviorists, highlighting their influence on understanding children's behavior and learning. It also discusses Bowlby's attachment theory and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, underscoring the crucial role of family, peers, and cultural interactions in a child's development. The essay further analyzes the 'childhood studies approach' and its implications for teacher training, emphasizing the importance of understanding children's experiences and perspectives, particularly in relation to language acquisition and cultural identity. Through the analysis of the scenario of Dai, the essay emphasizes the importance of collaboration between teachers and families to promote holistic child development within the framework of Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood education system.

Running head: CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Affiliate Institution
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Introduction
The United Nations Convention on the rights of children offer the definition of children
as any individual below the age of 18 years (Smith, 2013). For that reason, any persons within
that age will be refered to as a child in this essay. Children all over the world go through
different development cycles depending on their cultural, social and political background. Each
of these consider childhoods differently, for example, every society has its constraints regarding
children like at what age should they vote, drink or consent to surgery. But the definition of
childhood is not different in these societies, childhood is the age of immaturity; a stage
composed of maturation and change. The documents released by UNCRC define three different
theories that explain children and childhood development; children rights, childhood studies,
and sociocultural theories (Smith, 2013). The UNCRC has managed to create an internationally
accredited standard for treating children, they have, in children right, requested the total
corporation of children, their parents and the institution state in order to respectfully reconcile
and manage the treatment of children (United Nations, 1989). These guidelines were accepted
by New Zealand in 1993. In the UNCRC document childhood education and learning are
viewed as a way to protect children's rights, and since the document was signed by New
Zealand, the state considers itself a fighter for children rights (Smith, 2013). The state has gone
further to adopt the learning and development theories that are taught to the teachers to make
sure that children are well protected.
Theories
Early childhood development theories go as far back to the father of psychoanalysis,
Freud. Through his groundbreaking study with mentally ill patients, he was able to develop one
of the best known theories for childhood development. Through his clinical work with patients

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suffering from mental illness, Freud came to believe that childhood experiences and
unconscious desires influenced behavior. He argued that the character and behavior of an adult
can be traced back to childhood, this is reflective in learning. As Clark & Kinney (2006, p. 4)
put it, children are expected to make decisions as a means to increase their visibility. What they
explain is that adults should involve children in the decisions concerning their learning as a way
of improving their development. According to Freud, the development of a child occurs at
different stages and the experiences of each stage have an enormous capability to influence
behavior. He called the theory psychosexual theory. Here is what the theory states; the
development of a child happens in a range of stages all of which focus on a pleasure area. There
are five stages all of which are separated according to age. Dai is four years old. According to
Freud, he is at the phallic stage where he discovers his sexual areas, his genitals. But his
communication is not good, he does not talk to other children possibly because he does not see
his parents communicate with other adults, this greatly affects the capability to successfully go
through this stage (O’Connor et al., 2018, p.5). Freud argues that should a child fail to go
through a single stage, he/she becomes fixated at that one point. A factor that can influence adult
behavior. Now, other childhood development theories argue that more changes can occur that
can influence personality throughout a lifetime, but Freud believed that early experiences lay
the foundation of development.
Another childhood development theory was developed by Erik Erikson. He was a neo-
Freudian psychologist who developed the eight-stage theory of psychosocial development. The
theory focuses on changes throughout life, viewing social interactions and conflicts that come
as a result of separate stages of development. It is true that Erickson's theory is similar to that of
Freud, but instead of focusing on pleasure and sexual interest as the major influences, he went a

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different path to associate development with social interactions (specifically family
communication and socialization) and experiences (Tomlins-Jahnke & Durie, 2008, p. 5). The
theory asserts that change happens from infancy through to death, and at each stage, a child or
an adult gets to develop according to that change and shifts in the factors of the communication
(Tomlins-Jahnke & Durie, 2008, p. 6). Successfully managing these conflicts and interactions
grants a healthy psychological virtue. But in the case of Dai, his development is undermined by
his inability to communicate with other children at a social level, he cannot form a bond or
resolve conflicts. His psychological growth is in this sense stunted by his inability to
communicate.
The two previous theories are traditional and come from an old school of thought. In the
early twentieth century, a new school of thought arose that sought to observe and explain
development as an issue of behavior. This school of thought called themselves the Behaviorists,
and they argued that psychological studies need to focus more on the measurable and
observable traits and behaviors, for example, poverty level (Ridge, 2006, p. 25). They argued
that psychology is a science and has to be able to be more scientific, meaning, empirical pieces
evidence.
Their argument towards human psychology is interesting; they state that all human
behavior can be traced back according to environmental influences. They claim that children
development and learning is in direct reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli, and
reinforcements. In this regard, Dai is behaving as such only in reaction to how he was treated at
home and nothing else. The theory considers only measurable factors and leaves out the
remaining unmeasurable factors like internal thoughts or emotions. As Ridge (2006, p. 25)

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explain, the development of children is greatly affected by consumer goods. Lack of these
goods or an insufficient availability of them can affect communication in children.
The theory classifies learning into two, the two are as a result of different behavioral
developmental conditions. First is the classical conditioning which says that children learn
naturally by comparing stimulus; an occurring one and a previously neutral stimulus. And
second, operant conditioning which comes as a result of punishment to change a behavior. By
this account, the learning of Dai is as a result of learning from the parents and teachers
(O’Connor et al., 2018, p. 4). The parents naturally condition the child to be silent and avoid
facing his problems while the teacher encourages the child to be more open and face his peers.
A conflict is reached and this will affects the child's learning.
Another new age theory is Bowlby's attachment theory. The theory suggests that the
early relations a child forms with their caregivers (parents and guardians) are a big factor that
affect the child's social relations all throughout life, in other words, children learn form home
(Carr et al. 2009, p. 138). Bowbly says that children are born with a need to form attachments,
and these attachments help the child survive and offer care and protection. From these
attachments, children learn, either by asking questions to those who know or by copying from
parents and at home (Carr et al. 2009, p. 141). The child, therefore, feels the need to stay close
to the caregiver, to protect these attachments which provide a safe haven and give a base for
exploration. Dai cannot help but be quiet; this is the bond that has been formed with the parents.
His parents do not engage with anyone else, they show utmost respect and are polite, but they
avoid confrontation and are closeted. If this is the attachment they have formed with Dai, then
he too will, in turn, show respect but stay closeted and silent with everyone else. The studies by
Bowbly are being expanded with new research classifying attachments. Carr et al., (2009, p.

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139) state that new results show that children who are given support are more likely to grow a
healthy psychological behavior while those who receive less care and support tend to be
avoidant and ambivalent, like Dai.
There are other theories like Bandura's Social Learning Theory which state that behavior
can also be learned from others through observation and mimicry. By looking and other people,
children are able to learn new behavior and skills or get new information (Carr et al. 2009, p.
141). But the observation does not have to be watching, children also learn from listening (or
lack thereof) and by watching films or reading books. Failure to communicate or interact is a
lesson, one which Dai has gotten.
Lev Vygotsky also proposed a very influential theory. His theory of sociocultural
learning is used widely especially in the field of education. Vygostky believed that children
learn through a hands-on approach and that parents, peers, and culture are responsible for
forming higher order functions. He argues that learning is a social activity, by interacting with
other people, learning forms a part of one's life and learning is impaired if one is forced on to an
activity (Carr et al. 2009, p.16). Vygostky introduced the concept of the zone of proximal
development. In the concept, he argues that it is with the assistance of more experienced and
knowledgeable individuals that one is able to progressively learn and expand their skill and
scope of understanding (Newman, 2018, p. 350). In short, Vygostky is saying that Dai needs the
help of his teachers more at this moment. The learning that he is getting from home does not
seem to inspire social interactions and only his teachers are more experienced in the matter and
are able to help him learn in a different way to improve his behavior.
Childhood Studies

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Childhood studies approach, Gray (2014) defines, is the studying of the experiences that
children go through either historically or modernly, while children's rights seek to treat children
better and protect them from any dangers. All of these are connected to the sociocultural theory
of learning. The theory, as discussed, argue that children learn from experiences and need the
help of an experienced individual to guide them through the learning process (Carr, Lee &
Jones, 2004). A teacher can only be trained to understand the experiences children go through
via the childhood studies approach. Teachers are trained in different cultures and how these
cultures affect the behavior of children and they, in turn, use that knowledge to guide and mold
the behavior of children.
New Zealand follows the guidelines of the UNCRC in regards to children's rights.
Children are citizens in New Zealand and are subject to basic human rights just as much as
anyone else (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006). Therefore, in their
education, children are taught the value of communication and understanding. Children are
made visible in the UNCRC. Teachers are obliged to take notice of a child's behavior and guide
the child through decisions. All three theories of childhood are linked, they seek to provide the
knowledge of children's experiences in order to better provide protection of children and
improve on their development (Tomlins-Jahnke & Durie, 2008).
Role of Parents
As previously mentioned, emotions form a big part of a child's learning. The influences
from the environment are important but emotions still play a major role in a child's life.
Emotions are anyone's first language even before the acquisition of speech, a child is able to
react to a parent's facial expression or voice while parents on the other end interpret their
children's states and can respond effectively to either distress or happiness (Carr & Claxton,

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2002). The response by parents doesn't at times mean matching the child's arousal state. At
times, the parent responds to distress in a soothing reaction which elevates the child's state of
mind.
It is through families that children learn morality. Parents teach their children to be
moral. This is not a lesson in the old form, studies have shown that children can develop their
own internalized morality (McNaughton, Smith, 2009). But even this is still dependent on the
parent; a parent that continuously reminds their children of the consequences of their actions
can, in the long run, help the child build a positive moral compass. In terms of socialization,
families teach children the value of sharing, group life, and building close relationships.
It is also the role of families to teach cultural and ethnic identity (Families Commission,
2013). The family wants a child to grow up according to their culture and therefore they teach
the values of culture; a factor that is usually a mirror image of their own beliefs and cultural
background (Claiborne & Drewery, 2010). A child that is raised by a modern family made of
modern liberal parents acquires a different type of language than a child that is raised in an old
conservative family. A child will copy the communication styles and forms that he finds
available to him, and the family determines that (McNaughton, Smith, 2009).
Conclusion
Early childhood education curriculum provides guidelines that require teachers to
include the experiences of a child at home, with parents and at school into their learning
process, for example, communication. Te Whariki provides four guidelines and principles for
the ECE (Blaiklock, 2010). These provide guidance to the teachers. As a teacher, in order to
provide inclusivity of parents into the teaching cycle, I would require the parents to volunteer
on a program that seeks their involvement in the business of the school. The lessons children
learn from home are important, and if a child like Dai is present in my class then it will be up to

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me to make sure the parents are included more in the running of the school to show Dai that it is
okay to communicate and interact with fellow students.

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