Early Childhood Education: Developing Self-Concept, Esteem, Identity

This essay delves into the critical aspects of self-concept, self-esteem, and self-identity during early childhood. It highlights how children develop a sense of self through relationships, interactions, and experiences, particularly between the ages of three and six. The essay emphasizes the descriptive nature of self-image in preschoolers and the gradual shift from individual to group awareness as children enter kindergarten. It underscores the importance of fostering self-esteem through encouragement and age-appropriate experiences, enabling children to develop confidence and resilience. Furthermore, the essay discusses how peer relationships and play contribute to the formation of self-identity, which is shaped by the environment, values, and individual development of each child. The theories presented suggest that early childhood programs play a vital role in nurturing self-esteem and laying the foundation for future relationships.

Running Head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Early Childhood Education and Care
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Early Childhood Theory/Concept Its Importance
Self Concept Children are known to create a unique sense of self when
within the framework of loving and caring relationships.
Children who are between three to four years of age are
capable of seeing themselves as separate and unique
individuals. The self-image of a child belonging to this age
group is one that tends to be rather descriptive instead of
judgmental (Hattie, 2014). At the pre-school stage, children
become increasingly independent and all the new and
different things that they can do at this stage easily intrigue
them. Children who are between five to six years of stage are
in a state of gradual transition from, “me” to “us”. This is the
stage when they slowly become aware of the interests and
needs of the group. Children in kindergarten can use words in
order to communicate their feelings and their needs. Five year
olds and six year olds tend to use the word no every now and
then to define themselves adequately in any group setting
(Hattie, 2014).
Self Esteem Children in their early childhood tend to have a very strong
sense of their own value or self worth. This is the time when
they are growing up from being a baby to their own person
and require all possible opportunities to develop as well as
practice a number of emerging skills for proper and healthy
development (Dweck, 2013). Age appropriate experiences in
addition to empowerment and encouragement by adults will

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help them to develop a strong self-esteem. It is more than
likely that they will make several mistakes in activities related
to both study and play and they must be made to try again and
again to succeed with positive encouragement, as this will
boost their self esteem considerably (Sowislo & Orth, 2013).
Children in their early childhood must always be encouraged
to develop a strong sense of self-esteem if they don’t have one
already as only then can they grow and develop with the
confidence they need to become strong, healthy and well
developed adults someday (Dweck, 2013).
Self Identity Children develop their sense of self-identity during early
childhood through peer relationships and play. This in turn
contributes to their social, cognitive and emotional
development. The accepted and well-established theories of
self tend to agree that early childhood programs are those that
are capable of fostering self-esteem in children while building
their foundation for relationship with others in the future.
Children between four to six years of age in particular, are
known to have internal self-lives and construct their very own
personal identity (Raburu, 2015). Of course, self-identity in
early childhood is something that clearly differs from one
child to another child. The concept of self-identity for a child
is also something that can be very easily modified. In the
ultimate analysis, it can be said that a child’s self is shaped by
the environment in which he or she is raised, the values
instilled in the child as well as the child’s unique development

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(Raburu, 2015).

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References
Dweck, C. S. (2013). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development.
Psychology press
Hattie, J. (2014). Self-concept. Psychology Press
Raburu, P. A. (2015). The Self-Who Am I?: Children’s Identity and Development through
Early Childhood Education. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 5(1), 95.
Sowislo, J. F., & Orth, U. (2013). Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A
meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological bulletin, 139(1), 213