Child Development and Understanding Young Children

The commentary sees development as a process in which abilities grow through interaction with the environment, and uses “developmental process” because it rejects a uniform view based on what a child can or cannot do. Judging children by age standards is exactly that uniform view. Saying development is linear contradicts the commentary, which says growth goes back and forth. Saying the aspects develop independently is the opposite of the statement that they develop together, influencing each other.

The commentary says growth is not linear: it goes back and forth, sometimes seeming to stall and sometimes leaping ahead. The option about the same interests contradicts the statement that interests differ with personality and experience. The option about equal speed contradicts the example that a child may be early in language but slow in motor development. The option saying there is no order contradicts the statement that development has a certain order and direction.

The summary reports that 90% or more of children aged 1 year 4–5 months could walk alone. The 9–10 month band is when 90% could sit alone, and the 11–12 month band is when 90% could pull up to stand, not walk. The 1 year 10–11 month band is much later than the band shown in the survey.

In the survey the order is head control (4–5 months), rolling over (6–7 months), sitting alone (9–10 months), then pulling up to stand (11–12 months). Putting rolling over before head control is wrong. Putting sitting alone before rolling over does not match the survey. Putting pulling up to stand before sitting alone is also wrong.

The commentary says that, as a sign of growing attachment to particular adults, infants begin to show stranger anxiety, such as crying at people they do not know. The option calling it a sign of delay is the opposite of the commentary. The option blaming discipline at home has no basis. The option saying it first appears around age 3 does not match the commentary, which describes it in infancy.

The commentary says that between ages 1 and 3 the symbolic function develops, such as treating toys as real objects, and children begin to enjoy simple pretend play with adults. Conservation is understanding that amount stays the same when appearance changes; Piaget placed it in the concrete operational stage. Self-restraint is holding back one’s wishes, which is different from pretending. Primitive reflexes are inborn reflexes of newborns and have nothing to do with pretend play.

The commentary says that as the self emerges, children often assert themselves strongly from about 18 months, and by repeatedly having their wishes accepted they begin to accept others. Stopping the assertion every time takes away that experience of being accepted. Ignoring the child is not accepting their feelings either. Persuading with logic does not fit a period when language is still limited, and differs from the commentary’s approach.

The guidelines note that children aged 3 and over become aware of being one of a group of friends and start group and cooperative play, so childcare must aim for both individual growth and rich group activities. Putting discipline before the individual does not match this “both” aim. Early mastery of subject knowledge is not what the guidelines set out. Separating education from care contradicts the guidelines, which say the content is carried out together with care.

Article 26 says children who may enter kindergarten are those from the age of three until they reach the start of elementary school. The age-2 option is wrong. The option starting from the first April after turning 3 cannot explain children who enter mid-year on turning 3 (the Course of Study for Kindergarten (幼稚園教育要領) asks for care for them), and it differs from the article. The age-4 option also differs from the article.

The guidelines set out infant care from three perspectives: “growing up healthy and free” (physical development), “connecting feelings with people close by” (social development) and “developing sensibility through contact with things nearby” (mental development). The second is the social perspective and the third is the mental perspective. “Acting cheerfully and freely, and feeling fulfilled” is an aim of the Health area for children aged 3 and over (the same as in the Course of Study for Kindergarten (幼稚園教育要領)), not an infant perspective.

The commentary says that young children begin to look beyond the close relationships of home, their world expands rapidly, and they move from dependence toward independence. “From independence toward dependence” is the reverse. “From the group toward the individual” does not fit the statement that relationships with others expand. “From the abstract toward the concrete” is not in the commentary and is the wrong direction for children’s thinking.

Chapter 1, Section 3, 3(1) refers to the feature of early childhood in which the self emerges, children become aware of others and a wish to restrain themselves appears. Completed logical thinking is what Piaget placed in the formal operational stage (from about age 11–12). The option saying self-assertion disappears does not fit early childhood, when both assertion and restraint grow. The option saying dependence ends contradicts the commentary, which says the wish to rely on adults remains strong.

Kashiwagi found that self-assertion rose sharply from age 3 to about the second half of age 4 and then levelled off, while self-restraint kept rising through early childhood. The option swapping assertion and restraint is wrong. The option saying both are complete at age 3 does not fit the change across early childhood. The option saying they always move in opposite directions does not correctly describe the finding that restraint grows while assertion stays flat.

The Course of Study says trust and kindness gradually emerge as children experience and overcome conflicts and setbacks, and asks that children develop the ability to adjust their feelings by asserting their wishes and reaching compromises. Separating play spaces removes chances to grow through relationships. Having the teacher decide at once takes away the child’s own experience of compromise. Limiting contact between 3-year-olds also does not match the Course of Study.

Erikson named the crisis of the play age (about ages 3–6) “initiative vs. guilt.” “Basic trust vs. mistrust” belongs to infancy, “autonomy vs. shame and doubt” to early childhood (about ages 1–3), and “industry vs. inferiority” to the school age.

Crying at separation, seeking contact and calming quickly on reunion, then returning to exploration shows a secure (type B) child who uses the mother as a secure base. Avoidant (type A) children cry little at separation and seem to avoid the mother on reunion. Ambivalent (type C) children seek contact on reunion but also show anger and are slow to calm. Disorganized/disoriented (type D), added later by Main and colleagues, shows confused behavior such as approaching while turning the face away.

Piaget called the difficulty of taking a viewpoint other than one’s own, and of separating one’s own view from others’, egocentrism, shown in the three mountains task. Animism is believing that lifeless things have life or feelings. Lack of conservation is thinking an amount or number changes when its appearance changes. Object permanence is knowing that things still exist when out of sight, acquired in the sensorimotor stage.

Piaget called the belief that lifeless things or plants have life, feelings or senses like people animism, a feature of the preoperational stage. Egocentrism is difficulty in taking other viewpoints, which is different from thinking objects have minds. Lack of conservation is thinking amounts change when appearance changes. External speech is Vygotsky’s term for speech spoken to others, not a feature of thinking.

This is a false-belief task: it tests whether a child understands that Sally, who did not see the move, wrongly believes the ball is in the basket. Such understanding of others’ minds is called theory of mind, and studies such as Wimmer and Perner (1983) showed that more children answer correctly from about age 4. Conservation concerns amount, object permanence concerns hidden objects, and symbolic function is the ability to pretend; none of these is what this task tests.

Vygotsky saw young children’s private speech as a stage between external and inner speech, working as a tool to move thinking forward. The option calling it immature speech that disappears without a role is close to Piaget’s early view, not Vygotsky’s. The option calling it a sign of a problem has no basis. The option saying it is unrelated to thinking is the opposite of Vygotsky’s idea that language becomes a tool for thought.

Chapter 1, Section 1, item 2 says play is important learning that lays the foundation for balanced development, and asks that guidance center on play. “Preparation for learning” differs from the view that play itself is learning. “Important rest” is the misunderstanding that play is a break between lessons. “An activity separate from learning” is the opposite of the text.

The commentary says the purpose of play is playing itself, not producing something useful, and that voluntary play is learning unique to early childhood. Making children play to prepare for school subjects contradicts this. Saying no guidance or planning is needed contradicts the Course of Study, which says teachers plan the environment. Judging play by the finished product is the opposite of saying play does not aim at results.

The commentary explains that in early childhood abilities do not develop one by one but together, influencing each other; that is why guidance is holistic. Treating the areas as subjects taught in separate periods differs from the Course of Study, where areas are aspects of development. Saying only one ability can grow at a time is the opposite of the explanation. Grading achievement also conflicts with the Course of Study’s view that evaluation is not grading.

In Parten’s classification, playing the same kind of game in the same place without interacting is parallel play. Solitary play is playing one’s own game alone, not alongside others doing the same thing. Associative play involves playing together with talk and sharing. Cooperative play involves a shared goal and divided roles.

Playing together with talk and interaction but without clear roles or a shared goal is associative play in Parten’s classification. Parallel play means doing the same activity without interacting, unlike these children calling to each other. Cooperative play is organized play with divided roles toward a shared goal. Onlooker behavior means watching others play without joining.

Watching other children play and talking to them without joining is onlooker behavior in Parten’s classification. Unoccupied behavior is looking at whatever catches one’s interest, not watching a particular game. Parallel play differs because the child does the same kind of activity alongside others. Associative play means joining and playing together.

Piaget called play in which one object stands for another, or children pretend, symbolic play, which flourishes in the preoperational stage. Functional (practice) play is the sensorimotor-stage enjoyment of repeating movements and sensations. Games with rules flourish in the school years. Cooperative play is a term from Parten’s classification, not Piaget’s.

When an external reward weakens existing intrinsic motivation, it is called the undermining effect; Lepper and colleagues (1973) showed it with young children’s drawing. The Pygmalion effect is when a teacher’s expectations affect a child’s growth. The halo effect is when one striking trait distorts judgments of other traits. Observational learning is learning by watching others, not a drop in motivation caused by rewards.

Chapter 1, Section 4, 3(6) says that because direct experience is important, when using devices teachers should consider links with children’s experiences, such as supplementing experiences hard to get in kindergarten. The never-use option does not fit the text, which gives points to note when using them. Replacing nature with videos contradicts the importance of direct experience. Daily drills are not in the Course of Study and miss the point about links with experience.

Chapter 1, Section 2, 1 describes the foundations of thinking, judgment and expression as using what children have noticed or learned to do in order to think, try, devise and express. “Through rich experiences, children feel, notice…” describes the foundations of knowledge and skills. “As feelings, motivation and attitudes grow…” describes the power to learn and humanity. Following the teacher’s steps accurately is not in the Course of Study.

Chapter 1, Section 4, 4(1) asks teachers to grasp each child’s strengths and potential and use them to improve guidance, noting that evaluation is not grading by comparison with others or achievement against a standard. The five-point relative grade and the numerical scores for the ten outcomes both contradict this. Evaluating alone contradicts 4(2), which calls for organized and planned efforts.

The commentary says such guidance begins with accepting the child’s thoughts and feelings and understanding how the child perceives the surroundings — that is, trying to understand the child’s inner world. Judging from test scores differs from this starting point. Keeping the previous teacher’s view as it is does not fit the attitude of trying to understand the child in front of you. Parents’ information is a useful clue, but deciding the approach by it is not the starting point described.

The commentary says that to understand a child, teachers need to become aware of their own way of being and relating when they are with that child. Counting acts and comparing with others conflicts with the view that evaluation is not comparison. Building on the first impression leads to a fixed view. Watching only rough moments differs from understanding the child in many situations.

Being pulled by the impression of one striking good (or bad) trait and judging other areas the same way is the halo effect. The Pygmalion effect is when a teacher’s expectations affect a child’s growth through how the teacher treats them. The undermining effect is when external rewards weaken intrinsic motivation. The Hawthorne effect is a change in behavior or performance because people know they are being watched, not a distortion in the evaluator’s view.

When a teacher’s expectations change how they treat a child and so affect the child’s growth, it is called the Pygmalion effect (teacher expectancy effect), known from Rosenthal and colleagues. The halo effect is a distortion of judgment by one striking trait and does not explain actual growth. The undermining effect is rewards weakening intrinsic motivation. Observational learning is learning by watching others.

Article 24 says the principal must prepare the guidance record of each child enrolled and, when a child moves on to the next school, must prepare an extract or copy and send it to that school’s principal. The options with the homeroom teacher preparing it optionally, or the board of education preparing it, give the wrong preparer and handling. The consent-only option also contradicts the article, which makes preparing and sending mandatory.

Article 28(2) says such school records must be kept for 5 years, except that the parts of the guidance record and its copies concerning enrollment, such as entry and graduation, are kept for 20 years. “5 years for everything” misses the exception for enrollment records. The 10-year option gives the wrong general period. “20 years for everything” ignores that 20 years applies only to enrollment records.

The Ministry of Education’s notice on improving the guidance record (30 March 2018) says that, so the record helps teaching at elementary school, the final-year entry should use the ten outcomes to describe clearly the guidance process and the development under way, and, keeping in mind that the outcomes are not goals to reach, should not be written item by item but from an overall, holistic view. Recording “can / cannot” or only unreached items treats them as goals, against this point. Recording a rank conflicts with the Course of Study’s view that evaluation is not comparison with others.

Chapter 1, Section 5, 1 says schools should try to prepare and use an individualized educational support plan, in cooperation with related agencies, to give long-term educational support. The individualized teaching plan is made by closely grasping each child’s situation and is a plan for teaching, different in role from the long-term support plan with agencies. The guidance record is the original record of enrollment and guidance. The overall plan is the whole-school plan linking the curriculum with plans for activities after school hours, the school health plan and the school safety plan.

Chapter 1, Section 5, 2 says that for these children teachers should devise content and methods suited to each child in an organized and planned way, for example by taking care that they can feel safe to express themselves. Removing them from group activities is not in the Course of Study and does not fit the aim of helping them feel safe to express themselves. Asking families to use only Japanese is not in the Course of Study either. Handling it alone contradicts the call for an organized and planned approach.