The School Age Child At Work And Play

Robert  Fettgather has taught at San Jose State University, National University and Mission College in Santa Clara.  He has addressed State and National Conferences on a variety of topics. The Institute for Personality and Ability Testing has certified Robert Fettgather as a Stress Management Trainer, and Medical Hypnosis Seminars of the Los Gatos Institute has certified him in Clinical Hypnotherapy. Robert Fettgather has completed Hospice Training with Hospice of the Valley.

Freud believed that the challenge of the middle childhood years was to form emotional bonds with peers and to move beyond those that were developed with parents in earlier years. Margaret Mahler referred to this journey as separation and individuation. 

During this period, which Freud called latency, psychosexual development appears to be dormant and sublimated to the skill acquisition and goal achievement of the period. Much of the modern-day research on peer rejection and other aspects of middle childhood including gender self-segregation finds its roots in Freud’s psychoanalytic approach.

Erikson claimed that children in middle childhood acquire a sense of industry (competence) by achieving goals determined by their culture. He accepted Freud’s view of the central role of peer relationships, but went beyond that perspective with his developmental crisis industry vs inferiority. Most of you have heard of the "inferiority complex" a term coined by analyst Alfred Adler. He believed that deep feelings of inferiority could lead to inner turmoil and  aggression.  From an Eriksonian viewpoint, feelings of inadequacy stem from failures during the school years, and such feelings can extend into adulthood.

Most 6- to 12-year-olds gradually develop a view of their own competence/inferiority as they succeed or fail at academic tasks such as reading and arithmetic.  

But the experience of industry is not limited to the classroom as children achieve levels of industry/inferiority on the playground, in the neighborhood, at home, or a place of worship. In fact middle childhood is a period of tremendous skill acquisition. Remember that you learned a wide variety of skills across numerous domains: academic, social, physical, arts, moral/spiritual. Supportive environments with good leaders (teachers, parents, coaches etc.) foster industry and competence. The opposite is also true, laying the ground for inferiority. Another factor may be related to excessive screen time among youth who might be better off in real activities geared toward skill acquisition. 

Reflection point: Think back to your own elementary school experiences. Do you think you gained a sense of industry or inferiority from them? How did they affect your subsequent development? 

Going To School

 

The Institute for Personality and Ability Testing has certified Robert Fettgather as a Stress Management Trainer, and Medical Hypnosis Seminars of the Los Gatos Institute has certified him in Clinical Hypnotherapy. At Santa Clara University, Graduate Department of Education and Counseling Psychology, Robert Fettgather's studies included Health Education and Behavioral Medicine. Moreover, Robert Fettgather has completed Hospice Training with Hospice of the Valley.

In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education…it’s like a precious gift. It’s like a diamond. – Malala Yousafzai

Here we will consider the school aged child (middle childhood). Development in middle childhood, ages 6 to 12, is marked by major physical changes, including those in the brain.  As you might suspect, cognitive advances also occur in these years, and the patterns and habits established during this time affect not only adolescent experiences but also adulthood. That means that what happened to us then, is affecting us now! 

Besides our family, our school experience may be the most significant influence of the period. Formal education affects development.  And a variety of factors we will review—such as learning disabilities, attention problems, language proficiency, sex, race, and culture—can shape academic achievement. That last point, culture, should be emphasized. Citizens of the United States generally value achievement and success. This is evident in the attention paid to job promotions, fame, and grades in school. These are all examples of our individualistic culture. In contrast collectivist cultures embrace group oriented values. 

I appreciate the sentiments of the quote by Malala Yousafzai who defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to obtain an education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban shooter but survived. In 2014, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. We might contrast her attitudes about the “precious gift” of education against our own. 

Reflection Point: Think about yourself at 6-12 years off age: first grade through sixth grade. What dramatic changes there are from a first grader to a sixth grader! What were your attitudes about school, then and now?

Language informs and is informed by school experiences. Language development continues at an astonishing rate with vocabulary growth, improvements in grammar, and an understanding of the social uses of language. Between the ages of 6 and 12 children add between 5,000 and 10,000 words to their vocabulary! The school-aged child discovers or develops a set of immensely powerful schemes for the relations among objects.  Piaget called this stage concrete operations that focuses on reversibility, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and serial ordering. Conservation of liquid and mass are typically mastered by 6-7 years of age.

 

Peer Relationships And Play in Early Childhood

Robert Fettgather has served as Special Consultant in psychometrics to the Departments of Education and Developmental Disabilities for the State of California. Robert Fettgather also holds a specialist credential in learning handicapped and community college credentials in both learning and developmental disabilities. In his spare time, Robert Fettgather continues to play on waterways and hiking trails.

Preschoolers participate in various kinds of play that are related to the development of social skills. According to Parten, play develops in stages: Solitary and Onlooker Play,  Parallel Play, and  Associative Play. Children who are unskilled at the social skill of "group entry" are often rejected by their peers. Physical aggression toward peers increases and then declines during these years, whereas verbal aggression increases among older preschoolers. Some children develop a pattern of aggression that creates problems for them throughout childhood and adolescence

When 2- or 3-year-old children are upset or frustrated, they are most likely to throw things or strike out. As their language skills improve, however, they shift away from such overt physical aggression and move toward greater use of verbally aggressive interactions.

Reflection Point: How can adults help children deal with their frustration without using punishment?

Children display prosocial behavior as young as age 2, and the behavior seems to grow as the child’s ability to take another’s perspective increases. Parents and teachers can encourage the development of altruistic behavior categorical self, and the emotional self. Stable friendships develop between children in this age range. Beginning at about age 18 months, toddlers show early hints of playmate preferences or individual friendships. By age 3, however, about 20% of children have a regular playmate. By age 4, more than half spend 30% (or even more) of their time with one other child. Therefore, we should note that an important change in social behavior during early childhood is the development of stable relationships.

Senior Care

 

The County of Santa Clara Senior Care Commission convened on 9/10/14 and included public presentations.

These included the following:

Linda Kincaid spoke to the Commission about Law Enforcement duty manual police policies about elder abuse.

Dr. Robert Fettgather spoke to the Commission about the need to update these police manual protocols and how the resulting isolation has a devastating mental, emotional and physical effect on seniors and persons with disabilities in licensed facilities.

Richard Calhoun spoke to the Commission on the data received from requested law enforcement manuals and how a percentage of the civil code violations associated with elder abuse should be penal (criminal) code violations.

The 2014-2015 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury concluded "In order to best serve elders and dependent adults who may be victims of abuse, the County of Santa Clara; Social Services Agency; Adult Protective Services, and the Office of the District Attorney should collaborate on a document for law enforcement agencies to provide elder and dependent adult abuse victims advising them of available and applicable resources".