Understanding Theory & Working With Children with Adriana & Lily

Hello, and welcome to contextual childhood podcast where we will look at childhood development. My name is Adriana and I’m Lily. We are two BSW students at Thompson Rivers University. We would like to start off by acknowledging we are studying and living on the unceded and traditional lands of the Secwépemc Nation in Secwepemcúĺecw. Today will we will be discussing some prevailing theories behind childhood development and the role culture plays in childhood development. Because this podcast is aimed at social work students, we will also be examining how these ideas come into play practically while working with children and families.

All of the information we will be sharing with you today can be found on our website, contextualtheory.trubox.ca. For some background context, let’s start off by looking at some of the main theories currently being taught in academia. If you’ve taken any psychology courses, these may ring a bell. When talking about these theories, it is important to recognize that they all come from a Western white centric place.

Let’s see, there’s behavioral, social and cognitive theories to childhood development, and some theorists such as Freud, Erickson, Watson and Skinner, Bawbly and Bandura may sound familiar. If you would like some more information on the many theories around in childhood development, please see our webpage under Additional Resources, but today we will be focusing on contextual theory and how that theory applies to social work and working with children. Contextual perspectives consider the relationship between individuals and their physical, cognitive and social worlds. They also examine socio cultural and environmental influences on development, unlike some other theories that may focus on strictly cognitive or biological development. So basically in a nutshell, contextual theory is all about how a child’s surrounding and surrounding environment shapes how they develop and interact with the world.

Piaget is probably the most widely known theorist when it comes to childhood development. He was among the first to formally recognize that children do in fact think differently than adults. His theory centered around the notion that children develop in stages learning from using their motor skills and interacting with the outside world. Stemming from this idea Vygotsky and Bronfenbrenner each had their own perspective on contextual development, and may be called the two first most influential theorists when it comes to contextual theory of childhood development.

Bronfenbrenner actually theorized that there are five levels of the environment that simultaneously influence individuals and that we cannot understand development without understanding how each level influences the individual and this is called ecological systems theory. These levels of ecological systems theory are the microsystem which is the child’s immediate environment, such as their relationship with their parents, or their home environment. The mesosystem, which is the direct relationships within their overlapping Microsystems, for example, how their parents and teachers may interact with each other. The ecosystem, which is indirect influences such as school or media, the microsystem which is larger cultural or religious influences, and the chronosystem, which is a more gradual, bigger influences, such as world events. Bronfenbrenner argues that the interconnectedness of these levels influenced development because the various levels are related to one another, a change in one part of the system will affect other parts. This is useful in thinking about how children in different circumstances or upbringings may experience the world differently, and how outside forces such as abuse, poverty, or living in a conflict zone may affect a child’s development.

Similar to Bronfenbrenner, Vygotsky also contested that a child’s development took place within a larger environment. However he focused more closely on how social interactions and language influence a child’s development through socio cultural theory and is most well known for the notion of scaffolding and the zone of proximal development. Scaffolding is a term he coined to describe the verbal instruction parents give or the knowledgeable other, which could be an older child or relative, to provide instruction and guidance on how to complete the task. It goes hand in hand with the zone of proximal development, which is the point at which a child can almost but not quite complete tasks without help. These ideas help us to understand how to provide effective environments for children to learn, something Vygotsky coined social learning.

Wait, Lily, I’m not sure if I understand scaffolding that much. Could you maybe give me an example?

Yeah, so an example that comes to mind is now maybe a toddler is trying to do a puzzle and they’re kind of trying to bang to make the piece fit another piece that isn’t the correct piece. So an example of scaffolding would be the knowledgeable other or a parent being like, hey, maybe you should rotate the piece? or gently encouraging them to problem solve.

Oh, okay. I get it. Thank you. Vygotsky was also one of the first developmentalists to recognize and acknowledge the importance of the cultural environment and different ways scaffolding may present itself in different cultures. As today’s society becomes increasingly multicultural, socio cultural theory helps us to understand that rich and varied influences that can shape development. This is really an interesting idea to consider. And it also reminds me of the whole nature nurture debate. Different cultures place importance on different things which influences the way children perceive the world and learn.

Vygotsky also believes that learning is a product between people, not an assessment in a vacuum. This is relatable to some Indigenous perspectives of childhood development. For instance, most Indigenous communities are collectivist societies, rather than our western perspective of individualism. This leads to much more intergenerational interaction between community members and more support in a child’s micro and meso systems. 

Lily, can you maybe give me an example of how Indigenous communities are more collectivist then individualists?

Yeah, definitely. The concept of families is much broader from Indigenous perspective so a child in Indigenous communities can have caregivers who are not blood related and can refer to them as Auntie or Uncle because the definition of family is greater. The child’s development in this culture relies on more than just the nuclear family. It also includes the clan, community, nationhood, extended family, and the natural world. Acknowledging cultural differences key to consider for anti-oppressive practice while interacting with Indigenous service users.

Thanks, Lily. An engagement with others is central to Indigenous communities and this is compatible with Vygotsky’s social learning theory. The importance of oral storytelling can act as scaffolding based on adjusting it for the particular age group or audience to provide a framework of understanding. The storytelling is usually done by older members of the community who have a knowledgeable other to convey important life lessons and values through being connected and living in close proximity to the earth. Children can also learn activities such as hunting and fishing from the surrounding environment. So to summarize, childhood development will be different based on many factors, including cultural, and that’s why it’s so important for social workers to understand that you must meet the child where they are at- at their stage, not necessarily according to their chronological age. And so you may be wondering, why do I even need to understand these series? Can you tell us why Lily?

Yeah, you may think these theories are a bit outdated or irrelevant, but it’s important for social workers involved in child protection and child removal to understand these theories to have insight into different childhood development stages and how different cultures raise children. This is because your decisions will be affecting the children and their families for the rest of their lives. And can also help you to decolonize these theories. Without understanding or fully understanding these theories, it’s difficult to critically examine them and deconstruct these kinds of ideas within our current systems. Cindy Blackstock has extensive research working with Indigenous children and their families, which has shown the basic concepts of Social Work, theoretical and methodological, have not been developed from indigenous contexts. Rather, they’ve been drawn from Euro-centric approaches with attempts made to adapt them into Indigenous situations.

Good point to remember. Good point to remember. So cultural differences in language are key to understanding children’s communication. As in recognizing children may not always have the developed language and life experience to communicate their problems for future social workers. How could this look like practicing while working with children? We will now show you an example with the following story. This story is pulled from Direct Work With Vulnerable Children: Playful Activities and Strategies for Communication. It is an interaction between a social worker and the child.

The social worker was working with a nine year old girl and they were talking about the important people in her life. She named one of them as her granddad and said, he’s dead though. She continued to ask what happened to his body.

The social worker replied, Well, I’m not sure sometimes people’s bodies are buried, and they help the grass and trees grow. Sometimes there is a cremation that means that the person’s body is made into ashes and put in a very special jar so that their family can keep them in a safe place.

The child asked “which way is best?”

Well both are good. We have to do something with a body that doesn’t work anymore. 

Mum said his sole went to heaven.

Yes, I believe souls go to heaven too.

But why the soles?

Because that is the most important part of the person. It is the part that loves the part that makes you who you are.

And the child looks at her feet. “Really?”

The penny drops for the social worker and she says “Ah, did you think Mum meant the soles of your feet?”

(both laugh)

I think this story is so cute. And it is so relatable for anyone who has worked with children or even interacted with children. And it demonstrates how easy it is for information to be lost in translation while working with children and the power that adults hold. This girl was generally trying to understand such an abstract concept, like death, and seeking to find the language to communicate. Creating a space where children feel safe to explore questions like this even when they may not have yet developed the language to communicate their feelings is an essential skill as a social worker who works with children. We can draw from contextual theory while reflecting on what we can do as social workers to ensure this.

Thinking back to Bronfenbrenner’s five systems and particularly the micro and meso systems, which remember the kind of immediate environments and relationships in the child’s life, can provide insight to thinking about the various outside factors contributing to a child’s life. If the child is experiencing abuse within one of these systems, this may affect their ability to communicate. This their needs have not been listened to. They may have not developed the ability to communicate verbally and they may shut down. Children, especially those who have experienced trauma, often do not respond well to formal interviewing, using only language to communicate.

This gives us as social workers alternative solutions for communication through the use of modifying the environment and play activities providing scaffolding from Vygotsky’s theory, such as various toys, drawing utensils and visual tools during your interaction with the child can facilitate communication through the use of play and help. So it’s a good idea to have lots of dolls, coloring books, pens, pencils, crayons, building blocks and the like to facilitate play and work towards building a relationship with the child- as that is key. And most of these things can also be found at your local dollar store.

And it just creates a really fun environment too.

MmHmm.

Additionally, thinking about the physical space that you occupy as a social worker and the implications of your own personal appearance can greatly influence a child’s environment. Wearing something colorful or something like fun jewelry can act as an icebreaker with kids building interaction and letting them know I like similar things that you like. Thinking about your tone and body language is also a huge indicator of how a child will perceive you. For example, crouching down to be on their level instead of towering over them to make them feel more comfortable or offering a snack to share with them can help build trust in a more comfortable environment.

That makes me think about when I was younger, Lily, and I sure felt scared when I was meeting new adults and they were towering over me. Did you feel like that?

So intimidating, even taller adults sometimes.

(both laugh)

These are just some ideas for working with children, although every child will be different, and we cannot end this podcast without saying that in order to support a child you must also support their caregivers. Every service user you will work with was a child at some point, or is a child, so it will always be beneficial to continue learning and exploring developmental theories. Because development in childhood directly relates to behaviors as adults, as research has shown. We hope you enjoyed the first episode of our podcast, Understanding Theory & Working With Children. We would love to hear your feedback. A transcription of this recording will also be available on our website, contextualtheory.trubox.ca. Until next time future social workers.

We’re off to share a snack…

(both) Bye!