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Running head: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Early Childhood Education- Social Development Theory

Michelle Jaramillo

Fresno Pacific University

ECD 305

Advanced Child Growth and Development

Instructor: Dianne Young

August 4, 2016
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Social Development Theory

Early childhood education continues to advance as the years go by. Early childhood

development is defined as a “set of concepts, principles, and facts that explain, describe and

account for the processes involved in change from immature to mature status and functioning”.

(Brown, 2009). The development of a child is divided into three different categories, physical

development, cognitive development, and social/emotional development. Every child is different

when it comes to the development. Some children may struggle in certain areas, while others

grow and strive in different areas. Within the category of early childhood education there have

been several different theories that have been established and set in place over the years.

In my report the theory I choose to research is the theory known as “The Social

Development Theory”. The theorists behind this theory are known as Lev Vygotsky, his research

and theory in cognitive development has become the foundation behind the work of Vygotsky.

Vygotsky’s theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of

cognition. The theory believed that the community plays a central role in the process of “making

meaning”. Vygotsky’s theory was developed around the same time as Jean Piaget was starting to

develop his own ideas and theories. Jean Piaget ideas were very similar to each others; his theory

was based on cognitive development. “Learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the

process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function”

(Vygotsky, 1978).

The relationship between both play and cognitive development can be described

differently between the two theories given in previous examples. The two theories of cognitive

development dominate early child hood education. Vygotsky’s theory states that play time
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facilitate cognitive development. Children do not only practice what they already know but they

also learn new things through play time. Play not so much reflects thought, as it in fact creates

thought. For example, when a child creates a certain object with building blocks and they

become excited to show off their new creation, this example supports Vygotsky’s theory. Socially

the child is excited to share his new discoveries that were created by play. Regardless if the

children are practicing what they know and have learned in other settings, or are constructing

new knowledge, this theory is very evident that “play” has a valuable role in the early childhood

classrooms.

Vygotsky’s theory plays important roles because his theory focuses on cognitive

development centered on the ideas that social interaction and imaginative play. Both play and

have large factors in the cognitive development in children. Social interactions that children

have/need in the classrooms help the child and the class both grow and discover as a whole. I

believe that every child should experience these developments that are taught in the community’s

local head start pre schools. How the child develops emotionally/socially can affect the child for

a life time. Social interactions in which children engage in can help them to both discover and

create meaning from the things that they discover. Another role Vygotsky’s theory focused on

was the role of language in cognitive development. Another reason why his theory was

important, language is an important factor to human interactions. He believed language was the

most important tool that humans could utilize. There are three forms of language under this

theory, 1.) Social Speech, 2.) Private Speech, 3.) Silent inner speech. In the beginning of a child’s

life language and thought was set to begin as separate systems within a child’s brain.

In conclusion, Vygotsky’s theory reaches several importances throughout the child’s

cognitive development. As parents when we see children pretending to play certain roles such as
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dress up sometimes we tend to think this is just a way they entertain one’s self. However, this is

just an example of a child playing a vital role in cognitive development. In fact, imaginative play

involves a complex mental process in which impacts the child’s overall life and development.

“Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, first on the social level, and

later on the individual level”. (Lev Vygotsky, Mind in Society). Never the fewer children develop

on their own levels, and what works for one child may not work for the next. As professionals

learning new techniques and styles will be best to learn along the way. A true teacher in this field

could never go wrong by keeping an open mind while learning throughout the program.

References
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http://www.education.com/reference/article/early-childhood-development/

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/quotations/vygotsky.html

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/social-development.html