Understanding Young Children: Development and Developmental Transactions

Catalog description

This course focuses on the theories, research, and related current developmental concepts that inform early childhood development, prenatal to 8 years. This course will examine child development and the influence of multiple factors, including biology, family, community, language, culture, and specific developmental disabilities or delays, through a contextual, transactional framework. The notion of competence within the various developmental processes of early childhood, including social interactions, meaning making, self-regulation, moral, and self-concept development, will be examined, recognizing the multiple forms in which competence can be expressed. The integration of developmental domains, and developmental transactions as optimal learning opportunities, will be emphasized. This course relies on observation and interpretation of theoretical and empirical knowledge to understand and apply developmental concepts to identification, assessment, and programming for all children in home, classroom, and community settings. 10 hours of fieldwork is required.