As parents roam the children’s book section at a store and consider their options, they may wonder whether the story they choose encourages positive learning outcomes for a young child. When parents fret about that question, they are consciously or unconsciously considering their child’s development.
As an area of study, child development is an important component of many fields and professions. For those interested in developing expertise in the critical applications of child development, Florida Institute of Technology offers an online Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Applied Psychology – Child Advocacy program. The understanding of child development that students gain from this degree program can increase the positive impact they will have in various child advocacy professions.
What Is the Definition of Child Development?
Child development is the period of physical, cognitive and social growth that begins at birth and fades into early adulthood. It involves various stages of skill development and emotional growth.
Child development includes everything from motor skills to language and socialization. Parents and professionals use developmental milestones (reading, speaking, laughing) to track children’s growth. Since children’s genetics, cognitive skills and environment can influence their development, milestones help identify disabilities or behavioral problems. Accurate identification allows professionals to address developmental issues early on in children’s lives.
Major Theories in Child Development
One of the most well-known theories in child development is Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, posing that children do not learn the same way as adults and experience four different stages of learning. He believed children base their knowledge acquisition on their own forms of observations, actions and experiences, taking an active role in learning, adapting and accommodating new knowledge.
Years later, Erik Erikson theorized that individuals progress through eight stages of development, each involving a “psychosocial crisis” and growth resulting from each crisis’ resolution. These crises can impact personality development negatively or positively.
What Is Important in Child Development?
Monitoring a child’s development can help adults ensure that they’re meeting milestones believed to correlate with a child’s age. Child development also helps guide parental techniques and practices that can support optimal outcomes in the child’s adult life.
Even the earliest possible detection of developmental challenges can help children maximize their sense of self through proper treatment and future diagnosis. Child development plays a role in the following:
Aid in Raising Children
Understanding child development allows parents and professionals to identify effective parenting practices. For example, spanking a child raises concerns among some adults after a growing body of research indicated that the practice leads to negative outcomes, like aggression, behavioral problems, developmental delays and low self-esteem. Parents can make decisions about how their discipline model could impact their child’s development based on this research.
Development of Social Policy
Child development studies help policymakers and researchers design policies that advocate for children’s welfare. In the U.S., the awareness of and body of research surrounding children’s social and emotional development aid the government in passing policies to support universal pre-k, federal child welfare, assistance programs like WIC and more.
Understanding Human Nature
One of the most universally open-ended questions a psychologist could ask a patient is: What was your childhood like? People’s earliest memories may date back to when they were roughly three and a half years old and younger, although, unsurprisingly, research shows accuracy is often lacking when trying to date early childhood memories. Regardless, exploring the psychology of one’s childhood encapsulates an entire life stage filled with experiences, traumas and lessons, and it can help science uncover unanswered questions. To define child development is to bring human nature into focus.
What Affects Child Development?
Countless factors influence child development, from family and environment to genes and biology. Different cultural groups can also have diverse developmental experiences related to differing environments and sociocultural contexts.
In an optimal environment, children spend their earliest years in nurturing surroundings that eventually lead them to build critical cognitive skills and abilities. During their first years, children’s brains undergo their most dramatic growth. From that stage, language blossoms, motor abilities develop and thinking becomes more complex.
Another factor that is growing in awareness is how technology affects child development. Research shows that the rise of technology use among children can affect their brain development and even change the way they interact with others in both positive and negative ways.
Careers in Child Development
For those who are passionate about childhood development and interested in helping adults navigate issues concerning children, there are numerous jobs working with children that can pave the way for a career in child development. Some of those job titles include:
Child development specialist
This type of specialist stems from the social work field and works with family and social services groups involved in investigations. The duties of child development specialists may include writing reports and consulting on cases of child neglect.
Art therapist
These professionals help children overcome physical, cognitive and emotional issues by incorporating art into counseling sessions.
Teacher
Teachers work one-on-one with children and keep track of their learning progress. Some teachers also hold certifications that allow them to treat children with learning disabilities.
Child psychologist
These professionals study children’s developmental milestones, as well as their emotional well-being. They offer therapy to deal with behavioral issues, as well as problems developed in birth.
Interested in Child Development?
Many careers and broader areas of study involve child development. Understanding how children grow and develop into healthy, functional adults is crucial for professionals who work to improve children’s lives.
Child development is a particularly important component of applied psychology studies focused on child advocacy. The online BA in Applied Psychology – Child Advocacy program from Florida Tech provides students with the specialized expertise needed to be effective practitioners across numerous fields that intersect with child development.
Learn more about Florida Tech’s online BA in Applied Psychology – Child Advocacy program.
