1. Coping and competence in early childhood
Unlike many other species, humans begin life as completely dependent creatures. Think about it: a baby calf stands up soon after birth on wobbly legs and seeks its mother’s nipple; other creatures may have a lot or no contact at all with their parents after birth. As Stuart Shanker said in the Brain Development module (BD p. 1) a human baby is essentially a “fetus outside the womb”. We are not equipped with the kind of survival instincts and capacities characteristic of most species. But as we also learned in the Brain Development module, our brains develop exponentially after birth, especially during the first few months and years of life. It is during this time that we establish our capacity to cope with challenges and set the foundation for our abilities to know, to do and to get along with others.
Consider…
18 month old Zehra climbs the stairs to the diaper change table assisted by Darlene, an early childhood educator…
Physical care is a core part of young children’s daily lives. Repeated routines of daily life are opportunities for children to experience gentleness and for adults to demonstrate skills that children eventually acquire themselves.
What is Zahra learning from the diaper-changing routine?
Why is it important that child and caregiver collaborate in this experience?
Why is the familiar song important?
Coping means adapting to challenges – meeting new people, dealing with frustrations, managing fears and stress – and accommodating to new situations.
Competence is a cluster of related skills, knowledge and abilities. Learning to cope with life’s challenges builds social, emotional, physical and cognitive competencies.
In the example above, through thoughtful handling of the everyday routine of diaper changing, Zahra is given opportunities to gradually build coping and competence skills.
In the next clip, two-year-old Greta challenges herself by learning to climb up the slide. As you watch, notice how many different ways Greta’s mother supports her developing competence.
How does Greta’s mother nurture and support Greta in this scene? How do you think this affects Greta’s feelings of competency?
What do you think may have happened if Greta’s mother had ignored or actively discouraged Greta?
Developing social competence
As discussed in the Brain Development module, early in life, different areas of the brain become specialized for recognizing and engaging in the social world. Newborn human infants enter a complex social world but they are ready; they learn quickly how to engage with people and use them to learn about their world. Around a year-and-a half, children are becoming more independent. They can move about on their own and are starting to use language. As parents and caregivers know, children this age often set their own goals and and are very firm in wanting to persist to achieve those goals. They often assert their independence with “no”, “I do” or “mine”. They are declaring their autonomy.
In the next clip, Dr. Joan Durrant, associate professor of Family Social Sciences at the University of Manitoba, explains how toddler autonomy is a developmental achievement – as important as walking or talking.
In the next video, a mother patiently gives her child time to dress himself, thereby supporting him to be autonomous. See if you can notice the different ways she helps him develop competence.
As they grow older, children become increasingly engaged in interactions with other children. Dr. Bryan Kolb, professor at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, discusses children’s social interactions with each other.
Durrant explains that parents might look at their children’s growing independence as defiance or misbehavior. What approach does Durrant suggest parents use?
Kolb makes the point that social interaction is the most complex area of functioning that we as humans need to develop. How do we develop these skills?
How early do you see children behaving differently with different people?
Child development expert, Dr. Lillian Katz, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explains why children need to acquire social competence during their early years, optimally by age 6, and the long-lasting effects of a negative sense of self.
What do you think about Katz’s assertion that children tend to behave in the ways that other people define them?
According to Katz, what is the risk of children growing up with a negative self-image?
How do you think children who see themselves as unlikeable can be helped by the adults around them?
The power of play
How is play related to coping and competence? Would it not make more sense to focus on teaching children skills from a young age? Actually, young children not only learn best through play; they also find ways to deal with fears, anger and other strong emotions. Between the ages of one and six, play is the main way children interact with the world. Play is simply what children do – how they learn about the world around them, how they problem-solve, develop skills, create imaginary worlds, make friends and discover all kinds of new and interesting things. Play is joyful, satisfying and essential for children. If children do not have enough time, space and opportunity for play, they cannot develop optimally.
In the next reading, from Abilio, Jane Hewes presents a comprehensive overview of “the power of play”. Abilio is formerly known as the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD) and the Centre de Psycho-Éducation du Québec (CPEQ).
The next video is from a program called Anji Play in China. As you watch, think about how children are developing coping and competence through this play.
What is your immediate response to this video?
Hewes (Let the children play) describes different kinds of play. Which did you observe in the video?
What did you see in terms of cooperation, problem-solving, creativity and socio-emotional learning?
This play takes place in a kindergarten playground. What do you think is the role of the teacher in supporting play in this program?
How are the children developing coping and competence through this play?
At Anji Play programs, child-led play is highly valued. You will learn more about the Anji Play programs, on page 3.3 of this module.
The ways that children play, in terms of what they do, how they use objects, and how they play with others, varies during childhood. The next reading explains some typical ways of categorizing play.
The types of play listed in the reading above relate to children’s abilities in all domains of development: cognitive, language, social, emotional, and physical.
How does your understanding of child development help you explain how children’s play can become increasingly more complex over time? What skills and abilities do children need for each type of play?
What about children whose development is not typical? How might that affect the types of play in which they engage?
See how you do on this review quiz on play.
What stages of play and social contexts did you see in two videos on this page – Up the slide and Kids, cardboard and a hill?
Describe how play evolves between the ages of 2 and 6.
The foundation of mental health
Coping and competence are the foundation of mental health in both children and adults. Mental health problems among children are an increasing concern and can include social, emotional and behavioural aspects:
- Behavioural (externalizing) problems include aggression, hyperactivity and oppositional defiance disorder.
- Emotional (internalizing) problems include anxiety, fears and phobias in younger children, and depression and anxiety in school-age children.
Pathways to poor mental health often start early in life when neural circuitry and patterns of interactions are established. Researchers agree that the quality of early relationships is key to mediating young children’s emerging abilities to cope.
The following reading is a report from the Children’s Health Policy Centre at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. It provides an overview of recent research on children’s mental health as well as effective interventions. For each of the 50 lessons, there is a link to more information.
