Daniel Lodupa

 Development Analysis Report Student’s Name: Institution: Course Code: Course Name: Instructor: Date: Development Analysis Report Immediately after a child is born, the parent envisions a lifetime of happiness while caring for the baby. Usually, a child is considered the source of joy and happiness for the parents. Prior to delivery, many unprecedented things could take place to warrant an unsuccessful delivery of the baby, as it is not unusual. After nine months of pregnancy and successful delivery, a mother views the baby as the most important. At that moment, in that room, the feelings of both parents are indescribable. After a rollercoaster of emotions, parents hold that baby and vow to guide, protect, educate, and provide for it as much as possible. Essentially, one can notice how parents react after delivering their first baby. It is a feeling out of this world; you get to hold it, picture it as a smaller version of yourself, and to many, for the first time, have something they can go to the world’s end to serve and protect. Many parents hold celebrations after the birth of their first child; in essence, it is a victory. The hard part comes when the child starts to grow when the parent is needed most to deliver on the promises they made to themselves. The promise to lead and the child to follow in the parent’s footsteps is where it all matters, where the parent is mandated to do as much as possible not to lead the child astray, the child they once viewed as the ‘best thing’ to happen to them. Parenthood becomes tricky at some point, but the parent's character, dedication, and leadership at a young age mainly determine how the child will grow up. At other times, a parent might do their best to raise their child, but other factors too will contribute to the child's development. Usually, a child will have to socialize, try to meet other children, and develop friendships. Parents will sometimes determine whom their children will interact with by setting up playdates with other parents, advising their children on whom to play with, and instructing them on places not to go to maintain their social morals. At other times, when children attain the appropriate age for school, it reduces the parents’ control of their environment. Children will connect at school and develop friendships without their parent’s knowledge. Furthermore, the school environment will also play a significant role in the child’s development. To some extent, some children develop new behavior when and if they interact with people out of their parents’ reach. This paper will project the significant theories of child development into some of the major development stages of my life and how they all shaped me to be who I am today. It will also describe, in detail, how these theories came about and how they are applied to date. Early Stages of Development I never really knew my father; I was raised in a single-parent home and grew up with my mother alone. Before she died, she always narrated to me how my childhood was. I remember how she talked about my birth and gleamed with joy and happiness. I could sense that I meant a lot to her with how tears of joy streamed down her cheeks back then. According to her, she never had any complications before and after delivery. I was practically delivered in healthy conditions and grew up in healthier conditions. At 3.8kg of weight at birth, my mother knew I would turn out okay. Like a duck to water, I adapted instantly to the new ‘harsh’ environs. Friends and family all welcomed me to the new setup. Ideally, as a mother would want, I always had the hunger and passion to want to try out new things, even after a few months after birth. In retrospect to some of our extended family’s historical births, I matured somewhat earlier than expected, I showed signs of wanting to walk and maneuver around the house, and anywhere nearby I could get by quickly. At ten months, I made my first steps; not only that, but I also made my mother very proud. As earlier anticipated, she had managed to get the best out of me for a relatively short period. Additionally, my mother liked the idea that I was a rather enthusiastic child in my daily endeavors of child development. Before attaining the age of two years, I could practically describe and identify several objects in real-time. I would say that is a rather significant milestone at such a young age. As stated above, my earlier development aligns somewhat with some of the theories developed over the past few decades. According to Sanghvi 2020, a certain Jean Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute, where he was tasked with translating and structuring English questions into French. During his study, Jean became curious about how the children answered several questions. He based his research on the wrong answers that the children gave. He concluded that children think differently as compared to adults. Furthermore, he mentions that children have their versions of the world in their heads and that to understand them, one must view the world from their point of view. Hence, he developed the cognitive theory of development, which states that a child must develop a mental construct of the world that enables it to relate to the world with others and develop knowledge as they grow daily. He further mentions that the development of children takes place in various stages. The sensorimotor stage- Jean Piaget suggested that babies are tasked with acknowledging their surroundings and maneuvering through any physical obstacles they encounter during this stage. He further suggests that children can notice and recognize several physical objects at this stage. Essentially, a baby can recognize the presence of others and distinctively note that he is an individual on his own. Babies also can identify objects when they see them, even though they do not retain the memory of the objects in question. The presence of the object signifies to the baby its existence and vice-versa. In my case, according to my mother, I was well versant with my surrounding, with the objects and people in my surrounding, at the age of one. The preoperational stage- This stage focuses on the intellectual capacity of children. Usually, it occurs between the ages of two to seven years. In this stage, children will operate without logical reasoning but rather use appearance to deduce the sense and meaning of things. So essentially, children will envision the world as it appears but cannot confer logical reasoning and intellectual thought. They will also decipher world meaning through language and mental imagery. By age two, I could hold my playdates with the several dolls my mother had bought me. In the evening, before bed, I would hold a tea party with barbie dolls and policeman dolls that I had. Furthermore, I could demonstrate animism with my dolls. I recognized, just as suggested by Jean that my dolls had feelings, and it was up to me to treat them with respect and emotional tolerance, just as I would another human being. The concrete operational stage- Oogarah et al., 2020 describe this stage as a stage where even though children have problems with abstract thinking, they can operate under specific rules. Children at this stage note that the world is different from their point of view, and they start developing concrete thinking. According to Jean, this is the most significant stage of a child transforming and becoming a better version of themselves. This is so because, at this age, they begin to decipher things logically as opposed to previous stages. Usually, this is possible as it happens at the ages of seven to eleven years. When I was growing up, my mother was always there through every significant event in my life. She took me to school at a tender age. It was intriguing as I made friends quickly and related with the rest of the students. Considering that I was raised in a single-parent household, it was unexpected that I would so easily blend in with the rest of the students. I was often enrolled in piano lessons as it was quickly my hobby. At school, I practised ballet dance and joined the girl scouts. My social life would be even better, as others would not have imagined. Evans 2023 explains Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and says that a child’s development is directly affected by the immediate surrounding and the relationships that govern the child’s existence in those surroundings. My mother was a staunch Christian woman who believed in attending church services. She would march me out of bed every Sunday morning to prepare for church service. The church teachings immensely impacted me as I gained faith and practiced the Christian teachings daily. My mother was the head of the PTA (Parents Teachers Association) when I was in grades three to six. Moreover, she practically loved her role and insisted that I concentrate on my academics to build myself a better later in future; Needless to say, it was no coincidence that I could carry out myself in an orderly fashion whenever in school. According to Bronfenbrenner, the first level of child development is the Microsystem. This level states that the immediate people directly influence a child's development in contact with him, such as parents, teachers, peers, and even siblings (Crawford, 2020). In my case, my mother and teachers immensely impacted my existence. With the careful upbringing my mother had accustomed me to, I could very well interact with my peers, other students, and teachers in a respectful, enjoyable, and kind way, just as I was taught. Teenage and college years High school life was challenging at first. I remember that age when I would wake up and notice changes in my body. Initially, I was embarrassed by the ‘strange’ changes I was not accustomed to. The teenage years are never easy to get through, especially when you are a nerd not used to the social demands of every other teen in high school. I never had it easy. I could sense the dopamine in the air. Every student experiencing several bursts of sexual tension and emotions. The hallways were marked by students who freely expressed themselves in their preferred ways. To some extent, I felt the urge to have someone to fool around with. However, my social anxiety, mainly since a single mother raised me in her strict ways, prevented me from making any mistakes. I resorted to staying out of trouble and concentrating on my studies. Despite my effort, I found it in me to have fun with some of my high school friends. Long story short, I got pregnant in high school. If someone had told me years back that that is how my life would have turned out, I would have laughed them off. There is no way I would have allowed that to happen, let alone my mother. As expected, she was very displeased with me. She could not believe that all her efforts to make me successful were somehow about to fall through. She was disappointed but never gave up on me. I put school on pause, and she stood by my side till I conceived. From my case above, not everything that happened was out of my pure intentions. According to El Zaatari & Maalouf 2022, Bronfenbrenner developed the last level of development, The Chronosystem, which he reiterates involves the environmental changes that occur within an individual's life. He further states that significant events like changing or attending a higher level of education have the effect of influencing the development of someone. Having to advance to high school and experience all the pressures of being a teenager significantly impacted my social life. There was always the need to seek approval from everyone. Similarly, every teenager wants a place where they can belong, a place where they can relate to people and someone with whom they can share the moments and experiences of high school. I was no different; I craved that because it was the normal thing to do. Marie 2022 states that Erik Erikson has a theory that personality develops from infancy to childhood through eight predetermined stages of social development. He further states in his theory that in each stage, a person experiences a social crisis that alters their development positively or negatively. Erik labels the fifth stage as the Identity vs Role Confusion stage. This stage occurs between the ages of twelve to eighteen. Adolescents experience a tough time trying to figure out their sense of personal identity while exploring various social lives. All this happens by testing their personal beliefs, values, and goals. The conflict of this stage of development is when adolescents are given the freedom to explore who they are. They usually have a strong sense of independence and self-worth. In the long run, they find their identity, which helps them build themselves better in their stages of development. Likewise, when they are shielded and restricted from experiencing and expressing their true selves, they struggle to find their purpose in life, leading to confusion about their identity. As loving as she was, my mother was rigorous and always precise in following protocol, rules and sticking to the apparent path of achieving good academic grades. According to her, education was the epitome of a fine and well-respected woman. To achieve that, she insisted that I follow in her footsteps and become more significant than she was. She shielded me from all that she considered ‘bad’ for me. As a Christian, she strained to make my life as religious and worthy as possible. It is unclear if her strictness prompted my actions or if I was just too indulged in pursuing my true self that I got pregnant. According to Freud, the last stage of psychosexual development is The Genital Stage (Lantz & Ray, 2020). Sigmund Freud suggests that this is the final stage of psychosexual development. Usually, this stage starts at puberty and lags into adulthood. When one is between puberty ages, libido re-emerges, and one is attracted to the opposite gender. This marks the onset of adult sexuality. Furthermore, it engraves itself in sexual emotions and urges toward the opposite gender as someone notices the need and urge to express their sexual desires to their significant other. With reference to this theory, it is safe to say that maybe I was going through a challenging stage that needed maturity and control to understand and learn about the feelings that engulfed me. Janssen 2021 also mentions that in this stage, individuals tend to develop strong sexual emotions that might generate feelings for a much stronger relationship. Teenagers also get to learn about sexual education as their curiosity deepens. Through this, they learn about safe sex practices and how to form healthy and long-lasting sexual relationships. With all that happened, I forgave myself for my guilt and resumed school. In my senior year, I worked as hard as possible to make my mother proud. I graduated high school and joined several pre-college programs that kept me busy. In my mind, I was hell-bent on enrolling for a college degree and making myself and my mother proud. I was determined to prove that she raised a well-mannered and hardworking woman. Moreover, I wanted to train myself to become the woman she always prepared me to be. Unfortunately, my mother passed on before I could finish my degree and left me to care for two children. It felt like a harsh world, but I fought and attained that degree in her memory. Deep down, I wanted her to be there for me. To be in the moment with me. Conclusion In conclusion, I still see my mother in me. In everything that I do, I always do it with her in mind. I picture what she would have wanted me to do in every situation, what she would have done in that situation. I raise my children the same way my mother raised me, the faithful way, seeing the good in others and being empathetic with others. Ideally, I implement my mother’s techniques in raising my children. In whatever I do, I always prioritize faith and education, as my mother did. It is only with faith that things will get done. Education is a priority as it promises a better life in the future. As I age, I notice that the more faith I have, the better my life becomes. I have instilled the same saying to my children. They follow my guidelines and adhere to every protocol that we agree on. In times of difficulty, I encourage my children to open up to me and seek my counselling because it is that way that they will only find their true selves, with guidance from their trusted friend, me. Essentially, there is no better person to nourish a child than the parent. References Crawford, M. (2020). Ecological Systems Theory: Exploring the development of the theoretical framework as conceived by Bronfenbrenner. J Pub Health Issue Pract, 4(2), 170. El Zaatari, W., & Maalouf, I. (2022). How the Bronfenbrenner bio-ecological system theory explains the development of students’ sense of belonging to school? SAGE Open, 12(4),-. Evans, O. (2023, June 9). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html. Janssen, D. F. (2021). Toward Psychosexual Development: Preliminaries to Queer Youth Prehistory. Queer Youth Histories, 41-73. Lantz, S. E., & Ray, S. (2020). Freud Developmental Theory. Maree, J. G. (2022). The psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson: critical overview. The Influence of Theorists and Pioneers on Early Childhood Education, 119–133. Oogarah-Pratap, B., Bholoa, A., & Ramma, Y. (2020). Stage theory of cognitive development—Jean Piaget. Science Education in Theory and Practice: An Introductory Guide to Learning Theory, 133-148. Sanghvi, P. (2020). Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: A review. Indian Journal of Mental Health, 7(2), 90–96.