Observational Study

Observational Study

Introduction

Social development has been defined from different perspectives in different theories according to the context. One such definition has been forwarded by United Nations Research Institute for Social Development which describes social development as a course of action that improves and escorts to the well being of humanity in all social contexts to achieve the desired outcomes (UNRISD, 2011). It has also been characterized as a person or unit's ability to outstrip their material and intellectual surroundings (Morris, 2010).

Social development is a ladder through which one can climb the steps of social success in terms of living, interacting, instituting, sharing, reproducing and facilitating humankind. This process of socialization and training begins with one's birth providing them numerous opportunities to groom themselves in a socially acceptable environment. It is also at this stage that cognitive skills of children get polished through various interactions in different social set ups. Knowledge gained in different social settings highly influences young minds and Vygotsky stressed the importance of the social environment in enhancing a child's cognition and their ability to progress in an exposed and challenging atmosphere (Vygotsky, 1978).

Along with the other parameters, environment plays the major role in moulding one's behaviour toward others. In fact, their social, emotional, linguistic and motor development is manipulated by this factor. Their open interaction with peers and siblings in all social contexts that include home, play and school let them express themselves and understand each other's position in certain social roles and assist others in completing the task. Therefore, it is essential to consider all those social factors which may leave a strong impact on the child's growth. This observational study would focus on key areas of various social contexts and the environment through which child's learning takes place in a society.

Literature Review

Social development of a child through interaction with siblings and peers

This section aims at evaluating a child's social progress through different theoretical perspectives. The relevant literature review on a child's learning through play and interaction with peers and siblings would be discussed. The previous research done in this field has considerably revealed that childhood is a crucial time period in one's life because at this stage children start to pace up with their own identity and take keen interest in becoming independent individual. As they grow up and during the middle childhood, children become conscious about their self-esteem and start comparing themselves with siblings and peers in their own social context. Therefore, studying child's social development from various angles is necessary for a better analysis and understanding.

Children live in multiple social contexts and their specific social surroundings give them a different understanding of life. Their social matrices make them exploit everything differently and their learning is a shared social experience which is not limited to their personal movement (Corsaro, 1992). They interact with their peers (group of children gathering regularly) and through this interaction they penetrate into a social circle (Corsaro, 1992). This communication with peers belonging to different social backgrounds enables ...