Lindsay O’Brien

4/12/21

Senior Project: Childhood Development

Critical Reflection #1

 

It is difficult to go into depth about what I know about my topic and specifically the question I have posed due to this being my first time exploring such a field. I have only just stepped into a Lower School classroom, so there is no way that I could have quality observations regarding my essential question. The knowledge I can draw from comes from my experiences as a camp counselor, having worked with younger children in the past. It was important for me to see the effects of a classroom environment and structure on a child, especially regarding their cognitive development. To dive further into this question, I have been able to spend my entire six weeks of Senior Project at the Lower School (specifically Fours, Kindergarten, and the First Grade), working with each age group individually for two weeks. I hope to, in combination with outside research, come to an understanding regarding my essential question.

Through my in-person interactions with students of different grades it will be important for me to look at how their surrounding environments change. This could include aspects such as activities that they engage in and/or the classes they take and how they are approached. I believe that by noticing and making observations of these parts of a classroom, I will be able to gain a better understanding of the nuances and complexities of young childhood development. 

Apart from the in-person perspective of my project, I will also be accumulating more information through documentaries and books focusing on this topic. Through these medias I expect that I will be able to see the “theory” side of this field. What the “standards” and “benchmarks” are in the process of a child’s development.