Posted: January 17th, 2023
PLEASE POST EACH DISCUSSION SEPARATELY
Respond to the Classmate’s Discussion as you would in a face-to- face class by asking questions and stating your point of view.
Classmates Discussion 1 J.L.
During the class lecture I was thinking about the kids at my daycare. I have worked in daycare for 3+ years, so I have watched young children grow. When the topic of Discontinuous versus Continuous came up in the lecture, I was thinking of when we decide to transition kids to a different room. I have observed some kids grow and learn how to do things at a steady pace. Then some I’ve seen wait to do things all last minute. Sometimes our kid is about to move up in a month, and we are worried about them because they haven’t met milestones that they need for the next room. It always seems like all the sudden they do it all the last week or so before they move up. From observing this I would say I would be on the side of I think it’s a mix of Discontinuous and Continuous. My question is, would this be a good example, or am I missing something?
By working in daycare, I have had to have lots of different interactions with different cultures. Sometimes I might think that parents want me to do something odd for their child, but I have to remind myself that we come from different cultures and backgrounds. What is normal to them might be odd to me, and what is normal to me what might be odd to them. I have learned to always make a point to ask parents what their wishes are to make sure we avoid confusion. I know many teachers will complain, but I try to help them realize that our normal is not their normal. For example, I’ve always put the toddler’s sippy cups in the fridge. One time a parent was a little upset at me because in their culture cold drinks aren’t healthy for kids. This was not a thing where I am from, but I talked with the parent to figure out what I should do in the future. I think education is important when it comes to working with people with different backgrounds.
I hate that I am working during our live sessions, but I am excited to interact with everyone in these discussions!
Respond to the Classmate’s Discussion as you would in a face-to- face class by asking questions and stating your point of view.
Classmates Discussion 2 S.W.
The chapter and lecture this week really challenged my thinking on certain topics that I honestly didn’t even realize were considerations. One of these was whether human development is continuous or discontinuous. In the past, I would have said I believed it to be more discontinuous and in stages, but watching my niece and nephew grow up,
I’ve honestly seen both. I’ve seen them, at times, enter into a new stage in sort of an abrupt (and awkward, ha) way, but I’ve also watched as they’ve maintained a continuous process of growth in their stages, and in different ways. They went through similar stages, but being completely different people, they went about it differently. Because of this, I would say I believe human development is both continuous and discontinuous. Stages of human development offer an amazing framework that we can work with, but it’s also not a “one size fits all” situation and each individual deserves to be evaluated separately. Or at least with flexibility. Now, I know this doesn’t bode well for research and sometimes generalizations are important, so I do understand that.
The chapter also really got me thinking about how I see age. Now that I’m in my 30s, I’m officially in “middle adulthood”, which I wasn’t super happy about learning, ha. After reading the chapter, though, I started to think about it more as a number and asking myself how old I actually feel. I guess it depends on the day, but sometimes I feel young and sometimes my hips screaming at me tell me I’m older than I am. I think this is a great consideration when working with clients because everyone looks at age differently. Some people struggle with it and some people are, more or less, fine with their aging process, especially those that take particularly good care of themselves. Some clients will see age as a discontinuous processes with stages and possibly eventually have a mid-life crisis or just general struggles transitioning from one stage to another. Some may not see it that way, but it’s our job as therapists to lend ourselves to whichever way our clients view it and help them in that place.
I was also a bit nervous when I read and heard in the lecture about neuro plasticity and if you don’t continue to “use it, you lose it”. I’ve heard this many times before, but never wanted to face it. But now that I’m older, I’ve began to notice this so much more. One way is through music. I grew up playing instruments and singing, and since becoming progressively busier in adulthood, I don’t play that often anymore. Though it comes back to me somewhat easily when I do decide to play, it’s not the same and not as quickly. I can tell that plasticity is decreasing for those types of activities. It’s very interesting and also kind of sad.
SOLUTION
I think your example of observing children in daycare and seeing some progress at a steady pace while others seem to wait until the last minute to meet milestones is a great example of how human development can be both continuous and discontinuous. It’s interesting to consider how different children may go through similar stages but in different ways. I also agree with your point about the importance of understanding different cultures and backgrounds when working with parents and children in daycare. It’s important to always ask parents about their wishes and to be aware that our own cultural norms may not be the same as others.
Response to Classmate’s Discussion 2 S.W.
I can relate to your experience of watching your niece and nephew grow up and seeing both continuous and discontinuous development in their stages. It’s important to remember that each individual is unique and should be evaluated separately. The chapter also made me think about how we view age and how it can be perceived differently by different people. Some may struggle with it while others may be more accepting of the aging process. This is an important consideration when working with clients as it can impact their perspective and how they approach different stages of development.
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