Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government

ecause they cannot see the adult, theadult cannot see them. While they willrevel in the joyfulness of the adult’s‘seeking’, which is the kind of activitywhich promotes a sense of a self whois wanted and loved, they are not yet ableto recognise the other’s viewpoint or theway parts of them remain unhidden. Buthuge changes are afoot, building on theexperiences of that first year, as theyprogress into new phases in theirdevelopment – to become standers andexplorers; movers, shakers and players;walkers, talkers and pretenders (see theFramework and chapter 1 of this text) –stimulated and rewarded by their owngrowing abilities.Ju dy Dunn (1993) po i nts out how one of themost stri king changes during the tra n s i t i o nf rom baby h ood to early childhood is ac h i l d’s growing sense of self. In d i v i d u a lc h i l d ren are be coming awa re of how othersv i ew them and Dunn (19 93 :30) suggests‘The deve l o p m e nt of this self-co n s c i o u s n e s sa l l ows new po s s i b i l i t i e s ;for ex a m p l e, t h ep a re nt-child re l ationship can be a re s o u rcefor fo s te ring a sense of self-co m pe te n ce ands e l f - wo rth – or its oppo s i te.’At the same time this growing sense of selfis fostering a sense of independence(Karmiloff-Smith 1994) and being seen asa capable person by others (being ‘told’ inwords and actions that one is a ‘capableself’ when attempting to be independent)promotes self-esteem. Roberts (2002)provides many pointers to raisingchildren’s self-esteem,especially insituations where they are often frustratedat being unable to achieve tasks they setthemselves. These mainly involve thechild’s familiar adults in being able to‘decentre’ (take the child’s point of view)and create a climate in which they cansucceed or at least express theirfrustrations and be understood. Childrenwith warm, affectionate relationships withtheir parents are more likely to have highself-esteem,according to Mortimer (2001),who adds that they are also more likelyto be positive about others, to be bettersocially adjusted and to achieveacademically. Clearly such findings haveimplications for children with emotional,social and behavioural difficulties, whowill often demonstrate low self-esteem(Wall forthcoming).At around 18 to 24 months of age, youngchildren begin to be able to recognisethemselves in mirrors and it is also aroundthis time that they begin to assert theirown wishes (see also chapter 5). Prior tothis, at about 12 months of age, they willalso have begun to point to things andto be able to follow someone else’s gazewhen they are pointing. This pointingactivity also involves referencing bylooking back at the person’s face to checkif they are looking at the same object andthis tells us that the young child has someunderstanding about other people’sviewpoints (Gopnik et al 1999). Even veryyoung babies (less than six months old)have been recorded using socialreferencing strategies, searching theirparents’ faces for reassurance when50 EDUCATION ANDSKILLS B I RT H T O T H R E E M AT T E R S