The role of an adult in a child's development
In the development of a child, the leading role belongs to adults. The child is a social being. The need for cooperation with adults arises in early childhood, when an adult fully provides all the vital needs of the child. He introduces him to the world around him, satisfies one of the main needs of mental development - the emergence of new impressions, transfers educational functions to specially organized structures (kindergarten, school, mass media), breaks the deep ties between the adult world and the world of children, deepens the gap between them.
In the process of interaction with an adult, the child's personal consciousness is formed. In preschool age, he overcomes the path from separating himself from an adult ("I myself") to discovering his inner life, closely connected with external activity.
In the upbringing of a child of preschool and primary school age, a special role is played by the inclusion of an adult in the picture of the child's development. The transition from one age stage to another is accompanied by a change in the place of the adult in this picture:
— for the infant, the adult is a source of security, positive emotions, which are directly transmitted through care and affection, hugs, and the mother's voice;
— from 2.5 months, the child reacts to the appearance of the mother with a “revival complex”;
— for a young child, the adult is a source of practical skills and abilities. By imitating them, he becomes independent, independent of others;
— for children 4-5 years old, the adult brings new knowledge, cognitive impressions, which are embodied in the first educational skills;
— for an older preschooler, the value of an adult lies in the ability to participate in various social connections, to navigate interpersonal relationships, and therefore to be an example of the child's social behavior, a kind of “moral standard”.
Russian psychologist Daniil Elkonin (1904–1984) proved that for a preschooler, the image of an adult is not an image of another person, but an image of himself, his future, the embodiment of the “other” in himself. From a certain point in development, the child embodies “two people” (She and the Adult), and it is the internal interaction of these “two people” that stimulates the child’s self-development.
The personified image of an adult (parents, teachers) encourages the child to act like an adult; to be like an adult; to be able to do what an adult does; to live like an adult. At the same time, the child needs not just an adult, but a significant one — one who, with his qualities and features, demonstrates not himself, but the ideas and thoughts of the child’s life.
The need to communicate with adults develops throughout preschool childhood. As a carrier of socio-historical and cultural experience, and later - a moral example, an adult is an authority for the child. A preschooler evaluates his actions, qualities, seeks empathy and complicity with an adult, imitates him in everything. True education is built on such mutual trust. In this regard, the Polish educator Janusz Korczak (1879-1942) noted that a teacher who does not fetter, but frees, does not break, but forms, does not oppress, but elevates, does not dictate, but teaches, does not demand, but asks, experiences many moments of inspiration with the child.
A teacher who seeks to positively influence a child requires a lot of knowledge, creativity and patience. A teacher must be not only educated, but also capable of self-improvement. For a preschooler, a special connection with the teacher is important. And not only because at this age the child is dependent on an adult, but also because he does not yet have lasting and developed relationships with children. The relationship between a teacher and a child who needs attention is called a “small intimate circle of communication” (O. Leontiev). It is no coincidence that the most vivid memories of childhood are of the preschool period, when the child, together with an adult, mastered the space of childhood. The harmony of the subjects of education - the personality of the child and the personality of the teacher - is a prerequisite for its effective influence on the development of the child. According to the domestic scientist Ivan Bekh, only personality-oriented education achieves the developmental goal, since it is aimed at the child’s awareness of himself as a person, at free and responsible self-expression. A preschool teacher must certainly acquire the status of a significant adult, who is not only a close person for the child, but also a spiritually close person. This implies the understanding, desire and ability of the teacher to preserve and maintain the originality of childhood, the transformation of formal relationships (the educational process) into personal ones. At the same time, it is important to choose the optimal forms and methods of education and training. The correctness of upbringing lies in the vision of the pupil's capabilities: what he can do at a certain moment with the help of an adult, he will soon do on his own. Upbringing and training, focusing on the "zone of proximal development", are ahead of the child's development and contribute to it. At the same time, one should take into account the laws of the child's mental development, set feasible tasks for him.
Each age period is characterized by selective sensitivity to different types of learning. The periods during which educational actions have the greatest impact on mental development are called sensitive (Latin sensus - feeling; most favorable). Such a period for teaching children language is the age from 1.5 to 3 years. If a child has not mastered the rudiments of language by the age of three, then its assimilation will be much more difficult in the future and the opportunities for development will be lost. Psychologists explain the presence of sensitive periods by the fact that learning has the greatest impact on mental qualities that are only beginning to form and can be given the desired direction. It is much more difficult to change qualities that have already been formed and consolidated. The possibilities of education increase in accordance with the extent to which it covers the child's life. It is important for a teacher to learn the nature and laws of the development of life, to skillfully use the results of knowledge in his activities. The power of education lies in the fact that it, based on knowledge of the laws of development, can purposefully manage it.