Teachers play a significant role in child development. According to Bronfenbrenner’s theory, the time one spends in an environment can influence how much that climate affects their development. Most children in the modern world start schooling early and spend most of their days in school. However, other factors that influence development in a school environment are out of the teachers’ scope. The article from the local newspaper blames the teachers for poor academic performance. I would suggest not. According to Vygotsky’s theory, the environment gives the child a form of collaboration. This means that the relationship between a teacher and the child is a two-way street. The teacher can try to communicate, how you perceive and understand is a personal effort. Besides, the school environment has other players such as the peer who can significantly influence such a climate. While students spend a lot of time in school, they equally spend time at home. This also plays a significant role in development. This paper seeks to explore other factors apart from part of teachers that can easily affect student performance.
Role of Teachers
Several literatures support the theory that the student-teacher relationship is a crucial factor in the healthy development of students in the school (Hamre & Painta, 2006, pg. 49). When students are in a good positive relationship, failure risks reduce. On the other hand, a relationship full of conflicts can lower student’s performance significantly. When kids enter into a school environment for the first time, a teacher has the fundamental role of ensuring the kids adapt to a new environment before making other relationships. The kids entirely depend on the teacher to provide them with basic understanding and support, upon which they can base their daily interaction in class. In previous studies, students who form close bonds with their teachers are more likely to enjoy classes and look forward to coming back the following class (Hamre & Painta, 2006, pg. 49).
When a teacher provides a two-way communication channel, children can work and play better, holding the assurance that if anything goes wrong, the teacher will be willing to chip in and help. The student-teacher relationship plays a significant part for students who have behavioural issues and exhibit academic problems. In a study done on kindergarten kids with a high risk of poor academic performance, kids who had a positive relationship with the teachers passed and moved to the next class (Hamre & Pianta, 2006, pg.50). In a separate but similar study, kids could concentrate more when middle school teachers created a warm environment for their classes. They were able to focus more on classwork, and as a result, their final grades were good. A stable teacher-student relationship can influence a kid with behavior problems to adapt non-aggressive methods when faced with challenging situations.
In retrospect, the teacher-student relationship is not an isolated function. There is a broader context to the whole relationship where teachers are not necessarily the key players (Hamre & Pianta, 2006, pg.52). Most teachers do not exploit a relationship approach. They prefer a control-oriented approach where children obey out of fear rather than respect. In most middle schools, the time teachers spend with kids is limited, affecting stability because time is critical.
Vygotsky Theory
According to Vygotsky, there is a social context of learning (Hausfather, 1996, pg.1). From our early experiences in school, we can perfectly recall who our friends were, how our first day in school went, who bullied us, and who did not. However, we rarely recall being in class learning, even though we learned them well. The environment provides a form of collaboration with the child as the child develops, after which they can easily be independent (Hausfather, 1996, pg.1). Vygotsky suggests that high mental functions begin from the relationship between humans through speech before occurring at a personal level through internalization (Hausfather, 1996, pg.3). Learning is, therefore, not a developmental process but rather a process that results in development. Each child has a developmental scope to achieve. This scope denotes the zone of proximal development.
Vygotsky states that when social interactions happen, like in our case between a student and a teacher, individuals may come up with varying interpretations, perspectives, and understanding (Hausfather, 1996, pg.3). Both sides have an active role to play in the process of creating meaningful relationships. This suggests that a speaker or a listener has limited scope for positively impacting the other. In as much as teachers have a duty, students have to rise to the task equally. Vygotsky also suggests that other factors, apart from school effects, affect an individual’s cognitive ability (Hausfather, 1996, pg. 3).
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
According to Bronfenbrenner’s theory, the environment where kids spend more of their time influences their development. For instance, a mother who is irritable and grumpy at home due to work stress can create an unhealthy ecosystem around a child. This will affect the school and may affect their ability to form a meaningful relationship in school. Another significant factor is the person in terms of genetics that affects their characteristics (Tudae et al., 2009, pg. 198).
Family Involvement
In recent years, kids’ enrollment between ages 3-4 has increased (Coleman & Churchill, 1997, pg. 137). Public schools provide kids with both childcare and education for kids. These early programs are seen as a method of reducing academic failure risk due to poverty, lack of proper healthcare, and the lack of a right learning environment at home (Coleman & Churchil, 1997, pg. 137). This education approach assumes that parental involvement is a necessary action for proper development and excellence in school. Therefore, family involvement can be described as the process by which a parent becomes an agent of effective change in a kid’s life. This involves being a source of emotional support, carrying out activities with the kids, and acting as a trainer and a teacher.
Socioeconomic status
Studies have shown a positive correlation between family social-economic status and education (Coleman & Churchil, 1997, pg. 133). Parents from higher-income families are likely to be more involved in their child’s education than those from low-income households. Parents from fewer income households are likely to miss parent conferences and volunteer works. This is because some hold up to three jobs in a day that they have to go to keep their families afloat. Part of the problem occurs because most parents in low-income families do not hold a good education. Studies shows. That parents who have good education are more likely to be involved in their kids’ education than the less learned parents (Coleman & Churchil, 1997, pg.138).
Peer Relationships
Apart from the fundamental role of social agents such as teachers and parents, the quality of peer relations directly impacts a child’s developmental growth. Friendship can nourish children with learning and developmental skills, emotional support, and a model for building relationships much later in life (Ladd, Kochenderfer & Coleman, 1996, pg. 1104). Studies have examined three different aspects of friendship, namely, the presence and absence of a friendship, the number of friends one has, and the quality of friendship (Ladd, Kochenderfer & Coleman, 1996, pg. 1104). All these aspects are considered according to how they affect adjustment during development.
Research carried on adolescents showed that friendship positions such as closeness and security formed a basis to forecast future loneliness (Ladd, Kochenderffer & Coleman, 1996, pg. 1105). In a similar study on 5th and 6th-grade kids, it was found that the relationship kids had in school correlated positively with their feeling of loneliness. Kids enter relationships while in school, searching for validation, companionship, aid, and self-disclosure (Ladd, Kochenderffer & Coleman, 1996, pg. 1105). These relationships affect adjustment and have an impact on crucial social contexts such as school. From meaningful peer relationships, children cultivate emotional and instrumental support that can make them cope well with school activities (Ladd, Kochenderffer & Coleman, 1996 pg. 1106). This means that children who have difficulty socializing have a high risk of failure than social birds. Studies also show that students who have an increased number of friends liked staying in school.
Conclusion
The literature provided has demonstrated many factors in a social context that a kid is exposed to during development. It is without question that teachers hold an essential role in a kid’s life. However, they do not bear their role alone. Parents have an equally important role in a child’s development and should play an active role in education. It is irrational to argue that the cause of failure in a school is directly the teacher’s fault. Child welfare is influenced by a community of factors parents, teachers, social, economic status of the family, and peer relationship. All these factors must be on balance to ensure stable performance.
References
Coleman, M., & Churchill, S. (1997). Challenges to family involvement. Childhood Education, 73(3), 144-148.
Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2006). Student-Teacher Relationships. In G. G. Bear & K. M. Minke (Eds.), Children’s needs III: Development, prevention, and intervention (p. 59–71). National Association of School Psychologists.
Hausfather, S. (1996). Effects of model persistence and success on children’s problem-solving. Vygotsky and Schooling: Creating a Social Context for Learning, 18(2), 1-10.
Ladd, G. W., Kochenderfer, B. J., & Coleman, C. C. (1996). Friendship quality as a predictor of young children’s early school adjustment. Child Development, 67(3), 1103-1118.
Tudge, J. R., Mokrova, I., Hatfield, B. E., & Karnik, R. B. (2009). Uses and misuses of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development. Journal of family theory & review, 1(4), 198-210.
