Week 1 – Discussion 1

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Theoretical Knowledge and Professional Practice

To prepare for this discussion, read Chapters 1 and 3 from your textbook, in addition to the Week One Instructor Guidance. Chapter 3 in Early child development: From theory to practice provides an overview of the main theories relevant to child development. Remember that the topic of child development can be applied to multiple disciplines – from play therapists, to educators, to social workers. Theorists such as Freud, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson, have been studying child development for decades. These notable figures have contributed significantly to the study of child development. Understanding the basic theoretical tenants will deepen your professional knowledge of how young children develop and how that relates to your work with children. By completing this discussion, you will be meeting Weekly Learning Outcome 3.

Initial Post –Reference two scholarly resources in addition to the textbook to support your explanations and evaluations for the prompts that follow:

a.Describe how understanding theories of child development can assist you in your chosen profession. Use specific examples and evidence from the textbook and additional research.

b.Explain the theories that most closely align with your personal philosophy or approach to child development. Use specific examples to illustrate your perspective.

c.In a graphic organizer of your choice, describe the major differences and similarities of each of the leading child development theories discussed in the textbook. Attach your organizer to your initial discussion post. You can use an MS Word table, a graphic organizer from Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., a mind map (e.g., using Bubble.Us (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. or Coggle (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), or any other creative software choice that suits your needs for illustrating the comparison.

For information on how to find scholarly resources using the Ashford University Library (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., watch this short video tutorial:

Guided Response: Please respond to at least two peers. Select peers who have chosen a theory different from yours. Determine how their chosen theory would relate to your chosen profession. For example, if your peer selected Freud and you selected Erickson, how would psychoanalytic theory relate to your work with children? Respectfully suggest what you believe to be the most important ideas that they will need to know about a child before they can begin working with them and why. Were you surprised by any of the similarities or differences in the theories? If so, why? If not, why not? What were the concepts or ideas that resonated with you the most?

Though two replies is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including the instructor) before the last day of the learning week; this will further the conversation while also giving you opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences with this topic.