Awareness and Understanding of Others Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Contents How to Use This Guide to Set Goals Introduction Developmental Sequence Overview Infancy                               (0-2 years) Early Childhood           (2-7 years) Middle Childhood     …

How to Use This Guide to Set Goals Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others How to Use This Guide to Set Goals Read the definition at the beginning of the introduction to familiarise yourself with the topic (decide if you want to read more of the introduction) Establish the child’s current point of…

Introduction Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Introduction Being aware of others involves having an appreciation and understanding of the statements, non-verbal communication, thoughts, beliefs, perspectives and emotions of other people. Our awareness and understanding of others improves throughout childhood and into adulthood, as we acquire experience of other people within the social…

Developmental Sequence Overview Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Developmental Sequence Overview The following section details how our awareness and understanding of others develops between birth and 19 years. Figure 2 (overleaf) maps the key developments in a child’s awareness and understanding of others. Please note that developmental ranges and ages vary substantially…

Infancy (0-2 years) Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Infancy (0-2 years) Birth innate intersubjectivity- the infant is innately aware of, and receptive to the behaviour of others biological mechanisms provide infants with an innate ability to communicate this ‘natural sociability’ of infants results in them engaging in exchanges with others, forming the…

Early Childhood (2-7 years) Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Early Childhood (2-7 years) 2 years labels others as being male or female starting to demonstrate an awareness of different relationships in play (e.g. giving others roles of Mum, Dad and baby) communication with others improves understanding of social interactions (see Language Development)…

Middle Childhood (7-11 years) Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Middle Childhood (7-11 years)       Understanding Other People’s Personalities, Beliefs and Experiences shows interest in other people (e.g. asking about their life or for their opinion) describes people using psychological (i.e. personality), rather than physical traits (e.g. kind, funny, shy) understands…

Adolescence Overview (11-19 years) Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Adolescence Overview (11-19 years) appreciation and tolerance of the individuality of others increases social comparison to reference groups used to make sense of their experiences (e.g. comparing their own family dynamics and experiences to friends’ families in an attempt to understand relationship difficulties)…

Progression Through Adolescence Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Progression Through Adolescence Early adolescence (11-14 years) aware of subtle differences between people appreciates the importance of respecting and understanding others who live differently to themselves understands that different external factors can affect others’ emotional wellbeing (e.g. family difficulties, achievements at school) performs practical,…

Awareness and Understanding of Others: Example Objectives, Goals and Plans Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Awareness and Understanding of Others: Example Objectives, Goals and Plans These examples were developed for pupils attending Beech Lodge School. Pupil A is 11 years old. When asked during reflection times he struggles to identify what somebody…

Glossary Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others Glossary Clique: a group of peers defined by friendship, shared activities and similarities between members Crowd: a group of individuals defined by reputation and stereotypes (e.g. geeks, popular, sporty) Deidealization of parents: the realisation that parents are not necessarily as knowledgeable and strong as once thought…

References Fagus Guides > Awareness and Understanding of Others References Argyle, M. (1988). Bodily communication (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. Astington, J. W., & Edward, M. J. (2011). The development of Theory of Mind in early childhood. In P. D. Zelazo (Ed.), Social cognition(pp. 16-20). Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/sites/default/files/dossiers-complets/en/social-cognition.pdf#page=16. Baillargeon, R., Scott, R. M., & He, Z.…