Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence The following material appears in Understanding youth: perspectives, identities and practices, (edited by Mary Jane Kehily) pu
3.3 The mental health of young black men According to the Health Development Agency, ‘Young black men are over-represented in the mental health statistics’ (Health Development Agency, 2001, p. 36), particularly in terms of diagnosis for schizophrenia, which is generally three times higher for the African-Caribbean population than for the UK white population (Nazroo, 1997). Young black men are over-represented in hospital admissions for mental health problems, contact with psychiatry via the police, courts and prison, and at the
2.2 Defining wellbeing Wellbeing has become popular among policy makers as a generic term that embraces physical, mental and emotional health. Is this simply a matter of changing fashions in terminology or does it reflect particular assumptions about what it means to be healthy? Moreover, does the term have particular meanings when used in relation to young people? In this section we will analyse current ideas about what constitutes wellbeing for young people, and work towards producing a critical framework for und
2.1 Introduction In the unit overview we explored some of the images and discourses about young people's health currently in circulation. But what assumptions are being made in these stories about what it means for a young person to be healthy, whether physically or mentally? What kind of model of wellbeing is being used in these discourses, and are there alternative approaches?
1 Unit overview The focus of this unit is young people's health and wellbeing, a topic that has received much attention from commentators and policy makers in recent years. Specifically, the unit will set out to answer the following core questions: How has young people's health been constructed in public and policy discourse in recent years, and what are the implications for young people and those who work with them? What might an alternative,
3 Are there any problems with adopting brain-based approaches to education? It is apparent that there is a great deal of overlap between what is termed BBE (brain-based education) and what has been considered ‘good’ early years practice (e.g. contextualised learning). But are there any problems with the way in which research into brain development and function has been used by educationalists to develop the distinctive approach labelled ‘brain-based education’? As could be anticipated with any new idea, BBE has both its advocates and others who ur
1 Play, Learning and the Brain ‘Teaching and learning are an odyssey into the neural architecture of the human brain.’ ‘A baby is born with over 100 billion brain cells. At birth only 25% of the brain is developed. By age three 90% of the brain is developed.’ (Catherwood, 2000) ‘Brain-based learning’ (BBL) is receiving increasing attention in the popular and professional fields. But what exactly is it? Befo
Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following: Maynard, T. ‘Encounters with Forest School and Foucault: A Risky Business
References
4 Play The activity in this section considers the importance of play as an expression of children's agency and as a contributory factor to children's wellbeing. You will be encouraged to reflect on how children's play intersects with your own role and relationships with children, and the level of opportunities children have for play beyond the gaze and influence of adults. You will critically analyse the extent to which some children are denied opportunities for play, and how play space itself is so
1 Using a learning journal Keeping a reflective journal (or learning journal) can help you while studying the material in this – or in fact any OpenLearn – unit. A journal is a tool for self discovery, an aid to concentration, a mirror for the soul, a place to generate and capture ideas, a safety valve for the emotions, a training ground for the writer, and a good friend and confidant. 5.3 Teaching and learning Vygotsky proposed that through contact with other, more able people children appropriate new ways of thinking and doing. Indeed Vygotsky saw learning as best supported when there is a degree of inequality in skills and understanding between two people. People of different abilities working together can create what Vygotsky termed a zone of proximal development (ZPD) – the difference between what a child can do unaided, and what the same child can do with the help of more able others. 5.2 Thought and language For Piaget the development of thought and language was dependent on underlying ‘intelligence’. Language is therefore simply a reflection of mental ability: intelligence precedes language and is independent of it. Vygotsky (1986) however, proposed that language has two functions: inner speech, used for mental reasoning, and external speech, used for communication with other people. He suggested that these two functions arise separately. That is, before the age of about 2 years, child 4.6 Evaluating constructivism Piaget's theory was revolutionary in many respects. It recognised that children thought differently to adults. The view that learning is an individual and constructive process differed sharply from the prevailing climate of behaviourism when it was published. However, the experimental tasks that Piaget used to establish his theory have been subjected to criticism. Subsequent research, most notably by Donaldson (1978), has shown that under certain conditions young children are able to operate 4.2 The origins of Piagetian theory Piaget started his career as a biologist, interested in the processes by which organisms adapt to their environment during development. Born in Switzerland, his interest in child development began in 1920 when he worked in Alfred Binet's laboratory, helping to translate items for one of the first intelligence tests into French. Piaget became interested in the wrong answers the children gave. These ‘errors’ seemed to be systematic rather than random, suggesting some underlying consistencie 3.4 Evaluating social learning theory Bandura's work shows that learning can occur without the sorts of reinforcement that behaviourists see as essential, and that children are active in their learning. The sort of learning that Bandura highlighted goes further than simple mimicry. It implies that children extract general principles from what they observe. However, it does not tell us about the nature of the children's thinking or give us an insight into the processes of cognitive change occurring within the child. Moreover, it s 4.2 Violence within communities Click on 'View document to access Reading B Learning outcomes On completion of this topic, you should be able to: Discuss the ways in which children are the victims of violence and the multiple effects that violence has on children, encompassing not only physical pain and injury but also psychological damage. Examine the various roles that children play in relation to violence, as victims, perpetrators, witnesses, colluders and peacemakers. Analyse the relationship between children as victims of violence and a References 1.3.3 Feeling safe and secure in school As we noted above, children place importance on feeling safe and secure. This desire could be used as an argument both in favour of and against inclusive education. It is a fundamental characteristic of most conceptualizations of inclusive schools that they are places where all children can feel secure about being themselves. Opponents of inclusion might argue, though, that a fundamental problem in mixing children together is that they may be exposed to situations where they feel and experien
