THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORTS

MODULE 1

October, 2011
 AUTHORS

Monica Muheirwe Kyambogo University

Godfrey Ejuu Kyambogo University

Caroline Nakidde Kavuma Kyambogo University

Sarah Namande W Mugerwa Kyambogo University

Peter Mwesigwa Kyambogo University

Martin Omoding Kyambogo University

Katigo-Kaheru J. Kyambogo University

Godfrey Bakaira Kyambogo University

Margaret Lubega Kyambogo University

Edinance Bakehena NCDC

Monica Kawongolo BMAU

Deborah Rebecca Magera NCDC

Hajara Ndayidde UNICEF

Mary Ojacor ECD Dot Centre

Mary Lunyolo Nile Vocational Institute

Nyakaisiki Rose Kyambogo University

Hellen Sembera Jollen ECD Teacher Training Institute

George Kayabuki Directorate of Educational Standards

Margaret Nsereko TIET – MoES

Elisabeth Kisakye TIET – MoES

Resty Muziribi MoES

Rita Kyeyune MoES

 FOREWORD
The government of Uganda and Ministry of Education in particular is very committed to
ensuring quality teachers and caregivers for ECD. For some time now, Early Childhood
Development programmes offered in different institutions at certificate level have been
having a challenge of resource materials that students can use to supplement what the
tutors give them. This challenge was affecting the quality of the trainees prepared in these
institutions as some of them did not have adequate ECD teacher training reference
materials.

Production of this module and others in the subsequent series will go a long way in
ensuring quality of ECD teacher trainees, who will in turn go out and provide quality ECD
services. Use of this module will ensure that ECD students get uniform and balanced
content for certificate level in different ECD teacher training institutions. The tutors can
also use this module as a guide in consultation with the training framework guide for each
programme on what depth of content should be given to trainees pursuing different ECD
certificate programmes.

As government, we are proud to have been part of the process of producing this module
and hope that it will be part of the solution to the challenge of producing quality ECD
teachers at certificate level in Uganda.

Mrs. Margaret Nsereko

Commissioner
Teacher Instructor, Education & Training – MoES

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to acknowledge the moral and material support offered by Kyambogo
University management which made it possible for this module to be produced.

Kyambogo University is indebted to all specialists who dedicated their time in writing this
module. This would not have been possible without the inputs from the authors. I would
also like to acknowledge different publishers and authors whose work has been cited in
this module.

To all our partners who have been supporting us from the start especially UNICEF for the
financial and technical support. I also acknowledge contributions from MoES, DES, NCDC,
and ECDTIA for their input in this module.

Finally, I thank the secretarial team especially Rose Nyakaisiki and Godfrey Ejuu who were
able to put up this work.

Mrs. Monica Muheirwe

Coordinator, ECD – Kyambogo University

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 SYMBOLS USED IN THIS MODULE

Key issues covered in the course unit

Study requirements

Note so as to be careful not to confuse with other similar things.

Exercise that you should attempt before moving to the next sub-topic

Suggested further reading to widen your scope in subject area

Learning Outcome

Activity that you must do to consolidate your learning

Unit Summary

Learning Competence

End of Unit, Congraculations.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT............................................................................................................................ iii

SYMBOLS USED IN THIS MODULE ........................................................................................................ iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ v

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. viii

UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION TO EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD).......................................... 1

Learning Outcome: ............................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Concept Of Early Childhood Development (ECD) ................................................................... 2

1.2 Objectives of ECD .................................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Millennium Development Goals And Education For All Goals For ECD .................................. 3

1.4 Benefits of Early Childhood Development............................................................................... 3

1.5 Types of Early Childhood Development Programme Provisions ............................................. 6

1.6 History of Early Childhood Development In Uganda .............................................................. 7

1.7 Early Advocates of Early Childhood Development ................................................................. 8

1.8 Children’s Rights And Responsibilities .................................................................................. 10

1.9 Gender Responsiveness In Early Childhood Development ................................................... 14

1.10 Child Abuse, Child Neglect and Child Labor .......................................................................... 15

UNIT TWO: CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................. 21

Learning Outcome: ............................................................................................................................. 21

2.1 Meaning of Child Growth and Development ........................................................................ 22

2.2 General Characteristics of Young Children ........................................................................... 22

2.3 General Developmental Needs of Young Children ............................................................... 23

2.4 Stages of Child Growth and Development............................................................................ 26

2.5 Developmental Milestones For Children In ECD................................................................... 30

2.6 Developmental Milestones For 3-4 Year Olds ...................................................................... 35

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2.7 Developmental milestones for 3-4 year olds......................................................................... 35

2.8 Developmental milestones for 5-6 year olds ........................................................................ 37

2.9 Developmental milestones for 7-8 year old children ........................................................... 39

2.10 Development o Attachment and Bonding ............................................................................ 41

2.11 Early Learning and Stimulation ............................................................................................. 42

2.12 Growth Promotion and Monitoring (GPM) .......................................................................... 43

UNIT THREE: CHILD CARE .......................................................................................................... 50

Learning Outcome: ............................................................................................................................. 50

3.1 Meaning of Childcare ............................................................................................................ 51

3.2 Child Care Programmes and Activities................................................................................... 52

3.3 Breast Feeding ...................................................................................................................... 55

3.4 Supplementary Feeding ........................................................................................................ 56

3.5 Toilet Training ....................................................................................................................... 57

3.6 Sanitation .............................................................................................................................. 59

3.7 Care For Sick Children ........................................................................................................... 61

3.8 Parenting ............................................................................................................................... 62

3.9 Child Safety and Protection .................................................................................................. 63

UNIT FOUR: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY.................................................................................. 67

Learning Outcome: ............................................................................................................................. 67

4.1 Meaning of Educational Psychology ..................................................................................... 68

4.2 Children’s Learning Styles ..................................................................................................... 69

4.3 Learning Styles ...................................................................................................................... 71

4.4 Motivation For Learning ....................................................................................................... 73

4.5 Guidance and Counseling ..................................................................................................... 77

4.6 Qualities of a Good Counselor .............................................................................................. 79

4.7 Guidance and Counseling Services ....................................................................................... 80

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4.8 Orientation of New Children In Schools ................................................................................ 81

4.9 Stress and Its Management .................................................................................................. 82

4.10 Teacher/ Caregivers’ Code of Conduct ................................................................................. 85

4.11 Developing Personal Principles ............................................................................................. 86

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 INTRODUCTION
Dear ECD student,

You are welcome to this module. This module is the first in a series of four modules that
cover all the work and activities for certificate programmes in ECD. The main focus of this
module is on child growth, learning and development. The module has been designed for
you to use it as part of your study material. It introduces you to different concepts that are
related to ECD, asks you some questions to help you reflect on what you are reading and
later cautions you with some points to note. At the end of each unit, you will find an
activity and a suggested reading list for your additional reading.

This module is arranged in six units. The units are obtained from the agreed syllabus course
units for the certificate programme in ECD. Unit 1introduces you to basics of ECD and all
the related concepts needed at the certificate level. Unit 2 introduces you to basics of child
growth and development, stages and different aspects of child development. Unit 3
introduces you to child care and different child care practices needed for children’s proper
growth and development. Unit 4 introduces you to educational psychology and how you
can use it to promote children’s learning.

Please note that this module is not the only reading material that you have. Try to find
other materials and reference books that have information that is related to the suggested
content in this module.

You should also note that you may not be required to learn every information in this
module. Ask your tutor or facilitator for course outline so that you can only select that
sections or topics that have been suggested for you in your course outline.

We wish you good luck and good reading as you use this module. Remember to keep the
good image of ECD and the teaching profession when you go out there in public. Be a good
advocate for all children especially those under your care.

Good luck

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 UNIT ONE

INTRODUCTION TO EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD)

This unit introduces you to concepts of ECD as they are used in Uganda. It also
explains children’s rights and responsibilities. This unit has the following
objectives:

• Introduce learners to the concept of ECD

• Explain the importance of ECD
• Explain the benefits of ECD to the child, family, community and nation
• Introduce learners to the objectives of ECD in Uganda
• Describe the history of ECD in Uganda
• Explain Children’s rights and responsibilities
• Clarify concepts of Child abuse, labour, and neglect
• Explain issues on children in difficult circumstances

LEARNING OUTCOME:

It is expected that after carefully studying this unit and doing all the exercises and activities as
expected, you will be a teacher who “utilizes the knowledge and concepts of early childhood
development to enhance and promote children’s learning, growth and holistic development”

Study requirements

In order to be able to successfully cover work in this unit, you need a noise free room to avoid
interruptions, a note book, a pencil, a rubber, other related books on early childhood developmet.

Enjoy studying this unit.

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1.1 CONCEPT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD)

ECD can be considered as a process, stage or set of programmes. As a process, ECD is a process
through which young children grow and thrive physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and morally
(MoES, 2005). The process begins from conception and extends up to 8 years of age. As a set of
programmes, ECD involves a set of actions and behaviours that support the child’s development in a
holistic manner. Some of these actions include: feeding, clothing, shelter and supervision it also
involves prevention and attending to illnesses, engaging a child in meaningful interaction, provision of
stimulating and safe environment for play and exploration. It also involves providing affection, love and
security and enabling the development of self-esteem and self confidence. As a stage, ECD can be
referred to as the initial stage of the child’s life from conception to age eight (0-8years). There are two
reasons for including this age range within a definition of ECD.

This time frame is consistent with the understanding within the developmental psychology of the ways
in which children learn. Children below the age of eight learn best through play. They learn best with
objects they can manipulate when given opportunity to explore and discover the world around them,
and when they can experiment and learn by try and error with in safe and stimulating environment.
This advocates for developmental activities to be given to the children of 0-8yrs and through play way
method as recommended in the learni9ng framework and the government white paper. At about the
age of 7 or eight children enter the ‘age of reason’ and they begin to view the world differently. They
can manipulate ideas, can learn concepts mentally and are less dependent on objects. So the parents,
caregivers and other adults are tasked with providing a rich environment and to give the opportunity
of allowing children to select materials depending on their own choice; in terms of learning theory the
birth through age 8 time period provides time in life by doing predominate although children also learn
through observation and listening

The international definition of Early childhood includes prenatal and, cognitive development and
continues through the early primary school years ages (6-8). It should be noted that the most rapid
period of brain development takes place in the first two years of life laying the pay ways for significant
intellectual emotional physical and social functions. Therefore the children 0-8 years should be
prepared well under this unit to lay a good foundation for the next stage.

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF ECD

The objectives of ECD as outlined in the Uganda Government White Paper on Education (1992) are:

1. To develop capabilities and healthy physical growth of the child through play/health activities.
2. To help the child develop good social habits as an individual and as a member of the society.
3. To develop moral values of the child
4. To enrich the child’s experiences by developing imagination, self-reliance and thinking power
5. To help the child towards appreciating his/her national cultural background and customs and
developing a feeling of love and care for other people and for Uganda and a sense of unity leading
to a national stance.
6. To develop language and communication skills in the mother tongue.

1.3 MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs) AND EDUCATION FOR ALL (EFA)
GOALS FOR ECD

The first of the EFA goals in the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action is “expanding andimproving
comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerableand
disadvantaged children” (UNESCO, 2000, p. 8).

From these international commitments anddeclarations, Early Childhood programmes all over the
world now have to be implemented to promote an integratedapproach to Early Childhood
Development.

1.4 BENEFITS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

It is important for us to focus more resources and attention towards ECD because of the following
reasons:

• Proper ECD lays a good foundation for physical, social, emotional, moral spiritual, intellectual
and aesthetic development of the child.

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• Diseases that affect children before birth and up to the age of 8 years may retard many aspects
of their development in later years.
• Children in early childhood tend to be more prone to illnesses and accidents than adults.
• We now know that a child’s environment and experiences begin in the uterus and does not only
affect brain development, but also physical and mental health, learning, and behavior for a
lifetime.
• Scientists have shown definitively that brain development is experience-based and has long-
lasting effects (Young & Mustard, 2009). These experiences are best provided at ECD stage.
• ECD programs tap into critical and sensitive windows of opportunity and periods of brain
development.

To be competitive in the world marketplace, now and in the future, nations must develop, adopt,
and support local, regional, and national policies that provide ECD programs. Countries that have
recognized the importance of investing in ECD to improve the competence, health, and well-being
of their populations include Cuba, the Scandinavian countries, and several Asian countries (such as
Japan, Singapore, and South Korea). The following are the benefits that have been found for
different category of people:

Child

• Improved nutrition and health. ECD programs help to ensure that children receive health care
and nutrition that enhances children’s health.
• Higher intelligence. ECD programs encourage young children to explore the environment. They
also facilitate social interactions that promote children’s mental development.
• Fewer dropouts. Children attending ECD programmes are less likely to drop out of school than
those not participating in these programs.
• Research show that attendance in ECD programs matches with increased enrollment, children’s
readiness for school and retention in primary and secondary school, improved behavior, and
better academic performance (Myers 1995).

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 Family

For families, ECD programs involving parents can;

• Improve parent child relationships,

• “Free up” older siblings from caregiving responsibilities to attend school,
• Enable mothers to participate in the paid workforce and increase the family’s income.
• If girls are retained in school longer, it delays early pregnancy for young girls
• With children in school, mothers will be empowered thus improving family situations and
reduced instances of domestic violence.

Community

• Decreased gaps between the rich and poor, the privileged children and underprivileged in
society
• Children in ECD are taught to behave well and be creative as job makers. This leads to reduced
criminal behaviour while they are adults in their community
• ECD programmes empower parents to reduced morbidity and mortality among children
• ECD ensures fewer cases of malnutrition and stunting. Health programmes promotes improved
personal hygiene and health care in the community.
• With increased parental awareness of the importance of early childhood development in
influencing later life of a child, there will be fewer cases of child abuse and neglect in the
community
• ECD programmes free parents from some stressful parenting roles thus improving physical and
mental health of adults in the community.

Nation

• Early interventions in ECD leads to increased earnings as many more people will be job creators

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• ECD produces healthy citizens who have a longer life span for productivity that benefits the
nation.
• Funds that are usually used to cater for retraining or remedial activities will be saved by nations
that embrace comprehensive ECD programmes (Heckman 1999).
• Improving human development in the early years is the surest way out of poverty because it
has a very high economic rate of return. ECD is the first step in this process, as reflected in the
priorities that emerged from the Dakar EFA meetings (UNESCO 2000).
• ECD is an employment sector which caters for a number of professionals
• ECD is an income generating sector that produces revenue for nations.

1.5 TYPES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

PROVISIONS

According to the ECD policy in Uganda the following are the ECD programmesprovisions:

Day care centres

These institutions will provide fully institutionalised care for half or a full day for children
bellow 3 years. They may or may not be for profit. They will provide an environment that will
not only offer care and protection but also infant stimulation based on positive adult /child
interaction

Home based ECD Centres

Home based ECD centres will operate in a home of an individual who volunteers his or her
home to be used as a centre. Such centres will provide full institutionalised care for half day or
full day. They will provide an environment that is safe and stimulating based on positive adult
/child interaction.

Community based ECD Centres

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 These centres will have a structure which will be permanent or temporary but safe. The
community will be involved in selecting the site for the centre and in the construction of the
centre. The centre may be in a church or mosque.

Nursery schools/ Kindergarten

These are schools providing pre-primary education to children between 3-6 years of age. Such
schools may be established and managed by an individual person, NGOs, groups of people,
community or religious body.

Lower Primary classes (P1-3)

Primary schools provide formal basic education or primary education to children of school
going age 6+ years. The official entry age to this cycle of education is 6 years as spelt out in the
government policy. Curriculum emphasis is on literacy, numeracy and life skills as the priority.

1.6 HISTORY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT IN UGANDA

In the traditional Ugandan society, education of the child was governed by family and
community traditions and by social structures. Each community had its own education system
to socialize children into its culture, values, and traditions. The child’s education began at birth
and continued through various stages and age groups, with a system of education defined for
every stage. Early education transmitted important aspects of culture and values, such as
sharing, social responsibility, belonging, mutual dependence, mutual respect, continuity,
obedience, respect for elders, cooperation, fear of God, and ability to relate with other people
(Dembele 1999; Kenyatta and Kariuki 1984; Kilbride and Kilbride 1990; Mwamwenda 1996).

Beginning in infancy, children were taught through lullabies, songs, and games, mainly by their
mothers, although other caregivers such as grandparents, aunts, and older siblings assisted.
Stories and legends were used to instill morals and to teach the community’s history and
traditions (Mbithi 1982). Fathers, elders, and neighbors participated in the education and
socialization of older children. Grandparents played a special role of teaching children

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 sensitive topics (such as sexuality) and of passing on morals, values, history, and traditions
through stories, legends, and conversations.

In Uganda, Nursery education (ECD) was brought by the British colonialists. The beginning of
pre-primary
primary education in Uganda can be traced back to the 1930s when it was initiated by the
Europeans Missionaries
Missionaries, Goans and Asians. The pre-schools
schools were private, established
exclusively for the use of private communities. Obua
Obua-Otoa
Otoa (1996) noted that the objectives of
establishment of the Pre primary school then among the colonialists were to assist the
European working
ing mothers who wanted their children taken care of but did not want them to
be left at home with the Ugandans and to prepare European children in basic skills that they
would later use to fit in European schools when they went back home.

By the 1950s, the learned Ugandans and the Goans (Indians) had learnt and copied the new
practices that the Europeans had introduced and set up their own pre-schools
pre to cater for
their children. Among the first nursery school was Nakasero nursery established in 1948. The
private
rivate individuals persisted in their effort to provide pre
pre-school
school education to the African
children amidst challenges that ranged from negative publicity by the white missionaries, poor
working conditions and lack of government support.

The private sector continued providing ECD services with limited government support till
government declared her commitment to support ECD in the ECD policy (2008). The ECD
policy proposes that the initiation and implementation of ECD programmes in Uganda shall
remain the responsibility
esponsibility of the private sector. Government of Uganda took upon itself the
development and dissemination of policy guidelines, curriculum for ECD centres and ECD
teacher education. It also pledges to fund assessment and qualification framework, advocacy,
community mobilization, monitoring, evaluation and research for quality assurance.

1.7 EARLY ADVOCATES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. She was the first woman to
graduate from medical school in Italy. After her studies, she got interested

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 infeebleminded children. These children were unable to fit in schools or families and had no
other kind of public support. It was through interaction with these children that she
developed her educational methods which became so successful that even children with
special needs began to pass examinations for normal children.

Maria contributed the following to ECD;

• Designed classrooms to suite children’s needs and level

• She designed children’s learning materials suitable for different ability levels. She ensured
that all the materials she gave to the children were graded and arranged according to
different levels of difficulty.
• Designed teaching procedures for children with special needs such that the children
taught her how to teach them.
• Montessori also created the ‘game of silence,’ somewhat like meditation, where each
child was able to start the day with a sense of peace and focus.
• She had tactile equipment that enhanced senses and the mind.
• Montessori felt that a teacher should never be an obstacle between the child and the
learning experience.
• She designed children sized furniture and materials used in classrooms.
• She believed that children can learn easily if sequential steps were used to present
activities.
• Montessori emphasized training of children in self help skills where each child would learn
how to take care of the self and live an independent life.

Friedrich Froebel

Froebel was a German educator. In 1840 he created the word kindergarten

which means a garden for children. In the kindergarten, he designed
educational materials known as gifts.

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 Froebel contributed the following to ECD;

• He suggested that education should develop the good morals and spiritual wellbeing of man.
• He encouraged the creation of educational environments that involved practical work and the
direct use of materials. This was to be done through allowing children to engage with the
world, which promoted understanding as it unfolds.
• He developed special materials called gifts that comprised of shaped wooden bricks and balls.
• He emphasized the importance of play in teaching and that children should be provided with
toys.
• He encouraged children to do manual work of the right level for children to help them in their
physical development.
• He trained the first batch of ECD teachers to handle children in his kindergarten. This was done
to emphasize that children have to be taught by trained teachers.

1.8 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A right is a basic need that a person is entitled to by virtue of being a human being. It is not
merely freedom to do what one wants. With regards to children because of their special
needs, they are entitled to special rights that are separate from the rights of adults. Children
are entitled to enjoy their rights but are also required to exercise their rights responsibly. So
they should not misbehave or act in a wrong manner.

Categories of children’s rights

Children’s rights are in four categories that include:

• Survival rights are the rights that a child needs to survive. This includes food, medical care,
clothing, shelter and parental care
• Protection rights are the rights that a child needs in order to be safe and secure. This includes
the right to life and liberty, freedom from child abuse, discrimination, child labour, sexual abuse
and exploitation. They also have a right to a name and nationality.

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• Developmental rights are the rights that a child needs to develop physically, mentally, socially
and culturally. They include rights to education, right to access information, rest and play.
• Participation rights are the rights that a child needs to participate in the national and social
activities so as to realize their rights. They include freedom of opinion, freedom of association,
freedom of worship, expression, rights to engage in cultural activities that are not harmful.

Activity

1. List some of the children’s rights you know

2. Describe what you can do to promote children’s rights in your community

Importance of promoting children’s rights

If a child’s rights are observed and protected,
• children will grow up happy,
• Children will develop knowledge and skills in their day to day activities.
• Children will have healthy bodies and well developed minds
• Children develop confidence to face future challenges
• Promotes equality amongst children

Roles of different stakeholders in promoting children’s rights and responsibilities

Child

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• Report any abuse to caregiver or parents
• Participate in activities provided to them
• Take up any learning opportunity given to them
• Politely ask for anything they feel they need or deserve
• Keep near caregiver, parent or adult supervisor when playing or out on field visit

Parents

• Provide for the needs of the children

• Protect and care for the children at all times
• Guide the children on appropriate behavior in different situations
• Provide opportunity for the children to enjoy their rights
• Provide developmental activities for the children to do
• Cater for medical and health care for the children
• Protect the children from all forms of abuse and harassment
• Provide variety of play materials for children

Caregivers

• Develop developmental activities for children to do

• Provide variety of play materials for children
• Guide and counsel children in their time of difficulty
• Be a role model to children
• Defend children at all times to ensure their rights are protected
• Listen to children’s ideas and act accordingly
• Report all cases of child abuse to relevant authorities

ECD Centre Heads

• Sensitize parents on the children’s rights and responsibilities

• Encourage parents and other community members to report violation of children’s rights to
relevant authorities

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• Sensitize parents on their roles in protecting children during wars, natural calamities or
disasters.
• Supervise caregivers to ensure that children’s rights are upheld
• Sensitize caregivers on the best practices that can be used to promote children’s rights and
responsibilities at the centre.

Local Council Officials

• Be a watchdog in their communities to ensure that children’s rights and responsibilities are
promoted and protected.
• Have activities that promote children’s rights and responsibilities in their community work plans
• Sensitize parents on the children’s rights and responsibilities
• Encourage parents and other community members to report violation of children’s rights to
relevant authorities
• Forward all cases on violation of children’s rights to relevant authorities for action

Other children

• Respect other children and know that they are all equal and have the same rights and
responsibilities
• Report all cases of violation of their friends rights to relevant authorities
• Ensure that their friends perform their responsibilities to promote their rights
• Behave appropriately in different situations so as to avoid tempting others to violate their
rights
• Carry out their responsibilities as expected of them so as to avoid tempting others to abuse
their rights

Child Welfare and Probation Officers

• Advocate for the promotion of children’s rights in the community

• Be children’s advocate or lawyer in courts of law handling cases on violation of children’s rights
• Mediate between different parties on behalf children to promote their rights

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 Activity

1. Explain the roles of religious leaders and the police in promoting children’s rights and
responsibilities
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2. Discuss the factors that have led to violation of children’s rights in your community.

3. Suppose you were appointed an ECD officer in your area. Explain strategies that you
would put in place to promote children’s rights in your community.

1.9 GENDER RESPONSIVENESS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Gender responsiveness refers to a situation where caregivers are sensitive to the gender of
different categories of children while offering services. Boys and girls have equal abilities to
learn. They should be given equal opportunity to access and complete the education cycle. We
can promote gender responsiveness by doing the following in ECD centres or homes:

• Assign all responsibilities equally to both boys and girls without showing preferences to any
gender
• Promote cultural practices that encourage equality for all children
• Provide opportunity for both boys and girls to participate in leadership roles at different levels.

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 • Provide a safe and protective environment that ensures that children are not abused. For
example avoiding situations that leave young girls with older men alone who may defile them.
• Putting in place appropriate sanitation rules and regulations as well as separate latrines,
washrooms and wash facilities.
• Provide regular guidance and counseling to both boys and girls to cater for their growth and
development needs and questions. You should be sensitive while providing answers to
children’s questions
• Sensitize parents on the need to provide equal opportunity for children of both sexes. For
example school opportunity, being heard, providing for needs and care.
• In ECD institutions, try to have both male and female staff who will act as role models to
children of different gender.
• While using instructional materials or reading materials, try to use those that positively portray
children of both sexes
• While making work plans in the ECD centres, try to include activities and equipment for both
boys and girls.

1.10 CHILD ABUSE, CHILD NEGLECT AND CHILD LABOR

Child abuse occurs in three different forms. These include sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional
abuse.

Child sexual Abuse

This abuse occurs when children are forced or persuaded into sexual acts or situations by others. These
may involve penetrative sex including anal or oral sex. It can also be in form of sexual suggestions,
indecent assault, touch of a child’s sexual organs, showing childrenpictures of naked persons, child
prostitution, early marriage, forcing a child to touch an adult’s sexual organs, defilement or rape of a
child, exposing a child to sexual affairs.
Physical child Abuse
Child physical abuse occurs when children are hurt or injured by parents or other people. Physical child
abuse refers to all violent attacks made on a child. Physical abuse may take the form of hitting hard,

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battering, corporal punishment, cutting a child violently, burning, starving, female genital mutilation,
and child labour.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse occurs when children are not given love, approval or acceptance. It occurs when a
child is constantly criticized, abused, blamed, shouted at and rejected by those he/she looks up to for
acceptance. Emotional abuse usually breaks down the confidence of a child and leads to low self-
esteem and sometimes self resentment.

Activity

1. Describe some forms of child abuse that you have ever witnessed in your
community.

2. In your experience, how do you tell that a child is being abused?

3. Explain some of the factors that have led to continued child abuse in your
community

4. Suggest some strategies that should be use to reduce child abuse in your community

Child Neglect

Child neglect means not caring for a child in a way that he/she deserves to be cared for. It is a
stubborn, willful and deliberate refusal to fulfill the needs of the child. The common forms of child
neglect include: isolating a child, abandonment, denial of food, clothing, warmth, care and love.

16
 Activity

1. Discuss factors that have contributed to increased child neglect in Uganda.

Children in difficult circumstances

These are the category of children who find themselves in situations that is very challenging for their
age. It includes children who are orphans, children living in war situations, children affected by natural
disasters, children affected or infected with HIV/AIDS, street children.

These children suffer different challenges that include: Loss of parents, guidance, parental love and
care, Sexual abuse, Child labour, Dropping out of school, Child trafficking, Child sacrifice, Malnutrition,
Exposure to diseases, Lack or low self-esteem, Harsh and violent environment, Living in absolute
poverty, Limited education services, Limited health services, Death, homelessness.

END OF UNIT ASSIGNMENT

1. Discuss some of the challenges children of 0-8 years face in war situations.

2. Discuss how challenging situations in difficult areas affect young children

3. Suggest different ways of helping children in difficult situations cope with their

17
 challenges

4. Explain how children in ECD in your area have been affected by HIV/AIDS

UNIT SUMMARY
In this unit, you have looked at the meaning and importance of early childhood development to the
child, family and nation. You have also looked at different early childhood provisions for children in
Uganda, the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in the provision of ECD services in
Uganda. You have also looked at different early advocates of ECD and their implication for ECD in
Uganda, children’s rights and responsibilities and the role of different stakeholders. You have also
looked at child abuse and neglect and gender responsiveness in ECD.

Suggested Further Reading

Kenyatta, J., and J. Kariuki. 1984. Facing Mount Kenya. Nairobi: Heinemann.

Kilbride, P. L., and Kilbride.J.C. (1990).Changing Family Life in East Africa. Nairobi:
Gideon S. Were Press.

Mbithi, P. M. (1982). Early Childhood and Society: An Overview. Paper presented at the Kenya Institute
of Education national seminar “Pre-school Education and Its Development in Kenya,” Nairobi.

Mwamwenda, T. S. (1996). Educational Psychology: An African Perspective. Durban:

Heinemann.

18
Myers, R. (1995). The Twelve Who Survive: Strengthening Programmes of Early
Childhood Development in the Third World. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Van der Gaag, J., & Tan, J. P. (1998).The Benefits of Early Child Development Programs: An Economic
Analysis. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Young, M. E. (1996). Early Child Development: Investing in the Future. Directions in Development.
Washington, DC: World Bank.

LEARNING COMPETENCE

You have now completed this unit. The learning competences are listed below. Tick the column that
reflects how much you have learnt in each competence.

Learning Competence Not Sure Satisfactory

Explain importance of ECD to the child, family and nation
Explain different ECD provisions in Uganda
Explain the roles of different stakeholders in ECD
Explain the contributions of early educators to ECD in Uganda
Explain the role of different stakeholders in the promotion of
children’s rights
Develop strategies to control child abuse and neglect

In case you find that you are not sure whether you really have any of the above competences, go back
and review the specific sub-topic and do the activities therein. Also, find a friend or one of your
facilitators/tutor and discuss with him/her some of your challenges in that topic. You will make it. If in
case you feel confident, then I would like to take the pleasure of congratulating you for this
achievement. Well done! Move on to the next unit.
Congratulations

19
20
 UNIT TWO

CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

This unit introduces you to concepts of child growth and development in relation to the
Ugandan child care practices. This unit has the following objectives:

• Meaning of child growth and development

• General characteristics of young children
• Developmental needs of young children
• Stages of child growth and development
• Factors affecting children during post natal stage
• Developmental milestones for children in ECD
• Development of attachment and bonding
• Early learning and stimulation
• Growth promotion and monitoring (GPM)

LEARNING OUTCOME:
It is expected that after carefully studying this unit and doing all the exercises and activities as
expected, you will be a teacher who “utilizes the knowledge and concepts of child growth and
development to develop a conducive environment that enhances and promote children’s learning,
growth and holistic development”

Study requirements

In order to be able to successfully cover work in this unit, you need a noise free room to avoid
interruptions, a note book, a pencil, a rubber, the learning framework for ECD (3-6years) and
caregivers’ guide to the learning framework (3-6years) and any other ECD related book.

Enjoy studying this unit.

21
2.1 MEANING OF CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Growth and development in this unit is considered basing on nature of children. It should be noted
that a child in the Ugandan context is a person below eighteen years. However, for the purpose of
ECD, when we talk about a child, we shall be referring to children in the age bracket of birth to 8
years. With this in mind, we shall now consider child growth and development as:

• Growth refers to physical changes in the child’s structure. It involves changes in weight, height
and size. This can be observed right from birth on wards.
• Development is a process of change in which the child masters more and more complex levels
of moving, thinking, feeling and interacting with people and objects in the environment. It
involves physical, mental, social, moral, spiritual and emotional changes.

2.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUNG CHILDREN

Young children have characteristics that they show in different situations and age level. A child will
show a combination or many characteristics depending on freedom and nature of the
environment he/she is placed in. some of these characteristics include:
• Young children are active and work on their own development
• They are curious, imaginative and inquisitive about things and what happens around them.
• They learn through ‘real’ experiences and while using all their senses of touch, smell, taste,
sight and hearing.
• They are self centred/ego centric
• They hate blames
• They collect anything they come across
• They see all things as living. That is they do not realize the differences between living and non-
living things. For example, if a child knocks him/herself on a chair he/she may beat the chair for
knocking it and expect the chair to feel pain or say sorry.
• They have a short attention span. This means that they do not engage in a single activity for
along time. Depending on the activity, developmental interest and maturation of the child, the
attention span is limited to less than 15 minutes for a single activity.

22
 • Children have different abilities and learning needs.
• Children are interested in play and respond spontaneously to opportunities for play. They
enjoy repetition of stories, songs, and play activities for example rhymes,
actionsandmovements that attract their attention.
• Children learn through doing things. They are always eager to handle and manipulate objects in
their environment.
• They have difficulty in abstract thinking for example; they cannot understand the idea of
democracy or justice because they have not yet developed the ability for abstract thinking.
• Children naturally develop likes and dislikes spontaneously and are keen to demonstrate to
others.

Activity
1. Explain how growth is different from development

2. How is a child of three years different from that of one year?

3. Discuss why it is important for us to understand the characteristics of children.

2.3 GENERAL DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS OF YOUNG CHILDREN

As children develop, they have some needs that caregivers must provide to help each achieve
his/her potentials. A developmental need is an internal argue or drive that a child desires to
23
achieve or be given to help him/her change towards something good, better, complex or
purposeful. These needs can be physical, social, emotional, intellectual or spiritual as explained
below:

1. Physical needs include:

• Need for proper feeding
• Need for a healthy environment
• Need for exercise and play to develop gross and fine motor skills
• Need for sleep and rest
• Need for adequate clothing and shelter
• Need for care and attention/protection from diseases.

2. Social and moral needs include:

• Need to live with and relate with others
• Need to belong to a group
• Need to lead and follow
• Need to understand right and wrong
• Need to become independent

3. Emotional needs include:

• Need for love and security
• Need for success and self-worth
• Need for opportunities to express anger, fear, tenderness and happiness

4. Spiritual needs include:

• Need to understand the creator and creation
• Need to understand God as a loving father who cares for them and others.

5. Intellectual needs include:

24
 • Need for stimulation
• Need for opportunities to explore, experiment and discover
• Need for opportunities to use language
• Need for purposeful play

Activity
1. Identify and list some of the developmental needs of children.

2. For each of the different categories of needs, explain what you can do in order to
provide for children’s needs

3. As an advocate for children, show how you can make your community provide for the
needs of children.

Provision needed for Physical needs include:

• Provide children with space, time for exercise and play
• Give opportunities to develop fine motor skills
• Provide children protection from danger
• There is need to give children adequate immunization
• Give children proper feeding and health care.

25
Provision needed for social and moral needs include:
• Give opportunities to learn to care for themselves
• Give opportunities to live and relate with others
• Give opportunities for taking responsibilities and making choices

Provision needed for emotional needs include:

• Expression of anger, fear, tenderness and happiness
• Encourage children to develop self-control, cooperation and persistence in completing projects

Provision needed for Spiritual needs include:

• Encourage children to listen to songs, stories about God
• Let children to retell stories
• Let children act play about God’s creation

Provision needed for Intellectual needs include:

• Entertainment, reading readiness and writing readiness skills
• Encourage a lot of recitation, songs, being read to.
• Give activities that will develop a sense of mastery of a variety of skills and concepts

2.4 STAGES OF CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Child growth and development occur in progressive stages. The major categories are pre-natal
and post-natal.

a) The Pre-natal stage:

This is a period before birth.

It starts from conception till birth. It lasts for 9 months on average, but it may go beyond or less than 9
months.The child’s physical growth and development starts from at conception. By the seventh month
the pre-natal development of the child is almost complete.The last two months in the womb

26
enablesthe child to grow larger and stronger. The length of the unborn baby doubles and the weight
triples. A mother at this stage needs to be very careful because different factor can influence the
wellbeing of the unborn baby.

Factors that affect prenatal stage

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Miss use of drugs / alcohol / smoking
• Stress / violence Accidents
• Over working
• Lack of proper ante- natal care
• Maternal emotional state
• Physical exercise
• Mothers age
• Maternal diseases

b) Postnatal stage

It is the stage after birth. It consists of infant stage, toddler stage, early childhood (pre-school age),
late childhood and adolescent.

Infant stage (Birth -1 year)

It is the stage when the child is in the first twelve months of life. The foundation years of life
determine the overall direction and characteristics of life. No period in one’s life is as important as the
first two years of life. Psychologists and educators agree that never again in life will a person learn as
fast or as much as he/she does during the first two years.

Toddler stage (1-3 years)

It is the stage when the child is in the first three years of life. It is between infancy and childhood. A
toddler is a young child who is at the age of learning to walk. Toddling usually begins between the ages

27
of 12 to 18 months. During the toddler stage, the child also learns a great deal about social roles,
develops motor skills and starts to use language.

The childhood stage/pre-school

This stage is from 3-6 years. It is divided into 3-4 years, 5 years, 6 years.
Three – Four years: This is the age when most children start pre-school education. Children at this
stage are like live wires from the time they wake up until they go to sleep. They are busy discovering
the big world around them. Children are never dull although it may sometimes be frustrating for
those who may have limited understanding of their development.
Five years: At this stage children are influenced by their immediate environment. Children grow
rapidly in their motor control. Experiences at this stage contribute a lot to the formation of the
children’s personality.
Six years: This is the stage when children are in transition from pre- school to primary school. The child
begins to experience and enjoy expanded social interactions/contacts as he/she goes to meet friends,
playmates both at home and school. They also start to follow rules and morality.
Seven to eight years: At this stage the child is systematic in thinking and language use. The child
engages in peer activity and obeys group rules.

Note:
As a teacher, you should know that children’s development overlap the stages. It is not true
that characteristics shown at one stage is fixed and only for that stage. A child can show
characteristics of the earlier stage and that of the later stage while still in one stage.

Factors affecting children during post natal stage

Children in early childhood can be affected by many factors that make their growth and development
challenging. Some of these factors include:
• Domestic violence
• Poor medical attention/ diseases
• Poor feeding

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• Divorce exercises
• Child neglect
• Alcoholism, Drug abuse
• Peer pressure
• Abandonment
• Death of parents
• HIV / aids
• Insecurity
• Culture
• Accidents
• Ignorance
• Poor birth attendant methods

Activity
1. Explain different stages of post natal development.

2. Explain different factors that can influence child growth and development in the pre-natal
stage

3. Discuss what caregivers should do to ensure that children in early childhood achieve their
required growth and development

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2.5 DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES FOR CHILDREN IN ECD

As children grow and develop through different stages, they are supposed to show certain
characteristics that unique to particular stages of development. It is these characteristics that children
show at different stages that we have to observe and use them to note children’s level and progress in
growth and development. Those observable characteristics of children seen at particular stages of
development are called developmental milestones. The milestones that we look for are according
physical, social and emotional and intellectual aspects. A caregiver is supposed to observe these
milestones from children and use them to assess children’s progress in different stages. The caregiver
can also use suggested activities to give to children to do to promote better development at a given
stage in a particular aspect.

Note:
The developmental milestones for children overlap the stages. A child can show milestones of the
earlier stage and that of the later stage while still in one stage.

Developmental milestone for children at different stages of development are given according to the
aspects of development. These include physical, social, emotional, moral and intellectual.

Physical aspect of development: refers to the child’s increase in height, size and maturation. It is also
concerned with the growth rate of the child, energy level, functioning of senses, motor skills, health,
handedness and teething.

Social aspect of development: refers to social relationships, the acquiring of social skills for successful
functioning in society, the development of social attitudes and values, and in general, how the
individual adjusts and relates to society. The child’s social development is brought about by two major
social processes that include socialization and acculturation.Socialization is the formal process in which
a child picks the social skills, ideas and acceptable values of the society in which he/she lives. These
are acquired through interaction with peers, parents, teachers and significant others. Acculturationon

30
the other hand is a process where a child learns the acceptable socio-cultural beliefs, values and
traditions of his/her society as passed on from generation to generation.

Mental aspect of development: is concerned primarily with the brain abilities and functions or mental
process like thinking, reasoning and formation of ideas (concepts). It deals with how children grasp
ideas; understand concepts, how the thinking process operates, the meaning of intelligence and how it
is enhanced.Knowledge of mental development or how the brain processes work and intellectual
characteristics of children will help teachers to design proper syllabi, conduct assessment in proper
ways, choose appropriate methods and make relevant instructional materials.

Note:
The intellectual characteristics of children influence their development in other aspects i.e their
interaction and emotional ability/control/moral judgment and reasoning. It also influences their
sense of right and wrong. Intellectual abilities determine the children’s view of the world in which
they live.

Moral aspect of development: is concerned with the process by which children learn principles of
right and wrong, or good and bad behavior, moral reasoning and moral conduct.Moral reasoning
involves how the child learns and adopts rules and standards by which moral decisions and actions are
made. Moral conduct refers to actual behavior shown in situations, demanding some moral or ethical
action.An important part of moral behavior is a sense of moral judgment, which results from accepting
responsibility for oneself and others, viewing individual rights in clear perspective with rights of others,
and seeing the relationship of one’s own present behavior to one’s own future being.

In Early childhood, morality refers to their concept of what is right and wrong, which behavior is good
and which is bad, the development of conscience, and scale of values which basically tells them what is
correct and is not worthwhile.

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 Note:
Children from the age of o-5 have no morals. They do not understand the concept of morals.
This is because moral development starts at the age of about 6 years. Therefore, do not expect
young children to show appropriate moral behaviour and judgment.

Emotional aspect of development: Deals with the effective component of the child’s “feelings”
towards certain objects, persons or situations. Emotional development influences one’s personality.
Personality is the sum total of individuals psychological makeup (Farant, 1990).It is the project of
oneself as seen by others.The child is guided primarily by his/her feelings towards teachers, peers,
parents, siblings, significant others in his interpersonal relationships with them.The child’s emotions
are important as they determine the direction and quality of his interpersonal relationships and
therefore, his/her behavior patterns. A child who loves his mother will do all he can to remain in her
favor. Hatred for a person results in negative, hateful behavior.Emotions are both positive and
negative in nature. Positive emotions like love, adoration, compassion, happiness, joy etc result in
positive consequences. Negative emotions like anger, jealousy, hatred, sorrow result in unpleasant
harmful behaviour.

Note:
• Emotions can be positive or negative.
• General patterns of children’s emotions change in emotional behaviour take place most
rapidly during the early years of a child’s life.
• Emotions and feelings start getting established by late childhood.
• Every child has primary emotional behaviour patterns based on inborn factors and
universal (general) emotional behaviour observed by all members of the society/culture
to which he/she belongs.
• Learning experiences at school or environment experiences may cause positive changes
in children’s’ primary emotional behaviour.

32
 • One of the most important emotional needs of all children (irrespective of cultural or
religious background) is a feeling of confidence.
• Confidence increases as one has successful experiences
• Emotional learning is influenced largely by the emotional climate in the home, especially
a negative self image.
• Children need help in learning how to express their emotions in ways that are
acceptable to others.
• Set up a social environment to help children attain enough maturity to use emotions
effectively and establish healthy inter personal relationships.
• Social development directly affects emotional development and vice versa.
• A child’s emotional state directly affects performance in school. Children, who are
emotionally stable, perform well academically.
• It is teachers’ responsibility to provide emotional stability in school. Teachers should
serve as role models in managing emotions

Characteristics of young children’s emotions

Children’s emotions are short lived (last a short duration like only a few minutes and they end
abruptly). This is because children act out whatever and how they feel, without observing self
control hindrances. As a result, they overcome their feelings very easily.

Children’s emotions are intense. This means that they feel anger, joy, hatred, sorrow in
extreme degrees which they bring out in their own language and behaviour.

Children’s emotions are transitory. They shift from one extreme to another easily for example
from laughter to tears, from anger to smiles or from jealousy to affection.

Children’s emotions appear frequently. This is because children are in the habit of acting out
instantly without reason, on everything they feel.

Children’s emotional responses differ from child to child due to differences in social
background, age, sex etc.

33

Children’s emotions can be detected by symptoms of behaviour. Even if they do not show their
emotions directly, it can be seen or detected by their restlessness, tension, inactiveness,
anxiety, day dreaming or lack of interest.

Children experience a range of emotions. The number of emotions experienced by children is
large and commonly includes fear, worry, anger, jealousy, love, joy, pleasure, delight or
happiness, curiosity, sorrow/grief, hatred etc.

Activity

1. Identify some positive emotions children can show

2. Discuss some factors that lead children to develop negative emotions

3. As an advocate for children, show how you can help children develop positive emotions

The developmental milestones of children according to different aspects are summarized in the
following tables.

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 2.6 Developmental milestones for 3-4 year olds
Age Aspect Milestones Developmental/ learning Provision needed
Range needs
0-3 Emotional  Cries easily  Love and security  Provide love and security
years development  Often unable to control impulses  Opportunities to express  Let children express anger,
 Begins to express affection fear, anger, excitement and fear, tenderness and happiness
 Begins to perceive emotions of others tenderness
 Expresses self, sometimes empathetically  Routines and security
 Wants to be independent.  Success and self-worth
0-3 Physical  sits and crawls  Proper feeding and health  Provide nutritious food
years Development  Walks and begins to run environment  Organize the environment free
 Fine moor skills develop eg can pick up small objects  Development of gross and that is from harm and spacious
 Feeds self with a spoon. fine motor skills for children to play
 Climbs on to furniture  Provide materials that
 Likes to dress and undress promotes gross and fine moor
 Follows commands skills
0-3 Social  Responds to others  Live with and relate with  Encourage them to make
years Development  Enjoys company of other children for a short time others friends
 Is unable to share without coaxing  To have an atmosphere  Let children imitate actions of
 Imitates actions of others for imitation of actions of others
 Begins to engage I parallel play others
 To belong to a group
0-3 Mental  Development of concept is rapid  Stimulation  Encourage a lot of recitation;
years Development  Can follow a simple command with an associated gesture.  Opportunities to use songs rhymes
 Sorts toys language.  Provide materials for children
 Searches for hidden objects.  Purposeful play to sort , match
 Address others with greetings
 Develop a sense of object permanence.

2.7.1 Developmental milestones for 3-4 year olds

Age Aspect Milestones Developmental/ learning Provision needed
Range needs
3-4 Emotional  Can tolerate some frustration  Opportunities to play  Board and indoor games

35
years development  Develops some self-control  Group activities  Let them have the opportunity
 Begins to show some sense of humor  Rules and regulations to show preferences
 Fears darkness, being abandoned and strange situations  Opportunities to express  Let there be space and time
 Shows preferences such as clothes and entertainment feelings for them to play
 Knows how to play different games considers  Positive rewards  Provide play materials
teachers/adults as figures of authority to be listened to ie  Assurance of no harm  Guidance
child thinks adults know best.  Praise and encouragement  Explain reason for desired
 Analyze behavior objectively and does not consider the  Emotional security good behavior.
motives of situations of an action.  Stories told and their  Maintain links between values
 Moral judgment confined to the amount of danger done. moral lessons explained at home and those in school.
 Leadership opportunities  Involve children in setting
conflicts and decision making
regarding punishment.
3-4 Physical  Fine motor skills develop eg can pick up objects  Proper feeding and health  Provide nutritious food
years Development  Feeds self with a spoon. environment  Organize the environment free
 Climbs on to furniture  Development of gross and that is from harm and spacious
 Likes to dress and undress fine motor skills for children to play
 Follows commands  Provide materials that
promotes gross and fine moor
skills
3-4 Social  Enjoys company of other children for a short time  Live with and relate with  Encourage them to make
years Development  Shares play materials with others others friends
 imitates actions of others  To have an atmosphere  Let children imitate actions of
 Engages in group activities for imitation of actions of others
others
 To belong to a group
 variety of play materials
3-4 Mental  Development of concept is rapid  Stimulation  Encourage a lot of recitation;
years Development  Can follow commands  Opportunities to use songs rhymes
 Sorts toys language.  Provide materials for children
 Searches for hidden objects.  Purposeful play to sort , match
 Address others with greetings Develop a sense of object
permanence.

36
 2.8 Developmental milestones for 5-6 year olds
Age Aspect Milestones Developmental/ learning Provision needed
Range needs
5-6 Physical  Develops physical skills.  Feeding and health  Provide a good environment for
years Development  Walks up and down stairs alternating feet. environment. children to play.
 Jumps with both feet.  Support and guidance  Protect them from physical
 Climbs on play ground equipment.  Approval from adults. danger.
 Turns somersault.  Provide materials and encourage
 Fine muscle control increases them to play.
 Cuts on lines.  Provide jump ropes and hula
 Pastes and glues hoops for experimenting with
 Handedness is well established. movement and control
5-6 Social  Responds to others.  Opportunities to develop  Schedules play activities.
years Development  Enjoys company of others. social skills.  Mediate in case of
 Can maintain involvement with other children  Love and security. disagreements
 Has a strong feeling towards home and family.  Sleep and rest.  Provide opportunities to develop
 Shows a growing sense of self reliance  Opportunity for choice positive attitudes towards
 Expresses rigid ideas about sex roles.  Positive co-existence opposite sex.
 Has best friend for short periods of time.  Being independent.  Provide a relaxed learning
 Parallel play is common/cooperative play begins  Belonging to a group or environment.
 Able to take direction and follow rules. family/community.  Encourage group games.
 Aware of sex differences.  Teach skills for conflict
 Quarrels often but anger is short lived. resolution
 Able to share and take turns.  Provide opportunity to
 Eager to participate in school experiences. participate in
home/schoolactivities
 Provide empathy for fears

37
5-6 Mental  Shows a growing attention span.  Opportunities to use  Provide group activities for
years Development  Able to put objects in order. language to communicate. children to talk about.
 More accurate in judgments.  Opportunities to  Give children support to choose
 Differentiates between imaginations and reality. experiment, explore and as many of their own activities
 Uses language extensively discover. as possible.
 Interested in numbers and letters  Listening and retelling  Provide materials that children
 Knows names of colors, shapes. stories, rhymes can dismantle and explore.
 Being listened to.  Provide open ended materials to
challenge the child.
 Encourage children to follow
their interests.
5-6 Moral/Spiritual  Learns right and wrong.  Resist temptations  Encourages children to listen to
years Development  Develops conscience.  Knows God as a Creator, songs, stories and
 Influenced by other people’s behavior provider and protector. poems/rhymes about God.
 Develops moral values eg. Respect, honesty and trust  Understands God as a  Let children act plays about
loving father. God’s creation.
 Being trusted.  Opportunities to make choice
 Include spiritual formation
activities in the school routine,
Sunday school, prayer time.

38
 2.9 Developmental milestones for 7-8 year old children
Age Aspect Milestones Developmental/ learning Provision needed
Range needs
7-8 Physical  Physical skills increase.  Body balance  Provide climbers.
years Development  Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet, Runs.  Motor control  Let children walk up and down
 Jumps with both feet  Development stairs
 Climbs on play ground equipment.  Involve children in many
 Undresses and dresses self. activities that keep them on
 Catches ball with arms extended. their feet or that require them
 Walks backward and on tip toe to use their trunk and limbs.
 Holds crayon with fingers  Provide relevant materials eg.
 Fairs grip of writing tools. Soft rubber balls.
 Less motor control  Provide many moving
 Large muscles(of legs and trunk) are more developed than experiences
finer muscles (of fingers)  Give manipulative activities.
7-8 Social  Becomes aware of self.  Self awareness and self  Promote co-existence.
years Development  Becomes aware of racial and sexual differences. esteem.  Provide opportunities for
 Is able to take direction, follow some rules.  Positive co-existence with direction and choice.
 Have strong feelings towards home and family. children of different sex  Give plenty of group activities.
 Shows a growing sense of self reliance. and color.
 Parallel play is common.  Ability to make choice.
 Cooperative play begins  Self directive
 Imaginary playmates are fairly common.  Belonging to and
 Sometimes play with imaginary playmates. identifying with family
/class
 Independence.
7-8 Emotional  Can tolerate some frustration  Emotional stability.  Frequently remind children that
years Development  Develop some self control.  Freedom to express you love them.
 Appreciate surprises and new things. feelings.  Show love using possible means.
 Begin to show sense of humor.  Explanation and assurance  Explain and re-assure children
 Want to be shown love. on things and situations about things they fear.
 Fear darkness, being abandoned and strange situations like he/she fears.  Allow children to express their
accident sites, fierce films, death and mourning gathering. fears.

39
7-8 Mental  Follows instructions of two commands.  Proper concept  Provide mental puzzles and
years Development  Makes quick judgments without reasons. development. other forms of stimulation.
 Makes frequent mistakes.  Mental stimulation  Provide time to respond to
 Develops vocabulary rapidly.  Use of language questions, listen to children’s
 Uses number without understanding their value.  Tolerance from parents. experiences.
 Has difficulty in differentiating imagination and reality  Incidental learning  Set up a rich environment and
 Begins to classify things mainly by function opportunities. encourage new discoveries
 Begins to use some functional abstract words.  Challenging mental through questions.
 “Why” questions are constant. activities.  Record pupils’ progress.
  Listening adults to respond
Thinking is very egocentric (thinks from own point of view).  Exhibit patience with children’s
patiently to their questions questioning habits.
7-8 Moral/Spiritual  Follows moral standards of parents.  Learning accepted  Nurture confidence and feeling
years Development  Follows rules blindly ie without reason. behaviour of society eg of self-worth.
 Fairly knows the expectations of adults in different respect, honesty, love,  Respect children’s uniqueness
situations and understands when in wrong. trust. and individuality.
 Has difficulty understanding God in abstract nature.  Understanding God as a  Assess holistic child
 Recites some prayers without much meaning but with child loving father and provider development and give timely
like trust and language. of needs; protector. feedback.
 Views punishment as necessary and feels that it should  Feeling confident and self-  Accept emotionally disturbed
amount to the damage done not in terms of the prevailing worth. children for their weaknesses
conditions.  Respect for individuality and strengths.
 Authority is seen as absolute (complete/final)  Use more praise than blames.
 Actions are judged by their consequences

40
 Activity

1. Identify some social milestones for children of 0-3 years that you have seen in your area

2. As an advocate for children, show how you can help children develop their milestones

3. Explain the difference in moral milestones between children of 3-4 years and those of 7-8
years

2.10 DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENT AND BONDING

Bonding refers to the unconditional love between parents and their child. It is the
development of strong ties of attachment between an adult and a child. It is a process of
establishing a strong and close relationship between a parent or guardian and the child. This
relationship should develop through close skin and eye contact from the early weeks of life. It
is a process which continues through the first eight years of life.

Bonding can be done by showing love and security through a series of actions that may include:
Holding the baby close to the chest, putting the child’s head close to your chick, Pecking the
chick, Patting the child, and Hugging the child. It can also be through eye contact with the child,
constant interaction, breastfeeding (for mothers), Cuddling, Soothing, and soft touches. We can
also develop bonding by expressing feelings like smiling, saying ‘I love you’ with feelings

41
attached, providing for basic necessities, and giving surprises in form of gifts to celebrate key
days in the child’s life e.g birth day, baptism day, or saints day.

2.11 EARLY LEARNING AND STIMULATION

Early learning and stimulation begins as early as when the child is still in the womb. A child can
be talked to, sang to or listened to by mother and father when still in the womb. Therefore, it
is important that parents have this knowledge. The following are some of the ways children
can learn early in their life time when stimulated:

Singing: It is one of the ways in which children learn. Children in the womb can be sung to, by
their mothers. Young children love songs and therefore, parents should sing to their children
and encourage them to sing too.

Telling stories: Children should be told stories often. The stories for young children should be
short, precise and interesting as they love listening to them and asking questions. Even those
who are still in the womb can listen to stories.

Reading pictures/picture talk: The adult/parent should collect different pictures according to
themes, and help children to talk about them individually or in groups.

Play: The teacher/adult should organize variety of play materials for children and grade them
according to children’s interest. There should be enough play materials, free and safe
environment/space and time for children to play and rest.

Puzzles: Provide children with jig-saws, dominoes to fit. This helps enables children to grow
mentally upright.

Construction: Adult should provide children with building blocks of different colors, sizes,
length, and shape for children to use in a number of play activities. You can do this together
with them. To children, blocks, shakers can be hanging up on their beds so that when they
wake up, they straight away start playing with them. For children who are learning to walk,
ankle bells can be tied on their legs or shoes that make noise to fasten their growth.

42
It is also important for you the caregiver to understand that children learn what they live,
because:

• If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.

• If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
• If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
• If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
• If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
• If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
• If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
• If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
• If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
• If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
• If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

2.12 GROWTH PROMOTION AND MONITORING (GPM)

Children’s growth and development has to be monitored in order to ensure that they are
following the expected pattern. If we notice that it is not going as expected, then immediate
action should be taken to address it. This monitoring is done through an activity called child
growth promotion and monitoring (GPM). Growth promotion and monitoring is the process of
regulatory measuring the weight and health condition of the child using different measures and
instruments to find out how the child is growing. Therefore, growth promotion and monitoring
is a means of keeping track of a child’s health. This is usually done because children in the 2-3
years of life are very delicate and vulnerable to different childhood illnesses that greatly retard
their growth and development. It is also at this stage that a child needs great attention, care
and feeding to be able to adequately meet the demands of growing which if missed will never
be achieved in life again.

Growth promotion and monitoring for children less than3 years is supposed to be done
monthly. This is because children in this category grow rapidly and it is easy to notice any

43
slowdown in growth and take action quickly. Children in the age range of 3-6 years are
monitored on a quarterly basis because they grow less rapidly.

During growth promotion and monitoring, the following activities among others may be done:
weighing of children, measuring heights of children, de-worming, giving of vitamin A
supplements, check ups for malaria, malnutrition and general health conditions. Growth
promotion and monitoring is not an activity for mothers only. All persons who have a stake in
the life of children are supposed to attend so as to be able to take appropriate decisions in case
something is discovered from the child. The stakeholders may include: Children, parents,
caregivers, community, local leaders, and growth promotion health workers.

In the absence of growth promotion health workers, caregivers can also carry out a small
growth promotion exercise for the children under their care. They can later report their findings
to either parents or health care workers to take appropriate action. If you as a caregiver need
to perform growth monitoring, you may need the following materials:

Materials required

• Weighing pants
• Weighing scale (hanging/flat)
• Child health care copies
• A rope for hanging the weighing scale
• Children for weighing
• Identify a place where to put a rope and hung the weighing scale
• CCF child development guide copies to guide you on what to do
• Metre ruler

Responsibilities of a growth promoter

• Understanding the community
• Mobilizing the community
• Conducting monthly GPM sessions

44
 • Home visits and follow up on agreements with the caregivers during GPM sessions
• Conducting monthly meetings with the community to discuss the health issues of the
children in the community
• Link the community with health workers to provide health services
• Referrals- what activities are carried out during GPM
• Informing local leaders
• Identifying the venue
• mobilizing the community
• Preparing materials and equipment required during GPM
• Weighing and recording the child’s particulars
• Filling child’s health cards
• Counseling the caregivers and referrals

Steps of filling the health cards

• Fill in the blanks on the front of the card (Name, child’s number, date of birth)
• Write the child’s month of birth in the box at the bottom of growth chart
• Write the preceding month in the child’s second year in boxes for the second year
• Repeat this step for the third year

Note:
Filling of boxes should be done only for bracket year of the child (eg 1 year period)

45
END OF UNIT ASSIGNMENT
1. Explain the meaning of child growth promotion and monitoring

2. Describe the importance of GPM

3. Explain different activities that are expected to be carried out in growth promotion and
monitoring

4. Discuss the role of the caregiver in ensuring proper child growth promotion and
monitoring.

5. Discuss challenges that caregivers face in the process of carrying out GPM

6. Suggest some strategies that caregivers can use to overcome challenges of effective GPM.

46
 UNIT SUMMARY
In this unit, you have looked at the meaning and importance of child growth and develop,
stages of child growth and development, factors that influence children’s growth and
development and strategies that can be used to enhance children’s growth and development.
You have also looked at aspects of child growth and development and the developmental
milestones in the aspects of development. You also looked at child stimulation, growth
promotion and monitoring, health check, and development of attachment and bonding.

Suggested Reading List

Crain, W. C. (1985). Theories of Development.Prentice-Hall. pp. 118-136.

Dare, A & O’Donovan, M. (2002). Good practice in caring for young children with special
needs. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes Ltd.
Durojaiye M.O.E. (1976) A new introduction to Educational Psychology.Evans Brothers;
London.
Evans, J. L. (1997). Breaking down the barriers: creating integrated early childhood
programmes. Keynote address at the Conference on the Holistic/Integrative concept in
Early Childhood Education and Development, Cyprus, Feb. 15-18, 1997.
Evans, J. L., Myers, R.G., Ilfeld, E.M. (2000). Early Childhood counts: a programming guide
on early childhood care and development. WBI Learning Resource series: World
Bank. Washington D.C.
Farant J. S. (2000). Principles and Practices of education; Longman group U.K Ltd

47
Harding, J. & Meldon-Smith, L. (2003).Helping young children to develop.2nd Edition. London:
Hodder &Stoughton.
Ingule et al (1996) Introduction to Educational Psychology.East African Educational Publishers;
Nairobi

Mussen P.H. et al (1974) Child Development and Personality. 4th Edition; Harper and Row
Publishers; New York

Young, M. (2000).From early childhood development to human development.Proceedings of

the World Bank conference.Investing in Our Children’s Future, Washington, DC.

Internet

LEARNING COMPETENCE

You have now completed this unit. The learning competences are listed below. Tick the column
that reflects how much you have learnt in each competence.

Learning Competence Not Sure Satisfactory

Explain importance of child growth and development
Explain the stages of child growth and development
Develop activities to enhance children’s developmental milestones
Develop activities that promotes child stimulation
Develop activities to promote bonding and attachment
Carry out growth promotion and monitoring

In case you find that you are not sure whether you really have any of the above competences,
go back and review the specific sub-topic and do the activities therein. Also, find a friend or one
of your facilitators/tutor and discuss with him/her some of your challenges in that topic. You

48
will make it. If in case you feel confident, then I would like to take the pleasure of
congratulating you for this achievement. Well done! Move on to the next unit.
Congratulations

49
 UNIT THREE

CHILD CARE

This unit introduces you to concepts of child care and child care practices that are
being done in Uganda. This unit has the following objectives:
• Meaning of Childcare
• Child care programmes and activities
• Breast feeding
• Supplementary feeding
• Toilet training
• Sanitation
• Care for sick children
• Parenting
• Child safety and protection

LEARNING OUTCOME:

It is expected that after carefully studying this unit and doing all the exercises and activities as
expected, you will be a teacher who “utilizes the knowledge and concepts of child care to care
for children appropriately and promote their health, growth and development”

Study requirements

In order to be able to successfully cover work in this unit, you need a noise free room to avoid
interruptions, a note book, a pencil, a rubber, the learning framework for ECD (3-6years) and
caregivers’ guide to the learning framework (3-6years) and any other child care related book.

Enjoy studying this unit.

50
3.1 MEANING OF CHILDCARE

It is very important that all children receive tender care from any person who intends to take
care of them during their early childhood stages. This is because all children are driven by the
natural laws to seek developmental activities. Once children miss that tender care which is
supposed to help them achieve their full potential for positive development, then their process
of development will be hindered. We should start noticing children and care for them as Jeffrey
and Pattiejean Brown noted from children:

“…the world goes on and no one sees me. No one takes care to notice me. I do drugs, I loot
houses and no one cares. I have no love for the world or for myself. I have lost my way to the
world, somebody help me before it’s too late. Somebody, love me for who I am as an
outcome...”

Childcarerefers to all the support necessary for every child to realize his/her rights to survival,
protection and to care that will ensure optional development from birth to age eight.Childcare
is what parents, Teachers/ caregivers or any adult is able to provide for a purpose of
development. This may take the forms healthy and safe environment, support and affectionate
interaction, appropriate nurturing, modeling, stimulation, protection, and time which are all
components of respect for the child rights. Care refers to actions of behaviors that promote
child growth and development. Caring for children ensures that the children’s needs are
satisfied. These actions and behaviors may include; breastfeeding, supplementary feeding,
affection and love, interaction and stimulation, providing protection and security, safety, safe
environment for play exploration and discovery.
In summary, child care is about meeting the child’s multiple needs by taking into account;
Health, Nutrition and psycho- social stimulation, while at the same time strengthening the
environment in which children live. In addition to addressing the specific needs of children
includes; working with parents skills strengthen parenting skills. We should also work with
siblings and other family members to recognize and address the specific development needs of
young children.

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3.2 CHILD CARE PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES

Child care programmes and activities include: Feeding; breastfeeding, weaning practice,
supplementary feeding, care for children recovering from childhood disease.

Feeding children

Feeding refers to giving a child food for survival.It can also mean supply a child with nutritious
food. Children need to be fed on the best foods for growing. These includes all those foods that
are rich in nutrients like proteins, carbohydrates, vitamin’s, minerals, sugars, water and fats.
Giving children a balanced diet ensures their proper growth and development, since young
children of 0-8 years are at a rapid stage of growth and development. Feed children on
nutritious foods such as liver, the heart and kidney, proteins green’s peas, soya beans, cabbage,
brown bread, brown rice, fish, chicken, Irish, milk, banana’s etc.

The foods that are rich in the above nutrients have to be prepared while ensuring cleanliness
and proper hygiene. The food should not be over cooked to avoid destroying all the food
nutrients. After cooking, the food should be covered in clean utensils and kept in a clean safe
place.

Children should be served food on clean plates, cups or any utensils. They should also be served
in an interesting and appetizing way. Young children should be given their food each separately
and not mixed together. The food should also be served in small amounts. Children should be
fed at relatively close intervals. It is appropriate that they be fed five meals in a day.

How adults can help children during feeding

Children should be guided to follow good eating habits and table manners. Caregivers can help
children by training them to:
 Train children to wash hands before and after every meal.

52
  Give toddlers foods they can hold and eat using their fingers such as raw carrots and
watch for chocking.
 Give children opportunity to use spoons and cups as soon as they are ready.
 Hold and sit close to the younger ones (0-3years) as they eat.
 Talk to the children about the foods their eating.
 Serve food on bright and attractive colors of plates and other utensils.
 Avoid serving too much food but rather encourage the child to come for more food if
he/she wishes.
 Discourage eating sweets between meals.
 Involve children in set the table and clean up after meals.
 Create a happy and relaxed atmosphere during meals.
 Do not rash the children while eating, as it may interfere with their digestive system.
 Closely supervise younger children and those with low weight while eating.

Reasons why some children may not want to eat

Sometimes a child may have no interest in eating. If you try to force him/her, she may cry or
vomit. There are many reasons for such behaviour. Some of them may include:
 When a child is teething,
 While sick or developing an infection,
 When a child is emotionally upset, for example if he/she is missing the mother or a play
material
 Need for independence, which is very strong between children at the age of one and a
half to three years.
 When a child is distracted

53
 Note:
 Do not overcook the children’s food.
 Serve food immediately after cooking.
 Children with sickle cells are not recommended to foods with iron.
 Encourage children to drink plenty of water and eat roughage for proper digestion to
avoid constipations.
 Encourage children to eat fruits and vegetables.

Activity
1. Describe the diet you prepare for a young child

2. Explain different activities that you include in a child care programme

3. Discuss various ways you would use to handle a child who may not enjoy eating

4. Discuss challenges that a caregiver can face during child care

5. Suggest some strategies that caregivers can use to overcome challenges during child

54
 care.

3.3 BREAST FEEDING

Breast feeding refers to feeding the baby on its mother breast milk. Breast feeding is the
best option for infants. It is encouraged to start from childbirth.

Advantages of breast feeding;

• Breast milk is nutritious
• Breast milk is rich in colostrums(colostrums mean’s the first milk from the mother
breast shortly after birth)
• Breast feeding creates bonding and love between the mother and the child
• The breast milk is readily available,
• It is clean and at room temperature ready to be taken.
• It is Cheap
• It act as an antibiotic for the child
• It gives immunity to the child
• It is a means of family planning.

We have to encourage all breast feeding mothers to continue breast feeding their children
exclusively for the first 6 months and continue while giving the child other foods up the age
of two years. The more the child at infant age breast feeds, the more breast milk the
mother will produce. There are however, some conditions that may not allow the mother to
continue breast feeding as required. Some of these reasons may include:
• Age of the mother

55
 • Death of a mother
• Domestic violence
• Health state of a mother
• Stressful and fatigued mothers may lack milk.
• HIV &AIDS infected mother may infect their babies
• Nervousness, shameful, negative cultural norms.
• Inverted nipples , swollen nipples & cracked nipples

3.4 SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING

These are additional foods introduced to a child usually at six months.Commons

Supplementary foods given to children include: Mashed foods, porridge mixed with milk,
eggs, groundnuts, beans, fish, and sardines, animal proteins, green’s. We give children
supplementary foods when we have started the process of weaning.

Weaning

Weaning mean’s introducing a child to other foods besides its mother’s breast milk.
Weaning is a gradual process that should not be rushed. As the child grows older, and
becomes comfortable with the weaning foods, the mother can now completely stop the
child from breast feeding. It is important for mothers to wean their children at the right
time because:

• Breast milk will not be enough to meet the feeding needs of the child
• The mother has to be freed so as to be able to continue with her normal life routines
like work or business activity
• Sometimes the mother can be sick and not afford to infect the child through breast
milk.
• Weaning also helps the mother to recover and gain her former health condition before
pregnancy.

56
 Activity
1. Explain the two common types of weaning?

2. Give their advantages and disadvantages?

3. Steps to follow when weaning a child

3.5 TOILET TRAINING

Toilet training does not only mean training the child how to use the toilet/latrines, but also
taking care of him/her, keeping the urinals and toilets clean and teaching the child how to
use the potty.

Toilet training should begin early in a child’s life when the child is very young before three
months of age. The mother or caregiver helps the child to sit in an upright position
whenever it wants to urinate or defecate so that it does not get used to doing it while
sleeping. At the sleeping time you should help the child get used to releasing his/ her
bowels before getting to bed. You should also wake him up in the middle of the night and
in the morning to use the potty. This will help him/ her to get used to those times and
begin to wake up to go to the wash room while grown.

When the children go to school, they are introduced to a new and strange environment
that may promote or regress the toilet training they had learnt at home. As a teacher/

57
 caregiver you should not only provide conducive toilet training environment for indoor but
also for outdoor activities.

There are different opinions about when we should start training children on how to use
the potty. Most people agree that it is best to wait until the baby is ready for toilet training
and it happens most easily at the age of one and a half years to two years. However the
babies are ready when;
• They can sit properly by themselves on a potty
• Their muscles are able to control their urine and bowel movements
• They want to please adults and copy from bigger children
• They are able to tell or show when they need to use the potty.
Potty training happens in steps. Some of the steps take place earlier than we can realize.As
children take steps on the path to learn toileting, we should always be there when the child
call’s for attention to empty it bowels. It is also important that we do the following:
• Help the toddler become aware of what they are doing and the vocabulary to use.
• Let children watch others using potties or toilet and understand what is happening
• Put the child on a potty for less than ten minutes. If you make him stay longer, he/she
will lose interest in using it.

Note:
Toilet training takes time and needs patience, so you should never show disgust if the child
does not use the potty as expected and wets the nappy. He/ she is not naughty but too young
and with more practice, will learn to use it later.

Children can use potties if there are not enough toilets/ latrines in the school and these should
be emptied often and cleaned regularly.It is important to get parents’ cooperation, discuss with
them when planning to train their children on how to use the potty.Ensure that you use the
same words and methods with the parents to train the child on toileting.

58
We encourage children to wipe themselves by placing toilet rolls, paper, leaves or whatever is
used at home next to the toilet within children’s reach.To prevent infection, we need to advise
children to use different pieces of paper for the front and back. Train the children also to flush
toilet in case it is new to some children.

Important points to remember

• All toilets should be at a height children can reach. If they are high, steps should be built
to help children reach the toilet or latrine.
• If there pit latrines, ensure that the opening is small enough so that children do not fall
down the hole.
• Children need to be able to open and close the door
• Keep the latrine / toilet floor clean, dry and disinfected.
• The latrines should be regularly swept, smoked to avoid flies and bad smell.
• There should be latrine/ toilet covers
• Always escort children to the toilets to ensure order and discipline
• Train children to wash their hands after using the latrine/ toilet.
• Demonstrate squatting to the children and how to use the toilet/ latrines
• Create songs, rhythms, poems and stories about proper use of toilets/latrines for the
children.

Note:
In all children centres, gender sensitivity should be observed in such a way that girls have
separate toilets/ latrines from boys.

3.6 SANITATION

Sanitation in the care of the child is keeping the environment clean, this environment includes
the play learning area changing area, child area, child personal hygiene, and the hygiene of the
materials used for play. You have to make sure that the following is done:

59
• Child’s beddings are dry
• Regularly wash the child’s beddings
• Always change the child’s dippers when made wet
• Check for nappy rash on the child and ensure you use the right powder to reduce it.
• Bathe the child regularly
• In case the child has a wound or infection, make sure you use the right soaps to clean
them and keep the infected part dry.
• Keep the child’s play area always dry and clean to allow the child to play in it freely
without falling or sliding.
• Keep the child’s environment free from rubbish, feaces, animal droppings or dangerous
objects that a child may pick and eat.

60
 Activity
1. Who is responsible for sanitation practices in childcare?

2. Identify ways through which sanitation can be maintained in all those areas

3. How can you as a caregiver ensure that the community you are in observes proper
hygiene?

3.7 CARE FOR SICK CHILDREN

Children require maximum care and support while sick, a child who is sick and not hospitalized
should stay at home under safe and secure environment. The child will prefer the usually
caregiver present around him/her. The parents/caregivers of the child might require additional
information and advice on how to care for the child. The caregiver may need to observe the
following:
• Get more information about the illness of the child and what to do in case of attack
from either the parent or health worker
• Get to understand how to administer the medication that you may be given by the
parent to give to the child at the required time.
• Do not mix medication of different children
• Always keep all medicines out of the reach of children

61
 • In case of high fevers and temperature on a child, put a cold wet cloth on the fore head
of the child to reduce the temperature.
• Take note of children’s allergy to different foods and medication.
• Have parents’ telephone numbers or way of contacting them in case the condition of
the child worsens.
• Always monitor the conditions of a sick child so as to be able to determine what to do
next in case of emergency.
• Encourage parents of sick children to take their children with them for better medical
attention.
• Try to reassure a sick child and give plenty of fluids to drink if it can manage to avoid
dehydration.
• If the infection is contagious, keep the child in a sick bay and keep other children out of
it to avoid infecting them.

3.8 PARENTING
Parenting is a very interesting but challenging venture. It is for us all as responsible
citizens but not a responsibility of biological parents only. Caregivers/ teachers, we
spend most of the time with the children 0-8years.Therefore, it is important that we
critically analyze the importance of parenting and develop knowledge to enable us
practice acceptable parenting/ nurturing of children.
In ECD centers and communities you will find different categories of people playing the
roles of child parenting. Therefore parenting is not done by one or two parents alone
but rather the entire family or all the foster parents involved. Parenting involves
showing a child love and warmth. Expressing love to children is the foundation of good
parenting. We teach our children love and warmth, protection, bonding, feeding sick
children, sleep and rest, play and exercise.

How is love shown to the children;

We can show children love and warmth through;

62
 • Listening and communicating to them effectively. The disadvantage of not listening or
communicating effectively is that the child will feel left out and not loved enough by the
parents or responsible care giver.

3.9 CHILD SAFETY AND PROTECTION

It is important for parents for parents/ caregivers to ensure the safety of the child as
they love to explore and experiment. Children need protection from adults to avoid
accidents. To ensure that children receive adequate safety and protection, caregivers
need to;

• Keep poisonous substances and medicines out of reach from children.

• Train children on safe and proper use of household equipment like knives, forks, hoes,
and pangas,
• Keep dangerous objects away from children.
• Keep matchboxes, fires and cigarette lighters away from children
• Avoid poisons plants in the school compound.
• Encourage children to avoid dangerous places,
• Avoid dangerous people
• Keep plastic bags and balloons away from children
• Young children should have a separate compound from the older primary children
• Learning centres should be secured with a fence to keep away from strangers
• The children’s play area should be clean and regularly checked
• Small or tiny objects should not be left to the children without supervision since they
may be harmful if the child swallows or inserts it in the nose.
• The teacher/ caregiver should supervise children while playing with any materials
containing paint.
Outdoor safety
Children should be supervised by a responsible watchful adult during outdoor play. To
do this, one can:
• Encourage cooperative play

63
 • Discourage aggressiveness
• Ensure climbing equipment is situated on suitable soft landing surface with space
around it.
• Lock external gates and ensure that children do not leave play area unsupervised.
• Remove all potential hazards such as sharp objects, dangerous litter,
• Provide areas for alternative play for example wheeled toys.
Road safety
Children are always at risk on the roads. Caregivers should ensure children’s safety in
the following;
• Setting a good example when walking and crossing the road
• Discourage parents from allowing children below 8years to cross the roads
unsupervised.
• Teach children road safety sign
• Discourage children from playing in the roads or pavements as play areas

Note:
Safety and protection of children should be a joint venture with all stakeholders.
Always encourage community awareness on values of children and the need to protect them at
all times

END OF UNIT ASSIGNMENT

1. Describe the diet you prepare for a young child

2. Explain different activities that you include in a child care programme

64
 3. Discuss various ways you would use to handle a child who may not enjoy eating

4. Discuss challenges that a caregiver can face during child care

5. Suggest some strategies that caregivers can use to overcome challenges during child
care.

UNIT SUMMARY
In this unit, you have looked at the meaning and importance of child care, development of child
care programmes, children’s feeding programmes and their importance. You have also looked
at different child care practices, toilet training, care for sick children, parenting and child safety
and protection.

Suggested further Reading

Aggarwal J. C. (2007). Essentials of Education Psychology 2nd Edition. New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House Ltd.
Crain, W. C. (1985). Theories of Development.Prentice-Hall. pp. 118-136.
Durojaiye M.O.E. (1976) A new introduction to Educational Psychology.Evans Brothers; London.
Farant J. S. (2000). Principles and Practices of education; Longman group U.K Ltd

65
Ingule et al (1996) Introduction to Educational Psychology.East African Educational Publishers;
Nairobi
Mussen P.H. et al (1974) Child Development and Personality. 4th Edition; Harper and Row
Publishers; New York

LEARNING COMPETENCE

You have now completed this unit. The learning competences are listed below. Tick the column
that reflects how much you have learnt in each competence.

Learning Competence Not Sure Satisfactory

Explain importance of child care to children
Develop a comprehensive child care programme for children
Develop strategies to ensure child safety and protection
Design a parenting programme
Develop children’s feeding programme
Train children appropriate toileting habits

In case you find that you are not sure whether you really have any of the above competences,
go back and review the specific sub-topic and do the activities therein. Also, find a friend or one
of your facilitators/tutor and discuss with him/her some of your challenges in that topic. You
will make it. If in case you feel confident, then I would like to take the pleasure of
congratulating you for this achievement. Well done! Move on to the next unit.
Congratulations

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 UNIT FOUR

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

This unit introduces you to different principles and concepts of Educational psychology that
can be used to promote children’s learning. The unit has the following objectives:

• Introduce learners to the meaning of Education Psychology

• Explain how Education psychology can be used to promote children’s learning
• Explain how Motivation can be used to promote learning
• Introduce learners to concept of Guidance and counselling
• Identify some Qualities of a good counselor
• Introduce learners to Counseling procedures
• Introduce learners to Orientation of children in schools
• Explain the concept of Stress and its management
• Introduce learners to the Teacher/ caregivers’ code of conduct
• Help learners to developpersonal principles

LEARNING OUTCOME:

It is expected that after carefully studying this unit and doing all the exercises and activities as
expected, you will be a teacher who “utilizes the knowledge and concepts of educational
psychology to develop a conducive environment that enhances and promote children’s learning,
growth and holistic development”

Study requirements

In order to be able to successfully cover work in this unit, you need a noise free room to avoid
interruptions, a note book, a pencil, a rubber, the learning framework for ECD (3-6years),
caregivers’ guide to the learning framework (3-6years) and any other child psychology related
book.

Enjoy studying this unit.

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4.1 MEANING OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Educational psychology embraces the concepts of psychology and that of education.

Psychology is the science of behavior and mental process. It is the systematic study of human
and animal behaviour with the aim of understanding how and why we behave in the way we
do. Similarly psychology undertakes to make a scientific study of the individual considered as a
unit he really is while dealing with other individuals and he world.

Education on the other hand is the development of desired habits, skills, and attitudes which
make an individual valuable and useful member of his society/community. Education can also
be considered as the experiences that we go through in life from the time we are born until we
die.

When put together the ideas of what psychology and education are, we come up with the
concept of Educational Psychology. Educational Psychology is the application of psychological
principles to the practice of education. It is the systematic study of the educational growth and
development of a child. It deals with the conditions that promote or retard the development of
the child in the process of learning (Aggarwal, 2007).

Importance of Educational Psychology to a caregiver

• It helps a teacher to understand developmental stages of children and their

characteristics.
• It helps teachers to employ suitable methods of teaching children
• It guides the teacher in designing the curriculum
• It helps the caregiver to develop instructional materials that are appropriate for children
of different age groups
• It gives a teacher the ability to understand fellow workers for smooth relationships
which enhances effective teaching and learning processes
• The teacher gains knowledge and skills of working with the learners, parents and
community in order to perform his/her duties effectively

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 • It equips teachers with the ability to identify learners’ individual differences and hence
handle them accordingly.
• Is helps teachers identify children with special needs and therefore find ways of
supporting these children to cope or overcome these challenges.
• It helps the teachers to control their emotional behavior and gives an understanding of
the principles and techniques of correct training

4.2 CHILDREN’S LEARNING STYLES

Every experience or activity that a child comes across is a learning experience.
Learning is the acquisition of habits, knowledge, skills and attitudes which empowers
an individual to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new situations. Learning usually
results into a permanent change in behaviour. The way children learn is influenced by
characteristics which they are born, such as gender, attitudes, likes and dislikes that
have been introduced to them in the early years at home. They may also be affected
by the community, culture and values held in their area. Children’s learning can be
seen in many ways as shown by Kagan, Britto, Kauerz and Tarrant (2005) to include:
curiosity and interest, initiative, persistence, attentiveness, creativity, invention,
reflection and interpretation.

Ways in which children learn

• Play is the most important and most noticeable avenue through which children learn. A
caregiver must therefore make sure that learning activities are prepared in a play way
manner.

• Children also learn widely by doing. Children are not good at listening to adult ides as
they sit still. This is because children have a short attention span. Always make sure that
you involve children in every activity because they learn by doing.

• Children learn better when activities given to them are repeated. It is not enough to give
a child something to learn. Always make provision for revision, practice or repeated
activity to help children master given skills.

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 Note:
It is also important for you to note that children will quickly acquire some habits if
you encourage or reward them and also leave them if they are discouraged.

Factors That Influence Learning

Maturation – This means reaching the optimum level of development needed for an
individual to perform a certain task. An individual needs to be mature first in a particular
area before he or she can learn. For example a child can not learn to sit until the back
bones have matured. Neither can he start walking before the leg bones have matured.
Ability levels – Learning of any new behaviour will depend on the ability level of the
learner. If what is to be learnt is beyond the child’s ability level then he or she will not learn
for example if you try to teach nursery children work for P.7, they will not learn because it
is not at their level.
Intelligence – Learning may be influenced by intelligence in that intelligence helps a child
to capture and interpret new information so that it can be learnt.
Children with low intelligence take long to learn e.g. a child with a mental disability might
not see the need to go round the field in a running competition and therefore take a short
cut across the field to get to the finishing line. This is because he/she does not see why he
should follow the given lane to reach the finishing point.

Interest – In order for one to learn, a person must have interest in what is to be learnt. If
you have no interest in something, it becomes difficult for you to learn. Caregivers must
therefore always try to raise children’s interest in something before they begin teaching
them.

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 Activity

1. Explain how children from your community learn.

2. Discuss different factors that you can influence children’s learning.

3. Discuss some actions that you need to put in place to make children learn better.

4.3 LEARNING STYLES

Learning styles refers to how an individual child prefers to learn. A child’s learning style guides
the way he/she can learn. Your learning style determines the way you internally represent
experiences, the way you recall information, and even the words you choose. Sometimes
children's learning styles incorporate many learning styles especially in the early years. But as
they get older, one dominant learning style may surface. It is important for us to recognize and
understand children’s learning styles early enough so that we can use techniques better suited
for their learning. Some of the common learning styles include:
1. Visual Learners learn through seeing. These learners like to visualize things by thinking in
pictures and learn bestfrom maps, charts and diagrams; they enjoy art and drawing. Visual
learners often like taking numerous detailed notes, tend to sit in the front, are usually neat and
clean, often close their eyes to visualize or remember something, find something to watch if
they are bored, and find passive surroundings ideal

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2. Auditory/Language Learners learn through listening. They learn best through talking and
listening to what others have to say. They often sit where they can hear but without necessarily
paying attention to what is happening in front. They hum or talk to themselves or others when
bored. They also spell words accurately and easily and are often very good readers. Auditory
learners enjoy listening to tone of voice, pitch and are often musically talented. These learners
often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder. They often have excellent
memory for names, dates and like word games and remember by verbalizing lessons to
themselves

3. Kinesthetic/Tactile Learners learn through moving, doing and touching. Tactile/Kinesthetic

persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around
them and may find it hard to sit still for long periods of time. They communicate with body
language and gestures and prefer to show you rather than tell you. They can remember what
was done, but have difficulty recalling what was said or seen. They like activities such as
cooking, construction, engineering and art which help them perceive and learn. They enjoy field
trips and tasks that involve manipulating materials. These children sit near the door or
someplace where they can easily get up and move around. This is because they are
uncomfortable in classrooms where they lack opportunities for hands-on experience.
Kinesthetic learners are often good at sports.

4. Logical/Analytical Learnerslearn through exploring patterns and relationships. Analytical

learners enjoy puzzles and seeing how things work. They constantly ask questions and are
capable of highly abstract forms of logical thinking at an early age. They can solve mental math
problems quickly and enjoy strategy and computer games. They like to create their own designs
with blocks.

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 Note:
Remember all children work well with hands-on activities and manipulatives. Also, while
children can have a mix of learning style, there is no particular right mix. Everything depends on
each individual child. The learning styles are also not fixed. They can change with time. You can
develop ability in less dominant styles, as well as further develop styles that you already use
well.

4.4 MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING

Motivation is the force or drive that energizes and directs us into action. It is a process of
arousing action, giving direction and sustaining an activity in progress.Motivation is very
important because:
• It directs the behaviour of an individual towards a particular goal. Motivation gives you a
target that you will always aim to reach. For example becoming a doctor can be your goal.
This goal will make you always work hard at anything that brings you closer to being a
doctor.
• It energizes behaviour. If you have already set your goal, every time you see an
opportunity to reach your goal motivation will give you sudden energy to try to do
something even if it looks impossible to others
• It sustains behaviour. Motivation will make you work for a longer time at something that
you are interested in. for example if your interest is in mathematics, you will always have
the need to continue doing mathematics even if its time has passed.
• It regulates behaviour. This means that you always be careful in selecting activities that
match with your goal. For example if you love football, you will pay attention to mainly
football related issues and not fishing which you do not have interest in.

Motivation may be in two forms which include intrinsic (internal) motivation and extrinsic
(external) motivation.

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Internal motivationis the type of motivation which comes from within an individual. This
motivation is regulated by an individual’s pride and belief in him/herself. The person does not
rely on other people to do something. Success of failure is usually blamed on oneself. For
example, if a child fails to do something correctly, he/she may say “I did not try harder” or “it is
my fault”.

External motivation is the type of motivation that originates from outside the individual.
It encourages the achievement of learning goals. The person works hard because of the
external rewards given by other people e.g. prizes, praises, jobs, or promotions. The child
usually blames his/her failure on other people. For example a child might say that “I failed
because that teacher hates me”.

Factors that affect motivation

Even as we try to motivate children to learn, we have to take into consideration the factors that
will affect their motivation. Some of them include:

Readiness refers to the level at which an individual is set to perform an activity. It also refers to
the level of preparation that one has in order to start performing a given task. If you are well
prepared, you get motivated to do an activity. For example athletes who train regularly get
ready for competition and are motivated when they are told they will be competing soon.
Maturation - this may mean the optimum level of growth and development of a child that helps
it to be ready to learn. E.g. a child may want to write but the fingers are not mature enough to
hold the writing materials. Likewise, a young child may want to carry a baby but she may not
have the physical strength to carry the baby so you have to support both of them.

Activity

1. Explain how motivation can influence children’s learning.

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 2. Discuss different factors that you need to consider when motivating children to learn.

3. Discuss some actions that you can see from children to show that they are motivated to
learn.

Motivation techniques

Children can be motivated to learn by teachers in different ways. Some of them include:

• Use of rhymes that have actions that you can use to involve the learners for example
the rhyme shake,shake the mango tree. The rhyme has many actions that will interest
the children. Even as you teach, punctuate your lesson with songs and rhymes to
maintain children’s interest.
• Give learners opportunity to express their feelings through answering questions;
encourage free talk, role plays or reporting.
• We must understand and value the learners within the learning process. This can be
done by acknowledging every response and using the children’s experience to teach
them. Do not discourage children by giving bad comments about incorrect answers. If
you do that, it will kill their morale and they will not answer again.
• Involve all children actively in the lesson. The teacher should be the guide. Do not
pretend to know every thing. When you do not know, say so. Some children ask
questions whose answers they know. They test you to find out if you know. Ask the

75
 same child to help tell you the answer. It will save you the embarrassment of giving a
wrong answer.
• Relate content to children’s life experiences. This will help them to continue discussing
the topic in your absence.
• Provide immediate feed back to the learners through:
- Instant answering of their questions.
- Marking their work
- Providing appropriate response.
• Reward learners appropriately for all the actions or responses they give. Small tasks with
small rewards and vise versa.
• Provide content of the right level according to the children’s ability.
• Vary the methods of teaching to suit interest, nature of content, weather or needs of
the learners e.g. if you start a lesson with a song, the following day start with jumping or
dancing especially if it is cold. Do not ask them to jump if they are already sweating.
• Use teaching aids that help the children to build ideas and concepts that you are
teaching them.
• Be a good role model that the children will admire. Children have a tendency to like
subjects of teachers they like.
• Use competitions and cooperation when teaching. It may be inter- personal, groups or
self competition.
• Set appropriate goals to help the learners work harder and be guided towards the
learning out come.

Activity

1. Discuss different motivation techniques that parent use at home to encourage their
children to learn.

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 2. Discuss some motivation techniques that you think can be used to encourage new
children to participate in class activities.

4.5 GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING

Guidance involves personal help given by someone. It is designed to assist a person to

decide what he/ she wants to do. Guidance may be assumed as a process of helping an
individual understand himself and his world.
In education, guidance may mean providing knowledge, information or advice to children
which can help them to make the right choices.for example the choice of who to stay with,
which school to go to or what games to play.

Counselingmeans a face to face interaction between a counselor and the child. Counseling
is the most important part of guidance because it provides personal touch and relationship
which helps to direct children. This is because a child that has problems may always be in a
state of distress.

Counseling helps an individual to make choices or decisions in order to resolve personal

confusion, cope with problems in a realistic and meaningful way. It also helps an individual
to accept what he / she can not change e.g. a child complaining about being short; counsel
him to accept it by telling him the disadvantages of being tall. Give him examples of short
people who are happy and successful.

Importance of guidance and counseling

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• To help learners make proper choices as they go about doing different things. For
example, they can be helped to decide which school to go to, which subjects to specialize
in or which foods to avoid in order to maintain their health.
• To help in total development of learners especially those being affected by developmental
needs. Some children may realize that their body is developing in the way they do not
expect or in a way that is different from that of their friends. If the child is not helped, it
will lead to confusion.
• To minimize the mismatch between education and the future job. A child should be
helped to take up those subject areas he/she has ability and interest in. if we force
children to take up what we like and not what they like, they will end up doing different
things as adults and leave what they trained in.
• To assist new learners establish proper identity. Sometimes children do not know
themselves or their abilities. Guidance by the teacher will help each child to discover
his/her potential and get their proper identity.
• To assist learning in their period of confusion. As children grow up, they have a lot of
questions that may not be easily answered by parents or other teachers. Guidance and
counseling will help such children to find answers to their questions.
• To reduce the incidence of indiscipline. When children’s questions and needs are met,
they settle. This help to control cases of indiscipline by children who may want to be
recognized or their curiosity answered.

Activity
1. Explain how guidance is different from counseling.

2. Discuss the importance of guidance and counseling to the life of children.

78
 3. Discuss some actions that children show that may tell you that they need guidance and
counseling services from you.

4.6 QUALITIES OF A GOOD COUNSELOR

A counselor is like a parent to a child. You as a counselor can be able to effectively help
children to develop if you try to have the following qualities:

• Be knowledgeable about different things that children may need to know from time to
time
• Be simple and approachable by all learners especially those who may be in need or
those children who may have awkward problems that others feel ashamed about.
• Be disciplined and a role model for children to emulate in and outside the school
• Be trusted and not always reveal children’s secrets to other people who are not
concerned with it.
• Be patient and always listen to all children’s problems without brushing them aside.
Remember, every problem is very important to the owner.
• Be kind and show concern for all children. Have feelings for children as if you were in
their position so as to be able to effectively help them.

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 Activity
1. Discuss different qualities of a good counselor for children.

2. Discuss some qualities that some counselors may have that can discourage children
from coming to them for counseling or guidance.

4.7 GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING SERVICES

In a school setting, there are three basic guidance and counseling services that caregivers are
expected to offer to children. These include:

Orientation guidance services – these are services that a caregiver provides to a new child in
school to help him/her adapt to the new environment. Some of the services and activities
provided to children include introducing to different people who matter in the school, showing
them other children, showing them how to use toilets/latrines, how to get permission to do
something, daily routines to be followed or what is expected of the child at different times.

Educational guidance services- these are services given to children to help them make the best
out of what is provided to them. Some of them include how to use different instructional
materials, how to report need, how to go about given procedures like during snack time or
rules to be followed when playing with different toys.

Career guidance services- these are activities that help the child to follow what he/she has
interest and talent in. this helps the child to gain more insight into a given field that can later be
his/her career as an adult. This guidance helps the child to focus on their talents and the best
they can do with them.

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 Note:
As a teacher, your role is to guide the child to find his/her talents and make the best use of it.
Do not force children to take up what you want if they are not interested in it.

4.8 ORIENTATION OF NEW CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS

When children come to school for the first time, it will be a completely new environment for
them. They feel very insecure or out of place. In most cases, the reaction of many children is to
cry or try to escape back home. Some may even find it so difficult to cope such that they will
hate any idea of school altogether. It is therefore your role as a caregiver to be there for this
child and make him/her feel at home while at school. This process of making a child feel at
home while at school is called orientation. We can orient new children into school by doing
some of the following activities with them:

• Showing children where to go to help themselves like toilets/latrines or wash rooms and
how to use them.
• Asking the child different things that he/she may need so as to be able to provide for
him/her
• Talking to the child regularly in a friendly way so as to allow the child to open up to you
and be free.
• Helping a child when you see him/her try to do something
• Encouraging the child to participate in doing class activities with other children.
• Encouraging other children to come and keep the child company.
• Talking to other children to share what they have with the new child to make him/her
become part of the group.
• To discourage all other children who may try to make fun of the new child
• To be friendly to the child and keep away any form of corporal punishment.
• Telling the child stories or singing with him/her.

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 Activity

1. Discuss different activities that children should be oriented to when they come to school
for the first time.

2. Discuss some advantages of orienting new children to school.

3. Suggest some activities that you can use to orient new children who have special needs
while at school.

4.9 STRESS AND ITS MANAGEMENT

Stress is the demand placed on a person requiring him/her to change in some way. It a
physiological reaction of the body to psychological and physical demands. Stress results when
we are faced with demands or events that we perceive as dangerous to our wellbeing,
especially when we are not sure of our own abilities to deal with the situation.

Causes of stress
Stress can be caused by a number of factors that can include:
• Traumatic events or events that significantly destabilize the mind of a person for example
unexpected loss of a loved one or a car accident can be very traumatizing leading to stress.

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• Frustrations which occur when an individual has failed to achieve his/her intended goal. For
example if a person you have been longing to meet suddenly does not come, you get
frustrated.
• Major life changes for example a poor man suddenly wining 100 million shillings, or sudden
promotion to a level you never imagined can lead to stress.
• Conflict in which a person is faced with making decision that involves choice of two very
good opportunities that cannot be taken together for example being admitted in two
different but equally good universities, or a girl getting marriage proposals from two men
she had interest in.
• Daily hassles which include every day minor disturbances that we go through which can
accumulate and become a problem. For example you can kick a stone, then break your
glass, then before you settle, you fall down and make your cloth dirty and finally your child
comes to you to be carried only to step on your hurting feet. The small things eventually
trigger stress which makes you to lose your head and something stupid.
• Pressure of work or deadlines can also lead to stress.

Effects of stress on our life

Stress can lead to a number of effects and health related problems to the person. Some of
them can include:
• Fatal accidents as a result of poor judgment of situations you are supposed to be in
control of.
• Unnecessary errors while doing different things due to lack of concentration.
• Heart failure due to hardening of the heart muscles after experiencing stress for a long
time.
• High blood pressure due to abnormal release of hormones in the body
• Anxiety and inattentiveness due to failure to be in control of the situation.
• Anger and aggression which can lead you to hurt other people in the process of trying to
hide your stress.

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 • Starting habits that you have not been engaging in for example excessive drinking,
smoking, talking to yourself, change in behaviour or slamming the door.

How to manage stress

We try to manage stress in the following ways:
• Plan your activities in advance and follow your plan
• Always do physical exercise to help you release the tension that is building in you
• Be in company of other people you can share with some of your challenges
• Eat a balanced diet
• Get plenty of sleep and rest to refresh your self
• Go to places where you can relax or have fun once in a while to release tension.

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 Activity

1. Discuss factors that have led to increased stress among teachers.

2. Discuss different ways in which teachers can reduce stress among themselves.

3. explain different ways in which you have been able to control stress

4.10 TEACHER/ CAREGIVERS’ CODE OF CONDUCT

All people who are in charge of life and welfare of children in our community have to live a life
that conforms to the expected standard and code of conduct. Some of the expected code of
conduct for caregivers and teachers are attached at the end of this module:

Activity

1. Discuss the importance of teachers maintaining their code of conduct.

2. Explain different teachers’ code of conduct while in the community.

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4.11 DEVELOPING PERSONAL PRINCIPLES
Every person who is to be trusted must have principles that can be seen from him/her over a
period of time. Trust in a person is built basing on what you show to other people. Personal
principles are a set of things, dos or don’ts that an individual will always work hard to uphold or
not to do in order to maintain his/her self righteousness. Principles are the actions or set of
values that define what a person stands for. The following can be some of the principles that
caregivers can have:

• Never walk passed any child who is being abused no matter by whom
• Always speak the truth
• Always be in support of the rights of children in any situation
• Never torture any child
• Never sell him/her self to anybody no matter the condition
• Always be honest and do what is expected of him/her.
• Never engage in acts of murder or child sacrifice.
• Never participate in actions of child abuse, rape or defilement.

The above are just a few examples that are related to caregiving. There are also those principles
that relate to our daily life that we can explore. It is not enough to list principles. We must
abide by them at all times. The following steps can help you to have principles.
• First think about goal of your own life and were you want to be in a certain period of
time. It can be after a year, ten years or even twenty years.

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 • Identify the characteristics or things you would like to be identified with at that
particular time. It could be honesty, defender of children, statesman or woman, leader
of freedom fighter.
• Make a list of dos and don’ts that you need to start practicing in order to reach that
goal.
• Talk to other people whom you think have some of the things you admire so that they
can share their experiences with you.
• Start practicing the easier dos or don’ts as you monitor other people’s responses.
• Continue doing what you feel is right and will lead you to your goal.
• Always remember to listen to other people at all times because they are the mirror you
use to guide your actions.

END OF UNIT ASSIGNMENT

1. Discuss the importance of one having personal principles.

2. Make a list of some things that you will not bring yourself to do in any circumstance.

3. Make a list of some things that you will always try to do no matter what other people
say.

UNIT SUMMARY
In this unit, you have looked at the meaning and importance of educational psychology to the
teacher/caregiver, types of learning and children’s learning styles, types of motivation and

87
different activities that can be used to motivate children to learn, qualities of a good counselor
and the process of guiding and counseling children and how to orient new children into school.

Suggested further Reading

Aggarwal J. C. (2007). Essentials of Education Psychology 2nd Edition. New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House Ltd.

Crain, W. C. (1985). Theories of Development.Prentice-Hall. pp. 118-136.

Durojaiye M.O.E. (1976) A new introduction to Educational Psychology.Evans Brothers;

London.
Farant J. S. (2000). Principles and Practices of education; Longman group U.K Ltd

Ingule et al (1996) Introduction to Educational Psychology.East African Educational Publishers;

Nairobi

Makinde Olu (1990); Fundamentals of guidance and counseling. London: Macmillan Publishers

Mussen P.H. et al (1974) Child Development and Personality. 4th Edition; Harper and Row
Publishers; New York

Opiro W. G. (2005) Peace Education for primary schools; Ministry of Education and Sports.
Published by world vision international

Opiro W. G. (2004). Introduction to guidance and counseling; a guide to the guidance and
counseling Practitioners published by USAID- BEPS (Project)

LEARNING COMPETENCE

You have now completed this unit. The learning competences are listed below. Tick the column
that reflects how much you have learnt in each competence.

Learning Competence Not Sure Satisfactory

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Explain importance of educational psychology to a teacher
Develop personal philosophy and principles
Identify sources of stress and its management
Motivate children to learn
Prepare learning activities according to children’s learning styles
Orient new children into school

In case you find that you are not sure whether you really have any of the above competences,
go back and review the specific sub-topic and do the activities therein. Also, find a friend or one
of your facilitators/tutor and discuss with him/her some of your challenges in that topic. You
will make it. If in case you feel confident, then I would like to take the pleasure of
congratulating you for this achievement. Well done! Move on to the next unit.
Congratulations

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 GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA

TEACHER'S CODE OF CONDUCT

Part I - Membership to the Teaching Profession

Membership to the teaching profession shall be open to a person who has

successfully completed an approved course of training as a teacher leading
to the award of a recognized certificate in teaching and whose name has
been entered in the registrar of teachers in accordance with the provisions of
the Education Act, 1970, and such a person has been issued with a
certificate of registration as a teacher.

Licensed Teachers; a person who has not fulfilled the requirements of sub-
paragraph one of this code, may join the service if that person meets the
requirements of eligibility and a license to teach, in accordance with the
provisions of the Education Act, 1970, in regard to a person who may be
licensed to teach and whose name has been entered on the Roll of persons
licensed to teach.

Part II - The Child-Learner

A teacher's chief responsibility is towards the child/learner under the

teacher's care and the teacher shall guide each child/learner where
necessary in and out of school in order to develop the child/learner in body,
mind, soul, character and personality. The teacher shall therefore: -

90
  Respect the confidential nature of information concerning each
child/learner and may give such information only to persons directly
concerned with the child-learner's welfare.
 Recognize that a privileged relationship exists between the teacher
and the child/learner and shall refrain from exploiting this relationship
by misconduct prejudicial to the physical, mental and moral welfare of
any child/learner and the teacher shall not have a sexual relationship
with the child/learner: and
 Refrain from using a child/learner's labour for private or personal gain.

Part III - Professional Conduct

A teacher shall

• At all times live up to the highest standards of the profession and

avoid any conduct which may bring the profession and the service into
disrepute.
• Teach conscientiously with diligence, honesty and regularity.
• Teach objectively in all the matters including politics, religion, race,
tribe and sex.
• Not take advantage of his or her influence to indoctrinate the
child/learner towards the teacher's tenet, dogma or doctrine.
• Prepare relevant schemes of work, lesson notes teaching aids well in
advance to ensure effective teaching and learning.
• Set an adequate amount of written and practice exercises promptly for
effective teaching and learning.
• Mark and evaluate all written and practical exercises promptly and
carefully.
• Undertake such remedial teaching as effective learning might require.
• Observe regulations and instructions regarding coaching and private
instruction issued from time to time by appropriate authorities.
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 • Seek for and obtain permission to be absent from duty from the head
teacher before the occurrence of such absence.
• Not to teach while under the influence of alcohol or drugs or come to
school while drunk.
• Not to eat any food while conducting a lesson except when required for
the purpose of teaching or on medical grounds.
• Conduct all internal and external examinations in accordance with
rules governing such examinations issued from time to time by the
competent authorities and shall not commit any offence against
examination regulations in force.
• Follow the programme discussed with and approved by the head of the
department and shall co-operate with the head of the department and
other teachers in carrying out that programme.
• Make schemes of work, records of work and lesson preparation books
available to the head teacher and the head of the department for
inspection.
• Allow the head of department or the head teacher to be present while
the teacher is teaching.
• At all times, maintain a professional attitude towards colleagues,
avoiding derogatory, slanderous and unfair criticism against his or her
colleagues and shall at the times create and maintain harmony.
• Use proper channels of communication and flow of information.
• in view of ever rising standards, strive to improve his or her own
academic and professional standard but shall not do so at the expense
of the children/learners he or she teachers; and
• Maintain and keep in a safe manner records of learners’ performance
in examinations to enable him or her report factually and objectively
on each learner's progress.

Part IV- Professional Responsibility

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A teacher shall

• Devote such time to his or her duties as is necessary by the nature of

his or her post.
• Not engage in private or personal activities when he or she is expected
to teach or supervise learning and other curricular activities.
• Not trade or transact business when he or she is expected to be on
duty.
• not to bring any pet or baby or any other child not being registered in
the school to class since this will interfere with the discharge of school
duties.
• Not be an accomplice to any activity likely or intended to cause
disturbance or riot within the school.
• not to be absent without authority from his or her class lessons and
teach without discrimination or bias against any pupil in his or her
class regardless of the child's/learner's race, religion, tribe, place of
origin or sex.
• conduct all his or her lessons and teach without discrimination or bias
against any pupil in his or her class regardless, of the child's/learner's
race, religion, tribe, place or sex.
• Maintain and keep in a safe manner all records of school property
under his or her care and account for such property when asked to do
so by the head of the department or head teacher.

Part V- The Teacher's Personal Conduct

A teacher shall

• Dress appropriately and shall be in mode of dress decent and smart.

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 • Attend to his or her personal appearance ensuring a neat and pleasant
outlook while on duty and in public places and shall avoid unkempt
hair and beard.
• Observe the laws of Uganda particularly in matters of sex, marriages
and parenthood and shall at all times set a good example to the
children.
• not write, circulate or cause to be written or circulate any anonymous
letter or any document with malicious intent and
• Show respect for school rules set by the governing body of the school
and shall assist in their implementation.

Part VI - The Head teacher

As a teacher and leader in the teaching profession, a head teacher is bound

by this code of professional conduct and shall set a good example in the
strict observance of all provisions of the code.

In addition a head teacher shall enforce the observation of the code of

professional conduct on all teachers under him or her in accordance with the
law, regulations and other provisions of the education service and shall
promptly deal appropriately with all breaches of the code. In particular and
without derogation to the generality to sub-paragraphs 1 and 2 of this
paragraph the head teacher shall:

• Be the custodian of good educational standards in his or her school

and shall aim high in educational standards.
• Enroll children into the school without bias or discrimination and within
the regulations and provisions of the laws in force in Uganda.

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• Collect all school fees and receive all other school monies such as gifts,
donations and endowments according to policies issued from time to
time by the competent authorities.
• pay all salaries and wages to the rightful owners as soon as such
salaries and wages are received and due;
• account for all the money as collected and received on behalf of the
school;
• Keep all school records in his or her custody in safe condition and
ensure that such records contain correct information.
• Not connive with members of staff or any other person so as to bring
the profession and the service into disrepute.
• Not conceal any act of misconduct committed by a member of his or
her staff or by any child/learner of the school whether committed
within or outside the school.
• Not receive a bribe in relation to the discharge of his or her duties and
ensure that his or her staff does not do so.
• Ensure that all teachers and students observe punctuality alike.
• Report factually and objectively on members of his or her staff on
matters required in Annual confidential reports or when assessing a
teacher's capability as to a post of responsibility applied for when
reporting any breach of the law to the competent authorities.
• Report factually and objectively on all matters concerning school
children without fear, favour, bias or discrimination.
• Not carry out or transact any private business within or outside the
school premises when she or he is expected to be on official duty
within or outside his or her school.
• Not take it upon him or herself to physically punish a teacher involved
in the breach of this Code or any other regulations in force but will use

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 all avenues open to him or to her to report such breaches to the
appropriate authorities for action.
• be present in the school as much as possible and whenever he or she
is out of the school, he or she shall leave correct information of his or
her whereabouts with his or her deputy or any other person authorized
to act and shall always ask his or her deputy to act on his or her behalf
when he or she is on duty outside the school.

Part VII - The Community

A teacher shall

• project a good image in the community where he or she lives by

participating as appropriate in activities of the community;
• set a good example to the pupils and the public by obeying lawful and
established authority and being law-abiding;
• attend, where practically possible religious functions of his or of other
persuasions;
• and respect other recognized religions within the school where he or
she is teaching;
• and through his or her own conduct and inspiration with his or her
family, be a good example to the community and the school.

Part VIII - Enforcement of the Code

• It is the duty of every teacher to observe and respect this Code and to
report any breach of the Code to the appropriate authorities.
• All matters or cases involving the breach of the code reported to the
Committee or Commission shall be dealt with in accordance with the
laws and regulations in force at the time of the breach of the code.

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 • All matters dealt with by the Committee or handled by the appropriate
authorities or all those concerned shall keep Commission confidential.

References

• Prof. J.C Ssekamwa (1996), Professional Ethics for Teachers, published

by Nets Africa Ltd, Kampala.
• An official document from the Ministry of Education and Sports
(Government of Uganda) on the Teacher's Code of Conduct.

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