For a long period, the development of children has focused mainly on physical development while ignoring the behavioral and social development. However, in the 20th century, this has changed. People have given more attention to the cognitive, physical growth, and language usage.
Theories of children’s development are essential since they give an insight that provides an ample understanding of the development of children from, not only cognitive and physical dimensions, but also their emotional and social perspectives. Among many theories of children development are the grand theories, which endeavor to provide a vivid explanation of the developmental aspects on stage-to-stage approach.
On the other hand, mini theories concern themselves with limited development aspects among them being social and cognitive growth. Therefore, as a psychologist, I dwell on scrutinizing Damian’s behavioral and social development, as profiled by these theories, revealing his possible personality issues and briefly recommending on how one can handle them.
Firstly, it is crucial to note that the development of children, right from birth, to the time at which he or she becomes an adult, is critical in defining what the child becomes in adulthood. Throughout all stages of development, the child’s behavioral and social development is immensely dependent on various interrelationships that the Child experiences.
For Damian, his mother’s deployment was critical in constructing Damian’s wrong perception of who his true mummy was. Consequently, the much significant child maternal attachment is widely non-evident. More often than not, as a child develops his or her cognitive abilities, he/she attempts to strike more attachment to those people who are close to him or her by virtue of nurturing his or her development.
It is not a wonder that Damian is more interested in helping out his father in his “manly” chores while neglecting his mummy partly perhaps because he had no experience of life with his mother. Arguably, during his cognitive development he never had his mother figure and personality.
This perhaps explains way Damian refused to participate in a certain class activities. For example, he recently refused to make a mother’s day card for his mom. The teacher noticed that when he draws a picture of or tells a story about his family, his mother is never included.
He could also go to the extent of throwing a tantrum unto his mother. His mother is, arguably, a stranger in his life, and hence he had no strong emotional attachment to his real mother.
Sigmund Freud theory stresses on the significance of the events that a child goes through in shaping his/her life, as well as the manner he or she perceives the environment within which he or she lives. His theory predominantly concentrates on the mental disorders, as opposed to normal functioning both in social and behavioral perspectives.
According to him, one can exclusively describe the development of the child in a series of stages. He lays out the stages as “oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital” (Cherry Para 3). Damian proved to have a chromosomal disorder, which resulted in his being born with ambiguous genitalia. Arguably, in his cognitive development process, this physical disorder made him possess low self-esteem.
Damian’s low self-esteem is evident because he makes remarkably little effort academically and regularly refuses to do his work or does it in a sloppy, rushed fashion. When asked why he did not do his work or did not do a better, more careful job, he usually replied with a statement along the line of ‘I am just no decent’. I can never do anything right.
Perhaps Damian provide a convincing example scenario for application of Sigmund theory in which he claims, “If a child does not successfully complete a stage, he or she would develop a fixation that would later influence adult personality and behavior” (Cherry Para 5).
From the information provided by the health professional and the Damian’s family, Damian evidently undergoes a tremendous process of dealing with conflicts within himself.
Erik Erikson came up with a theoretical developmental process that encompasses going through various stages in the lifetime. However, his theory took into consideration development stages through the entire life. Tantamount to what Damian appears to go through, Erik “believed that each stage of development was focused on overcoming a conflict” (Cherry Para 5).
Arguably, Damian undergoes an impeccable process of attempting to establish his self-identity. This is evident following the fact that, Damian struggles to come into terms with his real mother.
Despite staying with her mother once she came out of the military deployment, his parents report that the only behavior that occurs at home that they are truly concerned about is his frequent attempts to climb out on the roof, turn into a bat, and fly to Transylvania to see his grandmother.
At school, he perhaps disputes his real identity from other children especially bearing in mind that he had exceptional physical challenge: genital.
Consequently, perhaps in an attempt to come into terms with the condition, he was involved in battery with other kids, who perhaps he perceived as different from him. At home, however, undue behavior was widely not anticipated bearing in mind that he had established ample social life with especially his father and grandmother.
Works Cited
Cherry, Kendra. Child Development Theories: Major Theories of Child Development, 2009. Web.
The literature review is accurately represented by the research paper. It has explored various theories and presented hypotheses to explain how children react to victimisation. First, it assumes that temperament and sex determine the contribution of peer victimisation to a child’s aggression and depressive symptoms (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012). This assumption helps to develop intervention programmes to alleviate the effects of peer victimisation.
The reviews include theoretical perspectives from previous researches conducted by other people to explain the impacts of sex in determining children’s reactions to victimisation. This includes researches done by scholars like Stephen G. West and Leona S. Aiken on how to test and interpret interactions amongst teenagers that experience peer victimisation (Aiken and West 1991). The authors have used research findings and reports from other scholars like John Archer to explain how sex determines aggression levels in children.
The data review prepares audiences for what is to be covered in the research paper. The author cites quotes from researches done by other people and this shows that the issues being covered are not new in this field. This enables readers to link this paper to other research findings that were done to understand various issues that affect the reactions of children to peer victimisation. It is important to explain that a good introduction must ensure that the reader is directed from a general subject to a specific topic covered in a paper.
This research paper explored various issues that determine the outcome of children’s reactions to peer victimisation. In addition, it narrowed its scope and focussed on sex as a key determinant of the reactions of children to peer victimisation. This enables the reader to concentrate on the issues covered by the research and thus understand the relationship between different variables explored by the researcher.
On the other hand, this has enabled the researcher to focus on a single issue to avoid wasting time and presenting unguided findings. The research focus enables the researcher to plan and know what to do to avoid conducting a research that does not have a schedule. It is necessary to explain that this focus ensures the researcher plans his time properly to avoid giving some issues a lot of concentration and ignoring others. Therefore, this research focus ensures there is adequate time allocated to all activities to make the project successful.
The research questions and hypotheses of the paper have been clearly stated and this enables readers to know what the researcher intends to do. The paper has clearly stated its hypothesis that temperament and sex moderate the contribution of peer victimisation to children’s subsequent adjustment.
It seeks to answer questions related to child development; for instance, it examined whether the effects of victimisation are determined by children’s temperament or other factors like parental care and social groups (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012). The paper defines technical terms used in the research to ensure readers understand their meanings. This paper has been cited and used by other scholars and institutions, including the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
Methods
This involves the procedures the researcher has used to collect data from various sources. The designs used by the researcher are effective because they represent the actual data on the ground. It is necessary to explain that the researcher sampled his respondents before collecting data. The research involved 283 participants (158 girls and 125 boys) from different towns in Midwestern to increase the chances of getting varied outcomes.
In addition, those children were from different racial and ethnic backgrounds (13.9% African-Americans, 77.7 % whites and 8.4% from other races) to ensure all groups were represented proportionally (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012). These groups involved participants from different economic backgrounds and some were given subsidised school lunch to persuade them to participate in the research. Parents were requested to allow their children to participate in the research to ensure there was consent from all participants.
Questionnaires were used twice to ensure there was consistency and accuracy of the data provided by participants. That is why the research allowed them to provide feedback twice with an interval of one year between the first and second responses.
Mails and home visits were used to collect surveys from parents while teachers returned their responses through locked boxes (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012). The researchers saw it necessary to involve the University of London’s Institutional Review Board to approve the procedures used in the research.
The experimental and control groups were well matched to ensure the research achieved a high level of accuracy. A perfect research develops two sets of data for the actual and control experiments. Children were classified into two broad categories that included the majority and minority groups. Those in the majority group were the main subjects in the experiment while those in the minority were used as control samples.
They provided parallel data that enabled researchers to compute and record findings in two sets. The data obtained from these sets did not show major differences in the behaviour of children towards peer victimisation (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012). Therefore, the standard deviation obtained did not show major disparities from the theorised data. Even though, the control and experimental groups were randomly selected they were well matched to ensure the experiment had a reference set.
The data collection methods were well operationalised to ensure the outlined constructs were covered. For instance, the focus of this research was on obtaining different results from children regarding their responses to peer victimisation. This was achieved by using samples from different schools and homes. In addition, the research questions were well answered using questionnaires that were given to children, parents, and teachers (Godleski and Ostrov 2010).
The research hypothesis was proved to be correct and this was shown in the results obtained and the information collected from different literature reviews. Reliability and validity were reported in a cumulative representation in various forms, including tables and questionnaires to record quantitative measures. Moreover, the process of the construction of the interview passed the research requirements regarding quantitative measures.
The research process enabled replication of the procedures used. The procedures were outlined in the methodology and it is easy for a different researcher to conduct this research and find the same answers as provided in the paper.
Therefore, the procedures outlined in the research paper have sufficient details that will allow other researchers to understand what has been done. This enables them to conduct this research and find similar answers; therefore, the procedures described are adequate to enable replication. Moreover, there are no obvious flaws in the data presented in this research.
Ethical issues were appropriately addressed in the research. For instance, the researcher obtained consent from parents before involving their children in the research. In addition, relevant bodies were consulted before the research started. This shows that the researchers fulfilled all research requirements that guide participants, samples, methods and ethical concerns.
Results/Findings
The researcher described the sample and context of various issues in the study to ensure the recipients understand the relationship between sex and response to peer victimisation amongst children (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012).
The researcher described different methods that were used to select samples. They include sex, race and economic status to ensure all groups were represented in the research. This was important in ensuring that the data collected represented the actual events in the context of the research (Lau and Eley 2008).
In quantitative research, all hypotheses and questions were tested and the results obtained were recorded in tables. Inferential tests were used where the researcher was required to direct the research and enable other people to compare their findings with what they expected before conducting this exploration (Card and Hodges 2008). These tests are correct because they provided accurate and appropriate results that enabled the researcher to compute the data obtained and record it without confusing the audience.
The need to obtain credible results compels all researchers to use inferential tests to guide them and ensure they do not deviate from their objectives. Researchers may be influenced by research outcomes, participants or other factors and this may affect the results of their projects. Therefore, inferential tests are used to determine whether researchers are on track or have missed some important steps.
The sample size collected may not have been sufficient to support the research analysis because the researcher used a small population. However, it is necessary to explain that research samples are obtained depending on the size of the targeted population (Lengua, Bush, Long, Kovacs and Trancik 2008).
Therefore, it is not necessary to use a large sample size if a small one can provide the information required by the researcher. This means that sample sizes may be small but suitable to represent the entire population targeted by a researcher. T-tests are used to compare data of large sample sizes, but they are sometimes applied in researches that involve a small population. Therefore, the researcher cannot be condemned for using this test to compare the sets of data obtained in this experiment.
It is necessary to explain that the methods of collecting or analysing data should be evaluated depending on their accuracy and how the user understands them (Graham, Bellmore, Nishina and Juvonen 2009).
The write-up does not evoke a real picture regarding the process of analysing data collected in this experiment. The researcher has not provided information to support the validity, reliability and accuracy of the research finding. For instance, the coding system used does not represent the differences between the categories of samples used.
Discussion
The research results were clearly summarised and the author has presented pertinent issues in a clear manner. It is necessary to explain that this research involved a lot of experiments and data and this made it difficult to summarise its findings. However, the most important issues in the research were presented without interfering with their qualities and quantities. The research findings were summarised properly and this enables the audience to know what the project was about without necessarily going through the whole paper.
The researcher answered all questions and this shows that the paper has achieved its objectives. For instance, the researcher wanted to know if there was a relationship between sex and reactions of children to peer victimisation (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012). In addition, it explored the possibilities of age, race and economic effect on children’s victimisation.
The data collection and analysis methods support the interpretations of the information presented by the researcher. It is necessary to explain that the findings of this research were presented in a qualitative and quantitative manner and this is important in ensuring the audience understands various issues about children’s reactions to victimisation (Ostrov 2010). However, some claims were not supported by the sample design used by the researcher.
For instance, the criteria used to select participants were applied to children and not their teachers, parents or caretakers. Therefore, this means that the sample was biased since it did not follow similar criteria in all cases (Benjet, Thompson and Gotlib 2010). The researcher made comments, hypotheses and assumptions based on co-relational designs and forgot that the cases used were broad and thus required complicated criteria to select participants.
The findings are linked to previous researches and theories advanced by other people, including Stephen West, Leona Aiken and John Archer. The researcher identified key limitations like poor support and ineffective schedules by participants. However, these were not influential in determining the outcome of the research findings because the researcher had expected and planned to manage any complication that could have occurred during the study.
The paper discuses future implications and recommendations that may affect children’s reactions to peer victimisation. The researchers observed that low inhibitory control puts girls at risk of becoming more aggressive after victimisation. Therefore, it recommends that it is necessary to strengthen their abilities to participate in organised responses to discourage victimisation.
In addition, it presents that it is necessary for teachers and parents to teach children the importance of regulating their emotions to prevent them from blaming themselves or having a low self esteem (Keenan, Hipwell, Feng, Rischall, Henneberger and Klosterman 2010). The findings of this paper will help scientists, teachers and parents to understand the causes and effects of peer victimisation. This will help educators and scientists to develop effective programmes that target children according to their needs (Sugimura and Rudolph 2012).
References
Aiken, L. S. and West, S. G. (1991). Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. California: Sage Publications.
Benjet, C., Thompson, R. J. and Gotlib, I. H. (2010). 5-HTTLPR moderates the effect of relational peer victimization on depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 173–179.
Card, N. A. and Hodges, E. V. E. (2008). Peer victimization among school children: Correlations, causes, consequences, and considerations in assessment and intervention. School Psychology Quarterly, 23, 451–461.
Godleski, S. A. and Ostrov, J. M. (2010). Relational aggression and hostile attribution biases: Testing multiple statistical methods and models. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 447–458.
Graham, S., Bellmore, A., Nishina, A. and Juvonen, J. (2009). ‘‘It must be me’’: Ethnic diversity and attributions for peer victimization in middle school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 487–499.
Keenan, K., Hipwell, A., Feng, X., Rischall, M., Henneberger, A. and Klosterman, S. (2010). Lack of assertion, peer victimization, and risk for depression in girls: Testing a diathesis–stress model. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 526–528.
Lau, J. Y. F. and Eley, T. C. (2008). Attribution style as a risk marker of genetic effects for adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 849–859.
Lengua, L. J., Bush, N. R., Long, A. C., Kovacs, E. A. and Trancik, A. M. (2008).
Effortful control as a moderator of the relation between contextual risk factors and growth in adjustment problems. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 509–528.
Ostrov, J. M. (2010). Prospective associations between peer victimization and aggression. Child Development, 81, 1670–1677.
Sugimura, N. and Rudolph, D. K. (2012). Temperamental differences in children’s reactions to peer victimization. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 41:3, 314-328.
There are a number of milestones with the help of which child development may be studied and evaluated from a variety of perspectives. The necessity to comprehend, evaluate, and meet the needs of every child is one of the primary goals of an adult. Taking into consideration parental challenges and abilities, it becomes clear that the period from the child’s birth to 12 months is the hardest time when children are unable to express their thoughts properly, and parents are not always able to define the problem and the child’s need. This is why it is crucially important to promote the development of language researches among children under 6-12 months.
Babbling is considered to be an important stage of a child’s language and social development. On the one hand, babbling promotes communication between a child and another person on a social level. On the other hand, babbling is regarded to be the primary language of a child (Sternberg & Mio, 2008).
Due to such a complex nature of babbling and a child’s social development, a certain attention to babbling and the purposes of this vocal process has to be paid in order to contribute such spheres like child cognitive development and vocal abilities. Children start developing their language when they can recognize some vocal cords and the issues which may foster communication with other people around, and in order to help a child succeed in this development, the nature of babbling should be recognized.
Specific Research Question of the Project
In this paper, the answer to one particular question should be given after special steps and methods are considered. If babbling defines the future vocal abilities of a child, is it possible to influence the development of babbling in children due to some outside factors during the first year of life and promote better comprehension of the world?
Background and Literature Review
The theme of infant vocal development and babbling, in particular, has been already investigated by a number of researchers. Goldstein & Schwade (2008) admit that vocal abilities among children under the age of 6-12 months are able to change dramatically from time to time. A kind of rapid progress is inherent to children, and parents, in their turn, have to react to these activities and demands.
In spite of the fact that babbling is a normal stage in a child’s development that does not depend on some cultural or racial backgrounds, there are still a number of aspects that have to be taken into account. Hsu, Fogel, & Cooper (2000) focus on several types of child’s vocalizations like infant cries, grunts, and laughter and prove that the vast majority of children may demonstrate successful achievements in producing different sounds in case non-speech-like sounds are reduced.
The progress of a child’s babbling is evident indeed during the first year of life: numerous changes and pauses are observed in an infant’s babbling that proves the fact that children are able to comprehend their possibilities to influence the activities around and cause some reactions from other people (Watts, Duncan, & Cockcroft, 2009). So, the previous investigations show that babbling has its own reasons and purposes, this is why it is crucially important to analyze this vocal activity under various conditions as well as the child’s reaction to some variables.
Before the investigation of an infant’s babbling begins, it is necessary to admit that babbling contains to be a kind of preferential production of the child (Sternberg & Mio), this is why the evaluation of how and why a child may start babble depends on a variety of outside sources which have to be also integrated. Finally, the achievements demonstrated by Slater & Lewis (2006) help to realize that babbling is characterized by both repetitions of speech sounds and hands’ movements. The use of gestures also helps to share necessary information and explain the main idea that is in the child’s head.
Taking into consideration all these investigations and suggestions, it is possible to admit that child’s language and social development depends on a variety of outside factors, and the way how parents may assist a child with developing his/her language skills predetermines the way of how social development may occur.
Hypothesis of Research
In fact, the challenges and the problems which adults have to face during the child’s development process are numerous, and it is hard to predict what kind of problem should be expected. This is why it seems to be rational to evaluate various conditions of infant language and social development and define the factors which may certainly improve the process. In this paper, it is important to prove that babbling has not only some linguistic basics. There are many outside factors that may predetermine an infant’s babbling and influence its development in various ways. Parents and caregivers are responsible for the organization of an appropriate environment that defines the level of an infant’s language development as well as the abilities to succeed in social communications.
Methodology of Research
To succeed in the project under consideration and develop an appropriate idea in accordance with the hypothesis offered, it is crucially important to use both qualitative and quantitative methods of investigation. Qualitative methods such as the attraction of several children, parents, and caregivers promote the researcher with a chance to define how various backgrounds may be adapted to the same conditions. The more different people are involved in the project, the more chances to get appropriate results to appear. One of the weak sides of the investigation is the inability to consider the abilities of all students, for example, those who have some hearing or visual disabilities, still, the evaluation of general factors seems to be an effective step.
Babbling is language acquisition, however, it may be predetermined by such outside factors as a parental interruption in a child’s life, various nature of TV programs, caregiver frequency, and the level of communication offered by people around. All these factors may be evaluated with the help of several qualitative methods. First, it is possible to create the same conditions for different infants and follow their reactions to what is happening. Second, parents should support their children with the same amount of care and communication so that the quality of conditions is similar to all participants of the experiment.
Now, it is time to define the participants and conditions of the experiment.
Participants: all children are under the age of 5-12 months; 5 children who have two parents and a constant caregiver, 5 children who have one parent only, and 3 children with some disabilities (it does not matter how many parents such child has). Parent-infant caregiving routine: interaction with parents should be limited, still, interaction with the object has its own limitations considering how much time is offered to the experiment.
Criteria according to which the results will be evaluated are the following: child’s reaction to changes, frequency of babbling, type of outside source that cause infant’s babbling, and type of appreciation offered to a child.
Predictions and Conclusions
The quality of treatment to a child between 5 and 12 months of life is rather important. The way of how parents are able to interact with their children influences the level of an infant’s social and language development. In this paper, certain attention has to be paid to the infant’s babbling and the nature of outside factors that may change this activity. The chosen investigation of outside factors should help parents, caregivers, and psychologists to comprehend the mechanism of a child’s babbling and the reasons why this activity has to be developed at such young age.
The point is that child’s development is a complicated process, and the way of how adults are able to organize it may considerably influence their current and future communication with children. Identification of reactions demonstrated by different children under different conditions should determine the most important factors which may support language and social development.
Children’s abilities to express their thoughts are progressive indeed: a not long time ago, all they can do is to cry to inform people about some inconveniences, hunger, or necessity of attention. When a child is 12 months, the use of babbling is more frequent and more effective. Parents and children should be able to develop their own language and communication means which are based on outside factors defined in the research under consideration.
Reference List
Goldstein, M.H. & Schwade, J.A. (2008). Social feedback to infants’ babbling facilitates rapid phonological learning. Psychological Science, 19(5), 515-523.
Hsu, H.C., Fogel, A., & Cooper, R.B. (2000). Infant vocal development during the first 6 months: Speech quality and melodic complexity. Infant and Child Development, 9, 1-16.
Slater, A. & Lewis, M. (2008). Introduction to Infant Development. New York: Oxford University Press.
Our modern society can be considered a result of a long evolution that started with the emergence of the first civilized communities. In the course of development, they faced multiple problems and challenges that shaped their mentalities, formed culture, and resulted in the appearance of particular ways of living. Every period of history left a unique heritage that contributed to critical changes in our ways of thinking and promoted different cultural phenomena. The ancient world gave rise to classic philosophy represented by such famous thinkers as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato; Roman Empire altered the whole civilized world by cultivating its culture and law (it is still used in the majority of European countries), while Eastern states fostered the growth of sciences. However, not only this period is characterized by significant shifts in mentalities. The Middle Ages should also be considered a critical stage in societys development. For this reason, the given paper is devoted to the comprehensive investigation of the Late Middle Ages as the era characterized by multiple meaningful events.
General Characteristics
The Late Medieval period is the term used to determine the period from 1300 to 1500 AD in European history. There are several reasons for such periodization and the introduction of a separate term for these years. The fact is that the era of continuous growths and development peculiar to medieval Europe had ended by 1300 AD1. The people of this region faced a wave of plagues including the sadly remembered Black Death that significantly reduced population and preconditioned the emergence of irreversible changes in culture, industry, and economy2.
Devastation, hunger, and weakening of power resulted in a chain of peasant uprisings in England, France, and other developed regions3. Finally, the unity of the Catholic church was significantly damaged by the Western Schism that forced its split and emergence of serious religious debates about the nature of faith, rituals, and the role of the church in the life of people4. It can be taken as the birth of reformation movements as people recognized the need for the reconsideration of this institution and its ability to impact all spheres of activity. Additionally, corruption and abuse of power peculiar to the church of that period resulted in the desire to rethink its fundamentals, which was later called Reformation5. The combination of all these aspects is often called the Crisis of the Middle Ages6. It radically altered the image of Medieval Europe and gave rise to new tendencies.
Economy and Society
The economy of the Late Middle Ages can be characterized by significant shifts in its structure. For centuries Europe had remained an agricultural region that was critically dependant on crops and their sales7. The given model preserved topicality for years that followed the Black Death; however, there were also some fundamental changes in traditional approaches. The reduced number of peasants and other workers preconditioned the emergence of the need for new methods to perform old activities. At the same time, the price of labor increased and representatives of the lower social classes acquired the possibility to choose among offerings to select the best possible conditions; moreover, sometimes they were able to outline their demands to engage in some activities8. It resulted in the empowerment of these layers of society along with the development of their new rights. The economy remained mostly agricultural, however; the population started to use the power of wind and water to minimize efforts needed to produce some goods. The role of the market increased as it became the place where goods were exchanged to generate profit.
Impact of the Black Death
To a greater degree, these changes were preconditioned by the Black Death that became one of the most tragic events in the history of Medieval Europe. The given disease was fatal at that period, and people had no efficient treatment to protect themselves from it. The extreme virulence of the plague resulted in millions of deaths. By the research works devoted to the issue, about 60% of residents were killed9. Big cities were devastated and empty as the majority of citizens were dead10. The loss of population became a central factor that had been impacting the region for the following several decades. This event made people reconsider their attitudes to human life. Millions of deaths and suffering showed that humanistic values should become the basis for the new society. It became a potent stimulus for the emergence and rise of the Renaissance, which was the movement focused on the cultivation of new perspectives on individuals and their needs11.
Moreover, fewer peasant workers became able to demand higher pay for their work12. It also preconditioned the rise of the price for goods manufactured by these very workers13. At the same time, peasants demanded higher wages to survive in hard times, but their claims were disregarded; on the contrary, the government introduced wage freezes that sparked the growth of dissatisfaction and wave of revolts that overrun Europe14. It preconditioned new changes in the structure of society.
Peasant Revolts
These peasant revolts became another factor that significantly shaped the society of that period and triggered significant social shifts. The great scope of the problem is evidenced by the fact that all authorities were affected. For instance, the King of England and the Mayor of London had to deal with the problem to find an appropriate solution and ensure that peasants will return to their work15. Additionally, revolts became the factor impacting the politics and economy of that period. The Hundred Years War was affected by rebels as Parliaments were not able to raise taxes to support war campaigns in France16. This fact evidences that peasants managed to attain success and minimize taxes, acquire better working conditions, and some additional rights that made their lives easier. Additionally, they preconditioned massive migration as workers moved to other regions to find better conditions for their living.
Constant Warfare
Finally, the constant warfare influenced medieval Europe and gave rise to numerous processes. First of all, it preconditioned the continuous growth of taxes needed to support armies and recruit new troops to continue the struggle17. It promoted the increase in the number of people who were not satisfied with the existing rules. Secondly, it triggered the militarization of society as for many people war became the main activity18. For this reason, peasants and other layers of society were able to struggle in multiple revolts. Finally, the constant warfare gave rise to particular industries needed to manufacture weapons and armors that were used in battles. In such a way, the Hundred Years War and other military events critically impacted the medieval society of that period o time and preconditioned the appearance of new tendencies in the society.
Conclusion
Altogether, the Late Middle Ages were a critical period in the history of Europe. The Black Death, peasant revolts, and constant warfare cultivated a new way of living and became a powerful stimulus for the development of society. These events gave rise to reformation movements and Renaissance as new ways to promote humanism and value human lives. In this regard, this period can be considered an important era in the worlds history that preconditioned the emergence of the coherent society.
Social development as the inevitable process of civilization movement is the topic of many academic works. One of the criteria that influence the assessment of current social conditions is sustainability. This factor determines the degree to which the situation in the modern world is stable and which aspects of interaction among key participants can contribute to increasing the educational potential. As the object of research, the article “Competencies for Sustainable Development and Sustainability: Significance and Challenges for ESD” by Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010) will be analyzed. The approaches and techniques described by the authors will help to understand sustainability as one of the factors of social development better and to find the strengths and weaknesses of their research (Mochizuki & Fadeeva, 2010). The relevance of the study lies in the possibility to consider the principles of education for sustainable development in detail and to find those principles that are fundamental and approved by different theorists and practitioners.
Summary of the Article
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is the main term that is discussed in the study. The research “reflects the authors’ observations through their extensive interactions with theoreticians, practitioners and policymakers on ESD in the context of the United Nations decade of education for sustainable development (DESD) and higher education for sustainable development (HESD)” (Mochizuki & Fadeeva, 2010, p. 391). The authors consider the social mechanisms of formation and study various works devoted to this issue (Mochizuki & Fadeeva, 2010). As a rationale, they cite official documents ratified at the international level, in particular, the provisions of UNESCO, and cite the ideas of other authors (Mochizuki & Fadeeva, 2010). The theoretical and practical framework is reviewed and analyzed from different angles. The notion of competences as the way to search for agents responsible for the formation of social sustainability is introduced.
The nature of competencies for sustainable development and educational programs aimed at the development of society is noted by the authors as complex (Mochizuki & Fadeeva, 2010). At the same time, the entire process of searching for appropriate strategies is considered an indispensable condition for successful formation and progress. Higher education institutions are represented as one of the primary participants of the work aimed at finding the appropriate competencies. Progress is implicit in the obligatory and indisputable condition of the natural development course, and this idea is the driving force of the research.
Strengths of the Study
One of the main strengths of the study is the detailed enumeration of the ESD important characteristics mentioned in the UNESCO documents. According to Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010), education for sustainable development “deals with the well being of all three realms of sustainability – environment, society, and economy” (p. 393). Also, the description of international programs for the development of relevant practices is cited, which allows considering all the existing ways of drawing attention to this topic.
The specification of the world’s concepts of enhancing social sustainability through educational steps makes it possible to compare different countries’ strategies and choose the most successful examples. Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010) mention German, Danish, Japanese, and other models where the practice of increasing the educational potential implies different approaches to work. At the same time, the text of the study is full of citations and excerpts from normative documents that confirm the validity and relevance of the facts given. The review of the literature provides a comprehensive picture of the situation and helps to assess the attitude of different agents to the topic under consideration. The examples of policies make it possible to compare existing competencies and to interconnect them. Similarities and differences in the proposed programs can contribute to formulating the most favorable strategies and the establishment of a unified development system.
Weaknesses of the Study
Despite the benefits and strengths of the study, some weaknesses should be taken into account. For instance, Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010) give variants of various educational strategies and mention approaches of different authors. Nevertheless, there are no correlations, and additional work should be done on the analysis of existing practices and their comparison. As Patterson et al. (2017) remark, “despite receiving growing attention in recent years, the governance and political aspects of transformations remain arguably under-developed in the global sustainability literature” (p. 1). It means that interest in this topic should be supported by a detailed review of possible development options. If this study had a stronger emphasis on probability rather than on factors, the practical value would be more significant.
Also, some visual aids might be useful. In the study conducted by Patterson et al. (2017), there is a graph that demonstrates the development of certain strategies. In the study under consideration, there is much theoretical information, which, however, is perceived as difficult because of numerous scientific terms and the lack of graphic aids. Visualization could help to compile some of the findings and make conclusions more comprehensible.
Importance and Implications for the Society
Regardless of the number of strengths and weaknesses, the study by Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010) is of practical value and is important for the society as a whole. Those sustainability parameters that are discussed are valuable material for considering the entire development process carefully and drawing the right conclusions. Educational institutions may take a course to support new trends and directions and to strengthen the existing base. Moreover, stakeholders can join forces to achieve a common goal and use existing experience in order to develop a unified and stable mechanism for the formation of an educationally sustainable society. Such an approach will make it possible to strengthen those aspects of state policies that do not have a sufficiently strong theoretical basis and will help to work successfully for the sake of achieving the set goals.
Corresponding approaches are numerous, which opens wide prospects for discussions and implementation. As Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010) argue, “the paper contributes to a broader debate on strategies of implementation of ESD and education for sustainability (EfS) by mapping arguments on competences for SD and sustainability with a particular focus on higher education institutions” (p. 391). Therefore, society can follow the new and sustainable path of development if the right measures are taken to analyze and evaluate the practices described.
Conclusion
These principles of educational methods aimed at increasing sustainability through the work of higher education institutions are numerous and have a justified basis. The study has a number of strengths, however, some weaknesses also deserve particular attention. The importance of society lies in an opportunity to increase sustainability indicators and to reconsider existing approaches and policies in order to form a more educationally strong course of life.
References
Mochizuki, Y., & Fadeeva, Z. (2010). Competences for sustainable development and sustainability: Significance and challenges for ESD. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(4), 391-403. Web.
Patterson, J., Schulz, K., Vervoort, J., Van Der Hel, S., Widerberg, O., Adler, C.,… Barau, A. (2017). Exploring the governance and politics of transformations towards sustainability. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 24, 1-16. Web.