Erikson’s theory has eight stages of development. I am applying stage four of Erikson’s theory which explains Industry vs. Inferiority where the child is very proud of accomplishments. Brian developed confidence and masters new skills to learn. According to Erikson, a child in this stage feels a sense of accomplishment after completing a task activity. Encouragement from adults in child’s life such as parents or teacher also provides a feeling of confidence and competence on the other hand.
If a child feels he is unable to complete the activity as expected, he may feel a sense of inferiority. In addition, according to Erikson theory, when Brian didn’t catch a fish for twenty minutes, he demonstrated signs of feeling inadequacy and frustration.
Piaget’s theory describes four stages of development a sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete stage, and formal operations stage. According to Piaget, children from 7 to 12 are in the stage of concrete operational. In this age, kids are able to think logically but are still limited on concrete things, which means solving a problem that they directly face.
When Brian takes a break from fishing, he understands that he didn’t complete the activity but and he doesn’t let his discouragement stop him from resuming. That shows cognition and understanding appropriate for his age group according to Piaget’s theory.
For example, Brian understands that the activity needs to be complete before he can get a sense of accomplishment. He goes back after a short snack break and resumes fishing even he didn’t catch anything so far.
This shows Brian’s ability to conceptualize why he is engaged in a certain activity.
How did it reflect me after I have done with observation paper? I applied some skills from my observation to strengthen my desire to work as OTA. The child emotion was a little tense in the beginning activity, but in the end, he was happy. The child was very focused for long period of time during activity and he had a lot of attention to details. To work as OTA is very important to be focused on the treatment we give patients and watch how the patients progress. Working with patients we need to express our emotion in a good way. The child’s emotion was a little tense in the beginning activity, but in the end, he was very happy. As I watch the child, I realized just how much enjoyment he is getting from the activity. His face was flushed with excitement after when he caught the fish. He felt such as sense of the achievement. This made me realized how important Occupational Therapy work is. Occupational Therapist rehabilitates people to functioning so that they can enjoy their favorite activity. This sense of accomplishment is just as important in giving confidence to patients as is their physical rehabilitation. This observation activity helped strengthened my desire to become Occupational Therapist Assistant.
Sense of Accomplishment in Children. (2021, Dec 13). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/sense-of-accomplishment-in-children/