Week 12 — Middle Childhood: Social-Emotional Development

Why this matters

An elementary teacher sorting out a lunchroom argument and a youth-sports coach watching who gets left out both read what a school-age child does and says, never a label for the child.

In plain language

This chapter is about how school-age children, at about 6 to 11, come to see themselves and get along with one another. Children in these years start to judge their own abilities by looking at classmates, which researchers call social comparison (measuring yourself against peers). Their friendships grow deeper, and some children meet bullying (repeated, unwanted aggression that uses a difference in power). Children also start to give more careful reasons for why something is fair or unfair, which is moral reasoning (the reasons a person gives for calling an action right or wrong). You will learn to read all of this in what children actually do and say, without labelling any child.

• Already covered: Week 11, middle childhood thinking.
• This week: Erikson's fourth stage, friendship, bullying, moral reasoning.
• How they connect: record R7's 11-year-old, now read for fairness and loyalty.
• Where we're going next: Week 13 begins adolescence.

Focus

How do school-age children judge themselves, make friends, treat one another, and reason about right and wrong?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• [ ] name industry vs. inferiority and explain social comparison
• [ ] tell friendship from peer acceptance
• [ ] check a scene against stopbullying.gov's three elements
• [ ] name Kohlberg's levels and present Gilligan's critique
• [ ] describe families without ranking them

To-do

Plan your week

1. Read Chapter 12 (~35–45 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
2. Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes).
3. Try the practice set (15–25 minutes).
4. Do the workshop (about 90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment, then the quiz.

This week's checkpoint: check one argument against the three elements, and read one reason without giving a level.

You've got this

Take it in order, and ask your instructor if a step snags.

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