Running head: JOURNAL 1 Marrufo 1

Journal 1

Andres Marrufo

Human Development 300

Professor Davis

Pacific Oaks College

7 February 2018
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Inferring Based On Observations

I am the school age site supervisor for one of the South Bay YMCA licensed childcare

programs. I chose to observe one of the kindergartners that is currently attending my before and

after school program. The student I observed is five years old and is African-American and

currently lives with only his grandmother as his legal guardian (I have never met nor heard of

either parent in my year and a half exposure with him). The program I work for is located in

Eastlake which results in a different, but similar in some regards social class than that of my

own.

It is Thursday, February 2nd, and the student enters our facility for the morning program.

He comes in it is about 6 in the morning so he is still rather calm and quite upon arrival. Once in

he immediately gravitates towards the children who are on their tablets in the designated

technology area. He goes to sit with them and watches them take turns with playing a

mathematically geared game that is allowed. As the tablet is being passed around child to child I

can tell that it begins to bother him because he is not being given an opportunity to play the math

game.

Noticing that he is being passed over turn after turn he makes an attempt to snatch the

tablet in order to secure a turn. In this instance he was trying to learn to share and work with

others, but what he did not understand at this moment in time was that the group consisted of

primarily older boys. The groups of older boys were playing a math game that was outside of his

current level seeing that it was assigned by their second and third grade math teachers. Seeing his

frustration beginning to build and be expressed in the form of a tantrum I send one of my staff

over to go and talk to him. The staff that I sent over is now in the position to learn to deal with
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behavioral issues, but most importantly is put in a position to apply the information they have

learned and redirect his behavior as opposed to simply giving the student some form of

punishment. The child is also in the position to learn that while yes, sharing is the ideal way to

go about things and cooperating with others and having equal opportunity is important. He must

be mindful and understand that the game they are playing at the time is not age appropriate for

him just yet. I was pulling from this situation just how a student of this age learns and to better

my program for future reference I should create a dynamic which supports the encouragement of

students being divided into age appropriate activities to help all succeed.

What Is the Psychological Stage

The student that I observed was in Erikson’s pre-schooler stage where the conflict that is

being face is initiative versus guilt. I observe that the child’s original intent is to share and

cooperate with the group that he joins, but when he does not obtain his desired outcome he grows

frustrated and reverts to negative behavior as a means of expression. It appears that when I send

my staff over to address the issue the student was expecting the adult to solve the issue and help

him get his way. I can see the strides towards positive behavior, but I also observe the unhealthy

habits that are associated with the pre-schooler stage. These frustrations that he is faced with may

derive from the fact that within our program is the only time that he has access to a tablet, due to

his home conditions and not owning one of his own.

Comparing the Student to Myself

In this young student I see a lot of myself due to having a similar upbringing consisting

of being raised in a single parent household and being taught how to cope with my young

manhood by a woman. Growing up money was tight in my household and I grew up with a lot of
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envy and even at times hatred for the fact that a majority of my cousins had the most up to date

game systems. I recall going over to their homes whenever we would have family parties and

even growing upset when they would not let me play because I knew that, that would be my only

exposure to such video games. I believe I would have reacted similar as the student did because

that exact situation that he was faced with reminds me of ones that I had to encounter many times

in my early childhood. The only real different from the way that he conducted himself in his

situation and what I would have done is that I was even more hands on then he was. In his same

situation I would have not looked for adult interference and help, but instead taken matters into

my own hands whether it occur with force or with my words.

Erikson’s Stages Applied to Me

Erikson’s stage that I would say resonated most with myself at his same age would be the

same that is the pre-schooler stage. I often found myself working with others very well as long as

I could position myself to be the leader and this showed in my team sports and ability to play

with larger groups. I enjoyed many of the aspects of working with others, but I also did show

instances of carrying very unhealthy traits because if I was not in a position to lead or others

opted to not cooperate with me I would grow angry as opposed to upset.

Book Reflection

A children’s book that I believe reflects the child very well is David Goes to School. The

reason that I believe this book reminds of the child is in the story it shows the child not really

listening to any instructions he is being given when it comes to behavioral or group activities. He

is asked to do things such as not cut in line, clean up after himself, and not misbehave. The child

I observed has had a history of wandering away from coaches when he is supposed to be a part
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of the group. Another instance is that at times he is not listening to adults when they are asking

him to follow certain rules and instead do his own thing. Lastly in the book the student proceeds

to help the teacher clean the classroom. This is the main reason that I chose to relate this book to

the student’s experiences. I have realized whenever we give our young student a task such as

cleaning the classroom, being in charge of our headcount, or being the teacher’s assistant his

entire demeanor changes and he is suddenly on his best behavior. I believe this is because as

Erikson notes the child needs purpose and initiative. As opposed to simply doing as others are

doing he is now in charge of a certain task and this might make him feel to be in a position of

power and it results in positive strides.

Observing the young student helped me better comprehend how some of the issues he

finds himself occur. I also was able to apply the stages of Erikson to better suit the child and give

him a purpose to be in our program. This is something that after conversing with the teacher she

also had success with. It is as if when he feels to truly be incorporated in any activity he now

feels a part of the group and wants to truly succeed.