There are a lot of theories on child development which include Freud's psychosocial

development theory, Erickson's psychological development theory , Behavioral child

development theories , Piaget's cognitive development theory, Bowlby's attachment theory ,
Bandura's Social learning Theory and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. These theories will be
used to explain the demerits and merits of four indigenois child care practices.These tradiriona
child care practices include breastfeeding , intellectual development , frequent handling by
family members and moral coaching which will be analysed in this write up. The terms child
development and child care will be defined in this write-up.

Rogot (2003) defines child development as sequence of physical, language, thought and
emotional changes that occur in a child from birth to the beginning of adulthood. Wadende
(2011) on the other hand notes that child development involves the biological , psychological
and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of
adolescence .In this assignment child development simply development simply means the
physical , social and psychological development of children from the time of birth up until they
reach the adulthood stage.

Child care according to UNICEF (2020) refers to a complex set of behaviours ranging from
feeding practices to responses that promote a safe healthy environment for a child. Bee (2007)
also defines child care as the supervision and care of a child or multiple children whose ages
range from two weeks to twenty years. Child care therefore includes actions and activities taken
by elders to promote the growth of the learners.

Breastfeeding is one of the key child care practices which promote the holistic development of
the learners. Brooks (2008) notes that breastfeeding is believed to be a good God’s natural gift
and cultural practice which surrounds which stimulates a child's growth. Bee (2007) further notes
that children are breastfed to gratify their instrictive drives of hunger and thirst. This is supported
by Sigmund Feud's psycho analytical theory which states that child development occurs in a
series of stages focused on different pleasure areas of the body ( Brooks; 2008). Orowolo (2010)
suggests that breastfeeding bestows immunity and antibodies, contact comfort and connecting
the mother- child bond .This shows that breastfeeding is vital for the physical and mental
development of children .Breastfeeding although very important also has its disadvantages since
it leads to more attachment to the mother of the child than the father or other family members.
Bee (2007) further suggests that children's develop trust around a caregiver as confirmed by
Erickson's psychosocial theory and develops mistrust on other members during the phase of
breastfeeding.

Secondly the use African indigenous education promotes the intellectual development is another
common childcare practice. Mwamweda (2010) argues that through learning by doing a child
would learn to take responsibility for him and others in a group. Mwamweda (2010) further notes
that indigenous and motivational and caregiving curriculum is that in which learning objectives
are achieved through cultural skills that a child acquire through orientation activities .This is in
line with the cognitive theory of Piaget which states that children's cognitive skills progress
through a series of stage in which new information from experiences is taken and
understood .These stages include sensorimotor, preoccupation and formal operational stage. The
African indigenous education allows children to learn skills from one another within the
community. Barlow (2005) asserts that African indigenous education allows children to seek a
wide range of alternative s when facing life's various situations.

Impacting African indigenous knowledge is very useful but it comes with its
weaknesses .Indigenous education through cognitive development or social learning theories
leads to the maintaining of harmful practices in the society such as gender equality as
encouraged by patriarchy within the society (Nsamenang, 2006). Africans live in a male
dominated society and children are taught to adhere to the rules of the society but at the
detriment of the girl child. The social learning theory of Bandura is of the view that by observing
the actions of others, including that of parent’s children develops new skills and acquires new
information (Wadende, 2011). All the information learnt might not be beneficial to everyone
especially with regards to patriarchy which promotes the interests of the boy child and
disadvantaging the girl child.

Thirdly, the frequent handling of infants by family members is another child care practice which
leads to the holistic development of infants or children. Santrock (2007) assert that child rearing
practices are embedded in culture and determine the behaviours and expectations surrounding the
birth of a child all the way to adolescence. The handling of children by different family members
leads to the development of motor skills of the infants and toddlers. Mwamwenda (2010)
highlights that African children's motor development is sustained by frequent handling by family
members and members of the extended family and psychologically provides security within
them. This is supported by Wadende (2011) who asserts that African infants receive a lot of
physical and social stimulation which enriches the child as a result of family interactions. This
can be attributed to the classical behaviorism of Pavlov which regards a child as a malleable,
moldable individual who can be shaped at will as is a product of the environment (Brooks,
2008).The family plays a crucial role in ensuring that a child develops motor through different
interaction with family members.

The handling of infants by family members is important towards developing the motor skills of
that particular child. Orowolo (2010) notes that the interactions will ensure that a toddler focuses
on managing observable behaviour and providing role models while making children more aware
of their behaviour. The handling of learners by different family members also comes with its
own disadvantages. It puts the infant of sexual and physical abuse due to the predatory nature of
people nowadays. The other disadvantage is that toddlers at a tender age are susceptible to
ailments or diseases which they can acquire from having different people around them. The
infants need to be handled with care for their own protection from harm.

Lastly, moral coaching is another childcare practice which promotes the holistic development of
infants. Bee (2007) highlights that the social constructivists as advanced by Vygotsky
foregrounds culture as the key source of knowledge in the community. Rogot (2003) further
notes that social constructivists believe that one behaves in a way his or her society requires.
Wadende (2011) argues that the society molds an individual in such a way that he or she abides
by its rules which are already spelt out in the unwritten curriculum in many African
communities. The society therefore helps in promoting the moral upbringing of an individual.
Within a given society. Nsamenang (2008) posits that moral education is a highly participation
based education that engages learners affective, cognitive and psychomotor domains. Moral
coaching is now heavily threatened by cultural changes in which families now live individual
lives as small group rather than acting members of a greater society. The society is no longer
being given a lot of importance as previously in the old days which make moral coaching very
difficult to achieve nowadays.
The development of children is based on the work of childcare givers. This assignment looked to
the merits and demerits of four indigenous child care practices with reference to theories of child
development. These child care practices were analysed in greater detail using relevant theories.
References

Nsamenang, A.B (2006) Understanding ECD in Africa: The force of local and global
motives .Early Childcare and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, Washington: World Bank

Rogot, B (2003) .The cultural nature of human development, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Wadende , P (2011) Sustained Art education in Kenya , Early Childhood and Family Series,
Volume 4 (2) , p 5-13

UNICEF (2020) Study on Traditional Parenting and Child care practices in Zambia, Katete
(Zambia): UNICEF and Lego Foundation

Barlow, D.L (2005) Educational Psychology, The teaching -learning process, Chicago: Moody
Press

Brooks. J.B (2008) The process of parenting, London: Mayfield Company

Mwamwenda, T.S (2010) Educational Psychology: An African Perspective, Durban:

Butterworth Publications

Bee, H (2007) The developing Child, New York: Harper and Row

Santrock, J. W (2007) Lifespan Development, New York: McGraw Hill

Orowolo, D (2010) The effects of Western Civilization and Culture on Africa, AfroAsian Journal
of Social Sciences, Volume 1 (1)