Lesson 1.

3: Our Approach to Guidance

Lesson Summary
There are two approaches to guidance that will be tackled in this lesson: a
developmental perspective and a positive, strengths-based approach. Moreover, limits on
children's behavior will also be stressed.

Learning Outcome
At the end of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Identify and explain the approaches to guidance.
2. Discuss the importance of setting limits on behavior.

Motivation Question
Why do we need to choose an appropriate approach to guidance?

Discussion

Two Approaches to Guidance

A. Approaching Guidance Developmentally

Starting at birth --- some would argue even earlier --- children learn continuously as they
develop and mature. Ensuring the child's safety during the progression from one milestone to the
next is part of guidance. An example of a milestone is the infant's ability to roll over. At about the
fourth or fifth month, most infants will be able to roll over in bed. However, even before this time,
babies become unsafe on an adult bed because they develop the ability to use their toes to move
forward, reach the edge, fall off, and get hurt. Responsible adults must always be sure the baby
is safely in a crib with sides.
In your study of child guidance, you will learn to support children through the various
stages of their development. Always remember, though, that each child is unique and reaches
each developmental stage at his or her rate. Your task will be to observe closely the children you
work with to see just where each one is on the developmental ladder. After you recognize where
each child is developmental, you can use that information when planning your child's guidance
and activities. This is called developmentally appropriate planning, and it is very different from
using knowledge of developmental stages to judge a particular child or group of children as
deficient.
 Figure 4. Each child is unique and reaches each developmental stage at his or her rate.

Developmentally appropriate planning means taking three factors into account: (1) what
we know about children in general and how they develop; (2) what we know about the specific
children in a particular setting or group; and (3) what we know about the beliefs, values, and
customs of those children’s families and communities.
For example, to be developmentally appropriate, the room and play yard for toddlers will be
arranged and equipped differently from those used by kindergarteners. Also, the teachers'
guidance and curriculum will differ widely due to the social, mental, and motor skill differences
between the two age groups.
B. Approaching Guidance Positively
This lesson emphasizes recognizing and encouraging healthy, positive behavior in a child.
You will often find that one episode of malicious behavior---say. A fight between two children---
gets much attention from observers and teachers, while hundreds of lively exchanges go
unnoticed. Approaching the study of guidance for young children from a developmental
perspective involves a positive or wellness viewpoint rather than a negative or sickness viewpoint.
Positive guidance means that you will use your professional know-how to support children's
growth and development. Children should always be treated with respect and dignity. A positive
approach to guidance makes children and others feel confident, competent, and happy. A positive
approach does not include shaming, humiliation, ridicule, or pressure to compete, nor is it punitive,
impatient, mean, or bossy.
Focusing on problems or sickness rather than on strengths or wellness is a negative approach
that is seldom effective and, consequently, represents a misdirection of adult guidance. The
person who focuses entirely on a child's malicious or problem behavior, such as hitting, does not
necessarily correct the problem behavior. In fact, by giving attention to the problem, one may be
reinforcing the malicious behavior, causing it to persist. On the other hand, recognizing a child's
positive behavior by respectful attention is likely to increase that behavior's occurrence. As
children begin to think more positively about themselves, problem behaviors tend to diminish.
This leads to more positive responses from other people, which will continue the cycle,
contributing to improved self-image and increasingly improved behavior.
Take two examples of best-addressed issues using the health rather than sickness approach: a
child sucking a thumb or a child masturbating. Some young children tend to keep their thumbs in
their mouths or their hands on their genitals for various reasons. Using a health approach, adults
accept or deliberately ignore such behavior and concentrate on giving the child exciting activities.
Thumbsucking and masturbating usually diminish amid other activities the child finds enjoyable.
The sickness approach, however, focuses attention on the thumbsucking or masturbating. Often
the adult may shame or scold the child for such behavior. The resulting attention may encourage
their persistence. In the process, parents may become unduly concerned and less effective in
dealing with the behavior. We should remember that even children who seem cut off from human
contact can be guided toward relationships if we focus on their strength and potential.

Limits on Behavior
Emphasizing children’s power and potential does not mean that “anything goes.” On the contrary,
there will be many times when it will be up to you to set reasonable limits on children’s behavior.
Such limits help children feel secure and more able to focus their energy on growing and learning.
Your study, observation, and practice will help you learn how to develop and enforce appropriate
limits.

Figure 5. The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish.

 "Tyrone, kick the ball. It hurts Jamal when you kick him" is an example of an appropriate
limit. Notice that it is affirmed so that Tyrone knows what he can do and why he should stop what
he was doing. Indeed, adults will set limits, both in homes and in child development centers, to
help children learn to respect other children's play space or learning environment, respect their
own and others' comfort and safety, and respect furnishings equipment.
You can expect to tell children what the limits are many times before the limits become part of
their habitual behavior. Always explain and enforce the limits in a spirit of preserving each
child's dignity in a nurturing and supportive manner rather than harsh or coercive. Many of the
lessons children learn from your guidance will be applicable at home, in the community, and
interactions with older children as well.

Learning Tasks/Activities
1. Recall something you did as a child that bothered adults around you. What steps did they
take to stop or change your behavior?
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2. What are things children do or say that bother some adults yet do not bother the children?
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Assessment
1. Elaborate on the importance of setting limits on children’s behavior.
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2. Explain briefly the two approaches to guidance below. Give your own examples of each
approach.

a. Approaching guidance developmentally

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b. Approaching guidance positively
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Instructions on how to submit student output

Kindly submit answers and outputs of the learning tasks and assessment in this module
seven days after finding them in the learning platform. Encode answers in a long bond paper,
providing a one-inch margin on all sides, single line spacing, with a font style of Roboto at size
12. Be sure to write your name, subject, class schedule, course instructor, and lesson number as
the header of the document. All requirements will be submitted preferably through the VSU E-
Learning Portal / email address of the instructor (in pdf format) but if internet connection is not
stable or you do not have an internet connection, you may send your exercises to the office
through the ff. options: (1) courier (ex. JRS, LBC, etc.), (2) VSU guard post, and/or (3) VSU drop
boxes in your respective LGU’s. Place the documents in a sealed brown envelope labelled with
your (1) Name, (2) Subject, (3) Department, and (4) Name of the Instructor.

Faculty name and office address: DR. ROSARIO P. ABELA, DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER
EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte,
Philippines.