Know

自我反省

As we grow older, we tend to have thoughts and draw conclusions about who we are as a person and who we are in a specific role (e.g., as a parent or at work). Take a moment to write down eight to ten words or phrases that describe the kind of person you are. How did you describe yourself? Funny? Smart? Energetic? Flexible? Emotional? It’s likely that some of your answers reflect particular personality traits, yet all of your descriptions offer a window into your sense of self. This course will help you better understand the concept of self and how it relates to your own competence, confidence, and well-being. It will also help explain how a sense of self develops for infants and toddlers and what it means for you as an infant and toddler caregiver.

What is a Sense of Self?

Our sense of self includes the roles, attributes, behaviors, and associations that we consider most important about ourselves, according to Mark Ylvisaker, a researcher in communication disorders. Examples of things that help develop who we are as individuals include our occupations, hobbies, affiliations, abilities, personality traits, and spiritual beliefs. How we identify and how we feel about ourselves is largely the result of our environment and immediate surroundings. For example, if you are part of an encouraging or nurturing environment, you are more likely to feel accepted and self-confident in your abilities. Whereas if you are part of an unsupportive or negative environment, you may have difficulty discovering who you are due to a lack of acceptance and encouragement to explore your interests and positive attributes. Think of a person you know who is confident in her or his ability to perform a particular task or skill. Chances are this individual has received positive feedback and support from others, which helped to further the development of these skills and foster a sense of identity.

As we grow and mature over our lifetimes, our identities can also change depending on time and place. Relationships, parenthood, and other life events can help shape our identities. Think back on who you were 10 years ago. Do you feel like the same person now? Whether you were 19 or 59 a decade ago, it is likely that your concept of who you are has changed in some way. Perhaps you have accomplished major goals like earning a degree or starting a family and these events have changed how you see yourself. Perhaps experiences like caring for an aging parent or ending a long-term relationship have called into question things you thought you knew about yourself.

你和别人交流也可以塑造你sense of self. For example, if your family praises your cooking ability you may come to believe that you are a good cook. However, if you were to enroll in a cooking class, your perception of your abilities may change when you are in the company of others with similar or more advanced culinary talents. In this example, your sense of self was altered, though your ability level remained the same. Your sense of self was not judged to be true or false, but rather good enough or not good enough because of the situation. If you truly enjoy cooking, though, and gain some joy from it regardless of who else is in your presence, you are less likely to need encouragement from others because you are motivated from within.

According to Ylvisaker (2006), there are seven experiences that contribute to the construction of a positive and productive sense of self:

婴幼儿自我意识

The dance that plays out between a parent and infant that begins at birth provides a young child with an understanding of who she or he is, how she or he fits in her world, and what she or he can expect from those around. These early experiences come to shape what child psychologist John Bowlby refers to as the “internal working model.” Bowlby, who is best known for developing attachment theory, argued that infants develop an internal working model through attachment with a primary caregiver. The internal working model provides a framework for understanding and approaching ongoing relationships and an understanding of self and others. Through safe, nurturing and responsive relationships, an infant may develop a sense of self and self-confidence that says, “I matter,” “I am deserving,” “I can make things happen.” Or, with unpredictable, less-responsive early interactions, an infant may come to feel fearful and anxious while seeing the world as unsafe.

由于高度依赖反应灵敏的成年人的照顾和有限的语言交流技能，婴儿很难识别和描述他或她如何看待自己。行为科学家约翰桑特罗克（John Santrock）表示：“在第二年晚些时候和第三年早些时候，幼儿表现出其他新出现的自我意识形式，反映出一种‘我’的感觉。例如，他们用“我很大”来指代自己；他们给内心的体验贴上标签，比如情感；他们监控自己，就像一个蹒跚学步的孩子说“自己动手”；他们说一切都是他们的。”（桑特罗克，2008）。

What is Resilience?

According to Michele Tugade and Barbara Fredrickson (2004), there are individuals who seem to bounce back from negative events quite effectively, whereas others are caught in a rut, seemingly unable to get out of their struggling and negative streaks. Being able to move on despite negative stressors demonstrates a concept known as resilience. Someone who is said to be resilient is effective at coping and adapting even when faced with loss, hardship, or adversity. That is not to say that they are blind to negativity or do not experience high levels of anxiety and frustration. Instead, someone who is resilient chooses to focus on positive aspects and emotions of the situation at a greater rate.

每个婴儿和学步儿童都有机会发展和增强个人特征和其他优势，这些优势可以作为保护因素，或有助于对不幸和变化形成保护性障碍。这些优势或保护因素是在与有爱心的成年人建立重要、安全和反应迅速的关系的背景下形成的。在幼儿玩耍和生活的环境中，以及儿童自身的环境中，保护性因素也能增强这种能力。内在自我保护因素与自我发展、社会幸福感和情感幸福感密切相关。

What Role Does Culture Play?

Culture helps define how individuals see themselves and how they relate to others. Remember that individuals differ in many ways: language diversity, cultural diversity, gender diversity, religious diversity, and economic diversity (Selmi, Gallagher, & Mora-Flores, 2015). All of these aspects of diversity work together to form your sense of self.

对你来说，重要的是要承认和理解，个人可能不会以同样的方式发展自我意识。一个家庭的文化价值观塑造了孩子自我概念的发展：文化塑造了我们每个人如何看待自己和他人。例如，有些文化倾向于孩子们在大人身边安静而有礼貌。这并不意味着一个安静的孩子缺乏自信。重要的是要记住，并不是所有的家庭都会强化美国主流文化价值观：个人主义、竞争和自信。年幼的孩子学习并吸收他们所听到的故事，这些故事往往强调家庭的价值观，影响孩子的自我概念。随着孩子们长大、上学、和同龄人一起度过闲暇时光，他们了解到其他人可能与他们的家庭没有相同的价值观。例如，一些家庭可能会重视学术而不是体育运动，而另一个家庭可能会重视艺术和学习演奏乐器。每个家庭在其文化背景下影响孩子的自我概念。幼儿可能会根据其家庭价值观来描述自己（例如，来自强调与他人融洽相处是一种强烈价值观的文化的幼儿可能会将自己描述为“善良”，而来自强调个人主义的文化的另一个幼儿可能会将自己描述为“优秀的跑步者”）。作为一名婴幼儿看护者，你承担着培养幼儿自我意识的重要任务，你必须仔细观察和倾听每个孩子。狗万app怎么下载

Two of the most studied aspects of culture related to the sense of self are independence and interdependence. Independence views individuals as separate from one another, and ideas such as self-esteem, individual choices, and assertiveness are valued. Interdependence means more value is placed on the group, and ideas like conformity, concern for others, and group decision-making are valued. Children come from families and cultures that value independence and interdependence in different ways at different times.

发展心理学家Catherine Raeff认为，文化会影响你、员工和孩子的看法：

• Relationships: Culture influences how you enter into and maintain relationships. For example, relationships may be seen as voluntary or as duty-based. This influences how adults encourage children to form relationships: Do they choose whom to play with or are children encouraged to play in certain ways to promote group welfare?
• 个性特征: Culture influences whether and how you value traits like humility, self-esteem, politeness, and assertiveness. Culture also influences how you perceive hardship and how you feel about relying on others.
• Achievement：文化影响你如何定义成功，以及你是否重视某些类型的个人和团体成就。
• Expressing emotions: Culture influences how and whether you consider feelings public or private.

What Does This Mean For You?

作为婴幼儿看护者，您可能会遇到来自不同背景和生活经历的同事和家庭成员。了解文化对身份认同影响的复杂性对你来说很重要，但了解个体差异也很重要。例如，一个经历了一生的鼓励、表扬和支持的父母可能与经历过广泛批评、自我怀疑和孤立的父母有着截然不同的需求。此外，父母中的一方可能会认可并庆祝幼儿的成长能力，所有幼儿都能独立完成，而另一方则可能会选择承担幼儿自己能够完成的任务。根据一个小孩子经历这些不同方法的频率，他或她可能会对自己控制和影响世界的能力感到困惑。

See

Watch this video and reflect on your own sense of self, and how your life experiences and interactions have helped you formed your self-image. Consider all the aspects that influence children’s developing sense of self and think about how you, as a caregiver, contribute to children’s positive self-image.

婴幼儿: An Introduction To Self

Do

Infants and toddlers need the support of nurturing and responsive adults to help them grow and develop! Below are some things you can do to support a developing sense of self for the infants and toddlers in your care:

• 对婴儿和蹒跚学步的孩子的哭声和其他暗示做出反应，比如在他需要安慰的时候把他抱起来。
• Acknowledge and show excitement in infants’ and toddlers’ discoveries. “Look at what you found! You crawled over to the shelf and found your favorite ball!”
• Understand and sensitively respond to infants’ and toddler’s temperaments and preferences.
• Pay attention to infants’ responses to different sounds, textures, sights, etc.

Completing this Course

For more information on what to expect in this course, the Self & Cultural UnderstandingCompetency Reflection, and a list of the accompanying Learn, Explore and Apply resources and activities offered throughout the lessons, visit the Infant & Toddler Self & Cultural UnderstandingCourse Guide。

请注意，每个课程结束时的引用和资源部分概述了参考源和资源，以查找有关所涵盖主题的其他信息。当您完成课程时，您预计不会审查所有可用的在线参考。但是，欢迎您进一步探索资源，如果您有兴趣或培训师，教练或管理员的要求进一步探索资源。