Know

Sense of Self – Infants and Toddlers

As highlighted in Lesson One, a sense of self includes the roles, attributes, behaviors, and associations that we consider most important about ourselves (Ylvisaker, 2006). Many factors develop who we are, including our occupations, hobbies, affiliations, abilities, personality traits, and spiritual beliefs. How we identify ourselves is largely the result of our immediate surroundings and significant relationships, especially for young children. As an infant and toddler caregiver, you have a significant influence on how infants and toddlers perceive and feel about themselves each day they are in your care and long after they depart for kindergarten.

正如你所知道的，婴儿和学步儿童不断地移动他们的身体，并通过他们的身体表达他们自己。事实上，当婴儿与反应灵敏、关心他人的成年人发展关系时，他们会利用自己的身体来拉近距离，与他人建立联系，或者离开。他们所拥有和帮助创造的每一次经历都有意义，并影响着接下来发生的事情。随着时间的推移，对经历的记忆逐渐累积起来，婴儿开始形成自我意识，或形成自己的内在形象。“这就是我，当我感到安全和快乐的时候，我的护理者紧紧地抱着我，我的脸在微笑。”发展自我意识是许多东西的混合，例如幼儿的气质、感官和身体处理能力，以及周围的社会、情感和身体环境。Donna S.Wittmer和Sandy Petersen指出，“自我意识的发展被理解为发生在与他人的互动中，通过情感交流的瞬间体验。婴儿了解自己就像了解他人的感受一样”（2013年，第120页）。成年人如何培养婴儿和学步儿童有助于为幼儿的成长奠定坚实的基础，并影响幼儿的大脑发育。

如你所见，最早的自我意识是在与家人和照顾者的互动中形成的。在社会情绪发展课程中，您了解到婴儿会使用诸如哭泣、微笑、咕咕叫或移动身体等信号来让他们的护理者知道他们的需求。照料者对这些提示的反应会向婴儿传达诸如“你是安全的、被爱的和被重视的”或“你不重要”等信息。这些信息会影响婴儿未来的行为和态度。当家庭和看护者始终以温暖和关怀的方式对婴儿的暗示作出反应时，婴儿会变得安全、自信和快乐，而持续收到负面或混杂信息的婴儿可能会变得恐惧和抑郁（Marshall，1989）。当婴儿成长为学步幼儿，然后成长为学龄前儿童时，这一反应过程仍在继续。它在互动过程中时时刻刻发生，并影响婴儿和幼儿期望他人与他们相处和对待他们的方式。要了解更多关于响应式护理的知识，你可以回顾一下婴幼儿社会情感课程。万博体育全站app

Remembering the Brain

作为一名婴幼儿看护者，您认识到养育成人和环境会影响幼儿大脑的连接方式。当思考自我意识的发展及其与人际关系（与养育成人）和情感的联系时，你可能会发现自己也在思考大脑的发展以及在生命早期形成的模式。例如，反应能力和情感表达与大脑发育是相互联系的。因此，影响大脑的条件会影响情绪发展和自我意识。例如，自闭症“通常表现为无法理解他人以自己的观点、感受和经历存在”（Wittmer&Petersen，2013，第127页）。

很明显，压力会影响大脑的发育。反复的负面经验会加强，并改变最佳发展。通过观看以下片段，花点时间了解更多关于压力、幼儿大脑和自我发展的知识：

遗传：忽视的科学The Center of the Developing Child
at Harvard Universityhttp://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief\u series/inbrief\u/

Diverse Learners and Families

在您的护理环境中，没有两个婴儿、幼儿或家庭是相同的，满足每个婴儿和幼儿的需求似乎是一项艰巨而不可能完成的任务。没有一个最佳实践可以帮助孩子们培养健康的自我意识；它需要随着时间的推移而积累多种经验，这些经验和你每天所做的事情相辅相成。幼儿在这些早年的自我意识应该总是在他或她的重要关系的背景下看待和思考。作为一名婴幼儿护理者，您可以通过以下方式支持您护理的不同学习者和家庭：

• 为婴幼儿提供可预测的日常活动，强调家庭和护理环境之间的连续性
• 在护理环境中使用幼儿的家庭语言（例如，为经历痛苦的婴幼儿唱一首熟悉的歌）
• 将家庭照片放在婴幼儿睡眠区附近
• Learn words in the infant or toddler’s home language

In the first lesson, you had a chance to learn more about the ways families and caregiving practices are influenced by culture. For example, one family may value a quiet demeanor in a young child whereas in another family, assertiveness and speaking-up is valued. These values and beliefs guide the ways adults respond to infants and toddlers, which in turn affects the early messages an infant or toddler receives and, in essence, helps define who young children are. Coupled with individual beliefs and values are needs of all young children to help them grow, develop, express emotions and display behaviors in culturally appropriate ways, and develop a sense of self and self-worth. Brazelton and Greenspan (2000) emphasize that when seven irreducible needs (fundamental requirements of a healthy early childhood) are met, young children are able to feel safe and relate to others:

• Ongoing nurturing relationships
• Physical protection, safety and regulation
• 根据个人差异定制的体验
• Developmentally appropriate experiences
• 限制设置、结构和期望
• 稳定的社区和文化连续性
• 成人保护未来

作为一名婴幼儿看护者，您是家庭支持和理解的重要来源。

看到了吗

As you watch the first video, consider how you help support the diverse set of infants’ or toddlers’ in your setting.

支持自我意识：多样化的学习者和家庭

Next, watch as these caregivers demonstrate and describe ways they use mirrors and pictures to support infants’ and toddlers’ self-knowledge.

支持自我意识：镜子

As a caregiver, consider how you could incorporate mirrors and pictures into your environment and daily interactions to support young children’s positive self-images. Mirrors and pictures can provide a wonderful medium to help infants’ and toddlers’ understand their bodies, skills and actions. As you talk with children about these concepts, remember to stay sensitive to the messages you give them; caregivers may sometimes unknowingly reinforce gender, ethnic, racial, or ability stereotypes unless they remain reflective about the language they use in these interactions. For example, the caregivers above let these female infants know they are “pretty girls” when looking in the mirror. Consider what other kinds of self-understanding you would want to help these girls develop. For example, could they also be strong, persistent, and smart girls?

Do

Below are some things you can do to support a developing sense of self for the infants and toddlers in your care:

• 为婴幼儿提供始终如一、可预测的体验，以支持他们的归属感。
• 确定支持婴儿自我意识的家庭优势。
• 关注婴幼儿的文化背景。
• 提供低水平的镜子和其他反光玩具，并描述婴儿看到的东西，使他们能够识别自己的反射。
• 通过指点、触摸和命名帮助婴幼儿识别身体部位。