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Education styles: What is your preferred style?

© ddimitrova / Pixabay
Education styles: What is your preferred style?
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Every parent has their own way of raising a child.  Whether they have a permissive or authoritative style, most parents do what they can to raise their child in the way they see fit.  However according to development psychology, there are actually four main types of education styles. Let’s take a closer look.  

Many parents adopt an educative style so that their child can learn social concepts and literary or scholarly ideas. By adopting these styles, parents allow their children to  adapt to different scenarios in everyday daily life so they can learn what is right and wrong.  No teaching style is better than another, however some styles can cause children to lack certain skills which are difficult to gain in latter life.

Negligent style

This style of teaching ultimately means that the parent has no particular teaching style. The parents, or those who are considered to be the educators, don’t necessarily take care of their children.  The adults in charge leave their child to do as they wish, without watching over them or recognising what they are doing.  These parents often hold libertarian ideals and claim that their child is autonomous.  Autonomy is certainly important for a child’s development but there is a big different between autonomy and abandonment.

enfant seul Mojpe / Pixabay
© Mojpe / Pixabay

Autonomy is when a child is left to their own devices while still always checking to see their progress.  This way parents are there to support their child if needed and are there to rectify and explain an error if it arises.  Abandonment on the other hand is when a child is completely left to their own devices and he parent gives no feedback or support if the child needs it.

Often a child’s intellectual and emotional needs are not often fulfilled, if left to do things for themselves.  This educative style can often cause emotional deficits and strong feelings of insecurity. Failure at school and behavioural problems like impulsiveness, putting themselves in danger are also common.

Authoritative style

In the opposite situation, some parents adopt an authoritative style.  In this scenario the child is never left to their own devices, in fact quite the contrary.  The child instead must follow their parents rules in every situation.

The parent has many expectations and has an image of an ideal child.  Rules go alongside this sort of educative style which then control almost all aspects of the child’s life.

Do this. Do that. Hold yourself up like this.”

If or when argumentative situations arise parents struggle as they have always got their own way while their child don’t always know how to react.  As a result the first conflict is often difficult for the child as they have never experienced it before.  This is the main difficulty with this style of teaching as the child feels the need to fit a perfect mold and if they don’t succeed they don’t know how to react.

In general, these types of children don’t always know how to make decisions as they have always been made for them.  What is more, they often can feel very anxious that others want like them.  According to an American study, the more authoritative and intrusive a parent is on their child’s life, the more likely the child will have a brain which is in an aggressive mode.

Permissive style

A permissive style of teaching is when lots of things are allowed.  Children don’t necessarily have rules that they need to follow and don’t have specific punishments.  Children can more or less do as their heart desires.

In this scenario, the child is free to do anything and is under no control from their parents.  Many specialists believe that this educative style can cause children to set themselves apart from their peers and have a low self esteem.  Permissive parents constantly congratulate and praise their children.  As a result these children are unaware of how they are really being seen by others and once they begin their studies or work or real life they are often stuck down and hurt by reality.

enfant Mojpe / Pixabay
© Mojpe / Pixabay

These children are often irresponsible as their problems can from outside their life.  As a result these children are often incapable of overcoming complications in their life without help from the outside.

Democratic style

The democratic style of education is often considered to be the most effective in terms of child development.  The adults are seen as guides or supervisors who help their children to overcome obstacles or challenges.

This style is subtle and manages to assert firmness and control while still being able to communicate with their children and show affection. These skills mean that their child likes what they do when then do it.  They don’t suffer from feelings of superiority or inferiority nor emotional deficits.

Despite the many positive points of this type of education, these children often have too much choice, almost as much as children taught with a permissive style.  Although parents give deadlines these are often worked out between the the child and the parent.  However it is also important to impose certain rules so that limits are observed by the child and that they can feel completely secure.  Conversations between children and parents are of course important but it is not everything.

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