What is Cognition?
Cognition can be simply described as the process of acquiring knowledge. It includes perception, judgment, and all conscious and unconscious processes through which knowledge is acquired. Cognition involves a series of mental processes that are related to the acquisition, storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information (Cambridge cognition).
What are formative years?
Formative years as explained by UNICEF are the early childhood phase of a child (from birth to 8 years). This period in a child’s life is very significant for cognitive, social, emotional, and physical functioning (development). During the formative years, the brain of the child is developing, which makes it more elastic (moldable) to respond to change. The brain of a child in the formative years is able to respond more to change as billions of integrated neural circuits are established through the interaction of genetics, environment, and experience (Formative-Years-ECD-Brochure-EN.pdf).
The support that the child gets from adults, teachers, and other caregivers would influence the overall life outcomes of the child. Children tend to learn much more quickly than any other time in their lives during their formative years. A child would have faster cognitive (intellectual) social, physical, and emotional development during these years. Recent brain research concluded that 0-3 years are the most critical years in a child’s development (https://www.cde.ca.gov). The learning and emotional experiences of children in their formative years equip them with the foundation for their lifelong learning progress.
In order for a child’s brain to develop maximally, it will need a stimulating environment that would provide sufficient educational exposure, care, and social interaction which parents or other caring caregivers can provide. Situations where a child may be exposed to unsafe conditions, negative adult and peer interactions, and inadequate or lack of educational opportunities during the formative years would impact the child’s life outcomes negatively. Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 2015) clearly states that a child has a right to develop to “the maximum extent possible.” Article 27 of the CRC states that “States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development. It is therefore a matter of right that every child’s cognitive, social, and emotional needs are given the utmost attention in their formative years in order for the child to achieve their highest potential. It would always be worthwhile for parents and caregivers to invest their time and resources in the formative years of their children in order to improve not only their children’s educational achievement but also their overall development and life outcomes.
What roles do adults play during a child’s formative years?
- Nature and Nurture:
The ongoing debate on “nature” versus “nurture” tend to emphasize the effect nurture has on the outcome of the child and how nature and nurture both influences the development of the child in all spheres of his or her development. The importance of the environment (e.g., home, school, and adults involved) in which a child grows and the influences such an environment would have on the child’s life outcomes can never be over-emphasized. Nature innately endows the child with some cognitive and other developmental abilities but a child would need to be nurtured in order for the child to make the most progress in life. According to Li (2008), early life circumstances are associated with cognitive development in childhood that would in essence impact how the child develops.
- Formative years in boys and girls compared
Numerous research studies have shown that girls and boys learn differently in their formative years and beyond. There are some brain-based genetic differences in boys and girls that teachers and caregivers may need to pay close attention to when setting learning expectations for boys and girls of the same age group in the learning environment (Saks, 2006. p.192).
Table 1. Brain-based Genetic Differences in Girls and Boys
| Girls | Boys |
| Girls can multitask better than boys because the female corpus callosum is 26 percent larger than the male. The corpus callosum is the nervous tissue that sends signals between the two halves of the brain. | In the male brain, a larger area is devoted to spatial mechanical functioning and half as much to verbal emotive functioning. |
| Girls have the ability to transition between lessons more quickly and are less apt to have attention span issues. | Boys utilize the cerebral cortex less often than girls and they access the primitive areas of the brain more often while performing the same types of activities or tasks. |
| The neural connectors that create listening skills are more developed in the female brain and therefore enhance listening skills, and memory storage, and tone of voice discrimination in girls. | For the male brain to renew or recharge it will go into rest states, while the female brain does so without rest states or sleep. |
| Girls make fewer impulsive decisions than boys due to a higher serotonin level. | Boys have less serotonin and less oxytocin, which makes them more impulsive and less likely to sit still to talk to someone. |
| The female brain has 15 percent more blood flow than the male brain, allowing for enhanced integrated learning. | Boys structure or compartmentalize learning due to the fact that they have less blood flow to the brain. |
| Because girls have more cortical areas devoted to verbal functioning, they are better at sensory memory, sitting still, listening, tonality, and the complexities of reading and writing (the skills and behaviors that tend to be rewarded in school). | Boys’ brains are better suited to symbols, abstractions, and pictures. Boys in general learn higher math and physics better than girls. Boys prefer video games for physical movement and destruction. Boys get into more trouble for not listening, moving around, sleeping in class, and incomplete assignments. |
Adapted from Sax 2006, 192
What parents need to know about the formative years of their child
Parents play vital roles in the formative years of their children because that is when the child starts to acquire their own perspectives in life. Children between the age of 2-4 years are in their formative years but it also extends to the early elementary years, up to 8 years old (Kington et al., 2013). This is a period when children are learning human operations. Children continue to need assistance up till their middle school years (Rollè et al., 2019).
The behaviors that children learn during their formative years will become the road map for their success later in life, which explains why children need parental guidance during these years because parental support will prepare them for later development, educational performance, well-being, and life-long learning (Weinert et al., 2016, p. 1).
Parents are expected to be involved in both the academic and social aspects of their children in their formative years (El Nokali et al., 2010). Parental involvement in the lives of children would result in better academic performance, which in essence would yield better life outcomes for their children much later in life (Landry, 2014).
Parents are expected to spend the most time with their children in their earliest years (formative years) and that is why parents are considered the most valuable assets in the life of a child because of the important roles they play in the development of their children during their formative years, especially with character formation (Gozum, 2020) and early childhood development.
It is therefore a matter of right that all children irrespective of their location on the globe get the best care from the adults in their lives as well as benefit from early learning (early childhood education) in order for them to be able to achieve to their fullest potential in life.
Written by Olabimpe Abayomi-Ige Ph.D.
References:
El Nokali, N.E., Backman, H.J., &Votruba-Drzal, E. (2020). Parent involvement and children’s academic and social development in elementary school. Child Development, 81 (3), 988-1005.
Gozum, I.E. A., & Sarmiento, P.J. D (2021). Emphasizing the role of parents in values education to children in the formative years during the Covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Research in Education, 10 (7), 35-42.
Kington, A., Gates, P., & Sammons, P. (2013). Development of social relationships, interactions, and behaviors in early education settings. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 11(3), 292-311.
Landry, S. H. (2014). The role of parents in early childhood learning. Encyclopedia on Early Child Development, 1-6.
Li L. (2008). Analysis of early life influences on cognitive development in childhood using multilevel ordinal models. Quaderni di statistica, 10, 99–113.
Vos, P. (2018). Learning from examples: emulation, character formation and the complexities of ordinary life. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 39(1), 17-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2017.1393295
Sax, L. 2006. “Six Degrees of Separation: What Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences.” Educational Horizons 84 (Spring): 190–212.
Weinert, S., Linberg, A., Attig, M., Freund, J.-D., & Linberg, T. (2016). Analyzing early child development, influential conditions, and future impacts: Prospects of a German newborn cohort study. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 10(7), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-016-0022-6
igi-global.com/dictionary/formative-years/57431
cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/caqdevelopment.asp
Child Development and Early Learning: A Foundation for Professional Knowledge and Competencies
The National Academies of Sciences. Engineering. Medicine
nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/19401/ProfKnowCompFINAL.pdf
American Psychological Association (APA Psych Net)
Ceci, S.J., & Williams, W.M. (Eds.). (1999). The nature-nurture debate: The essential readings. Blackwell Publishing.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/cognition-thought-process
https://www.cambridgecognition.com/blog/entry/what-is-cognition
www.unicef.org data.unicef.org
https://crsreports.congress.gov
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child