Module 23

Late Childhood (The Intermediate Schooler)

Socio-Emotional Development of the Intermediate Schoolers

Objectives:
1. Identify the socio – emotional characteristics of children in their late childhood age
2. Determine the qualities of family life that affect older children’s development including changes
in family interactions
3. Interview a parent regarding their child’s socio – emotional development

Introduction
At this period of socio-emotional development, children are spending less in the home.
The bulk of their time is spent outside the home, either alone or with other children, rather than with
adults. Older children have already familiarized themselves with other children. They are already used to
interacting with different ages and gender.

Understanding Self-Competence, Self-Identity and Self-Concept

One of the most widely recognized characteristics of this period of development is the acquisition of
feelings of self-competence.
Erik Erikson- referred when he described that developmental task of middle childhood- the social crisis
industry versus inferiority.

Industry- refers to the drive to acquire new skills and do meaningful “work”
During late childhood, children can now describe themselves with internal and psychological
characteristics and traits.
They most likely employ more social comparison- distinguishing them from other. In dealing with other
children, they show increase in perspective taking. It enables them to:
a. Judge others’ intentions, purposes and actions;
b. Give importance to social attitudes and behaviours; and
c. Increase scepticism of others claims.

Emotional Development
The same with other areas of development, children in this stage, show improved emotional
understanding, increased understanding that more than one emotion can be experienced in a single
experience. Another milestone in this stage is the development of the children’s emotional intelligence
(EQ), which involves the ability to monitor feelings of one and others to guide and motivate behaviour.

Emotional intelligence has four areas:

1. Developing emotional self-awareness
2. Managing emotions (self-control)
3. Reading emotions (perspective taking)
4. Handling emotions (resolve problems)

Building Friendships
As children go through their late childhood, they spend in peer interaction increases. The approval and
belongingness they receive contributes to the stability and security of their emotional development.

There are five types of peer status:

1. Popular- frequently nominated as the best friend and one who is rarely disliked by peers.
2. Average- receives an average number of positive and negative nominations from peers.
3. Neglected- very seldom nominated as a best friend but is not really disliked.
4. Rejected- infrequently nominated as a best friend but one who is also disliked by peers.
5. Controversial- frequently nominated as a best friend but at the same time is disliked by peers.

Popular children have the following skills which peers find very positive and as result they become the
most favoured in the group:
1. They give out reinforcement.
2. They act naturally.
3. They listen carefully and keep open communication.
4. They are happy and are in control of their negative emotions.
5. They show enthusiasm and concern for others.
On the other hand, here are the characteristics of neglected children and why the group or majority of the
peers develop negative feelings toward them:
1. They participate less in the classroom.
2. They have negative attitudes on school tardiness and attendance.
3. They are more often reported as being lonely.
4. They are aggressive.

a. In boys:
-They become impulsive; have problems in being attentive and disruptive
- They are emotionally reactive and slow to calm down.
- They have fewer social skills to make and maintain friends.

Family
Family support at this stage is crucial. If children do not find a supportive family when they find their
interest (e.g. in hobbies like riding a bike or playing a musical instrument) they can easily get frustrated.
If families are a primary support system, failures and setbacks become temporary and surmountable rather
than something that is attributed to personal flaws or deficits. This time a critical time for children to
develop a sense of competence. A high quality adult relationship, specifically, family relationships enable
them to successfully go through this stage of development.

Implications to Child Care, Education and Parenting

Primary school children’s socio emotional competency should be viewed in the context of the child’s
development age. Health care providers, teachers and parents should be able to:
Gain understanding of their child’s socio-emotional strengths and weaknesses by:
• Encouraging children to talk about their feelings without doing it forcefully;
• Provide opportunities for children to build relationships with teachers and fellow classmates;
• Remind children that friendships have their ups and downs and that occasional conflicts and
arguments can be healthy;
• Design activities that allow children to work on their own and discover activities and hobbies that they
enjoy; and
• Model healthy relationships.

Module 24
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS

Objectives:
1. Describe the physical and sexual changes accompanying puberty
2. Identify the psychological consequences of early and late physical maturation in adolescence
3. Identify causes of possible habit disorders and ways of coping with them

Adolescence is a stage of human development that coincides with puberty, a biological development
occurring at the average age of 11 for girls and 12 for boys. There are factors, however, which contribute
to early puberty and delayed puberty. Factors: Heredity, the genes or genetic variations, Diet, Exercise
and Socio-Environmental Influence, causing an effect by peers or friends. Early and late maturation in
adolescence accompany the cognitive and socio-emotional development of adolescents.
In this situation, the teacher must be an understanding teacher who can provide guidance and support to
adolescent learners in their high school years. So, why are the teachers? It is because we have much more
time at school than being at home, so the teachers are the one who's responsible on taking care of their
students, they must aware and concern of them.

Adolescence is a period of transition in terms of physical, cognitive and socio-emotional changes.

(1) Early adolescence characterized by puberty may come at the ages of 11 and 12. (2) Middle
adolescence may meet identity issues within the ages of 14 and 16.
(3) Late adolescence marks the transition into adulthood at ages 17 and 20.

Puberty marking the major transition:

(1) Physical appearance (2) Rapid rate growth (3) Resultant feeling of awkwardness and unfamiliarity
with bodily changes, and (4) Alterations in sleeping habits and parent-adolescent relationship possibly
accompany puberty.
Puberty changes
Hormone flooding during adolescence causes an acceleration known as growth spurts. In girls, the
growth spurts begin at the age of 10 reaching its peak at age 11 and-a-half. For boys, growth spurts begin
at age 12 reaching its peak at age 14 and declining at age 15 and a half. Among girls, 98% of adult height
is generally reached at age 16, while boys do so at age 17.

Factors affecting development

Hormones are powerful and highly specialized chemical substances that interact with bodily cells.
Hormonal changes in the hypothalamus and pituitary glands signal the entire process of sexual
maturation. The process entails (1) secretion of gonadotropic hormones (2) Gonads. The secretion of
testosterone in the male sex organ and of estrogen in the female ovary. In the male, testosterone
stimulates male characteristics comprised by (1) spermache (2) capacity for ejaculation of male sperms
(3) voice change (4) facial hair development or beard growth, and continuing growth of pubic hair.

In the girls, estrogen secretion triggers the beginning of breast enlargement, appearance of pubic hair,
widening of the hips, and first menstruation. The secular trend is a phenomenon of more rapid physical
maturation during this century. It is ascribed to varied factors, such as: interaction of genetic and
environmental influences, improved health care and living conditions, and control of infectious diseases.

Sexual Identity
Adolescence is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation with sexual fantasies and realities of
incorporating sexuality with one's identity quoted by Santrack, 2005 from one's identity (Christopher,
2001) An adolescent's sexual identity involves sexual orientation, activities, interests and styles of
behaviour (Bugwell & Rosenthal, 1996). Some adolescents are very anxious about sex and sexually
active. Others are only a bit anxious sex and are sexually inactive. Sexual orientation is a person's
tendency t0 be attracted to people of the same sex (homosexual orientation), of the opposite sex
(heterosexual orientation) or of both sexes (bisexual orientation. In terms of sexual identity, adolescence
is the period when the most gay/lesbian and transgender begin to recognize and make sense of their
feelings. Coming to terms with a positive LGBT identity is usually difficult for variety of reasons,
including family, races and religious cultures.

Self-esteem
Self-esteem is defined as one's thoughts and feelings about one's self-concept and identity. It is about
being confident and being proud of you. But being insecure, unmotivated and other negativities will lead
and cause of having low self-esteem.

Body image and the adolescent

In this adolescent period, a person is being conscious about their body image and how they look, likes:
 cleanliness and grooming
 proper wearing of clothes according to current styles,
 erect body posture
 eye contact while communicating, and
 Decorum and decency.

Module 25
Cognitive Development of High School Learners

Objectives:
1. Describe the cognitive development of adolescents in the light of Piaget’s and Siegler’s cognitive
development theories
2. Explain the consequences of the adolescent’s cognitive development on their behaviour
3. Define overachievement and underachievement and propose solutions to underachievement

Introduction
Adolescent is a time for rapid cognitive development. At this stage of development, there is a decrease in
egocentric thoughts, while the individual's thinking takes more of an abstract form.

Piaget’s Formal Operation Thinker

Piaget formulated the theory of Formal Operational Thinking which demonstrates how the cognitive
capacity of the adolescent allows him/her to go beyond the sensible and concrete in order to dwell on
what is abstract, hypothetical and possible.
(a) Propositional thinking - making assertions outside visual evidence, and stating what may be possible
in things not seen by the eyes (for example, whether an unseen object is red or green, big or small,
flat or round
(b) Relativistic thinking - subjectively making an opinion on facts involving one's own bias, prejudice
of distortion of facts which may be either right or wrong (for example, arguing for or against the
superioty of the races whether white, brown, yellow or black).
(c) Real versus possible - examining a situation and exploring the possible in terms of situation or
solutions (e.g. possible success in implementing a student project or a school policy).

For Piaget one indication of the presence of formal operational thinking is the ability of the adolescent
thinker for combinational analysis, which is his taking stock of the effects of several variables in a
situation, testing one variable at a time, and not randomly. A new capacity known as Hypothetic-
Deductive Reasoning emerges in the adolescent reasoning from general facts / situations to a particular
conclusion. The adolescent may further experience an increase in depth of thought.

Siegler's Information Processing Skills

As in information-processing theories, Robert Siegler views the influence of the environment on thinking.
In this experiment, Siegler used rule models in relation to balance, weight, distance, conflict-weight,
conflict-distance, and other conflict balance problems. There upon adolescents may show: (a) speed in
information processing, coupled with greater awareness and control and acquired knowledge base - a
more efficient kind of thinking compared with that of the child (b) complexity by way of considering
longer-term implications and possibilities beyond the here-and-now, and (c) increased volume of
information processing coupled with longer memory span.

Metacognition
Among the cognitive advances in adolescence is metacognitions which is the ability to identify one's
own thinking processes and strategies inclusive of perception, memory, understanding, applications,
analysis, assessment and innovation.
Another important development is the ability of the adolescent for information processing. Information
theorist Robert Siegler sees a sequential acquisition of specific knowledge and strategies for problem
solving. He observes the quality of information processes that faces tasks at hand through strategies and
rules. Rules relate to balance, weight, distance, conflict weight, conflict distance and conflict balance
problems.

Overachievement
During adolescence, he/she can achieve very high academic grades, in spite of not getting IQ grades that
are at the top 3 or 5 percent of the bell curve.
Characteristics of overachievers are:
1. Positive self-value (self-esteem, confidence, optimism);
2. Openness to authority (responsive to expectations of parents and teachers);
3. Positive interpersonal relations (responsive and sensitive to feelings of others);
4. Less conflict on the issue of self-autonomy (feels freedom to make right choices, initiates and leads
activities);
5. Academic orientation (disciplined work habits, high motivation to discover and learn interest in study
values and varied fields of study);
6. Goal orientation (efficiency and energy in organizing, planning, setting target, prioritizing long-term
goals over short-term rewards); and
7. Control over anxiety (well composed and relaxed performance of organized tasks).

Underachievement
The adolescent may perform below the standards set. Possible potentials do not cope with the opportunity
to learn and score in the top quarter of measured achievement. Withdrawn underachievers refer to those
who have a more pronounced tendency to be passive resulting in being submissive and docile. Aggressive
underachievers are those who tend to be talkative, disruptive and rebellious.

Behaviour and adolescent cognitive growth

There are behavioural tendencies which may accompany cognitive growth during adolescence.
These are:
1. Egocentrism. This is the adolescent's tendency to think too much of themselves, while being too
sensitive to social acceptance of their appearance, actions, feelings, etc.
2. Idealism. This refers to imagining the far-fetched and less ideal situations at home, in school, and in
society.
3. Increased argumentativeness. Teens enjoy learning through the use of group dynamics including
role play, discussion, debate, and drama.

Implications to adolescent care, education and parenting

Parents and teachers must be able to recognize the cognitive development paths among adolescents and
create situations that will foster higher thinking skills through:
a. Activities at home e.g. asking teenage children for suggestions on family matters--house physical
arrangement, things to buy, places to go for family outing, etc.
b. Allowing more independence e.g. use of school allowances, choice on what to wear, etc.
c. Activities in school that allow participation, such as projects, field trips, joint internet research, etc., and
d. Develop reading skills through magazine articles, Internet blogs.

Developing occupational skills

Senior High School Grade 11 and 12 were designed to provide attention to occupational skills that are
absent even among college graduates.

• Realistic - This personality type prefers practical task, including those requiring physical labour and
motor coordination, and less of interpersonal skills (e. g. carpentry, driving, etc.)
•Investigative - This prefers tasks that are conceptual such as in the fields of science and technology as
chemists, scientists, technologists, etc.
Conventional - This prefers structured tasks that cater to the needs of others, such as in office jobs and
manual labour.

• Enterprising - this prefers independence and innovation in business and other enterprises that reflect
autonomy and personal initiative.
• Artistic - this prefers unstructured tasks that show ability for self-expression such as from artists,
musicians and performances.
These adolescent attitude and abilities demonstrate:
• Self-reliance - working independently without stress;
•Money management - not spending money on luxuries, much less on alcohol and drugs;
• Social responsibility - cooperation and respect for others including superiors;
• mature work orientation - pride in work and quality of work;
• Personal responsibility - assuming tasks independently and competitively;
• Positive attitude to work - Work is seen as a gainful and wholesome and not a burden.

Module 26
ADOLESCENE (THE HIGH SCHOOL LEARNER)
Socio - Emotional development of high school learners

Objectives:
1. Describe socio – emotional changes in adolescents
2. Describe how self – image develops among teens
3. Discuss cause and solutions to socio – emotional problems of teenagers such as gender and
identity, autonomy and attachment, peer group, friendships, dating, juvenile delinquency,
depression and suicide

Introduction
During adolescence the teen develops social cognition in the context of family structure, the school, the
community, and media. He also manifests emotions which need to be regulated for success in school as
well as for his/ her own emotional well-being. In the classroom, the teacher has the mandate for creating a
positive learning environment, while facilitating the student’s sound moral judgment. This module will
describe the adolescent age trend in social behavior as the student interacts with the school community
and the larger social environment.

Generally emotions- generally emotions are commonly known as human feelings that are manifested by
varied conscious or unconscious moods. A more accurate description is that it is a subjective reaction to
internal or external stimulus that involves physical change action and appraisal. Thus the child reacts to
inner hunger for food or comfort from surrounding environment. The unique patterns of emotions are (1)
event that is strong or important (2) physiological changes in heart pulse rate, brain activity, hormone
levels and body temperature (3) readiness for action often describes as “fight or flight” (4) dependence of
the emotion on how the stimulus is appraised or interpreted.
Biologist view that the part of the body which controls emotional reactions is the autonomic nervous
system connected to most of the glands and muscles in the body. The systems have to parts: the
sympathetic which is excites or arouses and the parasympathetic part which depresses body functions.
These parts coordinate for arousal or slowing down amid the challenges of life.

• Positive and negative emotions- emotional function by focusing attention, motivating and enabling
the individual to face a situation in life or withdraw and run away from it. Positive emotions like
interest and joy motivate the individual to continue his/her behavior. On the other hand, negative
emotions may cause withdrawal from what may be perceived as bad or dangerous. For Charles
Darwin these are six basic emotions, namely interest, joy/happiness, sadness, anger, disgust and fear.
Other scientist expanded the list to include love, pride, hope, gratitude, compassion, jealousy and
anxiety.

• Social emotions- social emotional start to emerge as early as the toddler year (15-24 months)
comprised by such feelings as envy, embarrassment, shame, guilt and pride. Observable emotions
during these years may not be accurate, but they can be a problem if not controlled. Even among early
learners, emotions affect learning, since learners pay more attention to things with emotional
significance. Emotions can also organize recall, such that learners tend to remember details of
emotionally strong experiences. In time, emotional competence can be developed by the child and this
means he/she gains the ability to regulate emotions and understand the emotions of other people. Girls
are more skilled in regulating emotions, but they are more likely than boys to be anxious and twice as
likely to be depressed. Adolescent girls are more likely than boys to have both negative and positive
interactions with family and friends.

Adolescents especially fell stress, usually from relationships with parents, friends, and sweethearts
also from pressure from school. Thus adolescents are stereotyped as moody and negative, poor
emotion control. Some studies argue against stereotyping adolescents pointing at other emotions
among teens such as feeling bored, tired, sleepy, social discomfort like awkwardness and loneliness.
Generally, adolescents are seen to tend emotions from social evaluation such as feelings embarrassed
when being looked at, also only fairly happy most of the time. Other observations are that most
adolescents are not moody, while some are frequently angry, anxious or sad. An important lesson for
high schools teachers is: you should not simply dismiss emotional negativity as a normal phase, but
should address the needs of teenagers who are chronically unhappy or moody.

The adolescent and social media- On the present day profusion of media, the adolescent has easy
access to culture of various media and social media, inclusive of computers, cell phones, video games,
music iPods, FM radio and cable television. Almost all household have television sets and about three
quarters of adolescents’ homes have access to the internet. The total media exposure of the whole
populace has greatly increased, even as adolescents have the highest rates of use of video games,
texting, social networking through Facebook and portable gadgets for music, mobile communication
and virtual reality games.

Findings indicate that electronic communication negatively effects adolescents’ social development.
As face to face communication is replaced, social skills are impaired sometimes leading to unsafe
interaction with those who use social media to exploit other financially or sexually. Girls are
particularly vulnerable to online socializing, while boys socializing in internet cafes lower their
academic work and achievement. Socially insecure teens become victims rather than beneficiaries of
the modern gadgets innovations of the digital age.

Implications to Adolescent Care Education and Parenting

The overall implication is that emotional skills influence the adolescent learner’s success in class
work. Learners who are able to regulate their emotions tend to be happier, better liked and better able
to pay attention and learn. Interventions by the teacher and the school can reduce learner’s emotional
distress, while raising test scores and grades. The teacher plays an important role in promoting positive
changes for the adolescent. As the teen is susceptible to peer pressure, the negative influence of social
media, drug use and addiction, early romantic sexual adventurism, the teacher and the school can
conduct interventions to assist the youths with focus on risky and inappropriate behavior while
promoting positive development among adolescents.