The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Lesson 1: Human Development Meaning, Concepts and Approaches

Introduction
This topic is all about the human development that tackled the different factors that might influence the human
improvement and also it explained how human develop into a matured individual, the goal of human development, the
process and the development of cognitive, biological, and socio-emotional of human person, and the principle of human
development.

LESSON OUTCOMES
1. Understand the human development;
2. Identify the principles of human development and;
3. Explain the importance of approaches of human development

CONTENT
1. What is human development?
2. Principles of human development
3. Approaches to human development

According (Santrock 2012) Human development is the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception
and continues through the life span. Development includes growth and decline. This means that development can be
positive or negative.

Some Major Principles of Human Development

1. Development is relatively orderly -

The muscular control of the trunk and the arms comes earlier as compared to the hands and fingers. This is
the proximodistal pattern. During infancy, the greatest growth always occurs at the top the head with physical growth
size, weight and future differentiation gradually working its way down from top to bottom (for example neck,
shoulders, middle trunk and so on). This is the cephalocaudal pattern.

2. While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the outcomes of developmental process and the rate of
development are likely to vary among individuals.
If the children come from a good home with loving and caring parents they may develop into warm and
responsible children, adolescents and adults. If they come from a deprived environment, they may develop into
carefree and irresponsible adolescents and adults.

3. Development takes place gradually

A child wont develops into teenagers overnight. It takes years before they become one. In fact, that’s the way
of nature. The bud does not blossom suddenly. The seed does not germinate overnight. While some changes occur in a
flash of insight, more often it takes weeks, months, or years for a person to undergo changes that result in the display
of developmental characteristics.

4. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive and socioemotional
processes (Santrock 2012)
Biological Processes involve changes in the individual’s physical nature. The brain of the child develops.
They will gain weight and height. They will experience hormonal changes when they reach the period of puberty,
and cardiovascular decline as they approach late adulthood. All these show the biological processes in
development.

Cognitive Processes involve changes in the individual’s though, intelligence, and language. The child
develop from mere sounds to a word becoming two words, the two words becoming a sentence. They would
move on to memorizing their first prayer, singing Bayang Magiliw in every flag ceremony to imagining what it
would be like to be a teacher or a pilot, playing chess, and solving a complex math problem.

Socioemotional Processes include changes in the individual’s relationships with other people, changes in
emotions, and changes in personality. The child responded with a sweet smile when affectionately touched and
frowned when displeased and even showed temper tantrum when they could not get or do what they wanted.

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These biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are inextricably intertwined. While these processes are
studied separately, the effect of one process or factor on a person’s development is not isolated from the other processes.

Two Approaches of Human Development

If you believed that the child will show extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in
adulthood and decline in late old age, your approach to development is traditional. In contrast, if you believe that even in
adulthood development change takes place as it does during childhood, your approach is termed life span approach.

Characteristics of life-span development

1. Development is Lifelong
It does not end in adulthood. No developmental stage dominates development.
2. Development is Multidimensional
Development consists of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional dimensions.
3. Development is Plastic
Development is possible throughout the life span.
4. Development is Contextual
Individuals are changing beings in a changing world.
5. Development involves growth, maintenance and regulations
Growth, maintenance and regulation are three goals of human development. The goals of individual vary among
developmental stages. For instance, as individuals reach middle and late adulthood, concern with growth gets into the
back stage while maintenance and regulation take the center stage.

Principles of Child Development and Learning that Inform Practice

1. All the domains of development and learning-physical, social and emotional, and cognitive are important, and they
closely interrelated. Children’s development and learning in one domain influence and are influenced by what takes
place in other domain.
2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented sequences, with later abilities, skills,
and knowledge building to those already acquired.
3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to child, as well as at uneven rates across different
areas of a child’s individual functioning
4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of biological maturation and experience
5. Early experience have profound effects, both cumulative and delayed, on a child’s development and learning; and
optimal periods exist for certain types of development and learning to occur.
6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic or representational capacities.
7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for
positive relationships with peers.
8. Development and learning occur in and are influence by multiple social and cultural contexts.
9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around them, children learn in a variety of ways; a wide
range of teaching strategies and interactions are effective in supporting all these kinds of learning.
10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as for promoting language, cognitions, and social
competence.
11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a level just beyond their current
mastery, and also when they have many opportunities to practice newly acquired skills.
12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learn such as persistence, initiative, and flexibility;
in turn, these dispositions and behaviors affect their learning and development.

Lesson 2: The Stages of Development and Development Tasks

Introduction
For every developmental stage, there is an expected developmental task. Physical changes in height and weight
happens at a comparatively slower rate in the preschool years than in infancy. Normally a child adds about 2-3 inches in
height and about 6 pounds in weight yearly. More than the ability to walk the child is also able to acquire skills and begin
to explore as part of his acquired independence. What happens when the expected developmental tasks are not met at
corresponding developmental stage?

LESSON OUTCOMES
 Define developmental task in your own words.
 Identify development stages of learners in different curriculum year learners.
 Describe the development task

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CONTENT
1. What is developmental task?
2. Stages of Human Development

A. Stages of Development Based on John Santrock

John Santrock’s research focuses on family processes and children’s socio-emotional development. He conducted
the first major research study on comparisons of children in mother and father custody families.

1. Pre-natal Period
Progress before birth: Prenatal development
“How from so simple a beginning do endless forms develop and grow and mature? What was this organism, what is it
now, and what will it become?”

Pre-natal period has 3 phases:

1. Germinal Stage (first two weeks) conception, implantation, formation of placenta
2. Embryonic Stage (2 weeks – 2 months) formation of vital organs and systems
3. Fetal Stage (2months – birth) bodily growth continues, movement capability begins, brain cells multiply age of
viability

2. Infancy (Birth – 2 years)

“Our development was a continuous creation of complex forms, and our helpless kind demanded the meeting eyes
of love. We split the universe into two halves: “me and not me.”

Traits include:
 Extreme dependence on adults
 Beginning psychological activities (language, symbolic thought, social learning, etc.)
 Language of the new-born is the cry
 Usually eats every 2 to 3 hours
 Uncoordinated movements
 Poor vision (focusing range 8 -12 inches)

3. Early Childhood (3 -5 years)

“Our thoughts and images and drawings took wings. The blossoms of our heart, no wind could touch. Our small
world widened as we discovered new refuges and new people. When we said “I” we meant something totally unique,
not to be confused with any other.”

Traits include:
 Vocabulary and pronunciation continue to expand
 Imaginary is vivid; line between what is real and imaginary is often indistinct
 Develops fears (common fears: fear of dark, fear of animals, and fear of death)
 Socialize with other children their age

4. Middle and Late Childhood (6-12 years)
“In middle and late childhood, our thirst was to know and to understand. Our parents continued to cradle our lives
but our growth was also being shaped by successive choirs of friends. We did not think much about the future, or the
past, but enjoyed the present.”

Traits include:
 Developed complex motor skills
 From independent activities to same sex group activities
 Acceptance by peers is very important

5. Adolescence (13-18 years)

In adolescence, we tried on one face after another, searching for a face of our own. We want our parents to
understand and hope they would give us the privilege of understanding them. Our generation was the fragile cable by
which the best and the worst of our parents’ generation was transmitted to the present. In the end, there were two but
lasting bequests parents could leave us – one being roots, the other wings.

Traits include:
 Puberty occurs
 Extremely concerned with appearance

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 Trying to establish self-identity

6. Early Adulthood (19-29 years)

Early adulthood is the time for work and a time for love, sometimes leaving little time for anything else. For some
of us, finding our place in adult society and committing to a more stable life take longer than we imagine. Our dreams
continue and our thoughts are bold but at some point we become more pragmatic. And we possible know the love of
our parents until we become parents ourselves.

Traits include:
 Physical development complete
 Emotional maturation continues to develop
 Usually learned to accept responsibility for actions and accept criticism
 Socially progress from age-related peer groups to people with similar interests

7. Middle Adulthood (30-60 years)

For some of us, middle age is such a foggy place, a time when we need to discover what we are running from and
to and why. We compare our life, with what we vowed to make it. As middle-aged adults we come to sense that the
generations of living things pass in a short while and like runners, hand on the torch of life.

Traits include:
 Main concerns: children, health, job security, fear of aging
 Love and acceptance still make a major role

8. Late Adulthood (61 years and above)

The rhythm of human development eventually wend their way to late adulthood, when which each of us stands
alone the heart of the earth and “suddenly it’s evening”. We trace the connection between the end and the beginning
of life and try to figure out what this whole show is about before it is over. Ultimately we come to know that we are
what survives of us.

Traits include:
 Physical deterioration (brittle bones, poor coordination)
 Significant number become depressed; suicide rate is high
 Very concerned with health and finances

B. Development Stages (Havighurst, 1972)

According to Robert Havighurst there are six Development Stages of human development namely:

 Infancy and Early Childhood (0-5)

 Middle Childhood (6-12)
 Adolescence (13-18)
 Early Adulthood (19-29)
 Middle Adulthood (30-60)
 Later Maturity (61 and over)

C. Development Tasks (Havighurst, 1972)

In each stage of development, a certain task or tasks are expected of every individual. Robert Havighurst defines
developmental task as one that “arises at a certain period in our life, the successful achievement of which leads to
happiness and success with later tasks while failure leads to unhappiness, social disapproval, and difficulty with later
tasks.”

Infancy and Early Childhood (0-5)

1. Learning to walk.
2. Leaning to take solid foods.
3. Learning to talk.
4. Learning to control the elimination of body wastes.
5. Learning sex differences and sexual modesty.
6. Acquiring concepts and language to describe social and physical reality.
7. Readiness for reading.
8. Learning to distinguish right from wrong and developing a conscience.

Middle Childhood (6-12)

1. Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games.
2. Building a wholesome attitude towards oneself.
3. Learning to get along with age-mates.
4. Learning an appropriate sex role.
5. Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing and calculating.
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6. Developing concepts necessary for everyday living.
7. Developing conscience, morality and scale of values.
8. Achieving personal independence.
9. Developing acceptable attitudes toward society.

Adolescence (13-18)
1. Achieving mature relations with both sexes.
2. Achieving masculine or feminine social role.
3. Accepting one’s physique.
4. Achieving emotional independence of adults.
5. Preparing for marriage and family life.
6. Preparing for an economic career.
7. Acquiring values and ethical system to guide behaviour.
8. Desiring and achieving socially responsible behaviour.

Early Adulthood (19-29)

1. Selecting a mate.
2. Learning to live with a partner.
3. Starting a family.
4. Rearing children.
5. Managing a home.
6. Starting an occupation.
7. Assuming civic responsibility.

Lesson 3: Issues on Human Development

Introduction
Each of us has his/her own way of looking at our own and other people’s development. Theses paradigms of
human development while obviously lacking in scholastic vigor, provide us with a conceptual framework for
understanding ourselves and others. Scholars have come up with their own models of human development. Back up with
solid research, they take stand on issues on human development.

LESSON OUTCOMES
1. To identify different issues in human development
2. Discuss the issues on human development
3. Relate what they have learned to their personal development

CONTENT

Three issues of human development

Three Issues in Human Development

• Nature vs. Nurture
• Continuity vs. Discontinuity
• Stability vs. Change

A. Nature vs. Nurture

Nature
Plato: Ideas such as “the good” and “beauty” are inborn.
Descartes: Some ideas are innate.
Charles Darwin: Some traits become part of our nature through natural selection; they help us survive long enough to
pass the traits to the next generation.

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Nurture
Aristotle: All knowledge comes through the senses.
John Locke: The mind is a blank slate (blank chalkboard or screen) “written on” by experience.

B. Continuity vs. Discontinuity

Continuity
 There are gradual and increasing changes happening.
 Supported by Skinner’s operant conditioning.

Discontinuity
 The change is distinct changes happening.
 Supported by Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory of human development.

C. Stability vs. Change

Stability
 First experience has made us.
Change
 First experience develops us into someone different from who were at an earlier point in development.

How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life

What makes us the way we are? Why are some people predisposed to the anxious, overweight or asthmatic? How
is that some of us are prone to heart attacks, diabetes or high blood pressure? There’s a list of conventional answers to
these questions. We are the way we are because it’s in our genes. We turn out the way we do because of our childhood
experiences. Or our health and well-being stem for the lifestyle choices we make as adults. But there’s another powerful
source of influence you may not have considered: your life as fetus. The nutrition you received in the womb; the
pollutants drugs and infections you were exposed to during gestation; your mother’s health and state of mind while she
was pregnant with you---all these factors shaped you as a baby and continue to affect you to this day. This is the proactive
contention of a field known as fetal origins, whose pioneers assert that the nine months of gestation constitute the most
consequential period of our lives, permanently influencing the wiring of the brain and the functioning of organs such as
the heart, liver and pancreas. In the literature on the subject, which has exploded over the past 10 years, you can find
references to the fetal origins of cancer, cardiovascular disease, allergies, asthma, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, mental
illness. At the farthest edge of fetal-origins research, scientists are exploring the possibility that intrauterine conditions
influence not only our physical health but also our intelligence, temperament, even our sanity. As journalist who covers
science, I was intrigued when I first heard about fetal origins. But two years ago when I began to delve more deeply into
the field, I had a more personal motivation: I was newly pregnant. If it was true that my actions over the next nine months
would affect my offspring for the rest of his life. I needed to know more. Of course, no woman who is pregnant today can
escape hearing the message that what she does affect her fetus. She hears it at doctor’s appointments, sees it in the
pregnancy guidebooks: Do eat this, don’t drink that, be vigilant but never stressed. Expectant mothers could be forgiven

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for feeling that pregnancy is just a nine-month slog, full of guilt and devoid of pleasure, and this research threatened to
add to the burden. But the scientists I met weren’t full of dire warnings but of the excitement of discovery and the hope
that their discoveries would make a positive difference. Research on fetal origins is prompting a revolutionary shift in
thinking about where human qualities come from when they begin to develop. It’s turning pregnancy into a scientific
frontier: the National Institutes of health and embarked last year on a multi-decade study that will examine its subjects
before they’re born. And it was the womb a promising target for prevention, raising hopes of conquering public-health
scourges like obesity and heart disease through heart disease through interventions before birth.
-Time Magazine, October 4, 2010

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