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PORTFOLIO IN CHILD ADOLESCENT

AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES

BTVTED/FSM-F4
MWF 11:00-12:00

MEMBERS
GELYN ZUNIO
DAISY FERNANDEZ
SHEENA MAE RELAMPAGOS
JEMART FELIZ
SHELLOU TAMBA

SIR LYNCH JUN DONDRIANO

NOVEMBER 7, 2019
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TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

Title Page 1

Table of Content 2

Purpose of the Portfolio 3

CHAPTER 1 4

Human Development, Concepts and approaches 5-7

Stages of Development and Developmental Tasks 8

Development Theories 9-11

CHAPTER 2 12

Physical, Cognitive and Socio-emotional Development 13-16

CHAPTER 3 17

Stages of Human Development 18-20

CHAPTER 4 21

Reflections 22-24

CHAPTER 5 25

Curriculum Vitae 26-28

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PURPOSE OF THE PORTFOLIO

This portfolio is the compilation of our learning about this subject throughout the

semester. This portfolio shows our development and understanding on the topic here

and also an evaluation of progress whether we met the learning standard or not. The

compilation of students learning that can provide a richer and deeper and more

accurate picture of what we are able to do than more traditional measures. Teachers

can also use this portfolio to assess that students either are or not learning what they

were taught. Portfolio can document how student grow, matured and improved as

learners. Also an authentic representation of what we have learned.

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CHAPTER 1
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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES

In 1990 the first Human Development Report introduced a new approach for advancing

human wellbeing. Human development – or the human development approach - is

about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the

economy in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and

their opportunities and choices.

Human Development - pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and

continues through the life span. Development includes growth (positive) and decline

(negative).

Human development is defined as the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and

opportunities and improving their well-being. Human development is about the real

freedom ordinary people have to decide who to be, what to do, and how to live.

The human development concept was developed by economist Mahbub ul Haq. At the

World Bank in the 1970s, and later as minister of finance in his own country, Pakistan,

Dr. Haq argued that existing measures of human progress failed to account for the true

purpose of development—to improve people’s lives. In particular, he believed that the

commonly used measure of Gross Domestic Product failed to adequately measure well-

being. Working with Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and other gifted economists, in 1990

Dr. Haq published the first Human Development Report, which was commissioned by

the United Nations Development Programme.

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Central to the human development approach is the concept of capabilities. Capabilities

what people can do and what they can become are the equipment one has to pursue a

life of value. Basic capabilities valued by virtually everyone include: good health, access

to knowledge, and a decent material standard of living. Other capabilities central to a

fulfilling life could include the ability to participate in the decisions that affect one’s life, to

have control over one’s living environment, to enjoy freedom from violence, to have

societal respect, and to relax and have fun.

Our capabilities are expanded (or constrained) by our own efforts and by the institutions

and conditions of our society. People with extensive, well-developed capabilities have

the tools they need to make their vision of “a good life” a reality. Those poor in

capabilities are less able to chart their own course and to seize opportunities. Without

basic capabilities, human potential remains unfulfilled.

The capability approach is a normative framework used for analyzing well-being, often

employed to understand development problems. Although certain aspects of the

approach can be linked to Aristotle and Adam Smith, it is philosopher-economist

Amartya Sen and more recently, University of Chicago professor of law and ethics

Martha Nussbaum, who are responsible for its development and proliferation. The core

premise of the capability approach is that well-being should be defined by people’s real

and actual opportunities to undertake the pursuits that they desire (often referred to as

‘capabilities to function’) – and through these freedoms, be whom they would like to be.

One illustration of the difference between capabilities to function and formal freedoms is

found in the area of educational opportunity. All US citizens have the formal freedom to

earn a college degree. However when comparing students from low-income

neighborhoods with more affluent students, low-income students’ real freedoms to

attend college can be constrained by, among other things, low quality local high schools

and financial considerations. Formal freedoms, in this and many cases, are necessary

but not sufficient to provide true capabilities to function. The capability approach to well-

being, which prioritizes the ability to actualize opportunity into ‘beings and doings’,

contrasts with other theories of well-being which focus on subjective measures, such as

happiness, or on material means, such as income.

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The Human Development Index

The state of the nation is often expressed through GDP (Gross Domestic Product), daily

stock market results, consumer spending levels, and national debt figures. But these

numbers provide only a partial view of how people are faring.

The Human Development Index was developed as an alternative to simple money

metrics. It is an easy-to-understand numerical measure made up of what most people

believe are the very basic ingredients of human well-being: health, education, and

income. The first Human Development Index was presented in 1990. It has been an

annual feature of every Human Development Report since, ranking virtually every

country in the world from number one (currently Iceland) to number 177 (currently Sierra

Leone).

This composite index has become one of the most widely used indices of well-being

around the world and has succeeded in broadening the measurement and discussion of

well-being beyond the important, but nevertheless narrow, confines of income. In a

number of countries, the Human Development Index is now an official government

statistic; its annual publication inaugurates serious political discussion and renewed

efforts, nationally and regionally, to improve lives.

The American Human Development Index

The Measure of America presents a modified American Human Development Index.

The American HD Index measures the same three basic dimensions as the standard

HD Index, but it uses different indicators to better reflect the U.S. context and to

maximize use of available data. For example, while the standard index measures

access to knowledge using the average number of years that students spend in school,

we have chosen instead to use educational attainment, a more demanding indicator.

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While data are plentiful on the extremes of affluence and deprivation in the United

States, the American Human Development Index provides a single measure of well-

being for all Americans, disaggregated by state and congressional district, as well as by

gender, race, and ethnicity. All data used in the index come from official U.S.

government sources the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau and

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The data included in the American Human Development Index will help us understand

variations among regions and groups. It is a snapshot of America today. Moreover, the

index will serve as a baseline for monitoring future progress.

Why Health, Education, and Income?

Most people would agree that a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a

decent material standard of living are the basic building blocks of well-being and

opportunity. They are also the building blocks of the American Human Development
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Index as well as the U.N. Human Development Index upon which it is modeled. These

three core capabilities are universally valued around the world, and measurable,

intuitively sensible, and reliable indicators exist to represent them—two critical

considerations in the construction of a composite index.

A Long And Healthy Life

The most valuable capability people possess is to be alive. Advancing human

development requires, first and foremost, expanding the real opportunities people have

to avoid premature death by disease or injury, to enjoy protection from arbitrary denial

of life, to live in a healthy environment, to maintain a healthy lifestyle, to receive quality

medical care, and to attain the highest possible standard of physical and mental health.

In the American HD Index, life expectancy at birth stands as a proxy for the capability to

live a long and healthy life. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a

baby born today is expected to live if current mortality patterns continue throughout his

or her lifetime. The most commonly used gauge of population health the world over, life

expectancy at birth represents one-third of the overall American HD Index.

The American Human Development Project calculates life expectancy for the 50 states,

the 435 congressional districts, women and men, and major racial and ethnic groups

from mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National

Center for Health Statistics, and population data from the CDC WONDER database.

Access To Knowledge

Access to knowledge is a critical determinant of long-term well-being and is essential to

individual freedom, self-determination, and self-sufficiency. Education is critical to

people’s real freedom to decide what to do and who to be. Education builds confidence,

confers status and dignity, and broadens the horizons of the possible—as well as

allowing for the acquisition of skills and credentials. Globalization and technological

change have made it extraordinarily difficult for poorly educated Americans to achieve

the economic self-sufficiency, peace of mind, and self-respect enabled by a secure

livelihood.
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Access to knowledge is measured using two indicators: school enrollment for the

population age 3 and older, and educational degree attainment for the population 25

years and older. A one-third weight is applied to the enrollment indicator and a two-

thirds weight is applied to the degree attainment indicator. Both indicators are from the

American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.

A Decent Standard Of Living

Income is essential to meeting basic needs like food and shelter—and to moving

beyond these necessities to a life of genuine choice and freedom. Income enables

valuable options and alternatives, and its absence can limit life chances and restrict

access to many opportunities. Income is a means to a host of critical ends, including a

decent education; a safe, clean living environment; security in illness and old age; and a

say in the decisions that affect one’s life. Money isn’t everything, but it’s something quite

important.

Major Principles of Human Development

PROXIMODISTAL PATTERN - muscular control of the trunk and the arms comes

earlier as compared to hands and fingers.

CEPHALOCAUDAL PATTERN- During infancy, the greatest growth always occurs at

the top - the head with physical growth in size, weight and future differentiation

gradually working in its way down from top to bottom (ex. Neck, shoulders, middle trunk

and so on)

DEVELOPMENT CEPHALOCAUDAL PROXIMODISTAL DEVELOPMENT

While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the outcomes of developmental

processes and the rate of development are likely to vary among individuals. If children

come from good home with loving and caring parents, they may develop into warm and
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responsible children, adolescents and adults. If they come from deprived environment,

they may develop into carefree and irresponsible adolescents and adults.

Development takes place gradually. 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.

Development as a process is complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive

and socio emotional processes biological processes involve changes in the individual’s

physical nature. Children will experience hormonal changes when they reach the period

of puberty, and cardiovascular decline as they approach late adulthood.

Cognitive process involves changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence, and

language. Ex. Children 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, solving chess and solving math problem.

Socio emotional processes Changes in the individual’s relationships with other people.

From aggressive children, they may develop into a fine lady and a gentleman or

otherwise depending on a myriad of factors. They may fall in love and get inspired for

life or may end up betrayed, deserted and desperate afterwards.

These biological, cognitive, and socio emotional 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.

Approaches to Human Development

Traditional- extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood

and decline in late old age.

1. Development is lifelong. It does not end in adulthood.

2. Development is multidimensional. Development consists of biological, cognitive, and

socio-emotional dimensions.

3. Development is plastic. Development is possible throughout the lifespan.

4. Development is contextual. Individuals are changing beings in a changing world.

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5. Development involves growth, maintenance and regulation. The goals of individuals

vary among developmental stages.

Principles of child development and learning that inform practice Below are the

principles of child development and learning which are the bases of developmentally

appropriate practice (DAP) in early childhood program for children from birth through

age 8, which are stated in the position paper of the National Association for the

Education of Young Children (2009)

1. All the domains of development and learning-physical social and emotional, and

cognitive are important and they are closely interrelated.

2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented

sequences, with later abilities, skills and knowledge building on 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 child’s individual functioning.

4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of

biological maturation and experience.

5. Early experiences 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 influenced 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;

10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self- regulation as well as for promoting

language, cognition, 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.

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12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning, such as

persistence, initiative and flexiblility.

Stages of Development and Developmental Tasks

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Freud’s Development Theory

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is

the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and

superego. This theory, known as Freud’s structural theory of personality, places great

emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping behaviour and

personality. Dynamic interactions among these fundamental parts of the mind are

thought to progress through five distinct psychosexual stages of development. Over the

last century, however, Freud’s ideas have since been met with criticism, in part because

of his singular focus on sexuality as the main driver of human personality development.

Freud’s Structure of the Human Mind

According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he

proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and

superego. Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts to find balance among

what each of them “desires,” determines how we behave and approach the world. What

balance we strike in any given situation determines how we will resolve the conflict

between two overarching behavioral tendencies: our biological aggressive and

pleasure-seeking drives vs. our socialized internal control over those drives.
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Conflict within the mind: According to Freud, the job of the ego is to balance the

aggressive/pleasure-seeking drives of the id with the moral control of the superego.

The Id

The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with instant gratification

of basic physical needs and urges. It operates entirely unconsciously (outside of

conscious thought). For example, if your id walked past a stranger eating ice cream, it

would most likely take the ice cream for itself. It doesn’t know, or care, that it is rude to

take something belonging to someone else; it would care only that you wanted the ice

cream.

The Superego

The superego is concerned with social rules and morals—similar to what many people

call their ” conscience ” or their “moral compass.” It develops as a child learns what their

culture considers right and wrong. If your superego walked past the same stranger, it

would not take their ice cream because it would know that that would be rude. However,

if both your id and your superego were involved, and your id was strong enough to

override your superego’s concern, you would still take the ice cream, but afterward you

would most likely feel guilt and shame over your actions.

The Ego

In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational,

pragmatic part of our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly conscious

and partly unconscious. It’s what Freud considered to be the “self,” and its job is to
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balance the demands of the id and superego in the practical context of reality. So, if you

walked past the stranger with ice cream one more time, your ego would mediate the

conflict between your id (“I want that ice cream right now”) and superego (“It’s wrong to

take someone else’s ice cream”) and decide to go buy your own ice cream. While this

may mean you have to wait 10 more minutes, which would frustrate your id, your ego

decides to make that sacrifice as part of the compromise– satisfying your desire for ice

cream while also avoiding an unpleasant social situation and potential feelings of

shame.

Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that adult

personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles throughout

childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong ego has a healthy personality

and that imbalances in this system can lead to neurosis (what we now think of as

anxiety and depression) and unhealthy behaviors.

The id, ego, and superego: According to Freud’s structural model, the personality is

divided into the id, ego, and superego. On this diagram, the smaller portion above the

water signifies the conscious mind, while the much larger portion below the water

illustrates the unconscious mind.

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Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud believed that the nature of the conflicts among the id, ego, and superego change

over time as a person grows from child to adult. Specifically, he maintained that these

conflicts progress through a series of five basic stages, each with a different focus: oral,

anal, phallic, latency, and genital. He called his idea the psychosexual theory of

development, with each psychosexual stage directly related to a different physical

center of pleasure.

Across these five stages, the child is presented with different conflicts between their

biological drives (id) and their social and moral conscience (supereg0) because their

biological pleasure-seeking urges focus on different areas of the body (what Freud

called “erogenous zones”). The child’s ability to resolve these internal conflicts

determines their future ability to cope and function as an adult. Failure to resolve a

stage can lead one to become fixated in that stage, leading to unhealthy personality

traits; successful resolution of the stages leads to a healthy adult.

Piaget’s Development Theory

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Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a

mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait,

and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological

maturation and interaction with the environment.

Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job was to develop

French versions of questions on English intelligence tests. He became intrigued with the

reasons children gave for their wrong answers to the questions that required logical

thinking. He believed that these incorrect answers revealed important differences

between the thinking of adults and children.

Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive

development. His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development,

detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but

ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.

What Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children could count, spell or

solve problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more interested in was the

way in which fundamental concepts like the very idea of number, time, quantity,

causality, justice and so on emerged.

Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are

merely less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in

strikingly different ways compared to adults.

According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically

inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.

Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:

▪ It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.

▪ It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning

of information or specific behaviors.

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▪ It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather

than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.

The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant,

and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using

hypotheses.

To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes

as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience.

Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience

discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their

environment.

There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:

1. Schemas

(building blocks of knowledge).

2. Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another

(equilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation).

3. Stages of Cognitive Development:

o sensorimotor,

o preoperational,

o concrete operational,

o formal operational.

Schemas

Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would

mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past

experience or to plan future actions. Schemas are the basic building blocks of such

cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental representation of the world. Piaget

(1952, p. 7) defined a schema as:

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"a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly

interconnected and governed by a core meaning."

In more simple terms Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent

behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as

“units” of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions,

and abstract (i.e., theoretical) concepts.

Wadsworth (2004) suggests that schemata (the plural of schema) be thought of as

'index cards' filed in the brain, each one telling an individual how to react to incoming

stimuli or information.

When Piaget talked about the development of a person's mental processes, he was

referring to increases in the number and complexity of the schemata that a person had

learned.

When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around

it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e., a state of cognitive (i.e., mental) balance.

Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development and described

how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked

mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to

situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply

them when needed.

For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The

schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu,

ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema

called a 'script.' Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from

memory and apply it to the situation.

The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this - especially those used by

infants. He described how - as a child gets older - his or her schemas become more

numerous and elaborate.

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Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas - even

before they have had many opportunities to experience the world. These neonatal

schemas are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are

genetically programmed into us.

For example, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching

the baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's finger.

Piaget, therefore, assumed that the baby has a 'sucking schema.'

Similarly, the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a

baby's hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something

which touches its cheek, are innate schemas. Shaking a rattle would be the combination

of two schemas, grasping and shaking.

Assimilation and Accommodation

Jean Piaget (1952; see also Wadsworth, 2004) viewed intellectual growth as a process

of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through:

 Assimilation

– Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.

 Accommodation

– This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and

needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.

 Equilibration

– This is the force which moves development along. Piaget believed that

cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and

bounds.

Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information

through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs

when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).

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Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be

frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge

(accommodation). Once the new information is acquired the process of

assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to

make an adjustment to it.

Example of Assimilation

A 2-year-old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on
the sides. To his father’s horror, the toddler shouts “Clown, clown” (Siegler et al., 2003).

Example of Accommodation

In the “clown” incident, the boy’s father explained to his son that the man was not a
clown and that even though his hair was like a clown’s, he wasn’t wearing a funny
costume and wasn’t doing silly things to make people laugh.

With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of “clown” and make
this idea fit better to a standard concept of “clown”.

Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development which reflect the increasing
sophistication of children's thought:
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1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

2. Preoperational stage (from age 2 to age 7)

3. Concrete operational stage (from age 7 to age 11)

4. Formal operational stage (age 11+ - adolescence and adulthood).

Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is
determined by biological maturation and interaction with the environment.

Although no stage can be missed out, there are individual differences in the rate at
which children progress through stages, and some individuals may never attain the later
stages.

Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although
descriptions of the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average
child would reach each stage.

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2 yrs)

The main achievement during this stage is Object Permanence - knowing that an object
still exists, even if it is hidden.

It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object.

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability
to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself.

Thinking is still egocentric, and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)

Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive
development because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought.

This means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically
try things out in the real world).

Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation
is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its
appearance changes.

Formal Operational Stage (11 years and over)

The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into
adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts,
and logically test hypotheses.

Educational Implications

Piaget (1952) did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers
have explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning.

Piaget has been extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching
practice. For example, a review of primary education by the UK government in 1966
was based strongly on Piaget’s theory. The result of this review led to the publication of
the Plowden report (1967).
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Discovery learning – the idea that children learn best through doing and actively
exploring - was seen as central to the transformation of the primary school curriculum.

'The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the
centrality of play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery
and the importance of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should 'not
assume that only what is measurable is valuable.'

Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages, the notion of
'readiness' is important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts
should be taught. According to Piaget's theory children should not be taught certain
concepts until they have reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development.

According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active learner,

not a passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be
discovered.

Within the classroom learning should be student-centered and accomplished through

active discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than
direct tuition. Therefore, teachers should encourage the following within the classroom:

o Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it.

o Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths."

o Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from each
other).

o Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the
child.

o Evaluate the level of the child's development so suitable tasks can be set.

Critical Evaluation

Support

 The influence of Piaget’s ideas in developmental psychology has been

enormous. He changed how people viewed the child’s world and their methods of
studying children.

He was an inspiration to many who came after and took up his ideas. Piaget's
ideas have generated a huge amount of research which has increased our
understanding of cognitive development.

 His ideas have been of practical use in understanding and communicating with
children, particularly in the field of education (re: Discovery Learning).

Criticisms

 Are the stages real? Vygotsky and Bruner would rather not talk about stages at
all, preferring to see development as a continuous process. Others have queried
the age ranges of the stages. Some studies have shown that progress to the
formal operational stage is not guaranteed.

For example, Keating (1979) reported that 40-60% of college students fail at
formal operation tasks, and Dasen (1994) states that only one-third of adults ever
reach the formal operational stage.
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 Because Piaget concentrated on the universal stages of cognitive development

and biological maturation, he failed to consider the effect that the social setting
and culture may have on cognitive development.

Dasen (1994) cites studies he conducted in remote parts of the central Australian
desert with 8-14 year old Aborigines. He gave them conservation of liquid tasks
and spatial awareness tasks. He found that the ability to conserve came later in
the aboriginal children, between aged 10 and 13 ( as opposed to between 5 and
7, with Piaget’s Swiss sample).

However, he found that spatial awareness abilities developed earlier amongst the
Aboriginal children than the Swiss children. Such a study demonstrates cognitive
development is not purely dependent on maturation but on cultural factors too –
spatial awareness is crucial for nomadic groups of people.

Vygotsky, a contemporary of Piaget, argued that social interaction is crucial for

cognitive development. According to Vygotsky the child's learning always occurs
in a social context in co-operation with someone more skillful (MKO). This social
interaction provides language opportunities and language is the foundation of
thought.

 Piaget’s methods (observation and clinical interviews) are more open to biased
interpretation than other methods. Piaget made careful, detailed naturalistic
observations of children, and from these he wrote diary descriptions charting
their development. He also used clinical interviews and observations of older
children who were able to understand questions and hold conversations.

Because Piaget conducted the observations alone the data collected are based
on his own subjective interpretation of events. It would have been more reliable if
Piaget conducted the observations with another researcher and compared the
results afterward to check if they are similar (i.e., have inter-rater reliability).

Although clinical interviews allow the researcher to explore data in more depth,
the interpretation of the interviewer may be biased. For example, children may
not understand the question/s, they have short attention spans, they cannot
express themselves very well and may be trying to please the experimenter.
Such methods meant that Piaget may have formed inaccurate conclusions.

 As several studies have shown Piaget underestimated the abilities of children

because his tests were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand (e.g.,
Hughes, 1975).

Piaget failed to distinguish between competence (what a child is capable of

doing) and performance (what a child can show when given a particular task).
When tasks were altered, performance (and therefore competence) was affected.
Therefore, Piaget might have underestimated children’s cognitive abilities.

For example, a child might have object permanence (competence) but still not be
able to search for objects (performance). When Piaget hid objects from babies he
found that it wasn’t till after nine months that they looked for it. However, Piaget
relied on manual search methods – whether the child was looking for the object
or not.

Later, research such as Baillargeon and Devos (1991) reported that infants as
young as four months looked longer at a moving carrot that didn’t do what it
expected, suggesting they had some sense of permanence, otherwise they
wouldn’t have had any expectation of what it should or shouldn’t do.

 The concept of schema is incompatible with the theories of Bruner (1966) and
Vygotsky (1978). Behaviorism would also refute Piaget’s schema theory because
is cannot be directly observed as it is an internal process. Therefore, they would
claim it cannot be objectively measured.
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 Piaget studied his own children and the children of his colleagues in Geneva in
order to deduce general principles about the intellectual development of all
children. Not only was his sample very small, but it was composed solely of
European children from families of high socio-economic status. Researchers
have therefore questioned the generalisability of his data.
 For Piaget, language is seen as secondary to action, i.e., thought precedes
language. The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) argues that the
development of language and thought go together and that the origin of
reasoning is more to do with our ability to communicate with others than with our
interaction with the material world.

Erikson’s Development Theory

Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight

stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the

person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative

outcome for personality development.

For Erikson (1958, 1963), these crises are of a psychosocial nature because they

involve psychological needs of the individual (i.e., psycho) conflicting with the needs of

society (i.e., social).

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According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy

personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic strengths

which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.

Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete

further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. These

stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later time.

Stage Psychosocial Crisis Basic Virtue Age

1. Trust vs. Mistrust Hope 0 - 1½

2. Autonomy vs. Shame Will 1½ - 3

3. Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose 3-5

4. Industry vs. Inferiority Competency 5 - 12

5. Identity vs. Role Confusion Fidelity 12 - 18

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation Love 18 - 40

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation Care 40 - 65

8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom 65+

1. Trust vs. Mistrust

Trust vs. mistrust is the first stage in Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development.

This stage begins at birth continues to approximately 18 months of age. During this

stage, the infant is uncertain about the world in which they live, and looks towards their

primary caregiver for stability and consistency of care.

If the care the infant receives is consistent, predictable and reliable, they will develop a

sense of trust which will carry with them to other relationships, and they will be able to

feel secure even when threatened.

If these needs are not consistently met, mistrust, suspicion, and anxiety may develop.
 28

If the care has been inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable, then the infant may

develop a sense of mistrust, suspicion, and anxiety. In this situation the infant will not

have confidence in the world around them or in their abilities to influence events.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope. By developing a sense of trust, the

infant can have hope that as new crises arise, there is a real possibility that other

people will be there as a source of support. Failing to acquire the virtue of hope will lead

to the development of fear.

This infant will carry the basic sense of mistrust with them to other relationships. It may

result in anxiety, heightened insecurities, and an over feeling of mistrust in the world

around them.

Consistent with Erikson's views on the importance of trust, research by Bowlby and

Ainsworth has outlined how the quality of the early experience of attachment can affect

relationships with others in later life.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Autonomy versus shame and doubt is the second stage of Erik Erikson's stages of

psychosocial development. This stage occurs between the ages of 18 months to

approximately 3 years. According to Erikson, children at this stage are focused on

developing a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of

independence.
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Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of will. If children in this stage are

encouraged and supported in their increased independence, they become more

confident and secure in their own ability to survive in the world.

If children are criticized, overly controlled, or not given the opportunity to assert

themselves, they begin to feel inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then

become overly dependent upon others, lack of self-esteem, and feel a sense of shame

or doubt in their abilities.

What Happens During This Stage?

The child is developing physically and becoming more mobile, and discovering that he

or she has many skills and abilities, such as putting on clothes and shoes, playing with

toys, etc. Such skills illustrate the child's growing sense of independence and autonomy.

For example, during this stage children begin to assert their independence, by walking

away from their mother, picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what

they like to wear, to eat, etc.

What Can Parents Do to Encourage a Sense of Control?

Erikson states it is critical that parents allow their children to explore the limits of their

abilities within an encouraging environment which is tolerant of failure.

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For example, rather than put on a child's clothes a supportive parent should have the

patience to allow the child to try until they succeed or ask for assistance. So, the

parents need to encourage the child to become more independent while at the same

time protecting the child so that constant failure is avoided.

A delicate balance is required from the parent. They must try not to do everything for the

child, but if the child fails at a particular task they must not criticize the child for failures

and accidents (particularly when toilet training).

The aim has to be “self control without a loss of self-esteem” (Gross, 1992).

3. Initiative vs. Guilt

Initiative versus guilt is the third stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial

development. During the initiative versus guilt stage, children assert themselves more

frequently.

These are particularly lively, rapid-developing years in a child’s life. According to Bee

(1992), it is a “time of vigor of action and of behaviors that the parents may see as

aggressive."

During this period the primary feature involves the child regularly interacting with other

children at school. Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with the

opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills through initiating activities.

Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with others. If

given this opportunity, children develop a sense of initiative and feel secure in their

ability to lead others and make decisions.

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Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either through criticism or control, children

develop a sense of guilt. The child will often overstep the mark in his forcefulness, and

the danger is that the parents will tend to punish the child and restrict his initiatives too

much.

It is at this stage that the child will begin to ask many questions as his thirst for

knowledge grows. If the parents treat the child’s questions as trivial, a nuisance or

embarrassing or other aspects of their behavior as threatening then the child may have

feelings of guilt for “being a nuisance”.

Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their

creativity. Some guilt is, of course, necessary; otherwise the child would not know how

to exercise self-control or have a conscience.

A healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important. Success in this stage will

lead to the virtue of purpose, while failure results in a sense of guilt.

4. Industry vs. Inferiority

Erikson's fourth psychosocial crisis, involving industry (competence) vs. inferiority

occurs during childhood between the ages of five and twelve.

Children are at the stage where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to do

things on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life as they

teach the child specific skills.

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It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will

become a major source of the child’s self-esteem. The child now feels the need to win

approval by demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society and begin

to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.

If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel

industrious (competent) and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this

initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher, then the child begins

to feel inferior, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her

potential.

If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding (e.g., being

athletic) then they may develop a sense of inferiority.

Some failure may be necessary so that the child can develop some modesty. Again, a

balance between competence and modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead

to the virtue of competence.

5. Identity vs. Role Confusion

The fifth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is identity vs. role

confusion, and it occurs during adolescence, from about 12-18 years. During this stage,

adolescents search for a sense of self and personal identity, through an intense

exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals.

During adolescence, the transition from childhood to adulthood is most important.

Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future in terms of

career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a society

and fit in.

The adolescent mind is essentially a mind or moratorium, a psychosocial stage between

childhood and adulthood, and between the morality learned by the child, and the ethics

to be developed by the adult (Erikson, 1963, p. 245)

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This is a major stage of development where the child has to learn the roles he will

occupy as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine his identity

and try to find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson suggests that two identities are

involved: the sexual and the occupational.

According to Bee (1992), what should happen at the end of this stage is “a reintegrated

sense of self, of what one wants to do or be, and of one’s appropriate sex role”. During

this stage the body image of the adolescent changes.

Erikson claims that the adolescent may feel uncomfortable about their body for a while

until they can adapt and “grow into” the changes. Success in this stage will lead to the

virtue of fidelity.

Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to others on the basis of accepting

others, even when there may be ideological differences.

During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based

upon the outcome of their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity within

society ("I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up") can lead to role confusion.

Role confusion involves the individual not being sure about themselves or their place in

society.

In response to role confusion or identity crisis, an adolescent may begin to experiment

with different lifestyles (e.g., work, education or political activities).

 34

Also pressuring someone into an identity can result in rebellion in the form of

establishing a negative identity, and in addition to this feeling of unhappiness.

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation

Intimacy versus isolation is the sixth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial

development. This stage takes place during young adulthood between the ages of

approximately 18 to 40 yrs.

During this period, the major conflict centers on forming intimate, loving relationships

with other people.

During this period, we begin to share ourselves more intimately with others. We explore

relationships leading toward longer-term commitments with someone other than a family

member.

Successful completion of this stage can result in happy relationships and a sense of

commitment, safety, and care within a relationship.

Avoiding intimacy, fearing commitment and relationships can lead to isolation,

loneliness, and sometimes depression. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of

love.

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation

Generativity versus stagnation is the seventh of eight stages of Erik Erikson's theory of

psychosocial development. This stage takes place during during middle adulthood

(ages 40 to 65 yrs).

Generativity refers to "making your mark" on the world through creating or nurturing

things that will outlast an individual.

People experience a need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often having

mentees or creating positive changes that will benefit other people.

 35

We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and

becoming involved in community activities and organizations. Through generativity we

develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture.

Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in

shallow involvement in the world.

By failing to find a way to contribute, we become stagnant and feel unproductive. These

individuals may feel disconnected or uninvolved with their community and with society

as a whole. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of care.

8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Ego integrity versus despair is the eighth and final stage of Erik Erikson’s stage theory

of psychosocial development. This stage begins at approximately age 65 and ends at

death.

It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and can develop integrity

if we see ourselves as leading a successful life.

Erikson described ego integrity as “the acceptance of one’s one and only life cycle as

something that had to be” (1950, p. 268) and later as “a sense of coherence and

wholeness” (1982, p. 65).

As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior citizens, we tend to slow down our

productivity and explore life as a retired person.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or

feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and

develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to

look back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death

without fear.
 36

Wise people are not characterized by a continuous state of ego integrity, but they

experience both ego integrity and despair. Thus, late life is characterized by both

integrity and despair as alternating states that need to be balanced.

Critical Evaluation

By extending the notion of personality development across the lifespan, Erikson outlines

a more realistic perspective of personality development (McAdams, 2001).

Based on Erikson’s ideas, psychology has reconceptualized the way the later periods of

life are viewed. Middle and late adulthood are no longer viewed as irrelevant, because

of Erikson, they are now considered active and significant times of personal growth.

Erikson’s theory has good face validity. Many people find that they can relate to his

theories about various stages of the life cycle through their own experiences.

However, Erikson is rather vague about the causes of development. What kinds of

experiences must people have to successfully resolve various psychosocial conflicts

and move from one stage to another? The theory does not have a universal mechanism

for crisis resolution.

Indeed, Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a descriptive overview of

human social and emotional development that does not adequately explain how or why

this development occurs. For example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how the

outcome of one psychosocial stage influences personality at a later stage.

However, Erikson stressed his work was a ‘tool to think with rather than a factual

analysis.’ Its purpose then is to provide a framework within which development can be

considered rather than testable theory.

One of the strengths of Erikson's theory is its ability to tie together important

psychosocial development across the entire lifespan.

Although support for Erikson's stages of personality development exists (McAdams,

1999), critics of his theory provide evidence suggesting a lack of discrete stages of

personality development (McCrae & Costa, 1997).

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Kohlberg’s Development Theory

Lawrence Kohlberg (1958) agreed with Piaget's (1932) theory of moral development in

principle but wanted to develop his ideas further.

He used Piaget’s storytelling technique to tell people stories involving moral

dilemmas. In each case, he presented a choice to be considered, for example, between

the rights of some authority and the needs of some deserving individual who is being

unfairly treated.

One of the best known of Kohlberg’s (1958) stories concerns a man called Heinz who

lived somewhere in Europe.

Heinz’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new drug might

save her. The drug had been discovered by a local chemist, and the Heinz tried

desperately to buy some, but the chemist was charging ten times the money it cost to

make the drug, and this was much more than the Heinz could afford.
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Heinz could only raise half the money, even after help from family and friends. He

explained to the chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug

cheaper or pay the rest of the money later.

The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going to make

money from it. The husband was desperate to save his wife, so later that night he broke

into the chemist’s and stole the drug.

Kohlberg asked a series of questions such as:

1. Should Heinz have stolen the drug?

2. Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife?

3. What if the person dying was a stranger, would it make any difference?

4. Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman died?

By studying the answers from children of different ages to these questions, Kohlberg

hoped to discover how moral reasoning changed as people grew older. The sample

comprised 72 Chicago boys aged 10–16 years, 58 of whom were followed up at three-

yearly intervals for 20 years (Kohlberg, 1984).

Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on the ten dilemmas. What Kohlberg was

mainly interested in was not whether the boys judged the action right or wrong, but the

reasons given for the decision. He found that these reasons tended to change as the

children got older.

Kohlberg identified three distinct levels of moral reasoning: pre-conventional,

conventional, and post-conventional. Each level has two sub-stages.

People can only pass through these levels in the order listed. Each new stage replaces

the reasoning typical of the earlier stage. Not everyone achieves all the stages.
 39

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality

At the pre-conventional level (most nine-year-olds and younger, some over nine), we

don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the

standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules.

Authority is outside the individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences

of actions.

• Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual is good in

order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong.

• Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. At this stage, children recognize that there is

not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have

different viewpoints.

Level 2 - Conventional morality

At the conventional level (most adolescents and adults), we begin to internalize the

moral standards of valued adult role models.

Authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the

group to which the person belongs.

• Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships. The child/individual is good in order to

be seen as being a good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of

others.

• Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order. The child/individual becomes aware of the

wider rules of society, so judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the

law and to avoid guilt.

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Level 3 - Post-conventional morality

Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on

individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far

as most people get.

Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6

(post-conventional morality). That is to say, most people take their moral views from

those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves.

• Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. The child/individual becomes aware

that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times

when they will work against the interest of particular individuals.

The issues are not always clear-cut. For example, in Heinz’s dilemma, the protection of

life is more important than breaking the law against stealing.

• Stage 6. Universal Principles. People at this stage have developed their own set of

moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone.

E.g., human rights, justice, and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend

these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and

having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted

few people reached this stage.

Problems with Kohlberg's Methods

1. The dilemmas are artificial (i.e., they lack ecological validity)

Most of the dilemmas are unfamiliar to most people (Rosen, 1980). For example, it is all

very well in the Heinz dilemma asking subjects whether Heinz should steal the drug to

save his wife.

However, Kohlberg’s subjects were aged between 10 and 16. They have never been

married, and never been placed in a situation remotely like the one in the story. How

should they know whether Heinz should steal the drug?

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2. The sample is biased

According to Gilligan (1977), because Kohlberg’s theory was based on an all-male

sample, the stages reflect a male definition of morality (it’s androcentric). Mens' morality

is based on abstract principles of law and justice, while womens' is based on principles

of compassion and care.

Further, the gender bias issue raised by Gilligan is a reminded of the significant gender

debate still present in psychology, which when ignored, can have a large impact on the

results obtained through psychological research.

3. The dilemmas are hypothetical (i.e., they are not real)

In a real situation, what course of action a person takes will have real consequences –

and sometimes very unpleasant ones for themselves. Would subjects reason in the

same way if they were placed in a real situation? We just don’t know.

The fact that Kohlberg’s theory is heavily dependent on an individual’s response to an

artificial dilemma brings a question to the validity of the results obtained through this

research.

People may respond very differently to real life situations that they find themselves in

than they do with an artificial dilemma presented to them in the comfort of a research

environment.

4. Poor research design

The way in which Kohlberg carried out his research when constructing this theory may

not have been the best way to test whether all children follow the same sequence of

stage progression.

His research was cross-sectional, meaning that he interviewed children of different

ages to see what level of moral development they were at.

A better way to see if all children follow the same order through the stages would have

been to carry out longitudinal research on the same children.

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However, longitudinal research on Kohlberg’s theory has since been carried out by

Colby et al. (1983) who tested 58 male participants of Kohlberg’s original study. She

tested them six times in the span of 27 years and found support for Kohlberg’s original

conclusion, which we all pass through the stages of moral development in the same

order.

Problems with Kohlberg's Theory

1. Are there distinct stages of moral development?

Kohlberg claims that there are, but the evidence does not always support this

conclusion. For example, a person who justified a decision on the basis of principled

reasoning in one situation (post-conventional morality stage 5 or 6) would frequently fall

back on conventional reasoning (stage 3 or 4) with another story.

In practice, it seems that reasoning about right and wrong depends more upon the

situation than upon general rules.

What is more, individuals do not always progress through the stages and Rest (1979)

found that one in fourteen actually slipped backward.

The evidence for distinct stages of moral development looks very weak, and some

would argue that behind the theory is a culturally biased belief in the superiority of

American values over those of other cultures and societies.

2. Does moral judgment match moral behavior?

Kohlberg never claimed that there would be a one to one correspondence between

thinking and acting (what we say and what we do) but he does suggest that the two are

linked.

However, Bee (1994) suggests that we also need to take account of:

a) habits that people have developed over time.

b) whether people see situations as demanding their participation.

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c) the costs and benefits of behaving in a particular way.

d) competing motive such as peer pressure, self-interest and so on.

Overall Bee points out that moral behavior is only partly a question of moral reasoning.

It is also to do with social factors.

3. Is justice the most fundamental moral principle?

This is Kohlberg’s view. However, Gilligan (1977) suggests that the principle of caring

for others is equally important. Furthermore, Kohlberg claims that the moral reasoning

of males has been often in advance of that of females.

Girls are often found to be at stage 3 in Kohlberg’s system (good boy-nice girl

orientation) whereas boys are more often found to be at stage 4 (Law and Order

orientation). Gilligan (p. 484) replies:

“The very traits that have traditionally defined the goodness of women, their care for and

sensitivity to the needs of others, are those that mark them out as deficient in moral

development”.

In other words, Gilligan is claiming that there is a sex bias in Kohlberg’s theory. He

neglects the feminine voice of compassion, love, and non-violence, which is associated

with the socialization of girls.

Gilligan concluded that Kohlberg’s theory did not account for the fact that women

approach moral problems from an ‘ethics of care’, rather than an ‘ethics of justice’

perspective, which challenges some of the fundamental assumptions of Kohlberg’s

theory.
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Vygotsky’s Development Theory

The work of Lev Vygotsky (1934) has become the foundation of much research and theory in

cognitive development over the past several decades, particularly of what has become

known as Social Development Theory.

Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development

of cognition (Vygotsky, 1978), as he believed strongly that community plays a central

role in the process of "making meaning."

Unlike Piaget's notion that childrens' development must necessarily precede their

learning, Vygotsky argued, "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process

of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function" (1978, p.

90). In other words, social learning tends to precede (i.e., come before) development.

Vygotsky has developed a sociocultural approach to cognitive development. He

developed his theories at around the same time as Jean Piaget was starting to develop

his ideas (1920's and 30's), but he died at the age of 38, and so his theories are

incomplete - although some of his writings are still being translated from Russian.

No single principle (such as Piaget's equilibration) can account for development.

Individual development cannot be understood without reference to the social and

cultural context within which it is embedded. Higher mental processes in the individual

have their origin in social processes.

 45

Vygotsky's theory differs from that of Piaget in a number of important ways:

1: Vygotsky places more emphasis on culture affecting cognitive development.

This contradicts Piaget's view of universal stages and content of development (Vygotsky

does not refer to stages in the way that Piaget does).

Hence Vygotsky assumes cognitive development varies across cultures, whereas

Piaget states cognitive development is mostly universal across cultures.

2: Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to

cognitive development.

(i) Vygotsky states cognitive development stems from social interactions from guided

learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their partner's co-

construct knowledge. In contrast, Piaget maintains that cognitive development stems

largely from independent explorations in which children construct knowledge of their

own.

(ii) For Vygotsky, the environment in which children grow up will influence how they

think and what they think about.

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3: Vygotsky places more (and different) emphasis on the role of language in

cognitive development.

According to Piaget, language depends on thought for its development (i.e., thought

comes before language). For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate

systems from the beginning of life, merging at around three years of age, producing

verbal thought (inner speech).

For Vygotsky, cognitive development results from an internalization of language.

4: According to Vygotsky adults are an important source of cognitive

development.

Adults transmit their culture's tools of intellectual adaptation that children internalize. In

contrast, Piaget emphasizes the importance of peers as peer interaction promotes

social perspective taking.

Effects of Culture: - Tools of intellectual adaptation

Like Piaget, Vygotsky claimed that infants are born with the basic materials/abilities for

intellectual development - Piaget focuses on motor reflexes and sensory abilities.

Lev Vygotsky refers to 'elementary mental functions' –

o Attention

o Sensation

o Perception

o Memory

Eventually, through interaction within the sociocultural environment, these are

developed into more sophisticated and effective mental processes/strategies which he

refers to as 'higher mental functions.'

For example, memory in young children this is limited by biological factors. However,

culture determines the type of memory strategy we develop. E.g., in our culture, we
 47

learn note-taking to aid memory, but in pre-literate societies, other strategies must be

developed, such as tying knots in a string to remember, or carrying pebbles, or

repetition of the names of ancestors until large numbers can be repeated.

Vygotsky refers to tools of intellectual adaptation - these allow children to use the basic

mental functions more effectively/adaptively, and these are culturally determined (e.g.,

memory mnemonics, mind maps).

Vygotsky, therefore, sees cognitive functions, even those carried out alone, as affected

by the beliefs, values, and tools of intellectual adaptation of the culture in which a

person develops and therefore socio-culturally determined. The tools of intellectual

adaptation, therefore, vary from culture to culture - as in the memory example.

Social Influences on Cognitive Development

Like Piaget, Vygotsky believes that young children are curious and actively involved in

their own learning and the discovery and development of new

understandings/schema. However, Vygotsky placed more emphasis on social

contributions to the process of development, whereas Piaget emphasized self-initiated

discovery.

According to Vygotsky (1978), much important learning by the child occurs through

social interaction with a skillful tutor. The tutor may model behaviors and/or provide

verbal instructions for the child. Vygotsky refers to this as cooperative or collaborative

dialogue. The child seeks to understand the actions or instructions provided by the tutor

(often the parent or teacher) then internalizes the information, using it to guide or

regulate their own performance.

Shaffer (1996) gives the example of a young girl who is given her first jigsaw. Alone,

she performs poorly in attempting to solve the puzzle. The father then sits with her and

describes or demonstrates some basic strategies, such as finding all the corner/edge

pieces and provides a couple of pieces for the child to put together herself and offers

encouragement when she does so.

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As the child becomes more competent, the father allows the child to work more

independently. According to Vygotsky, this type of social interaction involving

cooperative or collaborative dialogue promotes cognitive development.

In order to gain an understanding of Vygotsky's theories on cognitive development, one

must understand two of the main principles of Vygotsky's work: the More

Knowledgeable Other (MKO) and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

More Knowledgeable Other

The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is somewhat self-explanatory; it refers to

someone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with

respect to a particular task, process, or concept.

Although the implication is that the MKO is a teacher or an older adult, this is not

necessarily the case. Many times, a child's peers or an adult's children may be the

individuals with more knowledge or experience.

For example, who is more likely to know more about the newest teenage music groups,

how to win at the most recent PlayStation game, or how to correctly perform the newest

dance craze - a child or their parents?

In fact, the MKO need not be a person at all. Some companies, to support employees in

their learning process, are now using electronic performance support systems.

Electronic tutors have also been used in educational settings to facilitate and guide

students through the learning process. The key to MKOs is that they must have (or be

programmed with) more knowledge about the topic being learned than the learner does.

Zone of Proximal Development

The concept of the More Knowledgeable Other is integrally related to the second

important principle of Vygotsky's work, the Zone of Proximal Development.

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This is an important concept that relates to the difference between what a child can

achieve independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement

from a skilled partner.

For example, the child could not solve the jigsaw puzzle (in the example above) by itself

and would have taken a long time to do so (if at all), but was able to solve it following

interaction with the father, and has developed competence at this skill that will be

applied to future jigsaws.

Vygotsky (1978) sees the Zone of Proximal Development as the area where the most

sensitive instruction or guidance should be given - allowing the child to develop skills

they will then use on their own - developing higher mental functions.

Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and

strategies. He suggests that teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less

competent children develop with help from more skillful peers - within the zone of

proximal development.

Evidence for Vygotsky and the ZPD

Freund (1990) conducted a study in which children had to decide which items of

furniture should be placed in particular areas of a dolls house.

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Some children were allowed to play with their mother in a similar situation before they

attempted it alone (zone of proximal development) while others were allowed to work on

this by themselves (Piaget's discovery learning).

Freund found that those who had previously worked with their mother (ZPD) showed the

greatest improvement compared with their first attempt at the task. The conclusion

being that guided learning within the ZPD led to greater understanding/performance

than working alone (discovery learning).

Vygotsky and Language

Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication

purposes. Vygotsky viewed language as man’s greatest tool, a means for

communicating with the outside world.

According to Vygotsky (1962) language plays two critical roles in cognitive

development:

1: It is the main means by which adults transmit information to children.

2: Language itself becomes a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation.

Vygotsky (1987) differentiates between three forms of language: social speech which is

external communication used to talk to others (typical from the age of two); private

speech (typical from the age of three) which is directed to the self and serves an

intellectual function; and finally private speech goes underground, diminishing in

audibility as it takes on a self-regulating function and is transformed into silent inner

speech (typical from the age of seven).

For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate systems from the beginning of

life, merging at around three years of age. At this point speech and thought become

interdependent: thought becomes verbal, speech becomes representational. When this

happens, children's monologues internalized to become inner speech. The

internalization of language is important as it drives cognitive development.

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'Inner speech is not the interior aspect of external speech - it is a function in itself. It still

remains speech, i.e., thought connected with words. But while in external speech

thought is embodied in words, in inner speech words dies as they bring forth thought.

Inner speech is to a large extent thinking in pure meanings.'

(Vygotsky, 1962: p. 149)

Vygotsky (1987) was the first psychologist to document the importance of private

speech. He considered private speech as the transition point between social and inner

speech, the moment in development where language and thought unite to constitute

verbal thinking.

Thus private speech, in Vygotsky's view, was the earliest manifestation of inner speech.

Indeed, private speech is more similar (in its form and function) to inner speech than

social speech.

Private speech is 'typically defined, in contrast to social speech, as speech addressed to

the self (not to others) for the purpose of self-regulation (rather than communication).'

(Diaz, 1992, p.62)

Unlike inner speech which is covert (i.e., hidden), private speech is overt. In contrast to

Piaget’s (1959) notion of private speech representing a developmental dead-end,

Vygotsky (1934, 1987) viewed private speech as:

'A revolution in development which is triggered when preverbal thought and

preintellectual language come together to create fundamentally new forms of mental

functioning.'

(Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005: p. 1).

In addition to disagreeing on the functional significance of private speech, Vygotsky and

Piaget also offered opposing views on the developmental course of private speech and

the environmental circumstances in which it occurs most often (Berk & Garvin, 1984).
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Through private speech, children begin to collaborate with themselves in the same way

a more knowledgeable other (e.g., adults) collaborate with them in the achievement of a

given function.

Vygotsky sees "private speech" as a means for children to plan activities and strategies

and therefore aid their development. Private speech is the use of language for self-

regulation of behavior. Language is, therefore, an accelerator to thinking/understanding

(Jerome Bruner also views language in this way). Vygotsky believed that children who

engaged in large amounts of private speech are more socially competent than children

who do not use it extensively.

Vygotsky (1987) notes that private speech does not merely accompany a child’s activity

but acts as a tool used by the developing child to facilitate cognitive processes, such as

overcoming task obstacles, enhancing imagination, thinking, and conscious awareness.

Children use private speech most often during intermediate difficulty tasks because they

are attempting to self-regulate by verbally planning and organizing their thoughts

(Winsler et al., 2007).

The frequency and content of private speech are then correlated with behavior or

performance. For example, private speech appears to be functionally related to

cognitive performance: It appears at times of difficulty with a task.

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For example, tasks related to executive function (Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005),

problem-solving tasks (Behrend et al., 1992), schoolwork in both language (Berk &

Landau, 1993), and mathematics (Ostad & Sorensen, 2007).

Berk (1986) provided empirical support for the notion of private speech. She found that

most private speech exhibited by children serves to describe or guide the child's

actions.

Berk also discovered than child engaged in private speech more often when working

alone on challenging tasks and also when their teacher was not immediately available

to help them. Furthermore, Berk also found that private speech develops similarly in all

children regardless of cultural background.

Vygotsky (1987) proposed that private speech is a product of an individual’s social

environment. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that there exist high positive

correlations between rates of social interaction and private speech in children.

Children raised in cognitively and linguistically stimulating environments (situations

more frequently observed in higher socioeconomic status families) start using and

internalizing private speech faster than children from less privileged backgrounds.

Indeed, children raised in environments characterized by low verbal and social

exchanges exhibit delays in private speech development.

Childrens’ use of private speech diminishes as they grow older and follows a curvilinear

trend. This is due to changes in ontogenetic development whereby children are able to

internalize language (through inner speech) in order to self-regulate their behavior

(Vygotsky, 1987).

For example, research has shown that childrens’ private speech usually peaks at 3–4

years of age, decreases at 6–7 years of age, and gradually fades out to be mostly

internalized by age 10 (Diaz, 1992).

Vygotsky proposed that private speech diminishes and disappears with age not

because it becomes socialized, as Piaget suggested, but rather because it goes

underground to constitute inner speech or verbal thought” (Frauenglass & Diaz, 1985).
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Classroom Applications

A contemporary educational application of Vygotsky's theories is "reciprocal teaching,"

used to improve students' ability to learn from text. In this method, teachers and

students collaborate in learning and practicing four key skills: summarizing, questioning,

clarifying, and predicting. The teacher's role in the process is reduced over time.

Also, Vygotsky is relevant to instructional concepts such as "scaffolding" and

"apprenticeship," in which a teacher or more advanced peer helps to structure or

arrange a task so that a novice can work on it successfully.

Vygotsky's theories also feed into the current interest in collaborative learning,

suggesting that group members should have different levels of ability so more advanced

peers can help less advanced members operate within their ZPD.

Critical Evaluation

Vygotsky's work has not received the same level of intense scrutiny that Piaget's has,

partly due to the time-consuming process of translating Vygotsky's work from Russian.

Also, Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective does not provide as many specific

hypotheses to test as did Piaget's theory, making refutation difficult, if not impossible.

Perhaps the main criticism of Vygotsky's work concerns the assumption that it is

relevant to all cultures. Rogoff (1990) dismisses the idea that Vygotsky's ideas are

culturally universal and instead states the concept of scaffolding - which is heavily

dependent on verbal instruction - may not be equally useful in all cultures for all types of

learning. Indeed, in some instances, observation and practice may be more effective

ways of learning certain skills.

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Bronfenbrenner’s Development Theory

American psychologist, Urie Bronfenbrenner, formulated the Ecological Systems Theory

to explain how the inherent qualities of children and their environments interact to

influence how they grow and develop. The Bronfenbrenner theory emphasizes the

importance of studying children in multiple environments, also known as ecological

systems, in the attempt to understand their development.

According to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, children typically find

themselves enmeshed in various ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological

system to the larger school system, and then to the most expansive system which

includes society and culture. Each of these ecological systems inevitably interact with

and influence each other in all aspects of the children’s lives.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model organizes contexts of development into five levels of

external influence. These levels are categorized from the most intimate level to the

broadest.
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The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Microsystem

The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the microsystem is the smallest and most

immediate environment in which children live. As such, the microsystem comprises the

daily home, school or daycare, peer group and community environment of the children.

Interactions within the microsystem typically involve personal relationships with family

members, classmates, teachers and caregivers. How these groups or individuals

interact with the children will affect how they grow.

Similarly, how children react to people in their microsystem will also influence how they

treat the children in return. More nurturing and more supportive interactions and

relationships will understandably foster they children’s improved development.

One of the most significant findings that Urie Bronfenbrenner unearthed in his study of

ecological systems is that it is possible for siblings who find themselves in the same

ecological system to experience very different environments.

Therefore, given two siblings experiencing the same microsystem, it is not impossible

for the development of them to progress in different manners. Each child’s particular

personality traits, such as temperament, which is influenced by unique genetic and

biological factors, ultimately have a hand in how he/she is treated by others.

The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Mesosystem

The mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the different microsystems which

children find themselves in. It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such,

involves linkages between home and school, between peer group and family, and

between family and community.

According to Bronfenbrenner’s theory, if a child’s parents are actively involved in the

friendships of their child, for example they invite their child’s friends over to their house

from time to time and spend time with them, then the child’s development is affected

positively through harmony and like-mindedness.

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However, if the child’s parents dislike their child’s peers and openly criticize them, then

the child experiences disequilibrium and conflicting emotions, which will likely lead to

negative development.

The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Exosystem

The exosystem pertains to the linkages that may exist between two or more settings,

one of which may not contain the developing children but affect them indirectly

nonetheless.

Based on the findings of Bronfenbrenner, people and places that children may not

directly interact with may still have an impact on their lives. Such places and people

may include the parents’ workplaces, extended family members, and the neighborhood

the children live in.

For example, a father who is continually passed up for promotion by an indifferent boss

at the workplace may take it out on his children and mistreat them at home.

The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Macrosystem

The macrosystem is the largest and most distant collection of people and places to the

children that still have significant influences on them. This ecological system is

composed of the children’s cultural patterns and values, specifically their dominant

beliefs and ideas, as well as political and economic systems.

For example, children in war-torn areas will experience a different kind of development

than children in peaceful environments.

The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Chronosystem

The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the chronosystem adds the useful dimension

of time, which demonstrates the influence of both change and constancy in the

children’s environments. The chronosystem may include a change in family structure,

address, parents’ employment status, as well as immense society changes such as

economic cycles and wars.

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By studying the various ecological systems, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems

Theory is able to demonstrate the diversity of interrelated influences on children’s

development. Awareness of the contexts that children are in can sensitize us to

variations in the way children may act in different settings.

For example, a child who frequently bullies smaller children at school may portray the

role of a terrified victim at home. Due to these variations, adults who are concerned with

the care of a particular child should pay close attention to his/her behavior in different

settings, as well as to the quality and type of connections that exist between these

settings.
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CHAPTER 2
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Physical, Cognitive and Socio-emotional Development

Adolescent developmental domains are intertwined and strongly influenced by

experiences and environments.

The developmental changes that typically occur in adolescence have been

documented extensively in literature that is widely accessible. Importantly, each area of

development is intertwined with the other–physical, social, emotional and cognitive

development–along with sociocultural and environmental influences and experiences. A

summary of some of the key developmental aspects of adolescence and the nature of

these changes follows.

Physical development

In early adolescence, the body undergoes more developmental change than at

any other time, apart from birth to two years old. The rate of growth is rapid and uneven,

with a different pace and rate of change for each individual. Physical changes include
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increases in height, weight, and internal organ size as well as changes in skeletal and

muscular systems.

Physical development is the process that starts in human infancy and continues into late

adolescent concentrating on gross and fine motor skills as well as puberty. Physical

development involves developing control over the body, particularly muscles and

physical coordination. The peak of physical development happens in childhood and is

therefore a crucial time for neurological brain development and body coordination to

encourage specific activities such as grasping, writing, crawling, and walking. As a child

learns what their bodies can do, they gain self confidence, promoting social and

emotional development. Physical activities geared toward aiding in physical

development contribute significantly to a person's health and well-being, according to

the Surgeon General's report.

Gross Motor Control

Moving the large muscles in the body, specifically the arms and legs consciously and

deliberately, increases gross motor skills. Gross motor control involves balance and

stability with such movement as kicking, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, throwing,

catching and galloping.

Video of the Day

Fine Motor Control

Achieving fine motor control involves using and coordinating the small muscles in the

hand and wrists with mastery. During the development process, children have the ability

to self-help and manipulate small objects such as scissors and writing tools. Fine motor

skills generally follow gross motor development.

Forms of Gross Motor Dysfunction

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Some signs of gross motor dysfunction among children are difficulty perceiving the

location of the body in a static position, keeping track of movement while engaging in a

motor activity, difficulty following directions, trouble translating verbal inputs into the

appropriate responses, and poor coordination of muscle groups.

Diseases and disorders that affect gross motor skill development and skills among

children are developmental problems such as genetic disorders, muscular dystrophy,

cerebral palsy and some neurological conditions. In addition, gross motor skills can

become impaired due to injury, illness, stroke and congenital deformities.

Fine Motor Dysfunction

Signs of fine motor dysfunction among children include trouble mastering basic self-help

skills such as getting dressed or putting on shoes, difficulty drawing, tracing objects with

a pencil, manipulating scissors and frequent frustration when learning new activities.

A child's fine motor skills should have developed sufficiently by the age of six enough to

complete writing, dressing and feeding tasks. Adequate dexterity, bilateral coordination

and eye-hand coordination to complete writing and cutting tasks are also evident. After

the age of six, children continue to develop and refine these skills with continuous

activities, including play with toys and games during early childhood.

Parental Involvement

Play is the most beneficial activity for promoting early childhood physical development.

The most significant factor children need from play with parents is to have fun while

doing it. However, it is important not to turn play into lessons. The most efficient way to

play with your child is to provide interesting and exciting environments like pretend play

at home as well as frequent visits to playgrounds, children's gyms, and/or other

community facilities designed just for children. Parents must have time to play and
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follow the child's lead. Parents should also encourage children to talk about the details

of the activities completed and places they have been.

Puberty occurs in early adolescence, triggered by the release of hormones which

lead to the development of primary sex characteristics (genitalia) and secondary sex

characteristics (eg breast development in girls; facial hair in boys). The increased

hormone production affects skeletal growth, hair production, and skin changes. Physical

changes are visible to all and highlight the range and pace of change. This sometimes

leads to adolescents feeling more or less mature than others. Physical development

growth spurts occur about two years earlier in girls than boys.

Social development

Adolescent social development is often described as the process of establishing

a sense of identity and establishing a role and purpose. It is an outwards sense of

oneself. Body image is a key factor in developing a sense of self and identity, especially

for girls, and the family and increasingly peers play an important role assisting and

supporting the adolescent to achieve adult roles. Risk-taking is a natural part of the
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adolescent journey. Social development and emotional development are closely

intertwined as young people search for a sense of self and personal identity.

Emotional development

The way a person thinks and feels about themselves and others, their inward

thoughts, is key to their emotional development. Developing and demonstrating

individual emotional assets such as resilience, self esteem and coping skills is

heightened during adolescence because of the rapid changes being experienced.

Schools are important sites for social and emotional learning and have developed

policies and programs around student wellness, often with a focus on a strengths-based

approach.
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Cognitive development

Cognition is the process involving thought, rationale and perception. The physical

changes of the brain that occur dursing adolescence follow typical patterns of cognitive

development. They are characterised by the development of higher-level cognitive

functioning that aligns with the changes in brain structure and function, particularly in

the prefrontal cortex region.

The structural and functional brain changes affect the opportunity for increased

memory and processing. They may also contribute to vulnerability, such as risk taking

and increased sensitivity to mental illness.

In recent years data from developmental neuroimaging has enabled greater

understanding of the changes that occur in the human brain during adolescence. This

data points towards a second window of opportunity in brain development. Adolescence

is a sensitive brain period, that is a time when brain plasticity is heightened. During this

time, there is an opportunity for learning and cognitive growth as the brain adapts in

structure and function in response to experiences.

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CHAPTER 3
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Stages of Human Development

1. Early Childhood

This stage ranges from 18 months to 3 years. By second year of life, the

muscular and nervous systems have developed markedly, and the child is eager to

acquire new skills, is no longer content to sit and watch. The child moves around and

examines its environment, but judgement develops more slowly.The child needs

guidance. In the crisis of autonomy v/s doubt faced during this period, the critical issue

is the child’s feeling of independence.

In an extremely permissive environment, the child encounters difficulties that it

cannot handle, and the child develops doubt about its abilities. Similarly if the control is

severe, the child feels worthless and shameful of being capable of so little. The

appropriate middle position, respecting the child’s needs and environmental factors,

requires the caretaker’s careful and constant attention.

Early childhood comprises a number of life stages, marked by developmental

milestones. Here, we define early childhood as the period from birth to age eight,

although we also recognize the importance of quality prenatal care in early childhood

outcomes. Ours is a definition shared by many leading national and international

organizations. We end with age eight because it reflects an important developmental

milestone. Age eight corresponds to third grade, a critical year for mastery of the

reading skills upon which further learning will build and a reliable predictor for future

education success.

Although ages zero to eight represent a clear developmental continuum, there are good

reasons why funders and programs specialize in one stage. The needs of children and

their families evolve and different organizations are positioned to play different roles at

different stages. For example, infants and their parents may be more easily reached

through the health system, while the prospects of older children may be more easily

influenced through their elementary school. Ideally, investments across all stages would

be sequenced and coordinated so that the child who benefits as an infant from one
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program moves seamlessly to environments that will continue to support her

development.

Funders who consider this continuum and work to situate their investments

alongside other effective programs are likely to see the highest impact.

What does it mean to be “at-risk”?

Many of the programs we profile in this toolkit focus on “at-risk” children. An “at-risk”

child is one who, given a number of factors related to his family situation and

environment, is more likely than the average child to experience abnormal brain

development, have difficulties succeeding in school and in life, and in some instances is

also more likely to engage in behaviors (such as smoking or taking drugs) that are

detrimental to health.

The following factors, especially in combination, can statistically increase a

child’s risk level:

 Living in poverty

 Coming from a family whose first language is not English

 Having a mother who never completed high school

 Having a parent who is emotionally unstable

 Exposure to violence either at home or in the community

While being “at-risk” does not necessarily imply poor outcomes for a child, fewer risk

factors are generally associated with better outcomes.

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2. Middle Childhood

This stage extends from 3-5 years. The crisis faced during this period is initiative

v/s guilt. Once a sense of independence has been established, the child wants to tryout

various possibilities. It is at this time the child’s willingness to try new things is facilitated

or inhibited. If the care taker recognises the child’s creative effort in attempting to do

some activities is encouraged, the crisis will be resolved in favourable direction and this

outcome, if repeated, should influence the future initiative. Otherwise the child develops

feelings of guilt.

Developmental Milestones

Middle childhood brings many changes in a child’s life. By this time, children can dress

themselves, catch a ball more easily using only their hands, and tie their shoes. Having

independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school

bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become

more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop quickly at this

time. This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as

through friends, schoolwork, and sports.

Here is some information on how children develop during middle childhood:

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Emotional/Social Changes

Children in this age group might:

 Show more independence from parents and family.

 Start to think about the future.

 Understand more about his or her place in the world.

 Pay more attention to friendships and teamwork.

 Want to be liked and accepted by friends.

Thinking and Learning

Children in this age group might:

 Show rapid development of mental skills.

 Learn better ways to describe experiences and talk about thoughts and feelings.

 Have less focus on one’s self and more concern for others.

Positive Parenting Tips

Following are some things you, as a parent, can do to help your child during this time:

 Show affection for your child. Recognize her accomplishments.

 Help your child develop a sense of responsibility—ask him to help with

household tasks, such as setting the table.

 Talk with your child about school, friends, and things she looks forward to in the

future.

 Talk with your child about respecting others. Encourage him to help people in

need.

 Help your child set her own achievable goals—she’ll learn to take pride in herself

and rely less on approval or reward from others.

 Help your child learn patience by letting others go first or by finishing a task

before going out to play. Encourage him to think about possible consequences

before acting.
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 Make clear rules and stick to them, such as how long your child can watch TV or

when she has to go to bed. Be clear about what behavior is okay and what is not

okay.

 Do fun things together as a family, such as playing games, reading, and going to

events in your community.

 Get involved with your child’s school. Meet the teachers and staff and get to

understand their learning goals and how you and the school can work together to

help your child do well.

 Continue reading to your child. As your child learns to read, take turns reading to

each other.

 Use discipline to guide and protect your child, rather than punishment to make

him feel bad about himself. Follow up any discussion about what not to do with a

discussion of what to do instead.

 Praise your child for good behavior. It’s best to focus praise more on what your

child does (“you worked hard to figure this out”) than on traits she can’t change

(“you are smart”).

 Support your child in taking on new challenges. Encourage her to solve

problems, such as a disagreement with another child, on her own.

 Encourage your child to join school and community groups, such as a team

sports, or to take advantage of volunteer opportunities.

Child Safety First

More physical ability and more independence can put children at risk for injuries from

falls and other accidents. Motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of death

from unintentional injury among children this age.

 Protect your child properly in the car. For detailed information, visit the American

Academy of Pediatrics’ Car Seats: Information for FamiliesExternal.

 Teach your child to watch out for traffic and how to be safe when walking to

school, riding a bike, and playing outside.

 Make sure your child understands water safety, and always supervise her when

she’s swimming or playing near water.

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 Supervise your child when he’s engaged in risky activities, such as climbing.

 Talk with your child about how to ask for help when she needs it.

 Keep potentially harmful household products, tools, equipment, and firearms out

of your child’s reach.

Healthy Bodies

 Parents can help make schools healthier. Work with your child’s school to limit

access to foods and drinks with added sugar, solid fat, and salt that can be

purchased outside the school lunch program.

 Make sure your child has 1 hour or more of physical activity each day.

 Limit screen time for your child to no more than 1 to 2 hours per day of quality

programming, at home, school, or afterschool care.

 Practice healthy eating habits and physical activity early. Encourage active play,

and be a role model by eating healthy at family mealtimes and having an active

lifestyle.

 Make sure your child gets the recommended amount of sleep each night: For

school-age children 6-12 years, 9–12 hours per 24 hours (including naps)

3. Late Childhood

This period ranges from 5-12 years. During this period the child develops greater

attention span, needs less sleep, and gains rapidly in strength; therefore, the child can
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expend much more effort in acquiring skills, and needs accomplishment, regardless of

ability. The crisis faced during this period is industry v/s inferiority.

The child aims to develop a feeling of competence, rather than inability. The

success in this endeavour leads to further industrious behaviour, failure results in

development of feelings of inferiority. Hence, the caretakers should guide the child to

take up appropriate tasks.

Considerations

The first signs of puberty typically begin to appear in late childhood. The term puberty is

used to define the approximately 5-year period of biological maturation where a boy or

girl becomes able to reproduce. In girls, puberty can begin between the ages of 8 and

13, while it usually begins around age 10 in boys.

Development in Girls

The years of late childhood development can be exciting and confusing, and even a bit

disillusioning. A 12-year-old girl may have a hard time understanding why her 9-year-old

neighbor has already developed breast buds while she doesn't have slightest hint of a

protruding chest. A preteen as young as 10 years old may experience her first

menstrual period. However, the average starting age is 12.5.

Development in Boys

Boys in late childhood may notice an enlargement of the testicles and scrotum, possibly

as young as age 9. A boy's penis generally starts to grow around age 12. Also around

this time, boys will begin to grow pubic hair, as well as armpit, leg, chest and facial hair.

Boys & Girls

Boys and girls alike experience rapids growth spurts in late childhood. Girls begin to

sprout between the ages of 9 and 14. Boys lag behind slightly at the onset, but will more

than make up for it as time goes on. A boy's growth in height usually occurs between

ages 10 and 18, seeing the most rapid growth typically at around age 14.
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Outlook

The physical development in late childhood is setting the stage for the upcoming teen

years, during which time boys and girls will complete puberty and experience significant

mental and cognitive development as they mature into full adulthood.

4. Adolescence

This is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood which extends from 12-

20 years. During this period the individual attains puberty leading to many changes.

These changes have enormous implications for the individual’s sexual, social, emotional

and vocational life; that is why Stanley Hall has rightly described this period as a “period

of storm and stress”.

These changes make the individual to find an identity, which means developing

an understanding of self, the goals one wishes to achieve and the work/occupation role.

The individual craves for encouragement and support of caretakers and peer groups. If

he is successful he will develop a sense of self or identity, otherwise he will suffer from

role confusion/ identity confusion.

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In many societies, however, adolescence is narrowly equated with puberty and the

cycle of physical changes culminating in reproductive maturity. In other societies

adolescence is understood in broader terms that encompass psychological, social, and

moral terrain as well as the strictly physical aspects of maturation. In these societies the

term adolescence typically refers to the period between ages 12 and 20 and is roughly

equivalent to the word teens.

aging: infancy to adolescenceTime-lapse video, by Dutch photographer Frans

Hofmeester, of his daughter from birth to age 12. Frans Hofmeester (A Britannica

Publishing Partner)

During adolescence, issues of emotional (if not physical) separation from parents arise.

While this sense of separation is a necessary step in the establishment of personal

values, the transition to self-sufficiency forces an array of adjustments upon many

adolescents. Furthermore, teenagers seldom have clear roles of their own in society but

instead occupy an ambiguous period between childhood and adulthood. These issues

most often define adolescence in Western cultures, and the response to them partly

determines the nature of an individual’s adult years. Also during adolescence, the

individual experiences an upsurge of sexual feelings following the latent sexuality of

childhood. It is during adolescence that the individual learns to control and direct sexual

urges.

Some specialists find that the difficulties of adolescence have been exaggerated and that

for many adolescents the process of maturation is largely peaceful and untroubled. Other

specialists consider adolescence to be an intense and often stressful developmental period

characterized by specific types of behaviour.

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Physical and psychological transition

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Stereotypes that portray adolescents as rebellious, distracted, thoughtless, and daring

are not without precedent. Young persons experience numerous physical and social

changes, often making it difficult for them to know how to behave. During puberty young

bodies grow stronger and are infused with hormones that stimulate desires appropriate

to ensuring the perpetuation of the species. Ultimately acting on those desires impels

individuals to pursue the tasks of earning a living and having a family.

Historically, many societies instituted formal ways for older individuals to help young

people take their place in the community. Initiations, vision quests, the Hindu samskara

life-cycle rituals, and other ceremonies or rites of passage helped young men and

women make the transition from childhood to adulthood. An outstanding feature of such

coming-of-age rites was their emphasis upon instruction in proper dress, deportment,

morality, and other behaviours appropriate to adult status.

The Kumauni hill tribes of northern India offer a vivid example of a culture that

traditionally celebrates distinct stages in every child’s life. When a girl reaches puberty,

her home is decorated with elaborate representations of the coming of age of a certain

goddess who, wooed by a young god, is escorted to the temple in a rich wedding

procession. Anthropologist Lynn Hart, who lived among the Kumauni, noted that each

child grows up at the centre of the family’s attention knowing that his or her life echoes

the lives of the gods. Although Kumauni teenagers may act in ways that bewilder their

elders, tribal traditions ease the passage through this stage of life, helping young people

to feel a connection to their community.

Social constraints

From a biological perspective, adolescence should be the best time of life. Most

physical and mental functions, such as speed, strength, reaction time, and memory, are

more fully developed during the teenage years. Also in adolescence, new, radical, and

divergent ideas can have profound impacts on the imagination.

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Perhaps more than anything else, teenagers have a remarkable built-in resiliency, seen

in their exceptional ability to overcome crises and find something positive in negative

events. Studies have found that teens fully recover from bad moods in about half the

time it takes adults to do so. Despite this resilience, however, for some teens these

years are more stressful than rewarding—in part because of the conditions and

restrictions that often accompany this period in life.

Restrictions on physical movement

Teenagers spend countless hours doing things they would prefer not to do, whether it

be working or spending hours behind school desks processing information and

concepts that often come across as abstract or irrelevant. Even excellent students say

that most of the time they are in school they would rather be “somewhere else.” Many

Western adolescents prefer to spend their time with friends in settings with minimal

adult supervision.

The layouts of contemporary American communities—especially suburban ones—

cause some teens to spend as many as four hours each day just getting to and from

school, activities, work, and friends’ houses, yet getting from place to place is not

something they have control over until they obtain a driver’s license (an event that

became a major rite of passage for adolescents in much of the developed world). But

even with access to a car, many teenagers lack appropriate places to go and rewarding

activities in which to participate. Many engage with digital devices or digital media or

spend time with peers in their free time.

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A group of teenaged students on a school bus.© Digital Vision/Getty Images

Adolescents generally find that activities involving physical movement—sports, dance,

and drama, for example—are among the most pleasurable and gratifying. Ironically, the

opportunities for participation in such activities have dwindled, largely because budget

concerns have led schools to cut many nonacademic subjects such as physical

education. In some American public schools, extracurricular activities have been greatly

curtailed or no longer exist.

Absence of meaningful responsibility

In the 1950s the increasingly important teenage market became a driving force in

popular music (especially rock music), film, television, and clothing. Indeed, in those

countries experiencing the post-World War II economic boom, adolescence was

transformed by the emergence of teenagers as consumers with money to spend. In the

contemporary developed world, adolescents face a bewildering array of consumer

choices that include television programs, movies, magazines, CDs, cosmetics,

computers and computer paraphernalia, clothes, athletic shoes, jewelry, and games.

But while many teenagers in these relatively affluent countries have no end of material

amusements and distractions, they have few meaningful responsibilities, in sharp

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contrast both to their counterparts in countries struggling merely to survive and to earlier

generations.

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Alexander the Great (356–323 bce) was still a teenager when he set out to conquer a

large part of the known world at the head of his father’s Macedonian armies. Lorenzo

de’ Medici (1449–92) was an adolescent when his father sent him to Paris to work out

subtle financial deals with the king of France. On a less exalted level, until a few

generations ago, boys as young as age five or six were expected to work in factories or

mines for 70 or more hours a week. In almost all parts of the world, girls were expected

to marry and take on the responsibilities of running a household as early as possible.

In 1950 German-born American psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson described adolescence

in modern Western societies as a “moratorium,” a period of freedom from

responsibilities that allows young people to experiment with a number of options before

settling on a lifelong career. Such a moratorium may be appropriate in a culture marked

by rapid changes in vocational opportunities and lifestyles. If young people are excluded

from responsibilities for too long, however, they may never properly learn how to

manage their own lives or care for those who depend on them.

Of course some adolescents create astonishing opportunities for themselves. William

Hewlett and David Packard were teens when each began experimenting with electronic

machines, and they founded the Hewlett-Packard Company when they were only in

their mid 20s. As an adolescent, Microsoft Corporation cofounder Bill Gates was already

formulating the business strategy that just a few years later would dumbfound the IBM

colossus and make him one of the wealthiest men in the world. By and large, however,

most teens play a waiting game, expecting to start “really living” only after they leave

school. As useful as these years can be in preparing teens for their future roles in

society, this isolation from “real” life can be enormously frustrating. In order to feel alive

and important, then, many teenagers express themselves in ways that seem senseless

to the rest of the population.

Isolation from adults

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In many public schools in the United States, student-teacher ratios of between roughly

12 and 25 (depending on whether the school is private or public) mean that the

classroom atmosphere is influenced considerably more by peers than by teachers. At

home teenagers spend at least several hours each day without parents or other adults

present. Moreover, during the little time when adolescents are at home with their

parents, the family typically watches television or the children disappear to study, play

games, listen to music, or communicate with friends on computers, phones, or other

devices.

Estrangement from parents has clear effects. Teens who do little and spend little time

with their parents are likely to be bored, uninterested, and self-centred. Lack of positive

interaction with adults is particularly problematic in urban settings that had once enjoyed

a lively “street-corner society,” where men traditionally shared their experiences with

younger ones in a setting that was casual and relaxed. This vital facet in the

socialization of young men has largely disappeared to the detriment of individual lives

and communities. In its place, peer influence can be counterproductive by reinforcing a

sense of underachievement or sanctioning deviant behaviour.

Deviance

With little power and little control over their lives, teens often feel that they have

marginal status and therefore may be driven to seek the respect that they feel they lack.

Without clear roles, adolescents may establish their own pecking order and spend their

time pursuing irresponsible or deviant activities. For example, unwed teen motherhood

is sometimes the result of a desire for attention, respect, and control, while most gang

fights and instances of juvenile homicide occur when teenagers (boys and girls alike)

feel that they have been slighted or offended by others. Such deviance can take many

forms. Insecurity and rage often lead to vandalism, juvenile delinquency, and illegal use

of drugs and alcohol. Violence and crime, of course, are as old as humankind.

Contemporary juvenile violence is often driven by the boredom young people

experience in a barren environment. Even the wealthiest suburbs with the most lavish

amenities can be “barren” when viewed from an adolescent’s perspective. Ironically,

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suburban life is meant to protect children from the dangers of the big city. Parents

choose such locations in the hope that their children will grow up happy and secure. But

safety and homogeneity can be quite boring. When deprived of meaningful activities

and responsible guidance, many teens find that the only opportunities for “feeling alive”

are stealing a car, breaking a school window, or ingesting a mind-altering drug. A

middle-class adolescent caught with jewelry that he had stolen from a neighbour’s

house claimed that the act of stealing had been fun. Like other teenagers, by “fun” he

meant something exciting and slightly dangerous that takes nerve as well as skill. In

parts of Asia and Africa, similarly, rebel groups have conscripted teens who go on to

find excitement and self-respect behind machine guns. Millions of them have died

prematurely as a result.

Behavioral scientists have gained valuable insight into the conditions that cause

teenage strife. In many cases, adults are in the position to alleviate some of the frictions

that make intergenerational relations more strained than they need to be. Research

indicates that those adolescents who have the opportunity to develop a relationship with

an adult role model (parental or otherwise) are more successful than their peers in

coping with the everyday stresses of life.

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CHAPTER 4
 83

REFLECTION

Child Adolescent is about explaining all process we Human undergo in each

stage of development. The process of growth and maturation of the human individual. It

tackles also about the biological, psychological and emotional changes. The different

changes in our body and mood in each stage of our lives. It explains about the attitude

of an individual and on how our surrounding affects our perspective, attitude and the

way we see things. Then on how we handle different situations that we face every day.

We also learn different theories about moral development, cognitive development,

stages of moral development and many more theories.

It helps me understand about my personality, the physical changes that are

happening, my emotion and feelings towards myself. After all the discussion of each

group reporter daily it helps me realize the humans cycle of life and all the process and

stages of our development. This subject gave me so much knowledge and information

which I can use to know more about my personality. To help me understand and accept

each individual’s differences and also the good and bad side of their attitude into other

people. It gave me information that we are not learning in school but also in all situation

that we experience daily. We also gain confident through socialization. It is very helpful

for all of us as a future educator.

-ZUNIO
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Portfolios showcase students on what they have learned in this subject. I found

this subject so interesting because It deals with the humans development in which we

can apply in our daily lives and as a future educator. It helps us to be more aware and

more motivated. Honestly, at first I found this subject is so boring but as the days past

by I realize how interesting this subject is. In making this portfolio, it reveals the range of

our skills and understanding. For me it is very challenging, it test our thinking skills and

hard work in this subject. It exposes as in the nature of the child’s growth.

I am very lucky to have a responsible leader and understanding co-member who

take their responsibilities. In making this portfolio, it measures our skills, our hard work

on how we can sustain our learning’s in this subject. I am very motivated in learning

such things in this subject, it is hard but for my family I will do my best and I claim

myself as a goal digger.

-RELAMPAGOS
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In this subject it has several advantages, it provides important information about

the growth of the child. We have encounter so many things and learning in which we

can apply in our daily lives and in the near future. I’ve learned a lot in this subject nor is

it challenging and hard for me but I do believe that I can do it. I was able to benefit from

a variety of new things from the class, as well as refresh my memory on things that I

already knew, just needed a reminder about.

I claim myself as a responsible student because I communicate my ideas to the

group while trying to balance the ideas of others so the group can come to an agreed

decision. In making this portfolio, it test our patience and unity on how we could sustain

our relationship as a group. This can benefit me no matter what career I decide to go

into, because the ability to take control of a situation and still remain diplomatic with

colleagues is a valuable asset to have.

-FERNANDEZ
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CHAPTER 5
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Curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL DETAILS
Name :Gelyn P. Zunio

Place of Birth :Lake Sebu So. Cot.

Date of Birth :Sept. 20, 199

Address :Baluan GSC

Status :Single

Cellphone # :09385046954

Email :[email protected]

EDUCATION
March 2012 :Finished Elementary Education(PSES)

April 2016 :Finished Junior High School(PSIS)

March 2018 :Finished Senior High School (GFCI)

2019 :Bachelor in Technical-Vocational Teachers Education

Major: Food and Services Management (1st Year)

OTHER SKILLS
Calligraphy

Table Setting

Food Presentation

HONORS AND AWARDS

Best in Math :2012

Best in Science :2012

Best in English :2012

Girl Scout of the Year :2012

Leadership Awardee :2012

Service Awardee :2016

Athlete of the Year :2016

Best in TLE :2016

Best in Filipino :2016

Boy Scout Of the Year :2016

WORKING EXPERIENCE
2018-2019 :SODA Staff at Phela Grande Hotel Inc.
 88

PERSONAL DETAILS
Name :Sheena May T. Relampagos

Place of Birth :Mati,Davao Oriental

Date of Birth :May 01,2000

Address :Prk.Lower Puting Bato, Calumpang GSC

Status :Single

Cellphone # :09975972868

Email :[email protected]

EDUCATION
March 2012 :Finished Elementary Education(BES)

April 2016 :Finished Junior High School(GSCNHS)

March 2018 :Finished Senior High School (GFCI)

2019 :Bachelor in Technical-Vocational Teachers Education

Major: Garments, Fashion and Design (1st Year)

OTHER SKILLS
Dancing

Singing

Hair dressing

Manicurist

Music Editor

HONORS AND AWARDS

Most Honest :2012

Most Punctual :2012

With Honors (Top9) :2016

 89

PERSONAL DETAILS
Name :Daisy P. Fernandez

Place of Birth :Banay-Banay, Davao Oriental

Date of Birth :April 27,1984

Address :Prk13 Brgy Tinagacan GSC

Status :Married

Cellphone # :09308159135

Email :[email protected]

EDUCATION
March 1997 :Finished Elementary Education(LMES)

April 2011 :Finished Junior High School(ALS)

2019 :Bachelor in Technical-Vocational Teachers Education

Major: Food, Service and Management(1st Year)

OTHER SKILLS
Cooking

Singing

Massage Therapist

Beauty Care

HONORS AND AWARDS

Most Behave :1991

Most Honest :1992

With Honors (Top4) :1994

90