Human Development: Meaning, Concepts,
Children develop from mere sounds to a word
and Approaches
Meaning of Human Development
Human Development – pattern of movement or change
that begins at conception and continues through the
life span. Development includes growth (positive) and
decline (negative).
Major Principles of Human Development
1. Development is Relatively Orderly
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).
2. 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 a good home with loving and
caring parents, they may develop into warm and
responsible children, adolescents and adults. If they
come from deprived environments, they may develop
into carefree and irresponsible adolescents and adults.
3. 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 socioemotional
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 PROCESSES
Involve changes in the individual’s thought,
intelligence, and language.
Ex.
becoming two words, the two words becoming a
sentence.
They would move on to memorizing their first prayer,
singing Lupang Hinirang, playing chess, and solving
math problems.
SOCIOEMOTIONAL 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 socioemotional
processes are inextricably intertwined. While these
processes are studied separately, the effect of one
process or factor on a person’s development is not
isolated from the other processes.
Two Approaches to Human Development
Traditional – extensive change from birth to
adolescence, little or no change in adulthood and
decline in late old age.
Life-Span Development Characteristics
(Santrock, 2002)
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.
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 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.
12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation
and approaches to learning, such as persistence,
initiative, and flexibility.