The child and adolescent learners

Unit 2 Basic Concepts and Issues on Human Development

“ By Virtue of being born to humanity, every human being has a

right to the development and fulfillment of his potentialities as a
human being”
Every living creature is called to become, what is meant to be. The caterpillar is meant tom
become a butterfly; a seed into a full grown herb, bush or tree: and a human baby into a
mature person, the person, who is fully alive, the Glory of God” in the words of St.
Iranaeus.

How this development happens is what we learn in our biology class. We have seen it to be
a fantastic process. So wonderful a process that we can’t help but experience a feeling of
awe for the power or the force or the principle ( theist call this power or force or principle
(God) behind all these.

The process of development involves beginnings and endings. What was this organism
then? What will this organism be?

A number of researches on human development have been conducted. A lot of theories on

human development have been forwarded. Researches on human development as existing
theories get corrected, complemented or replaced, up to the present several issues on
human development are unresolved and so the search for explanations continue.

In this unit, you will be acquainted with human development as a process, the
developmental tasks that come along with each developmental stage and relevant issues
that are raised about human development

Growth- process of increasing in physical size, the process of increasing in amount, value
or importance.
Increases in the child’s size and changes in their proportion, survive, quantity (physical)-
Dr. Bella Ponferrada,, Health Specialist of UNICEF. Phil. according to her definition on
early childhood, during our webinar, March 2020
Decline- a gradual and continuous loss of strength, numbers, quality or value.

Module 1
Human development: Meaning, Concepts and Approaches
“ all the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts…
- William Shakespears
TWO APPROACHES TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Traditional- believes that that there is an extensive change from birth to adolescence, little
or no change in adulthood and decline in late old age.
Life- span Development- believes that even in adulthood development change takes place as
it does during childhood.

Characteristics of Development from a life SPAN approach

PAUL BALTES- an expert in life- Span development gives the following perspective:
1. Development is lifelong- as the name implies, development will not stop in adulthood, but
will continue developing even in adulthood.

2. Development is Plastic- plasticity refers to the potential for change. Development is

possible throughout the lifespan. No one is too old to learn.
Aging- is associated with declines in certain intellectual abilities. These declines can be
prevented or reduced and improved through retraining. Neuroplasticity or neural
plasticity- the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connection, especially in
response to learning or experience or following injury.
* use it or lose it- failure to drive specific brain functions can lead to loss of abilities.
* use it and improve it--training that drives a specific brain function can lead to improving
abilities.
* specificity- the nature of the training experience dictates the nature of the change in
brain.
* Repetition Matters- change (plasticity) requires sufficient repetition.
* intensity matters- change (plasticity)- change (plasticity) requires intensive training.
* time matters- different forms of change ( plasticity) in the brain happen at different times
during training.
* Salience matters-- the training experience must be meaningful to the person in order to
cause change (plasticity).
* age matters- training induced change (plasticity) occurs more readily in younger brains.
*transference- change in function as a result in one training experience can even lead to
learning other similar experience.
* interference- brain changes (plasticity) that result in bad habits can interfere with
learning good habits.

3. Development is multidimensional- development consists of biological, cognitive and

socio-emotional dimensions. Development as a process is complex because it is the product
of biological, cognitive and socioemotional process. Biological process involve
changes in the individual’s physical nature. The brain will develop , we will gain height
and weight, experience hormonal changes when we reach the point of puberty, and
cardiovascular decline as they approach late adulthood. All these show the common
biological processes in development. Cognitive processes involve changes
in the individual’s thought, intelligence and language, sounds to word becoming two words
and forming sentences, memorizing the first prayer. All these reflects the role of cognitive
processes in development. Socioemotional processes include changes in the individual’s
relationships with other people, changes in emotions and changes in personality. As babies
we responded with a sweet smile when affectionately touched and frowned when displeased
and even showed temper/ tantrum when could not get or do what we wanted, from
aggressive children, we may develop into a fine lady and a gentleman or otherwise,
depending on the myriad of factors. We may fall inlove and get inspired for life or may end
up in betrayal, deserted and desperate afterwards. All these reflect the role of
socioemotional processes in development.

*DEVELOPMENT is relatively orderly- each of us grow and develop in a sequential

pattern and is following an order, and thus occurs in a predictable manner, just for
example the muscular control of the trunk and arms comes earlier as compared to the
hands and fingers. This is the proximodistal pattern . During Infancy, the greatest growth
occurs at the top- the head- the physical growth in size, weight and future differentiation
gradually working its way down from top to bottom- cephalocaudal pattern.
A caterpillar to become a full- grown butterfly, it must undergo a process of what we
known as metamorphosis, we humans have develop the same manner as what other
animals did, but as we grow, we also develop.
Developmental Milestone - these are things, we can do or achieve at a certain age.
Domains:
* Gross Motor skill- abilities on the movement of the entire body, trunk or limbs.
Dependent on the integrity of the nervous system, musculoskeletal system, and opportunity
to execute certain skills, use of big muscles (for example sitting, walking, climbing,
running)
* Fine Motor Skills- abilities that involve the hand and fingers. Concerned with eye hand
coordination, object manipulation, problem- solving skills, use of small muscles (for
example reading, grasping, writing)
* Receptive language- ability to understand words.
* Expressive Language- ability to use spoken words, conveying one’s thoughts and
feelings.
*Personal- Social- ability to respond to age and culturally appropriate manner and social
situations and interpersonal relationships.
* Adaptive or Self Help- abilities involved in activities of daily living . (for example
dressing, eating, toileting)

4. Development is contextual- individuals are changing beings in a changing world.

Individuals respond to and act on contexts. These context include the individual’s
biological make up, physical environment cognitive processes, historical, social and
cultural contexts.

5. Development involves Growth, Maintenance and Regulation- Growth, Maintenance and

regulation are three goals of human development.

What is Development?
Development-process of acquiring skills in an orderly and predictable manner
- Refinement and specialization of functions resulting in the achievement of
increasingly complex abilities in various domains. (Dr. Sheryl PALAMI, a child and
developmental specialist of Physicians for Peace Phil. , a DEVELOPMENTAL and
behavioral pediatrician of EVRMC on her Presentation on an introduction to Assessment
in Early Childhood in Mapanas july 2019)
Positive changes in the child’s abilities and functions (functional), thrive/ quality.
According to Dr. Ponferrada, Health Specialist, UNICEF. Phil, Webinar March 2020
PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT
*Delay- most widely known pattern of atypical development, child acquires skills in the
typical sequence but at a slower rate.., may occur within a single stream or across several
developmental streams.
*Dissociation- child’s development is delayed in one stream and not in another, for
example: a child with a communication problem would have delay in speaking skills, while
acquiring walking at a normal age.
*Deviancy or deviation- a child achieves milestone out of the usual sequence within a
stream of development.
*Regression- least common, but most concerning pattern.-