EDU 530: THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES

COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS 1. Development is lifelong.

1. Nature of the learning process: “The learning of a  It does not end in adulthood.
complex subject matter is most effective when it is an 2. Development is plastic.
intentional process of constructing meaning from  Plasticity refers to the potential for change.
information and experience.”  Development is possible throughout the life-span.
2. Goals of the learning process: “The successful  “No one is too old to learn.”
learner, over time and with support and instructional 3. Developmental is multidimensional.
guidance, can create meaningful, coherent  Development consists of biological, cognitive, and
representations of knowledge.” socio-emotional dimensions.
3. Construction of Knowledge: “The successful learner a. Biological processes – involve changes in the
can link new information with existing knowledge in individual’s physical nature.
meaningful ways.” A. Developmental is relatively orderly
4. Strategic thinking: “The successful learner can  Nash and Ken will learn to sit, crawl then walk
create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning before they can run. The muscular control of the trunk
strategies to achieve complex learning goals.” and the arms comes earlier as compared to the hands
5. Thinking about thinking: “Higher order strategies for and fingers (proximodistal pattern).
selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate  During infancy, the greatest growth always occurs at
creative and critical thinking.” the top – the head –with physical growth in size, weight
6. Context of Learning: “Learning is influenced by and future differentiation gradually working its way
environmental factors, including culture, technology down from top to bottom (cephalo-caudal pattern).
and instructional practices.” B. Development takes place gradually
MOTIVATIONAL AND AFFECTIVE FACTORS b. Cognitive Processes – involves changes in the
7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning: individual’s thought, intelligence, and language.
“What and how much is learned is influenced by the c. Socioemotional Processes – include changes in the
learner’s motivation. Motivation to learn, in turn, is individual’s relationships with other people, changes in
influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs, emotions, and changes in personality.
interest and goals and habits of thinking.” 4. Developmental is contextual.
8. Intrinsic motivation to learn: “The learner’s creativity,  Individuals are changing beings in a changing world.
higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all  Individuals respond to and act on contexts.
contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is
 These contexts include the individual’s biological
stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty,
make up, physical environment, cognitive processes,
relevant to personal interests, and providing for
historical, social and cultural context
personal choice and control.”
9. Effects of motivation on effort: “Acquisition of
complex knowledge and skills requires extended
learner effort and guided practice. Without learners’
motivation to learn, the willingness to exert this effort is
unlikely without coercion.”
DEVELOPMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS
10. Developmental influences on learning: “As
individual develops, there are different opportunities
and constraints for learning. Learning is most effective
when differential development within and across
physical, intellectual, emotional and social domains is
taken into account.”
11. Social influences on learning: “Learning is
influenced by social interactions, interpersonal
relations and communication with others.”
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES FACTORS
12. Individual differences in learning: “Learners have
different strategies, approaches and capabilities for
learning that are a function of prior experience and
heredity.”
13. Learning and Diversity: “Learning is most effective
when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural and
social backgrounds are taken into account.”
14. Standards and Assessments: “Setting
appropriately high and assessing the learner as well as
learning progress including diagnostic process and
outcome assessment are integral parts of the learning
process.”

CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

FROM LIFE-SPAN APPROACH
Paul Baltes (Santrock, 2002)
  Development - is the pattern of movement or change that
begins at conception and continues through the life span.
The scientific study of human development seeks to
understand and explain how or why people change
throughout life. This includes all aspects of human growth,
including physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and
personality development.
 Growth - refers to quantitative changes in an individual
as he progresses in chronological age. It may refer to
increases in size, weight, or height.
Terms associated with:
 DEVELOPMENT – encompasses overall changes,
qualitative, improvement in circumstances, lifelong
process
 GROWTH - increase in size and number, quantitative,
physical aspect, limited to a definite age
Main factors which govern all growth and development:
 Hereditary factors – are innate characteristics with
which the child is equipped at birth.
 Environmental factors – includes the
environment where the child lives, family
atmosphere, methods of child training, the family
constellation, the total social community, maternal
nutrition, and the socioeconomic factors.
PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:
1. Development is a product of the interaction of the
organism and its environment.
 “What is innate should be nurtured, for
development to take place.” Example: The family
of Rosita is known as painters and artists. Rosita
inherited that talent, but in order to fully develop that
skill, that talent should be nurtured. She should be
given opportunities to develop that skill, materials,
time, and support from family and environment where
she lives.
2. Developmental patterns show wide individual differences.
 The development of one person is not the same with
other persons. No two persons are exactly alike.
3. Development proceeds from the simple to the more
complex.
 Example: The child will learn first letters of the alphabet
before learning to read words and phrases.
4. Growth and development proceed from general to specific.
 Example: The infant will pick the object with the whole
hand (palmar grasp) before learning to pick it up with
fingers.
5. Growth and development are continuous process.
 As long as a person lives, development continues to
take place, may not physically but emotionally, socially
and even intellectually.
6. Development depends on maturation and learning.
 Aside from growth, maturation and learning also play at
one’s development.
7. Development is sequential and orderly.
All children follow the same sequence or order of
development. All normal children learn how to crawl first
before learning how to walk, then learning how to run (in
sequence or order), but they differ only in speed or pace
due to individual differences. Some learn how to walk in
just few weeks, others learn it for months.
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
1. Prenatal Period (conception to birth) – it involves
tremendous growth -- from a single cell to an
organism complete with brain and behavioral
capabilities.
2. Infancy (birth to 18-24 months) – A time of
extreme dependence on adults. Many
psychological activities are just beginning ---
language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor
coordination, and social learning.
3. Early childhood (end of infancy to 5-6 years) –
These are the preschool years. Young children learn
to become more self-sufficient and to care for
themselves, develop school readiness and spent
many hours in play with peers.
4. Middle and late childhood (6-11 years of
age/elementary school years)
- The fundamental skills of reading, writing, and
arithmetic are mastered. The child is formally exposed
to the larger world and its culture. Achievement
becomes a more central theme of the child’s world and
self-control increases.
5. Adolescence (10-12 of age ending up to 18-22 years of
age)
- Begins with rapid physical changes – dramatic gains in
height and weight, changes in body contour, and the
development of sexual characteristics such as enlargement
of the breasts, development of pubic and facial hair,
deepening of the voice. Pursuit of independence and
identity are prominent. Thought is more logical, abstract,
and idealistic. More time is spent outside of the family.
6. Early adulthood (from late teens or early 20’s lasting
through the 30’s)
- It is a time of establishing personal and
economic independence, career development,
selecting a mate, learning to live with someone
in an intimate way, starting a family and
rearing child.
7. Middle adulthood (40-60 years of age) – It is the time
of expanding personal and social involvement and
responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming
competent and mature individuals; and of reaching and
maintaining satisfaction in a career.
8. Late adulthood/old age (60s and above) – It is the
time for adjustment to decreasing strength and health,
life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social
roles.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS and TODDLERS
 The CEPHALOCAUDAL trend is the postnatal
growth from conception to 5 months when the head
grows more than the body. This cephalocaudal
trend of growth that applies to the development of
the fetus also applies in the first months after birth.
 Infants learn to use their upper limbs before their
lower limbs. The same pattern occurs in the head
area because top parts of the head - the eyes
and the brain - grow faster than the lower parts
such as the jaw.
 The PROXIMODISTAL trend is the pre-natal growth
from 5 months to birth when the fetus grows from
the inside of the body outwards. This also applies in
the first months after birth as shown in the earlier
maturation of muscular control of the trunk and
arms, followed by that of the hands and fingers.
Height and Weight:
 * In general, an infant’s length increases by about 30% in
the first five months.
* A baby’s weight usually triples during the first year but
slows down in the second year of life.
Brain development:
 At birth, the newborn’s brain is about 25% of its adult
weight. By the second birthday, the brain is about 75%
of its adult weight.
 Depressed brain activity can be found in children who
grew up in depressed environment.
Motor development:
*Infants and toddlers begin from reflexes, to gross motor,
then fine motor skills.
*the newborn has some basic reflexes which are
automatic and serve as survival mechanism before they
have the opportunity to learn.
Reflex – an immediate, innate, and involuntary response to
something. (example: automatic removal of hands from a hot
surface)
Most common reflexes that babies have:
1. Sucking Reflex - is initiated when something touches
the roof of the infant’s mouth
2. Rooting Reflex - is most evident when an infant
cheek is stroked, the baby responds by turning
his/her head in the direction of the touch and
opening their mouths for feeding.
3. Gripping Reflex - babies will grasp anything that is
placed in their hands.
4. Startle/Moro Reflex - infants will respond to sudden
sounds and movements by throwing their arms and
legs out.
5. Curling Reflex – when the inner sole of the baby's
foot is stroked, the infant respond by curling his or
toes. When the outer sole of the baby's foot is
stroked, the infant will respond by spreading
out their toes.
6. Galant Reflex – is shown when an infant's middle or
lower back is stroked next to the spinal cord. The
baby will respond by curving his/her body toward
the side which is being stroked.
7. Tonic neck Reflex – is demonstrated in infants
who are placed on their abdomens. Whichever
side the child's head is facing, the limbs on
that side will straighten while the opposite
limbs will curl.
SIGMUND FREUD‘s Stages of PSYCHOSEXUAL
DEVELOPMENT
 Theory of psychosexual development states that
the person goes through the sequence of five
stages and along the way there are needs to be met
and each stage is characterized by specific
erogenous zones or “pleasure areas” that become a
focal point for the particular stage of development.
FIXATION occurs to when a person is "stuck" in one stage of
psychosexual development. Both frustration/under stimulation and
overindulgence/overstimulation may lead to what psychoanalysts
call fixation at a particular psychosexual stage.
 STAGE DESCRIPTION PERSONALITY TYPE
1. Oral Mouth - is the center of pleasure Oral Receptive - stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol,
(birth - 18 months) The child is focused on oral pleasures. overeat, nail-biting
(under stimulation)
Oral Aggressive – tendency to curse words, gossip
(over stimulation)
2. Anal Anus -is the center of pleasure. Anal retentive - an obsession with cleanliness, perfection and
(18 months to 3 years) The child finds pleasure in the bowel and control (early /harsh toilet training)
elimination process. Anal expulsive - a person may become messy and disorganized
(Toilet Training) (liberal toilet-training)

3. Phallic Genitals - the center of pleasure Children Sexual deviances (both overindulging and avoidance)
(3-6 years) become more interested in what makes boys and Sexual dysfunction (weak or confused sexual
and girls different. They will sometimes be identity according to psychoanalysts).
seen fondling their genitals.

Oedipus Complex -when the boy sees his father

as a rival to his mother’s love and affection

Electra Complex - when the girl sees her

mother as a rival for her father’s attention
4. Latency Known as the “calm” period.
(age 6 to puberty) Children’s focus at this stage is the
acquisition of physical and academic skills
5. Genital (puberty Adolescents focus their sexual urges
onwards) towards opposite sex peers, with the
pleasure centered on the genitals.
Developing Defense Mechanisms
Reaching Full Sexual Maturity
If all stages were successfully completed, then the
person should be sexually matured and mentally
healthy.

SIGMUND FREUD’s PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY - a theory which emphasizes unconscious drives and motives.
Three Components of Personality
1. Id - operates on “pleasure principle”. It focuses on immediate gratification or satisfaction of its needs.
 The child is born with id.
 The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. It is the unconscious part of our psyche which responds directly
and immediately to the instincts.
 The personality of the newborn child is all id and only later does it develop an ego and super-
ego. Freud identified two main forces among the drives and instincts of the id:
 Eros (life instinct/sexual instinct) - Eros seeks both to preserve life (through gratification of the basic needs: food, water, shelter
etc.) and to create life (sexual instinct/libido). Eros is also associated with positive emotions of love, and other prosocial
behavior, including safety and protection.

 Thanatos (death instinct) - Later in life, Freud started to think that next to the life instincts there is a death instinct (Thanatos). This
is an unconscious wish to die. Death promises peace, an end to pain, suffering, and all the negative and unpleasant experiences
of life. For many people in the world, life is an everyday struggle and full of suffering.
 Thus, death is the satisfaction of all human needs. It is also associated with negative emotions such as fear, hatred, anger,
aggression, cruelty, self-destruction or suicide.

Ego – Arising from the Id is Ego, the conscious part of the personality. Ego operates using the “reality principle”.
 It is the mediator or the balancer. It reasons and considers the best response to situations. It is the deciding agent of the personality.
Develops during preschool years.
2. Superego - embodies the person’s moral aspect.
 It is likened to conscience because it exerts influence on what one considers right and wrong. This develops from what the parents,
teachers who exert influence impart to be good or moral. Superego emerges near the end of preschool years.
 Superego actually is "above-ego," the "higher power" of the mind, where the conscience and moral norms reside. Religious
people may argue that it is the part of humans where God dwells. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious,
and unconscious.

COGNITIVE AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENTS OF INFANTS and TODDLERS

 The Sensorimotor Stage is the first stage in Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory. This stage is applicable for infants and
toddlers. In this stage:
 infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (such as seeing and hearing) to
 physical and motoric actions.
 infants gain knowledge of the world from physical actions they perform on it.
 infants progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the
sensorimotor stage.
 Cognitive development of infants evolves in the orientation from becoming focused on themselves to becoming object or world-
oriented; from the one that is action-based to the one that is mentally-based; from one that does not involve much of coordination of
schemas to the one involving intentionality, novelty, and curiosity; and from a thinking that is purely sensorimotor to a symbolic
one.
 Acquiring the sense of object permanence is one of the infant’s important accomplishments.

OBJECT PERMANENCE is the understanding that the object still continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, touched, or
heard. Before the infant’s acquisition of sense of object permanence, the principle that applies is “out of sight, out of mind”.

Stages of Language Acquisition (L1):

1. Cooing
2. Babbling
3. Holophrastic (one-word utterance)
4. Telegraphic (two-word utterance)
5. Basic Adult sentence
Cooing
• Express satisfaction and pleasure; 2-4 months ; Vowel sounds; Ex. “aaaaaa”, “oooooooh”
Babbling;
• Repetitive CV patterns ; Starts at around 3-4 and continues around age one year; Ex. “bee-bee-bee” ma-ma-
ma”
One-word utterances (Holophrastic Stage)
• Generally spoken at around 10-14 months but may occur as early as 9 months; first words (holophrases): one
word speech that stand for the whole idea/sentence; Ex. “mama” = I want my mother; Dede “I want to drink
milk
Two-word utterances (Telegraphic Stage)
• comes around 18 months; children use two-word combinations to express themselves (telegraphic speech);
called telegraphic because many words are omitted and only the important parts of the sentence are usually
present; Ex. “eat bread”, “Princess play”
Basic adult sentence structure
• Grammatical or functional structures emerge with continuing vocabulary acquisition; Present at about age 4
SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS OF INFANTS and TODDLERS

Socio-emotional development has something to do with the development of a person’s ability to master one’s emotions and the ability to
relate to others. It necessarily includes temperaments, attachments, and social skills.
The elements that have something to do with the wholesome socio-emotional development of children:
 Attachment. It is an emotional bond characterized by a tendency to seek and maintain closeness to a specific figure.The
beginnings of attachment occurs within the first 6 months of a baby’s life with a variety of built-in signals that baby uses to keep her
caregiver engaged.
 Infants 7 to 12 months experience separation anxiety. They may cry in fear if the mother or caregiver leaves them in an
unfamiliar place/people.
 In infancy, children rely largely on adults to help them regulate their emotional states, if they are uncomfortable, they communicate
by crying. In toddlerhood, children begin to develop skills in regulating their emotions with the emergence of language providing an
important tool to assist in this process.
 Temperament. Temperament is a word that “captures the ways that people differ, even at birth, in such things as their emotional
reactions, activity level, attention span, persistence and ability to regulate their emotions”. Every baby expresses personality traits
we call temperament. How a child responds emotionally to objects, events, and people is a reflection of his individual
temperament.
 Social Skills. Socialization of emotion begins in infancy. It is thought that this process is significant in the infant's acquisition
of cultural and social codes for emotional display, teaching them how to express their emotions, and the degree of
acceptability associated with different types of emotional behaviors.
 Another process that emerges during this stage is social referencing. Infants begin to recognize the emotions of others, and
use this information when reacting to new situations and people. As infants explore their world, they generally rely on the
emotional expressions of their mothers or caregivers to determine the safety and appropriateness of a particular endeavor.