MODULE II: The Stages of Development and Developmental Tasks

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Define developmental tasks in your own words;

2. Describe the developmental tasks in each stage and;
3. State for yourself how these developmental tasks affect your role as a facilitator of
learning.

Reference :

Borabo, Heidi Grace L., Corpuz, Brenda B., Lucas, Ma. Rita D., and Lucido, Paz I.(2010). Child and Adolescent
Development Looking at Learners at Different Stages. Lorimar Publishing, Inc., Quezon City

I. Stages of Development from Santrock (2002)

1. Prenatal Stage

Prenatal Stage Germinal Stage Embryonic Fetal

 Atime of remarkable  Begins at conception  The mass of cells is now  The embryo enters
change that helps set when the sperm and known as an embryo. the next stage and
the stage for egg cell unite in one of  A time when the mass of becomes known as
future psychological  the two fallopian cells becomes distinct as a fetus. 
development. tubes. a human.
 The embryonic stage  The fetal period of
 The brain develops  The fertilized egg, plays an important role prenatal
over the course of known as a zygote, in the development of developmarks
the prenatal period, then moves toward the brain.  more important
but it will continue to the uterus, a journey  The embryo begins to changes in the
go through more that can take up to a divide into three layers brain.
changes during early week to complete. each of which will
years of childhood.  become an important  Begins during the
 Cell division begins body system. ninth week and
 The process of approximately 24 to  Approximately four lasts until birth.
prenatal 36 hours after weeks after conception,
development occurs conception. the neural tube forms.  It is at this point in
in three main stages. prenatal
o Germinal –  This tube will later development that
first two develop into the central the neural tube
weeks nervous system develops into the
o Embryonic – including the spinal brain and spinal
third through cord and brain. cord
the eighth and neurons conti
 week  Eventually vesicles will nue to form.
o Fetal – ninth be developed into parts  Once these
week to birth of the brain including neurons have
the structures of the: formed, they begin
o Forebrain, to migrate to
midbrain, and their correct
hindbrain. locations.
 Around the fourth week,
the head begins to form   Synapses, or the
quickly followed by the connections
eyes, nose, ears, and between neurons,
mouth. also begin to
develop.
 The cardiovascular
system is where the  It is during the
earliest activity begins period between
as the blood vessel  that the 9th and 12th
will become the heart week at the
start to pulse. earliest reflexes
begin to emerge
and the fetus
 During the fifth week,
begins to make
buds that will form the
reflexive motions
arms and legs appear.
with his arms and
legs.
 By the time the
eighth week of
 This stage of
development has been
prenatal
reached, the embryo
development
has all of the basic
lasts the longest
organs and parts
and is marked by
except those of the sex
amazing change
organs.
and growth.
 It even has knees and
 During the third
elbows. At this point,
month of
the embryo weighs just
gestation, the sex
one gram and is about
organs begin to
one inch in length.
differentiate and
by the end of the
 By the end of the
month, all parts of
embryonic period, the
the body will be
basic structures of the
formed.
brain and central
nervous system have
 At this point, the
been established.
fetus weight
 around three
ounces. The fetus
continues to grow
in both weight and
length.
2. Infancy (from birth to 2 years)

As newborns, we were not empty-handed organisms. We cried, kicked, coughed,

sucked saw, heard and tasted. We slept a lot and occasionally we smiled although the
meaning of our smiles was not entirely clear. Sometimes we conformed, sometimes others
conformed to us. Our development was a continuous creation of complex forms, and our
helpless kind demanded the meeting eyes of love.

3. Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)

In early childhood, we skipped, played, and ran all day long, never in our lives so
busy, busy becoming something we had not quite grasped yet. Who knew our thoughts,
which worked up into small mythologies all our own. Our thoughts and images and
drawings took wings. The blossoms of our heart, no wind could touch. Our small world
widened as we discovered new refuges and new people.

4. Middle and Late Childhood (6-12 years)

In the middle and late childhood, we were on a different plane, belonging to

ageneration and a feeling properly our own. It is the wisdom of human development that at
no other time we are more ready to learn than at the end of early childhood's period of
expansive imagination. Our thrust was to know and to understand. We did not think much
about the future or the past, but enjoyed the present.

5. Adolescence (13-18 years)

We wanted our parents to understand us and hoped they would give up the
privilege of understanding them. We wanted to fly but found that first we had to learn to
stand and walk and climb and dance. In our most pimply and awkward moments we
became acquainted with sex. We played furiously at adult games but were confined to a
society of our own peers. Our generation was the fragile cable by which the best and the
worst of our parents' generation was transmitted to the present. In the end, there were two
but lasting bequests our parents could leave us, one being roots, the other wings.
6. Early Adulthood (19-29 years)

Early adulthood is a time for work and a time for love, sometimes leaving little time
for anything else. We still ask ourselves who we are and wonder if it isn't enough just to be.
Our dreams continue and our thoughts are bold but at some point we become more
pragmatic. Sex and love are powerful passions in our lives. And we possibly will never
know the love of our parents until we became parents ourselves.

7. Middle Adulthood (30-60 years)

For some of us, middle adulthood is a time when we need to discover what we are
running from and to and why. We compare our life with what we vowed to make it. There
are more time stretches before us and some evolutionshaw to be made, however
reluctantly. We come to sense that the generations of living things pass in a short while
and like runners hand on the torch of life.

8. Late Adulthood (61 years and above)

We learn that life is lived forward but understood backward. We trace the
connection between the end and the beginning of life and try to figure out what this whole
show is about before it is over. Ultimately we come to know that we are what survive of us.

II. Developmental Tasks

In each stage of development a certain task or tasks are expected of every individual.

- Robert Havighurst defines developmental task as one that "arises at a certain period
in our life, the successful achievement of which leads to happiness and success with
later tasks while failure leads to unhappiness, social disapproval, and difficulty with
later tasks.

Note: Please see another file for Developmental Tasks

APPLICATION

Answer the following questions:

1. Why does teacher’s success depends greatly upon his insights into the various factors
basic to growth and development and his knowledge of the developmental characteristics
of the learner?
2. Define developmental tasks in your own words. State for yourself how these
developmental tasks affect your role as a facilitator of learning.

REFLECTION

As a manager and facilitator of the learning situation/s with reference to the things
you learned about developmental tasks, make a reflection on how you can help your
students tap their unique capabilities and capacities in their struggle for everyday life in
school.