CHAPTER 1: Lesson 1 Introduction to Child
and Adolescent Development
What is Development?
• Scientists agree on one thing: that development
implies a “systematic and successive change.”
• Development can be defined as “progressive,
orderly, and continuing changes over time in a
person’s physical and neurological structure.
What are the stages of child development?
• Stages in child development refers to the
development of children from birth to the age of 18.
• Children develop physically, intellectually,
socially, emotionally, and linguistically through the
years with different rates of growth for each
category.
1. Infancy (birth to 2 years old – “newborn,”
“infant,” “toddler”). During this stage, the
child is totally dependent on the caregiver
for the fulfillment of his/her needs. The
child experiences rapid growth during this
period.
2. Childhood (“early childhood” – 2 to 8 years
old and “middle childhood” – 9 to 12 years
old). At this time, the child refines his/her
skills he/she learned in earlier years, from
basic to more complex skills; he/she also
learns new skills. The most rapid period of
growth and development is seen in early
childhood.
3. Adolescence (12 to 18 years old). This stage
is marked by puberty (11 to 14 years old)
when a child undergoes a series of changes
in the body.
4. Adulthood. This is the period when an
individual has reached his/her maturity. This
is usually 18 years of age.
Brief History of Child Rearing
• In the Middle Ages (800s to 1300s), the
church did not approve of “family planning”
so birth rates were very high. Women
usually gave birth to 12 to 14 children.
• During this period, the average life span was
around 35 to 40 years.
• The mortality rates were also very high.
• Parenting was different in that children had
little or no affection because many of them
would probably die at a young age.
• There were no health care benefits back
then, and vaccines and antibiotics have not
been invented yet.
• Children who reached 7 or 8 years old were
already sent to work like adults.
• During the Renaissance (1300s to 1600s),
there was a rebirth of learning and culture in
the society as people began to think about
their place in the world.
• In 1693, John Locke had his theory of tabula
rasa (blank slate), arguing that our brains are
empty at birth, and we are waiting to be
filled with experiences and the products of
our social environment.
• When parents and teachers realized that they
could write on that “blank slate,’ they started
to control children’s experiences.
• This was the first-time childhood was seen
as a separate developmental stage. Parents,
thus, started showing affection to their
children.
• During the Industrial Age (late 1700s to
late 1800s), there was the rise of
industrialization and machinery.
• The economy around the world was
changing and children were seen as
economic assets.
• At the start of the Modern Age or the
beginning of the 20th century (early 1900s),
the wives of the factory owners, with the
crusaders of social rights, were able to enact
child labor laws, which came into effect in
the late 19th century.
• This was the first time the term childhood
became a legal definition, not just a
developmental stage.
• Since children were out of the factories,
many schools were built to contain these
children in urban areas which led to
Compulsory Education.
• It started out as Sunday schools to be moral
citizens, then subjects for academics were
introduced.
 • Around the time of WWII, the concept of
adulthood was around 18 years of age,
commonly due to drafting into the army.
• In the early 20th century, the term
“childhood” was divided into stages.
• Adolescence, in terms of biology, begins
with puberty and ends in cultural recognition
of adulthood by the age of 18, a legal age.
What are the domains of child development?
What are the domains of child development?
Introduction to Child and Adolescent
Development
1. Cognitive Domain
❑ is about the changes and progression in the
thought processes– thinking abilities of a person
from infancy up to old age.
❑ it includes learning, attention, memory, language,
thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, creativity,
imagination, academic knowledge, everyday
knowledge, and understanding of what is happening
around you.
4 Aspects of Language Development
a. Phonology – forming sounds into words
b. Syntax – creating sentences from these words
using language rules and conventions
c. Semantics – understanding the meanings and
shades of meanings
2. Physical Domain
❑ Motor Development refers to the increasing
amount of control that a child has over his/her body
which includes the different levels of skills that
he/she can master.
❑ Motor Development also involves gross motor
skills (major movements of the body involving
large muscles) and fine motor skills (movement of
fingers and hands).
d. Pragmatics – how to apply language to
communicate in practical and personal use
❑ Adaptive Development refers to the ability of a
child to do age-appropriate life skills.
❑ Adaptive Development may refer to how a child
adapts to the environment and is able to perform
things independently such as drinking from a bottle
or cup, feeding, toileting, dressing, or avoiding
common dangers.
2. Socioemotional/Psychosocial Domain
❑ includes emotions, personality, and social
relationships
❑ Social Development is all about the child’s
relationships with different kinds of people and
his/her unique way of interacting with them
❑ it also includes self-knowledge (self-esteem,
metacognition, sexual identity, and ethnic identity)
and moral reasoning.
❑ Emotional Development refers to how a child’s
emotions develop, how he/she understands and
expresses his/her emotions (anger, fear, anxiety,
sorrow, joy, happiness, etc.) in socially acceptable
ways, or regulating one’s emotions, having
confrontations without violence.
❑ Socioemotional Development is all about living
at peace with oneself in the context of living with
others.
❑ It also includes an understanding of others,
learning how to sympathize and empathize with
other people, temperament, interpersonal skills, and
friendships.
 Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development
CHAPTER 1: Lesson 2 Theories and
Perspectives in Child Development
Nature vs. Nurture
Introduction to Child and Adolescent
Development
• There is a continuous interaction between
nature and nurture according to the
developmental systems approach.
• The effects of the environment on an
organism depend on the heredity-related
characteristics of that person.
• We can device interventions or programs to
support a child’s healthy development since
it can be influenced by the environment.
Maturation Theory (Arnold Gesell, 1925)
• The theory emphasized that children
develop individually, at their own pace, but
that every child follows the same sequence.
• Environment and genetics were the two
major forces that influence development.
• Genetics affects the rate of development,
and the environment teaches children how to
behave in a proper manner.
• While environment is important, Gesell
believed that children develop with the same
sequence.
• Gesell also believed that children will
master tasks when their own inner urges
push them to do so (genetics), and if they are
forced to learn in advance, they may learn a
little about it.
• He also believed that development is
affected by personality and temperament,
but there is still that sequence that you
cannot rush or skip. • Gesell believed that
babies have their own schedules for feeding
and sleeping and parents should follow that.
• They follow the same sequence but at their
own rate, depending on their personalities
and development.
• Gesell’s philosophy of child-rearing
suggests that you have to follow the child’s
cues, with the child telling us when the time
is right.
• Gesell suggests:
a. letting the child indicate when he/she is
hungry, and he/she should be fed until
he/she is satisfied.
b. never wake a baby because it is time to
eat
c. not to change his/her diaper at regular
times of the day but wait for the baby to cry
indicating that he/she needs to be changed.
• Gesell emphasized that it is not the parents
who are shaping their child that it is an
innate ability, and children have their own
timetable.
• Adults should trust and appreciate the
wonder of growth, respect immaturity, and
 avoid always planning what is next for the
child.
How does maturation affect human
development?
Bioecological Theory (Urie Bronfenbrenner,
1977)
Introduction to Child and Adolescent
Development
• The theory suggests that a child is affected
by everything in his/her development,
including the varied systems that shape a
child’s development.
• The theory also highlights multiple layers of
influence on the child that emphasizes both
general age trends and individual
development.
• It also believes that heredity and
environment act together to influence child
development.
• It is called a bioecological theory because it
describes how child development is
influenced by a child’s biology, which
interacts with influences from his/her
surroundings (ecology).
• In this theory, the child is embedded within
a complex series of interacting layers that
influence or affect development.
Biopsychosocial Model (George Engel & Jon
Romano, 1977)
Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development
1. Microsystem consists of activities and
interactions of the child with his/her
immediate surroundings or with the closest
to the child, and one in which he/she has
direct contact with (such as parents and
family at home, teachers and peers at school,
or caregivers at daycare) where the
relationship is bidirectional.
2. Mesosystem includes connections or
interactions between all the microsystems
related to the child, where the interactions
have an indirect impact on the child. If the
elements in the microsystems work together,
there is a positive effect on the child while a
negative influence if there the elements in
the microsystems are working against each
other.
3. Exosystem includes the social settings that
do not contain the child but still affect
his/her experiences in his/her immediate
settings.
4. Macrosystem includes the cultural
environment in which a person lives in and
all the other systems that affect the child
such as cultural values, customs, traditions,
laws, resources, economy, or political
system in a child’s country.
5. Chronosystem is about the continuous
influence of time on all other subsystems
and their interactions, which is the defining
characteristic of development.
• The model illustrates that life span
development is the product of the interaction
between biological, psychological, and
social forces.

• The biological forces (one’s organs,
physiology, and genetics) explain the role of
genes (DNA) and hormones in the health
care of the individual including a person’s
physical health, genetic vulnerabilities,
disability, and IQ.
• The psychological forces are all about
cognition, emotion, and motivation
including a person’s coping skills, social
skills, self- esteem, how we think, and the
way we develop our ideas.
• The social forces that affect development are
a person’s family, community, and society,
including school, peers, and work
environment among others.
• The biopsychosocial model believes that
each person is unique.
• With this model, we can specify biological,
psychological, and social factors that can
influence a person’s development.
Probabilistic Epigenesis Model (Gilbert Gottlieb,
1991)
Introduction to Child and Adolescent
Development
• “Epigenesis” refers to a change in genetic
expression as a result of environmental
influences.
• In this theory, the products of development
are epigenetic, not just genetic.
• The model describes how genetic
activity, neural activity, child behavior,
and the environment are all
bidirectionally related. It views
development as a product of the
interaction between biological and
environmental forces.
• It includes both the genetic origins of
behavior and the direct influence of the
environment on the expression of these
genes.
How does the statement, “Even if we are born with
a fixed set of genes, our layer of epigenome is
interactive and can be changed so that we can live a
life with responsibility” affect the way you will
teach your students in the future?
CHAPTER 1: Lesson 3 Physical Domain of
Growth and Development
Physical Growth and Development
Introduction to Child and Adolescent
Development
• Newborn (birth to 1 month)
❑ the height or length of a full-term newborn is
around 20 in and the weight is around 5 to 9 lbs.
❑ tooth formation is already in progress at birth
❑ tooth buds appear at 11 weeks of fetal
development
❑ permanent teeth are also developing already
• Infant (1 to 12 months)
❑ physical growth is very fast as height
increases by about 10 in during the first 12
months
❑ the child’s weight doubles at four to seven
months
❑ by 12 months, the child’s birthweight has
tripled
❑ by 6 months, teething begins
❑ many infants would have 6 teeth by age one
• Toddler (1 to 3 years)
❑ physical growth levels off at a more gradual
and steady rate until puberty
❑ the increase in height also slows down to
about 5 in. per year
❑ for weight, toddlers gain about 4.5 to 6.5 lbs
per year
❑ bone development continues
❑ by age 2, all 20 primary teeth have appeared
• Preschooler (3 to 6 years)
❑ physical growth is still gradual and steady
❑ he/she grows at a rate of 3 in per year, a little
slower than toddlers
❑ he/she also gains about 4.5 to 6.5 lbs per year
School Age (6 to 12 years)
❑ the child is in “primary school,”
“elementary,” or “grade school”
❑ children grow in height for about 2 in per
year between ages 6 to 10 years
❑ when puberty hits, there is the most growth in
height
❑ there is also rapid growth in weight during
puberty
❑ bone development continues
• School Age (6 to 12 years)
❑ the child is in “primary school,”
“elementary,” or “grade school”
❑ children grow in height for about 2 in per
year between ages
6 to 10 years
❑ when puberty hits, there is the most growth in
height
❑ there is also rapid growth in weight during
puberty
❑ bone development continues
❑ the child starts to assert independence at
home and in school
❑ emotional growth continues
❑ the child should learn to make good choices
❑ he/she should learn to face the consequences
of his/her actions
• Adolescent (13 to 18 years)
❑ teenagers go through drastic physical,
cognitive, and emotional changes during this
stage
❑ this is when identity and personality develop
❑ girls develop at a younger age than boys
during teens
❑ girls start puberty between ages 9 and 13,
while boys start puberty around 11 to 14
❑ girls who start puberty grow to be much taller
than boys who have not started puberty
❑ girls have hair growth underarm, their breasts
develop, their hips widen, they grow pubic hair,
and their ovaries start to produce eggs and have
their first menstruation (menarchy)
❑ boys have voice change, grow facial hair,
underarm hair, and pubic hair, their testicles
 lower, and they have their first ejaculation
(spermarchy)
❑ both boys and girls develop their frontal lobe
of brain until around the age of 25 or
somewhere in the mid or late 20’s
Brain Development
• The human brain begins to develop during
the third week of conception and
continuously develops at least until late
adolescence, and some argue that it
continues to develop throughout life.
• Our brains grow bigger as we grow, but that
is not only what is happening.
• During brain development, the brain
undergoes three processes: synaptogenesis,
myelination, and pruning.
Why is it important for teachers (and parents) to
understand how the human brain develops?
Motor Development
• Perception in the brain is the ability to see,
hear, or become aware of something through
our senses.
• The capacity for perception is essential for
good motor control, which is dependent on
normal brain growth and the development of
the sensory nervous system.
• Patterns in motor development include
cephalocaudal (from head to foot) and
proximodistal (from the center of the body
outward to the extremities).
• Newborn o shows limited amounts of
motion as the child learns to develop
responses to any external stimulus o he/she
exhibits grasp reflex wherein he/she grasps
any object that is placed on his/her hand o
also shows startle reflex, where he/she reacts
to any loud noise or to sudden movements
• Infant
o shows many new developmental
abilities as he/she starts to move
about more at 3 to 6 months
o he/she is able to control his/her head
and start playing with his/her hands
and legs
o after some time, he/she starts to
respond to his/her name when called,
sit up without support, and then start
to stand without support
o he/she starts to babble and may learn
to start crawling
o he/she also shows more dexterity in
his/her fingers and can pick up
objects by pinching them with
his/her thumbs
o he/she would later be able to stand
and then start to learn how to walk
without support
• Toddler
o he/she can walk by himself/herself
and his/her language skills develop
and is now capable of
communicating his/her wishes with
words
o he/she continues to go through
emotional development and learns to
regulate his/her emotions
• Preschool
o many children transition from home
to school, move through different
preschool levels and then transition
to grade school levels.
o he/she develops both gross motor
skills (like walking, running, and
jumping) and fine motor skills (like
writing, drawing, and cutting)
o he/she shows great interest in arts
and crafts, drawing, and writing and
continues to develop cognitively
developing math skills, reading, and
language
• School Age
 o he/she starts to assert independence at home
and in school
o he/she is highly active and wants to try more
daring adventurous behaviors
o they need physical activities and peer
approval
o the age where parents and teachers should
instill good moral values
• Adolescent
o he/she becomes better at moving his/her
body as he/she matures
o boys continue to improve gross motor skills
even to their early 20s
o girls make modest gains in gross and fine
motor skills until around the age of 14
o not much progress is seen unless they are
specifically trained for a sport or hobby that
requires these skills
CHAPTER 1: Lesson 4 Factors Affecting the
Physical Development of Learners
Factors Affecting Physical Growth and
Development
• Heredity
❑ is the passing on of characteristics genetically
from one generation to the next, or from parents to
children
❑ Heredity can play a big role in differences in
height, weight, aptitude, intelligence, and even
predisposition to the disease.
• Environment
❑ The environment in which a child is raised can
affect physical growth and development as clean,
healthy, and safe physical surroundings promote
normal physical development.
• Gender
❑ Boys grow up differently than girls, especially
during puberty, as well as variations in
temperament.
• Exercise and Overall Health
❑ Many children do not get enough exercise.
• Hormones
❑ When there are hormonal imbalances, there
could be growth defects, behavior problems, and
diseases.
• Nutrition
❑ Malnutrition (the result of food deprivation or
overeating) can cause deficiency diseases that affect
growth and development.
• Sleep
❑ It is important to get enough sleep because well-
rested children behave better and do better in
school, having higher academic achievement.
• Familial Influence
❑ When families tend to abuse children or neglect
them, this may lead to a negative effect on physical
growth and development, and affect cognitive as
well as socioemotional development.
• Geographical Influences
❑ Where a child lives usually influences how the
child would turn out to be as weather affects
biorhythms, allergies, and other health conditions.
• Socioeconomic Status
❑ Children who grow up in deprived environments
and in families with low socioeconomic status do
not get the opportunity that children in well-off
families get such as nutrition, sanitation, medical
and health services, or schooling.
CHAPTER 2: Lesson 1 Behaviorism
• Cognition is the process by which we
acquire knowledge and understanding
through thought, experience, and through
our senses.
• Cognition includes knowing, remembering,
understanding, communicating, and
learning.
• Cognitive development includes
neurological and psychological development
or growth in one’s ability to think and to
reason.
 • Cognitive development is assessed by
measuring the levels of how we form
concepts, how we perceive things, how we
process information, and how we learn and
use language as an indicator of brain
development.
Behaviorism
• Behaviorism deals with measurable
observable behavior.
• For behaviorism, control of behavior is in
the environment (external), and learning
(conditioning) occurs when there is a change
of behavior.
• Behaviorism assumes that the learner is
essentially passive, and like a blank slate,
simply responds to environmental stimuli.
Implications of Behaviorism for Teaching
• Teachers can model correct behaviors and
provide extrinsic motivation to increase or
maintain classroom engagement or
participation of students.
• Teachers could set clear boundaries, offer
incentives, use token economies, tickets,
stars, points, and so on for reading books,
class participation, or other desired
behaviors.
• Teachers should use consequences of
corrections when students are not doing
tasks or not doing them correctly.
• In language learning, behaviorism can be
used by providing practice, rehearsal,
correction when not done correctly, and
reinforcement when done correctly.
• Teaching kids to ask for help when they get
frustrated in doing homework or other tasks
is also another skill that can be taught using
this method.