What this module is about?

This module is intended for the course, Educ.1 – The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning
Principles which focuses on child and adolescent learners’ development with emphasis on current
research and theory on biological, linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions of
development. Further, this includes factors that affect the progress of development of the learners and
shall include appropriate pedagogical principles applicable for each developmental level. The module
will help one develop identity as a future teacher and understand the role of the student’s identities in
the classroom.

In this module, you will learn how theories and principles of development, learning and motivation were
given importance as they relate to the educational process. You will study these twelve lessons, namely:

Lesson 1. Human Development: Meaning, Concepts, and Approaches

Lesson 2. The Stages of Development and Developmental Tasks

Lesson 3. Issues on Human Development

Lesson 4. Research in Child and Adolescent Development

Lesson 5. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Lesson 6. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Lesson 7. Erikson’s Psycho-Sexual Theory of Development

Lesson 8. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Lesson 9. Vygotsky’s Socio- Cultural Theory

Lesson 10. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory

Lesson 11. Development of the Learners at the Various Stages

Lesson 12. Learners Centered Learning Principles

What are the intended learning outcomes of this module?

1. Determine and acquire better understanding on child and adolescent development.

2. Understand the role that teachers, school and the family in the crucial development stages of
the individual child and adolescent.
3. Make critical analysis of recurring problems that affect the development of the child and
adolescent.
4. Apply various theories of development relative to the different learning principles.

LESSON 1. Human Development: Meaning, Concepts and Approaches

Objectives:

1. Define human development in your own words;

 2. Draw some principles of human development; and
3. distinguish two approaches to human development.

Overview of the topic

Human Development refers to the biological and psychological development of the human being
throughout the lifespan. It consists of the development from infancy, childhood and adolescence to
adulthood. Growth deals with quantitative changes while development deals with qualitative changes.
Development is relatively orderly. Development has proximodistal pattern that deals with the
development from inward to upward. Another pattern is the cephalocaudal pattern in which the
development is from head to toe and from top to bottom. Development also takes place gradually. The
pattern of development is more likely be similar, the outcomes of development process and the rate of
development are varied among individuals. Development as a process is complex because it is the
product of biological, cognitive, and socio- emotional process. The biological process is a physical
change. The cognitive process is about knowledge, thoughts, and language. The socio-emotional is a
process that focuses on dealing with people. The human development has five (5) different approaches.
It includes life-long, multi-dimensional, plastic, contextual and involves growth, maintenance and
regulation. The life-span of a human development occurs all throughout the life-span of an individual.
The development never stops until death. The traditional occurs human development that shows
extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change by adulthood and decline in the late old
age. The life-long development does not end by adulthood and no development stage dominates the
development. The multi- dimensional consists of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional dimensions.
The plastic development is possible throughout the life-span. The contextual development, are
individuals that can adopt changing beings in a changing world. Development and learning result from a
dynamic and continuous interaction of biological maturation and experience.

1. Development is continuous.
2. Development is gradual.
3. Development is sequential.
4. Rate of development varies from person to person.
5. Development proceeds from general to specific.
6. Most traits are correlated in development.
7. Growth and development are a product of both heredity and environment.
8. Development is predictable.
9. Development brings about both structural and functional changes.
10. There is a constant interaction between all factors of development.

Test your knowledge

Application No.1

1. Define development in your own words.

2. Describe your own development. In what ways have you changed over your lifetime? What
characteristics have remained the same?
3. What are the principles of human development and their educational implications?

Principles Educational Implications

 a.
b.
c.
d.
4. What are the two approaches to human development?
Traditional vs. Life- Span Approach

Traditional Lifespan

LESSON 2. The Stages of Human Development and Developmental Tasks

Objectives:

1. Define developmental tasks in your own words;

2. Identify developmental stages of learners in different curriculum levels;
3. State for yourself how these developmental tasks affect your role as a facilitator of learning.

Overview of the Topic

A developmental task is a task that arises at or about a certain period in life, unsuccessful achievement
of which leads to inability to perform tasks associated with the next period or stage in life.

The Stages of Development and Developmental Tasks

1. Prenatal period (from conception to birth). It involves tremendous growth from a single cell to
an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities.
2. Infancy (from birth to 18 – 24 months). A time extreme dependence on adults. Many
psychological activities are just to beginning – Language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor
coordination capabilities.
3. Early Childhood (end of infancy to 5-6 years -grade 1). These are the preschooler years. Young
children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school
readiness skills and spend many hours in play with peers.

Concept of developmental tasks

In each stage of development, a certain task or tasks are expected of each 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.” (Havighurts, 1972)

The Developmental Tasks (Santrock, 2002)

(6-11 years of age, the elementary school years)- the fundamental skills of reading, writing and
arithmetic are mastered.
  Prenatal period
 Infancy
 Early childhood
 Middle and Late childhood
 Adolescence
 Early adulthood
 Middle adulthood
 Late adulthood

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.

Late adulthood

(60’s and above) – It is a time for adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review,
retirement, and adjustment to new social rules.

Adolescence

Middle adulthood (10-12 years of age ending up to 18-22 years of age) begins with rapid physical
changes.

Middle and late childhood (40 t0 60 years of age) – it is a time of expanding personal and social
involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming a competent and mature
individual.

Test your knowledge

Application No.2

Assessment Tasks:

Photo Essay and Reflection

Input for the Task:

What is a Photo Essay?

A photographic essay is a form of visual storytelling, a way to present a narrative through a

series of images. A great photo essay is powerful, able to evoke emotion and understanding without
using words. A photo essay delivers a story using a series of photographs and brings the viewer along
your narrative journey.

A photo essay tells a story in pictures, and there are many different ways to style your own
photo essay. With wide range of topics to explore, a photo essay can be thought-provoking, emotional,
funny, unsettling, or all of the above, but mostly, they should be unforgettable.

Task Design
 This activity intends to determine the students’ knowledge on child and adolescent
development as well as the factors that affect the progress of development of the learners and shall
include appropriate pedagogical principles for each development level through photo essay and
reflection. The students are guided by the given rubrics below.

Task Objectives:

1. Make a photo essay of Human Stages of Development

2. Write your reflection.

Materials Needed:

 Laptop and Android phone with internet connection

 Any kind of camera or cellphone with camera
 Reference book: Child and Adolescent Development by: Brenda B. Corpuz et., al

Task Procedures:

1. Research about the topic. Conduct online searches, read website of the course reference book
to find out more about the topic about Human Stages of Development.
2. Choose your subject. It could be you or any member of the family.
3. Create an outline. Once you have your subject and permission to shoot, take a few moments to
sketch out an idea of what photos you will need. Most essays need a variety of images to
showcase the various aspects of the topic.
4. Take many shots but only include the key photos necessary.
5. Choose your 8-10 images. Make your final selections.
6. Your final images can be captioned to help enhance your visual narrative, but if you feel like
your images could use some text, add it. However, if you think the images can stand on their
own, then you can present them as they are.

Reflection

1. If you were given a chance, which developmental stage would you like to be in? Why?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
2. Reflect on your stages of development. Were you able to acquire the developmental tasks
expected for each stage. What facilitated your acquisitions of the ability to perform such tasks?
Write your reflections.

Photo Essay Criteria Set (Point System)

Visual text (photographs/ images) -20

Typography & Semantics (the meaning, arrangement and appearance - 10

Organization (how the various elements are organized - 10

Theme (the universal insight that is communicated by the essay -5

 Overall impression/ aesthetic effect (the overall psychological response to the photo essay as a work
of artistic rhetoric -5

TOTAL: 50 points

LESSON 3: ISSUES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Objective:

1. Take an informed stand/ position on the three issues on development

Overview of the topic

There are three theoretical issues in human development; nature vs. nurture, continuity vs.
discontinuity and stability vs. change.

The first issue is nature vs. nurture. This controversy goes back to the ancient Greeks. Early
philosophers believed that at birth our minds are a blanks state and that one’s environment determines
the messages that will be written on the slate. Naturists believe that human behavior and development
are governed by automatic, genetically predetermined signals in maturation. There is a favorable period
after birth called a critical period when the organism’s exposure to stimuli or experiences produces
proper development. Nurturists argue that development occurs by learning through observation and
experience. For example, a child would learn behaviors by watching his or her parents or other close
family members.

The second issue is continuity vs. discontinuity. Continuity proposes that development is continuous,
with new abilities, skills and knowledge gradually added at a relatively uniform rate. It also suggests that
adult thinking and intelligence differ from a child. For example, adults have more verbal skills than
children. Stage theorists suggest that development occurs at different rates that vary from little change
to rapid, abrupt change. Stage theories include: Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Erikson’s
psychosocial theory of development, and Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.

The third and final issue is stability vs. change. Stability proposes that individuals maintain their
personal characteristics from childhood to adulthood. They emphasize that one can tell what kind of
character an individual will have by the characteristics they display during childhood. Psychologists who
emphasize change disagree entirely. They believe that a child personality and characteristics bear little
resemblance to the characteristics present in adulthood.

Test your knowledge

Application No. 3

Complete the sentence

With regard to the nurture- nature, continuity – discontinuity and change – stability
controversies, the wiser stand is
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________.