Unit 2: Basic Concepts in Child and Adolescent Development PDF

UNIT 2: BASIC CONCEPTS IN THE STUDY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Compiled by: ROSIE FE B. LEGASPINO, RGC, Dev.Ed.D – CTU Moalboal Campus INTRODUCTION Defining the terminology and concepts in the study of child and adolescent developmen...

UNIT 2: BASIC CONCEPTS IN THE STUDY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Compiled by: ROSIE FE B. LEGASPINO, RGC, Dev.Ed.D – CTU Moalboal Campus INTRODUCTION Defining the terminology and concepts in the study of child and adolescent development is crucial to ensure theoretical understanding, clarity, consistency, and effective application. This unit introduces research-based key terms and concepts that are relevant to understanding child and adolescent development. This includes definitions of terms, periods of development, developmental tasks during the lifespan, and domains and contexts of development. COURSE LEARNING OUTCOME In this learning guide, you are expected to: 1. Explain the basic concepts related to child and adolescent development (CLO1) PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS/DIAGNOSIS Does a child enjoy physical play? Does a child show interest in group activities? Can a child understand the concept of time, such as yesterday, today, and tomorrow? Is an adolescent worried about her physical health, such as changes in weight and eating habits? Does an adolescent feel comfortable during social interactions? Does he enjoy exploring new interests and hobbies? PREPARATION Learning Activity #1 Making Inferences and Predictions Case 1: Child – Emily, Age 6 Emily is a 6-year-old girl in the early stages of middle childhood. She lives with her parents and younger brother. She is starting first grade and is interested in drawing and storytelling. Case 2: Adolescent – Jake, Age 15 Jake is a 15-year-old high school sophomore who lives with his single mother. He is involved in sports and is passionate about music. He is starting to think about his future and his identity. After reading the cases provided, explain your understanding of Emily and Jake’s situation and what you believe might happen to them.  Case 1: Child – Emily, Age 6 Case 2: Adolescent – Jake, Age 15 What would you say about Emily? What would you say about Jake? ______________________________ ____________________________ ______________________________ ____________________________ What do you believe might happen to What do you believe might happen to Emily? Jake? ______________________________ ____________________________ ______________________________ ____________________________ ______________________________ ____________________________ PRESENTATION Learning Activity #2 After listening to the inferences and predictions given, answer the following questions: 1. Will 6-year-old Emily be able to do all that 15-year-old Jake can do? Why or why not? 2. Will there be anything common in the development pattern of Emily and Jake? If yes, what? 3. Will there be differences in their development, e.g. pace or rate of development? If yes, what and why? 4. Will development happen quickly or gradually? Expound your answer. 5. Will development continue or stop once a person reaches adulthood? Definitions from UNESCO, UNICEF, and WHO Let us start by defining the terms to gain a clearer understanding of child and adolescent development. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) A child is defined as every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Adolescence, on the other hand, is a distinct stage that marks the transition between childhood and adulthood (https://www.coursehero.com/file/118018847/DEFINITIONS- OF-CHILD-AND-ADOLESCENTSdocx/). United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) A child is any person under the age of 18, and that all children have all these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what language they speak, what their religion is, what they think, what they look like, if they are a boy or girl, if they have a disability, if they are rich or poor, and no matter who their parents or families are or what their parents or families believe or do.  Adolescence is a defining time in the development of a child that is characterized by rapid physical growth and neurological sculpting, the onset of puberty and sexual maturity. It is a critical period for individual identity development when young people are figuring out who they want to be in the world; an opportunity for growth, exploration and creativity (https://www.coursehero.com/file/118018847/DEFINITIONS-OF-CHILD-AND- ADOLESCENTSdocx/). World Health Organization (WHO) Adopted by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18 years. On the other hand, adolescents are between 10 and 19 years of age. Adolescence is a period of life with specific health and developmental needs and rights. It is also a time to develop knowledge and skills, learn to manage emotions and relationships and acquire attributes and abilities that will be important for enjoying the adolescent years and assuming adult roles (https://www.coursehero.com/file/118018847/DEFINITIONS-OF-CHILD-AND- ADOLESCENTSdocx/).. Philippine Constitution Republic Act No. 9344 defines "Child" as a person under the age of eighteen (18) years. The State hereby declares under Republic Act No. 8044 that “Youth” is the critical period in a person's growth and development from the onset of adolescence towards the peak of mature, self-reliant and responsible adulthood comprising the considerable sector of the population from the age of fifteen (15) to thirty (30) years. Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act defines children as persons below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves from abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition (https://library.pcw.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Filipiniana-Special- Protection-of-Children-Against-Child-Abuse-Exploitation-and-Discrimination-Act-RA- 7610-Implementing-Rules-and-Regulations-January-1997.pdf). Childhood – refers to the time or state of being a child, the early stage in the existence or development of something. From a historical perspective, childhood can be defined as an evolving series of steps, usually constant, towards adulthood shaped by an array of forces and ideas ranging from ethnicity to class, from region to religion and from gender to politics. Adolescence – (Latin adolescentia, from adolescere, “to grow up”) is the period of psychological and social transition between childhood and adulthood. In common usage in English countries “adolescent” and “teenager” are synonymous. Adolescence is also defined as the transitional stage of human development in which a juvenile matures into an adult. The transition involves biological, social, and psychological changes. The onset of adolescence sees children as having completed elementary school and are about to enter secondary education. Between the early childhood and teenage years is preteen. Child development - includes the stages a child goes through from birth until he or she becomes an adult. Children are first newborns, and they acquire the skills that allow them to adapt and function during their growth (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564386/). In other words, child development is the sequential changes in the behavior, cognition, and physiology of children as they grow from birth through adolescence (https://dictionary.apa.org/child-development). Adolescent development – refers to the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes that occur during adolescence (https://open.maricopa.edu/devpsych/chapter/chapter-7-adolescence/). Growth is defined as the quantitative changes that can be measured. It is the progressive increase in the child’s size or body parts or the maturation of tissues or organs. An example is the growth in height or weight. Development is defined as changes which lead to qualitative reorganizations in the structure of behavior, skill or ability. (https://elearning.reb.rw/course/view.php?id=1276&section=8)  Maturation - the biological unfolding of the individual according to a plan contained in the genes, changes resulting from growth and not from training or practice as indicated by the state of readiness to progress in a definite type of behavior. Learning - the process through which one’s experiences produce relatively permanent changes in one’s feelings thoughts and actions that entail careful instruction and practice. Difference between Maturation and Learning Maturation Learning Based on heredity Based on Environment Automatic Planned Age-limited No age limit Related to structure and Related to experience potential capacity Does not require training Requires training and practice and practice Instruction has no effect Entails careful instruction (https://www.psychologydiscussion.net/learning/learning-theory/difference-between- maturation-and learning-psychology/2497) Learning Principles - research-based guidelines that summarize the optimal conditions to facilitate learning. Knowledge and application of the learning principles ensure that teachers and students make the most out of the learning experience. Principles of Child Development The growth and development of a child follow three principles which include cephalocaudal principle, proximodistal (proximal-distal) principle, and general to specific principle. Cephalocaudal principle – according to this principle, children develop from head to toe. This also states that muscular control occurs from the head downward, starting with the neck and upper body toward the arms, trunk, and legs. Initially, the head is larger than other parts of the baby’s body, but as the baby develops, the body becomes more proportionate and the baby develops skills in crawling, sitting, standing, walking, and running. Proximodistal (proximal-distal) principle – this occurs when children develop motor skills from the center of the body outward. This is shown by how babies learn to control their heads and trunks before being able to manipulate their arms and legs. General to specific principle – illustrates the pattern of development from being able to use the whole body to being able to use specific body parts for specific tasks. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (2006), the principles of development include the following: 1. All areas of development and learning are important. The different domains of child development are closely related to each other where one domain influences the other whether it is physical, linguistic, aesthetic, cognitive, emotional, or social. For instance, a child must learn how to ask for food when he/she is hungry. This skill is as important as hugging a crying friend or standing on one foot during a song exercise. 2. Learning and development follow sequences. Development in the child occurs in a sequence with the acquired knowledge, skills, and abilities added and incorporated into the old ones. Before an infant learns how to walk, he/she needs to learn how to balance, turn on all fours, sit down, crawl, and finally take that first step. 3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates. Development varies from child to child and the rate at which they grow and function. Although children go through typical milestones, there are still differences that adults need to respect. Some four-year-olds, for instance, are adept at expressing themselves in a clear manner, while others may find sentence construction somewhat a bit challenging. 4. Development and learning result from an interaction of maturation and experience. When the child can gain experiences continually and consistency, he/she is able to develop, adapt, and learn from the experiences. An example of this is a child who may come from a family of geniuses, but is not properly supported or is not provided proper nutrition, that child may not be able to develop his/her full potential. 5. Early experiences have profound effects on development and learning. The individual child’s development has both a cumulative and delayed effect from the experiences earlier in life, resulting in a certain existing development and learning in an optimal period. This is related to the second principle. This is common among children who grew up in a poor family whose parents rely on irregular sources of income. The children from the time of birth may not be fully given proper nutrition and, hence may suffer stunted growth and delayed development. 6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic or representational capacities. Development in a child proceeds in a predictable manner directing to a greater complexity, internationalization, and organization. This is somehow related to the second principle. Children’s skills build up. Infants like grasping objects, and when they become toddlers they can grasp a crayon and do scribbles. As the child masters holding the crayon, he/she then can create simple drawings such as circles, which would then eventually be a figure of a sun, a ball or a face. 7. Children develop best when they have secure relationships. In the context of the community, children can function when they are able to learn more and feel that they are safe, valued, and attended to. This is best explained by looking at children in temporary shelters and orphanages. Sometimes, because of a number of children in a home, the caregivers are unable to provide quality time and attention to each of the children. This may result in delays in emotional development, for instance. 8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts. Children’s development and learning result from the different interactions they have with both the social and physical environment they live in. One cannot compare the development of a child who grew up in an indigenous community with a child who grew up in urban areas. 9. Children learn in a variety of ways. Children are such active learners and can construct their own understanding of the world around them through the experiences they gain from social interaction and infer cultural knowledge from their environment. For instance, children learn when parents spend time with them. They may also learn when they play with their friends, but they may also learn when they are all alone and are given time to ponder and be creative. 10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation and promoting language, cognition, and social competence. For children, play is their form of learning. Through it, they are able to practice their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. Play is a child’s work. When they engage in pretend play, for example with their peers, they learn to communicate their thoughts, they learn to take other people’s perspectives, and they learn the value of cooperation. 11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged. When children are presented the opportunity to practice, improve, and increase their mastery, they are able to acquire new skills. Children like to show off their skills. Notice how children experiment on almost everything they see. 12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning. Children’s method of learning is not singular. They can learn and comprehend through different modes of learning and present them in different ways. An example of this is the toddlers’ experience on the first day of daycare. When their experience is a good one, they are likely to be motivated to go to daycare in the following days, hence maximizing the opportunities for learning. Learning Principles Theory and Research-based Principles of Learning The following list presents the basic principles that underlie effective learning. These principles are distilled from research from a variety of disciplines. 1. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning. Students come into our courses with knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes gained in other courses and through daily life. As students bring this knowledge to bear in our classrooms, it influences how they filter and interpret what they are learning. If students’ prior knowledge is robust and accurate and activated at the appropriate time, it provides a strong foundation for building new knowledge. However, when knowledge is inert, insufficient for the task, activated inappropriately, or inaccurate, it can interfere with or impede new learning. 2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know. Students naturally make connections between pieces of knowledge. When those connections form knowledge structures that are accurately and meaningfully organized, students are better able to retrieve and apply their knowledge effectively and efficiently. In contrast, when knowledge is connected in inaccurate or random ways, students can fail to retrieve or apply it appropriately. 3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. As students enter college and gain greater autonomy over what, when, and how they study and learn, motivation plays a critical role in guiding the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning behaviors in which they engage. When students find positive value in a learning goal or activity, expect to successfully achieve a desired learning outcome, and perceive support from their environment, they are likely to be strongly motivated to learn. 4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. Students must develop not only the component skills and knowledge necessary to perform complex tasks, they must also practice combining and integrating them to develop greater fluency and automaticity. Finally, students must learn when and how to apply the skills and knowledge they learn. As instructors, it is important that we develop conscious awareness of these elements of mastery so as to help our students learn more effectively. 5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’ learning. Learning and performance are best fostered when students engage in practice that focuses on a specific goal or criterion, targets an appropriate level of challenge, and is of sufficient quantity and frequency to meet the performance criteria. Practice must be coupled with feedback that explicitly communicates about some aspect(s) of students’ performance relative to specific target criteria, provides information to help students progress in meeting those criteria, and is given at a time and frequency that allows it to be useful. 6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. Students are not only intellectual but also social and emotional beings, and they are still developing the full range of intellectual, social, and emotional skills. While we cannot control the developmental process, we can shape the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical aspects of classroom climate in developmentally appropriate ways. Many studies have shown that the climate we create has implications for our students. A negative climate may impede learning and performance, but a positive climate can energize students’ learning. 7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning. Learners may engage in a variety of metacognitive processes to monitor and control their learning—assessing the task at hand, evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses, planning their approach, applying and monitoring various strategies, and reflecting on the degree to which their current approach is working. Unfortunately, students tend not to engage in these processes naturally. When students develop the skills to engage these processes, they gain intellectual habits that not only improve their performance but also their effectiveness as learners.  Periods or Stages of Development Pre-natal period – refers to pre-natal development. During this period, conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Understanding nutrition, teratogens (or environmental factors that can lead to birth defects), and labor and delivery are primary concerns. Infancy and Toddlerhood - The first year and a half to two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change. A newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor vision is transformed into a walking, talking toddler within a relatively short period. Caregivers are also transformed from someone who manages feeding and sleep schedules to a constantly moving guide and safety inspector for a mobile, energetic child. Early Childhood - Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years consisting of the years which follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling. As a three to five-year-old, the child is busy learning language, is gaining a sense of self and greater independence, and is beginning to learn the workings of the physical world. This knowledge does not come quickly, however, and preschoolers may have initially have interesting conceptions of size, time, space and distance such as fearing that they may go down the drain if they sit at the front of the bathtub or by demonstrating how long something will take by holding out their two index fingers several inches apart. A toddler’s fierce determination to do something may give way to a four-year-old’s sense of guilt for doing something that brings the disapproval of others. Middle Childhood - The ages of six through twelve comprise middle childhood and much of what children experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and by assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Schools compare students and make these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their motor skills at this point in life. And children begin to learn about social relationships beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students. Adolescence - is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty. It is also a time of cognitive change as the adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and to consider abstract concepts such as love, fear, and freedom. Ironically, adolescents have a sense of invincibility that puts them at greater risk of dying from accidents or contracting sexually transmitted infections that can have lifelong consequences. Developmental Tasks during the Lifespan In each stage of development, a certain task or tasks are expected of every individual. Robert Havighurst defines a developmental task as one that “arises at a certain period in our life, the achievement of which leads to happiness and success with later tasks while failure leads to unhappiness, social disapproval, and difficulty with later tasks” (Corpuz et al., 2018).  Developmental stages There are eight (8) developmental stages given by Santrock. The eight developmental stages cited by Santrock are the same as Havighurst’s six (6) developmental stages only that Havighurst did not include the prenatal period. Havighurst combined infancy and early childhood while Santrock mentioned them as two (2) separate stages. The developmental tasks (Santrock, 2002) 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 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 skills and spend many hours in play with peers. 4. Middle and late childhood (6-11 years of age, the 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 years of age ending up to 18-22 years of age) – 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, and deepening of the voice. The pursuit of independence and identity is prominent. Thought is more logical, abstract and idealistic. More time is spent outside of the family. 6. Early adulthood (from late teens or early 20s lasting through the 30s) – 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 children. 7. Middle adulthood (40 to 60 years of age) – It is a 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 (60s and above) – It is a time for adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social roles. Domains of Development 1. Physical Domain: Changes in body size, proportions, appearance, functioning of body systems, perceptual and motor capacities, and physical health. * Provide opportunities to support learners’ physical functioning such as acquisition of new physical skills and performance of physical activities. 2. Socio-emotional (Social and Emotional) Domain: Changes in emotional communication, self-understanding, knowledge about other people, interpersonal skills, friendships, intimate relationships, and moral reasoning and behavior. *Provide opportunities for learners to increase their capacity for self-acceptance, self- reliance, self-confidence, and identity formation. *Provide opportunities for learners to enhance their abilities to build healthy relationships. 3. Cognitive Domain: Changes in intellectual abilities, including attention, memory, academic and everyday knowledge, problem-solving, imagination, creativity, and language. *Provide learners the opportunities to enhance their ability to think, set goals, solve problems and work with focused attention. *Provide learners the opportunity to develop their receptive and expressive skills.  Context of Development Knowing the child’s context provides a more vivid picture in assessing the circumstances the child is growing under. Also, the rights of and policies on children affect them on the level of exposure to different factors that either endanger or protect them. 1. Family context – is the primary context of the child at birth. The family context encompasses the structure of the family, the resources available in the home, health and well-being, and the relationship between the members. 2. Neighborhood context – it is where children can be found in their next immediate social setting where they interact with other people outside the family. this can include the school or any educational system, community and culture. This can include the school or any educational system, community and culture. 3. Socio-demographic context – this refers to the income a family makes to meet the needs of all the members. This also pertains to parents’ educational attainment, degree of knowledge on child-rearing, family planning, discipline, health practices, and others. REFERENCES Acero, V., Javier, E., and Castro, H. (2011). Child and Adolescent Development. Rex Book Store Inc. Manila. Corpuz, B., Lucas, MR, Borabo, HG., and Lucido, P. (2018). The child and adolescent learners and learning principles. Lorimar Publishing Inc. Del Rosario, K., and Albor, RG. (2021). A Course Module for Child Development. Rex Book Store Inc. Manila. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-lifespandevelopment2/chapter/periods-of- development/ https://dictionary.apa.org/child-development https://elearning.reb.rw/course/view.php?id=1276&section=8 https://open.maricopa.edu/devpsych/chapter/chapter-7-adolescence/ https://study.com/academy/lesson/principles-of-learning-overview-examples.html https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/principles/learning.html https://www.coursehero.com/file/118018847/DEFINITIONS-OF-CHILD-AND- ADOLESCENTSdocx/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564386/ https://www.psychologydiscussion.net/learning/learning-theory/difference- between-maturation-and learning-psychology/2497