Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles PDF

The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Lesson 1: Human Development Meaning Concepts and Approaches Development - is the pattern of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes that begins at conception and continues throughout the lifespan; it includes both growth and...

The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Lesson 1: Human Development Meaning Concepts and Approaches Development - is the pattern of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes that begins at conception and continues throughout the lifespan; it includes both growth and decay. Growth - refers to physical changes that occur from conception to maturity; quantitative changes in an individual as he progresses in chronological age, and it may refer to increases in size, height or weight Aging -in a biological sense, is the deterioration of organisms (including human beings) that leads inevitably to death. Maturation - is the biological unfolding of an individual according to a plan contained in the genes (the hereditary characteristics passed from parents to child at conception); developmental changes that comes with age. Learning - is the process of acquiring information through which experience brings about relatively permanent changes in thoughts, feelings, or behavior. Environment - refers to all the external, physical, and social conditions and events that can affect us, from crowded living quarters to stimulating social interactions. Here are pictures of seven-year old Naschielle and three-year old Kenn. Each one is a bundle of possibilities. Describe what they were before birth (their point of origin) and who they will possibly be after birth unto adulthood. What will they possibly become? Expound on your answers. Two approaches to human development If you believe that Nikki and Kenn will show extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood and decline in late old age, your approach to development is traditional. In contrast, if you believe that even in adulthood developmental change takes place as it does during childhood, your approach is termed life-span approach. What are the characteristics of human development from a life span perspective? Paul Baltes (Santrock, 2002), an expert in life-span development, gives the following characteristics: 1. Development is lifelong. It does not end in adulthood. Ken and Naschielle will continue developing even in adulthood. 2. Development is plastic. Plasticity refers to the potential for change. Development is possible throughout the life-span. No one is too old to learn. There is no such thing as "I am too old for that..." Neither Kenn nor Naschielle will be too old to learn something. Aging 1 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles is associated with declines in certain intellectual abilities. These declines can be prevented or reduced. In one research study, the reasoning abilities of older adults were improved through retraining. 3. Development is multidimensional. Development consists of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional dimensions. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive and socioemotional processes. Biological processes involve changes in the individual's physical nature. The brains of Naschielle and Kenn develop. They will gain height and weight. They will experience hormonal changes when they reach the period of puberty, and cardiovascular decline as they approach late adulthood. All these show the common biological processes in development. Cognitive processes involve changes in the individual's thought, intelligence, and language. Naschielle and Kenn develop from mere sounds to a word becoming two words, the two words becoming a sentence. They would move on to memorizing their first prayer, singing Bayang Magiliw in every flag ceremony to imagining what it would be like to be a teacher or a pilot, playing chess and solving a complex math problem. All these reflect the role of cognitive processes in development. Socioemotional processes include changes in the individual's relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality. As babies, Naschielle and Kenn responded with a sweet smile when affectionately touched and frowned when displeased and even showed temper tantrum when they could not get or do what they wanted. From aggressive children, they may develop into a fine lady and a gentleman or otherwise, depending on a myriad of factors. They may fall in love and get inspired for life or may end up betrayed, deserted and desperate afterwards. All these reflect the role of socioemotional processes in development. These biological, cognitive and socioemotional processes are inextricably intertwined. While these processes are studied separately, the effect of one process or factor on a person's development is not isolated from the other processes. If Kenn and Naschielle were undernourished and troubled by the thought of father and mother about to separate, they could not concentrate on their studies and consequently would fail and repeat. As a consequence, they may lose face and drop out of school, revert to illiteracy, become unskilled, unemployed and so on and so forth. See how a biological process, affects the cognitive process which in turn, affects the socioemotional process. 4. Development Is Multidirectional. Throughout life, some dimensions or components of a dimension expand, and others shrink. For example, when one language (such as English) is acquired early in development, the capacity for acquiring second and third languages (such as Spanish and Chinese) decreases later in development, especially after early childhood. During adolescence, as individuals establish romantic relationships, their time spent with friends may decrease. 5. Development is relatively orderly. Naschielle and Kenn will learn to sit, crawl then walk before they can run. The muscular control of the trunk and the arms comes earlier as compared to the hands and fingers. This is the proximodistal pattern. During infancy, the greatest growth always occurs at the top - the head with physical growth in size, weight and future differentiation gradually working its way down from top to bottom (for 2 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles example, neck, shoulders, middle trunk and so on). This is the cephalo-caudal pattern. These development patterns are common to Naschielle and Kenn. CEPHALOCAUDAL PROXIMODISTAL PATTERN PATTERN PATTERN 6. Development takes place gradually. Naschielle and Kenn won't develop into pimply teenagers overnight. It takes years before they become one. In fact, that's the way of nature. The bud does not blossom suddenly. The seed does not germinate overnight. While some changes occur in a flash of insight, more often it takes weeks, months, or years for a person to undergo changes that result in the display of developmental characteristics. 7. Development is contextual. Individuals are changing beings in a changing world. Individuals respond to and act on contexts. These contexts include the individual's biological make up, physical environment, cognitive processes, historical, social and cultural contexts. Naschielle's and Kenn's biological make up, social and cultural contexts may vary and therefore make them develop differently from each other. Thus, individuals are changing beings in a changing world. As a result of these changes, contexts exert three types of influences: (1) normative age-graded influences, (2) normative history- graded influences, and (3) nonnormative or highly individualized life events. 8. Development involves growth, maintenance and regulation. Growth, maintenance and regulation are three (3) goals of human development. The goals of individuals vary among developmental stages. For instance, as individuals reach middle and late adulthood, concern with growth gets into the back stage while maintenance and regulation take the center stage. Lesson 2: The Stages of Development and Developmental Tasks For every developmental stage, there is an expected developmental task. What happens when the expected developmental tasks are not achieved at the corresponding developmental stage? How can you help children achieve these developmental tasks? Prenatal Period "How from so simple a beginning does endless forms develop and grow and mature? What was this organism, what is it now, and what will it become? Birth's fragile moment arrives, when the newborn is on a threshold between two worlds." 3 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Infancy and Toddlerhood (from birth 2 years) As newborns, we were not empty-headed 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. We crawled and then we walked, a journey of a thousand miles beginning with a single step... 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. We split the universe into two halves: “me and not me.” And we juggled the need to curb our own will with becoming what we could will freely. Early Childhood (3 to 5 years) In early childhood, our greatest untold poem was being only four years old. 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. When we said “I” we meant something totally unique, not to be confused with any other.” Middle and Late Childhood (6-12 years) "In middle and late childhood, we were on a different plane. belonging to a generation 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 thirst was to know and to understand. Our parents continued to cradle our lives but our growth was also being shaped by successive choirs of friends. We did not think much about the future or the past, but enjoyed the present." Adolescence (13-18 years) "In no order of things was adolescence, the simple time of life for us. We clothed ourselves with rainbows and went 'brave as the zodiac', flashing from one end of the world to the other. We tried on one face after another, searching for a face of our own. 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 4 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles 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. Early adulthood (19-29 years) Early adulthood is a time for work and a time for love. sometimes leaving little time for anything else. For some of us. finding our place in adult society and committing to a more stable life take longer than we imagine. 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 at times angels of light, at other times of torment. And we possibly will never know the love of our parents until we become parents ourselves. Middle adulthood (30-60 years) In middle adulthood what we have been forms what we will be. For some of us, middle age is such a foggy place, 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. In middle age, more time stretches before us and some evaluations have to be made, however reluctantly. As the young/old polarity greets us with a special force, we need to join the daring of youth with the discipline of age in a way that does justice to both. As middle-aged adults we come to sense that the generations of living things pass in a short while and like runners’ hand on the torch of life. Late adulthood (61 years and above) "The rhythm and meaning of human development eventually wend their way to late adulthood, when each of us stands alone at the heart of the earth and "suddenly it is evening." We shed the leaves of youth and are stripped by the winds of time down to the truth. 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 survives of us. Developmental Tasks – Robert Havighurst In each stage of development, a certain task or tasks are expected of every individual. Robert Havighurst defines developmental task as one that arise at a certain period in our life, the successful achievement of which leads to happiness and success with later tasks awhile failure leads to unhappiness, social disapproval, and difficulty with later tasks.” (Havighurst, 1972) 5 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Infancy and Early Childhood (0-5) Middle Childhood (6-12) 1. Learning to walk. 1. Learning physical skills necessary for 2. Learning to take solid foods ordinary games. 3. Learning to talk 2. Building wholesome attitudes toward 4. Learning to control the elimination of oneself as a growing organism body wastes 3. Learning to get along with age-mates 5. Learning sex differences and sexual 4. Learning an appropriate masculine or modesty feminine social role 6. Forming concepts and learning 5. Developing fundamental skills in language to describe social and reading, writing, and calculating physical reality. 6. Developing concepts necessary for 7. Getting ready to read everyday living. 7. Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values 8. Achieving personal independence 9. Developing acceptable attitudes toward social groups and institutions Adolescence (13-18) Early Adulthood (19-29) 1. Achieving new and more mature 1. Selecting a mate relations with age-mates of both 2. Achieving a masculine or feminine sexes social role 2. Achieving a masculine or feminine 3. Learning to live with a marriage social role partner 3. Accepting one's physique and using 4. Starting a family the body effectively 5. Rearing children 4. Achieving emotional independence of 6. Managing a home parents and other adults 7. Getting started in an occupation 5. Preparing for marriage and family life 8. Taking on civic responsibility Preparing for an economic career 9. Finding a congenial social group 6. Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide to behavior; developing an ideology 7. Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior Middle Adulthood (30-60) Later Maturity (61-and over) 1. Achieving adult civic and social 1. Adjusting to decreasing strength and responsibility health 2. Establishing and maintaining an 2. Adjusting to retirement ad reduced economic standard of living income 3. Assisting teenage children to become 3. Adjusting to death of spouse responsible and happy adults 4. Establishing relations with one’s own 4. Developing adult leisure-time age group activities 5. Meeting social and civic obligations 5. Relating oneself to one’s spouse as a 6. Establishing satisfactory living person quarters 6. Accepting and adjusting to the physiological changes of middle age 7. Adjusting to aging parent 6 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Developmental Stages – John Santrock There are eight (8) developmental stages given by Santrock. The eight (8) developmental stages cited by Santrock are the same with Havighurst's six (6) developmental stages only that Havighurst did not include prenatal period. Havighurst combined infancy and early childhood while Santrock mentioned them as two (2) separate stages. These developmental stages are described more in detail in the next paragraphs.. 1. Prenatal period extends from conception to birth. It involves tremendous growth- from a single cell to an organism complete with behavioral capabilities 2. Infancy extends from birth to 18 to 24 months. It is a time of extreme dependence on adults. Many activities are just beginning, such as language development, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning. 3. Early childhood (sometimes called the “preschool years”) extends from the end of infancy to about 5 years. During this period, children become more self-sufficient, develop school readiness skills (such as learning to follow instructions and identify letters), and spend many hours with peers. First grade typically marks the end of early childhood. 4. Middle and late childhood (sometimes called the “elementary school years”) extends from about 6 to 11 years of age. Children master the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and math, achievement becomes a more central theme, and self-control increases. In this period, children interact more with the wider social world beyond their family. 5. Adolescence is the development period that goes from childhood to adulthood, beginning around ages 10 to 12 and ending in the late teens. Adolescence starts with rapid physical changes, including height and weight gains and development of sexual functions. Adolescents intensely pursue independence and seek their own identity. Their thought becomes more abstract, logical, and idealistic. 6. Early adulthood extends from late teen 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 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 (60s and above). It is the time for adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social roles. Lesson3: Major Issues on Human Development Each of us has his/her own informal way of looking at our own and other people's development. These paradigms of human development while obviously lacking in scholastic vigor, provide us with a conceptual framework for understanding ourselves and others. Scholars have come up with their own models of human development. Back up by solid research, they take stand on issues on human development. 1. Nature versus Nurture - Which has a more significant influence on human development? Nature or nurture? Nature refers to an individual's biological inheritance. Nurture refers to environmental experiences. 7 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles 2. Continuity versus Discontinuity – Does development involve gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or distinct changes (discontinuity). To make it more concrete, here is a question: Is our development like that of a seedling gradually growing into an acacia tree? Or is it more like that of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly? 3. Stability vs. Change – Is development best described as involving stability or as involving change? Are we what our first experiences have made of us or do we develop into someone different from who we were at an earlier point in development? The issues presented can be translated into questions that have sparked animated debate among developmentalists. Are girls less likely to do well in math because of their 'feminine' nature or because of society's 'masculine' bias? How extensively can the elderly be trained to reason more effectively? How much, if at all, does our memory decline in old age? Can techniques be used to prevent or reduce the decline? For children who experienced a world of poverty, neglect by parents, and poor schooling in childhood, can enriched experiences in adolescence remove the 'deficits' that they encountered earlier in their development (Santrock, 2002)? 8 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Based on the presentations, each one has his/her own explanations for his/her stand on the developmental issues. What is the right answer? Up to this time, the debate continues. Researches are on-going. But let me tell you that most life-span developmentalists recognize that extreme positions on these issues are unwise. Development is not all nature or all nurture, not all continuity or discontinuity and not all stability or all change (Lemer 1998 as quoted by Santrock, 2002). Both nature and nurture, continuity and discontinuity, stability and change characterize ou life-span development. The key to development is the interaction of nature and nurture rather than either factor alone (Rutter, 2001 as quoted by Santrock, 2002). In other words, it is a matter of "both and" not "either-or." Just go back to the quote beneath the title of this lesson and the message gets crystal clear. To summarize, both genes and environment are necessary for a person even to exist. Without genes, there is no person; without environment, there is no person (Scarr and Weinberg, 1980, quoted by Santrock, 2002). Heredity and environment operate together or cooperate and interact to produce a person's intelligence, temperament, height, weight... ability to read and so on. If heredity and environment interact, which one has a greater influence or contribution, heredity or environment? The relative contributions of heredity and environment are not additive. So we can't say 50% is a contribution of heredity and 50% of environment. Neither is it correct to say that full genetic expression happens once, around conception or birth, after which we take our genetic legacy into the world to see how far it gets us. Genes produce proteins throughout the life span, in many different environments. Or they don't produce these proteins, depending on how harsh or nourishing those environments are. (Santrock, 2002). Lesson 5 – Research in Child and Adolescent Development Research is a very reliable means for teachers to learn about child and adolescent development. When conducted in an appropriate and accurate manner, it becomes a strong basis for making decisions about the things you will do as an effective teacher. Teachers as Consumers/End Users of Research Research gives teachers and also policy-makers important knowledge to use in decision-making for the benefit of learners and their families. Well-informed teachers are able to use and integrate the most authoritative research findings. Research enables teachers to come up with informed decision on what to teach and how to teach. This involves decisions related to educational policies, curriculum, effective teaching-learning processes, and even those involving research, too. It can help us, teachers, to be more knowledgeable about how to fit our teaching with the developmental levels of our learners. Teachers as Researchers The conduct of research does not only belong to thesis and dissertation writers. It is for students and teachers, too. Let us learn how to conduct research by finding out the different research principles and the research methods and designs with focus on child and adolescent development. The Scientific Method One important principle in research is adherence to the scientific method, since research is a systematic and a logical process. As such, researchers basically follow the scientific method. Dewey gave us 5 steps of the scientific method. They are as follows: 1. identify and define the problem 9 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles 2. determine the hypothesis 3. collect and analyze data 4. formulate conclusions 5. apply conclusions to the original hypothesis. Simply explained, identifying the research problem is the first step. This is followed by stating a tentative answer to the research problem called the hypothesis. The hypothesis is also. referred to as an "educated guess." How correct is your "educated guess" or "hypothesis?" If your research problem is concerned with determining the cause of an effect or a phenomenon you have to gather and analyze data derived from an experiment. This is true with experimental research. However, if your research problem is concerned with describing data and characteristics. about the subjects or phenomenon you are studying, you do not need to perform an experiment. This is descriptive research. After analyzing the data, you formulate your conclusions. Compare your conclusions to your original hypothesis to find out if your original hypothesis is correct or not. If your original hypothesis jibes with your finding and conclusion, affirm your hypothesis. If your original hypothesis does not jibe with your finding and conclusions, reject your original hypothesis. Research Designs Researches that are done with high level of quality and integrity provide us with valuable information about child and adolescent development. To be able to conduct quality research, it is important that you know various research designs and different data-gathering techniques used by developmental researchers. Some are given and described below: 10 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Date-Gathering Definition/Description Technique 1. Observation Observations can be made in either laboratories or natural settings. In naturalistic observation, behavior is observed in the real world like classrooms, home in neighborhood 2. Physiological Certain indicators of children’s development such s, among Measures others, heart rate, hormonal levels, bone growth, body weight, and brain activity are measured. 11 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles 3. Standardized These are prepared test that assess individual performance in different domain. These tests are administered in a consistent manner. 4. Interviews and Involve asking participants to provide information about Questionnaires themselves based on the interview or questionnaire given by the researcher. Gathering data may be conducted through a printed questionnaire, over the telephone, by mail, in-person or on-line. Information is obtained by utilizing standardized procedures so that every participant is asked the same questions in the same manner. It entails asking participant for information in some structured format. 5. Life-History These are records of information about a lifetime chronology of Records events and activities. They often involve a combination of data records on education, work, family, and residence. These include public records or historical documents or interviews with respondent Ethical Principles To serve the genuine purposes of research, teacher researchers are subject to ethical principles. Just as we have the Code of Ethics that governs the behavior of teachers, there also exist ethical standards that guide the conduct of research. These ethical standards serve as reminders that as researchers, we should strive to protect the subjects of our study and to maintain the integrity of our research. Details of these ethical principles are found in documents such as the following: 1. Ethical standards of the American Educational Research Association http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/About_AERA/EthicalStandards/EthicalStandards.pdf 2. Ethical Standards for Research with Children Society for Research in Child Development (USA) http://www.srcd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id-68&Itemid=110 3. Standards of the American Psychological Association Concerning Research http://www.lcsc.edu/policy/Policy/1.112a.PDF Common among the three standards given above are the following considerations for researches conducted with young children and other vulnerable population which are enumerated by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Some key points are: 1. Research procedures must never harm children, physically or psychologically. 2. Children and their families have the right to full information about the research in which they may participate, including possible risks and benefits. Their decision to participate must be based on what is called "informed consent." There must be informed consent procedures with research participants. 3. Children's questions about the research should be answered in a truthful manner and in ways that children can understand. Researchers must be honest and clear in their communication. 12 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles 4. There should be respect for privacy. Information obtained through research with children should remain confidential. Researchers should not disclose personal information or the identity of participants in written or oral reports and discussions. Data Privacy Act of 2012 (R.A. 10173) This law was passed in the Philippines in 2012 "to protect the fundamental human right of privacy of communication while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and growth." The law states that the collection of personal data "must be a declared, specified, and legitimate purpose and that... consent is required prior to the collection of all personal data." For more details, read RA 10173. Impact of Teachers' Research Involvement on Teachers Research itself has proven that teachers have everything to gain and nothing to lose when they get involved in the research process, Evidence suggests that: 1. teachers who have been involved in research may become. more reflective, more critical and analytical in their teaching. and more open and committed to professional development (Oja & Pine 1989; Henson 1996; Keyes 2000; Rust 2007). 2. participating in teacher research also helps teachers become more deliberate in their decision-making and actions in the classroom. 3. teacher research develops the professional dispositions of lifelong learning, reflective and mindful teaching, and self transformation (Mills 2000; Stringer 2007). 4. engaging in teacher research at any level may lead to rethinking and reconstructing what it means to be a teacher or teacher educator and, consequently, the way teachers relate to children and students. 5. teacher research has the potential to demonstrate to teachers and prospective teachers that learning to teach is inherently connected to learning to inquire (Borko, Liston, & Whitcomb 2007). Teacher involvement in the conduct of teacher research shows a shift from thinking about teacher research as something done to teachers to something done by teachers (Zeichner 1999; Lampert 2000). 13 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Lesson 6 – Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Freud's views about human development are more than a century old. He can be considered the most well-known psychologist because of his very interesting theory about the unconscious and also about sexual development. Although a lot of his views were criticized and some considered them debunked, (he himself recanted some of his earlier views). Freud's theory remains to be one of the most influential in psychology. His theory sparked the ideas in the brilliant minds of other theorists and thus became the starting point of many other theories, notable of which is Erikson's Psychosocial theory. Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development Freud is the most popular psychologist that studied the development of personality, also probably the most controversial. His theory of psychosexual development includes five distinct stages. According to Freud, a person goes through the sequence of these five stages and along the way there are needs to be met. Whether these needs are met or not, determines whether the person will develop a healthy personality or not. The theory is quite interesting for many because Freud identified specific erogenous zones for each stage of development. These are specific "pleasure areas" that become focal points for the particular stage. If needs are not met along the area, a fixation occurs. As an adult, the person will now manifest behaviors related to this erogenous zone. 1. Oral Stage (birth to 18 months). The erogenous zone is the mouth. During the oral stage, the child is focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little satisfaction can lead to an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is shown in an increased focus on oral activities. This type of personality may be oral receptive, that is, have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, overeat, or oral aggressive, that is, with a tendency to bite his or her nails, or use curse words or even gossip. As a result, these persons may become too dependent on others, easily fooled, and lack leadership traits. On the other hand, they may also fight these tendencies and become pessimistic and aggressive in relating with people. 2. Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years). The child's focus of pleasure in this stage is the anus. The child finds satisfaction in eliminating and retaining feces. Through society's expectations, particularly the parents, the child needs to work on toilet training. Let us remember that between one year and a half to three years the child's favorite word might be "No!". Therefore a struggle might exist in the toilet training process when the child retains feces when asked to eliminate, or may choose to defecate when asked to hold feces for some reason. In terms of personality, fixation during this stage can result in being anal retentive, an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control; or anal expulsive where the person may become messy and disorganized. 3. Phallic Stage (ages 3 to 6). The pleasure or erogenous zone is the genitals. During the preschool age, children become interested in what makes boys and girls different. Preschoolers will sometimes be seen fondling their genitals. Freud's studies led him to believe that during this stage boys develop unconscious sexual desire for their mother. Boys then see their father as a rival for her mother's affection. Boys may fear that their 14 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles father will punish them for these feelings, thus, the castration anxiety. These feelings comprise what Freud called Oedipus Complex. In Greek Mythology, Oedipus unintentionally killed his father and married his mother Jocasta. Psychoanalysts also believed that girls may also have a similar experience, developing unconscious sexual attraction towards their father. This is what is referred to as the Electra Complex. According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of their father, boys eventually decide to identify with them rather than fight them. By identifying with their father, the boys develop masculine characteristics and identify themselves as males and repress their sexual feelings toward their mother. A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts. 4. Latency Stage (age 6 to puberty). It's during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed. The children's focus is the acquisition of physical and academic skills. Boys usually relate more with boys and girls with girls during this stage. 5. Genital Stage (puberty onwards). The fifth stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. In the earlier stages, adolescents focus their sexual urges towards the opposite sex peers, with the pleasure centered on the genitals. Freud's Personality Components Freud described the personality structures as having three components, the id, the ego and the superego. For each person, the first to emerge is the id, followed by the ego, and last to develop is the superego. While reading about the three components, use the graphic organizer below to put your notes and questions about them. The id. Freud says that, a child is born with the id. The id plays a vital role in one's personality because as a baby, it works so that the baby's essential needs are met. The id operates on the pleasure principle. It focuses on immediate gratification or satisfaction of its needs. So whatever feels good now is what it will pursue with no consideration for the reality, logicality or practicality of the situation. For example, a baby is hungry. It's id wants food or milk... so the baby will cry. When the child needs to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met. Nothing else matters to the id except the satisfaction of its own needs. It is not oriented towards considering reality nor the needs of others. Just see how babies cry any time of day and night! Absolutely no regard of whether mommy is tired or daddy is sleeping. When the id wants something, it wants it now and it wants it fast! The ego. As the baby turns into a toddler and then into a preschooler, he/she relates more with the environment, the ego slowly begins to emerge. The ego operates using the reality principle. It is aware that others also have needs to be met. It is practical because it knows that being impulsive or selfish can result to negative consequences later, so it reasons and considers the best response to situations. As such, it is the deciding agent of the personality. Although it functions to help the id meet its needs, it always takes into account the reality of the situation. 15 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles The superego. Near the end of the preschool years, or the end of the phallic stage, the superego develops. The superego embodies a person's moral aspect. This develops from what the parents, teachers and other persons who exert influence impart to be good or moral. The superego is likened to conscience because it exerts influence on what one considers right and wrong. The Three Components and Personality Adjustment Freud said that a well-adjusted person is one who has strong ego, who can help satisfy the needs of the id without going against the superego while maintaining the person's sense of what is logical, practical and real. Of course, it is not easy for the ego to do all that and strike a balance. If the id exerts too much power over the ego, the person becomes too impulsive and pleasure-seeking behavior takes over one's life. On the opposite direction, one may find the superego so strong that the ego is overpowered. The person becomes so harsh and judgmental to himself and others' actions. The person's best effort to be good may still fall short of the superego's expectations. The ability of a learner to be well-adjusted is largely influenced by how the learner was brought up. His experiences about how his parents met his needs, the extent to which he was allowed to do the things he wanted to do, and also how he was taught about right and wrong, all figures to the type of personality and consequent adjustment that a person will make. Freud believed that the personality of an individual is formed early during the childhood years. Topographical Model The Unconscious. Freud said that most what we go through in our lives, emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses deep within are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what influence us is our unconscious. The Oedipus and Electra Complex mentioned earlier were both buried down into the unconscious, out of our awareness due to the extreme anxiety they caused. While these complexes are in our unconscious, they still influence our thinking, feeling and doing in perhaps dramatic ways. The Conscious. Freud also said that all that we are aware of is stored in our conscious mind. Our conscious mind only comprises a very small part of who we are so that, in our everyday life, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is hidden and out of reach. The Subconscious. The last part is the preconscious or subconscious. This is the part of us that we can reach if prompted, but is not in our active conscious. Its right below the surface, 16 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles but still "hidden" somewhat unless we search for it. Information such as our telephone number, some childhood memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious. Because the unconscious is so huge, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, Freud used the analogy of the iceberg to illustrate it. A big part of the iceberg is hidden beneath the water's surface. The water, may represent all that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been made part of our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious. 17 The Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles Lesson 7 – Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory Jean Piaget (1896–1980) Jean Piaget's Cognitive Theory of Development is truly a classic in the field of educational psychology. This theory fueled other researches and theories of development and learning. Its focus is on how individuals construct knowledge. Read the situations below. 1. It's Christmas and Uncle Bob is giving "aguinaldo" to the children. Three year-old Karen did not want to receive the one hundred peso bill and instead preferred to receive four 20 peso bills. Her ten year-old cousins were telling her it's better to get the one hundred bill, but they failed to convince her. 2. Siblings, Tria, 10; Enzo, 8; and Riel, 4 were sorting out their stuffed animals. They had 7 bears, 3 dogs, 2 cows and 1 dolphin. Mommy, a psychology teacher, enters and says, "Good thing you're sorting those. Do you have more stuffed animals or more bears?" Tria and Enzo says, "stuffed animals." Riel says, "Bears" 3. While eating on her high chair, seven-month old Liza accidentally dropped her spoon on the floor. She saw mommy pick it up. Liza again drops her new spoon, and she does this several times more on purpose. Mommy didn't like it at all but Liza appeared to enjoy dropping the spoons the whole time. The children in the situations presented above were of different ages and so also should apparent differences in the way they thought They were in different stages of cognitive development. Perhaps no one has influenced the field of cognitive development more than Jean Piaget. As you read through this lesson, you will come to understand cognitive development of children and adolescents and also identify