EDU302 Updated Handouts

Lecture: 01 · (Topics: 1-8) · Topic: 01. Introduction of Growth and development

Development is a process that entails the entire life-span of an individual, from conception to death. Some of us are intrigued to understand how development does evolve over the years, what are the changes that occur and how do they occur during the life-span? A study of all changes throughout the life-span of an individual is referred to as developmental psychology, developmental science or human development (Keenan & Evans, 2009). However, when we focus our attention to understand the growth, changes and consistencies, on a rather narrower portion of life-span, from conception through adolescence, we are referring to the study of child development.

The field of child development is multidisciplinary, which draws its knowledge from several other fields such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, and neuroscience to name a few (Berk, 2013). Likewise, it informs the practices of various experts who are keen to improve the lives of children. These include educators, pediatricians, psychologists, child care service providers, social service professionals, and parents. In this way, the field of child development has both scientific as well as practical relevance and utility.

While the study of child development is important in its own right, it also informs us about the nature of human development. A better understanding of the growth, changes and stability in the earlier behaviors of life has the potential to inform later behavior, also referred to as adult behavior. As we focus on the growth and development of children in this unit, we draw upon the life-span developmental psychology to inform our understanding.

Overview of Growth and Development

This section provides an overview of two interrelated yet discrete concepts: growth and development. Child's growth and development are complex processes which are influenced by multiple factors and sources. The terms growth and development are often used interchangeably or paired up in a rather similar way, which causes ambiguity over their meaning. It is, therefore, important to understand the difference between these two terms right at the outset.

Topic: 02. Difference between Growth and Development Growth

The term growth implies an addition or increase in the bodily aspects that can be measured, for example, height, weight, size, muscles and length (Woolfolk, 2014). It is based on biological processes that naturally occur over a period of time and are relatively not or less influenced by context except for extreme illness or undernourishment. It eventually stops when the body parts reach the peak of their growth. Overall, growth refers to the natural, spontaneous, specific, genetically programmed, and measurable quantitative gains in a human body. Most of the child's physical gains fall within this category. Some of the developmental psychologists also refer to these changes as maturation.

Development

While growth refers to the physical changes that an individual undergoes, development refers to certain changes that occur within lifespan life-span of an individual, that is, from conception till death (Keenan & Evans, 2009). It not only involves growth but also entails disintegration and eventually decays (death). However, not all changes are considered as development. Rather, it applies to those changes that appear in orderly ways and are considered permanent. Most of these changes are qualitative in nature and influenced by context, for example, changes in behavioral, social, moral and intellectual aspects of an individual. Overall, these changes result in better, adaptive, organized and complex human behaviors.

Development has been described in different ways to highlight different aspects. These include domains of development and stages of development. While the former emphasizes the processes that characterize development latter later on focuses certain age periods to manage the flow of time across child development. The following sections describe each of them in detail.

TOPIC: 03-07. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Topic: 03. Principles 0f Human Development-1 Developmental psychologists believe that knowledge of an accurate pattern of development is fundamental to an understanding of children. There are several basic principles that characterize the pattern and process of growth and development. These principles describe typical development as a predictable and orderly process. Even though there are individual differences in children‘s personalities, attitudes, behavior, and timing of development, the principles and characteristics of development are universal patterns.

1. Development involves change: - The human being is undergoing changes from the moment of conception to the time of death. There are different types of change that occur such a, changes in size, and proportions, the disappearance of old features and the acquisition of new features etc. The goal of these developmental changes is self-realization, which Abraham Maslow has labeled as self- actualization. Each individual is equipped with certain abilities and potentialities at birth. By utilizing the innate or inborn abilities one tries to realize and strive for self-actualization during the total life period. Children‘s attitude toward change is generally determined by their knowledge about these changes, social attitudes toward this change, and the way people of society treat to children when these changes take place.
2. Development is a continuous process: - Development continues throughout the life of an individual. This process takes place in interaction with the environment in which a person lives. One stage of development is the basic framework for the next stage of development. A child has limited knowledge and experiences about his environment. But as he develops, he acquires more information through explorations and ads to the skills already acquired and the new skills become the basis for further achievement and mastery of skills. For example, the child is able to write and draw; he must have developed a hand control to hold a pencil and crayon. Thus, a person has vast experiences and knowledge as he grows up.

3. Development follows a direction and uniform pattern in an orderly manner: - (i)

Development proceeds from the center of the body outward. This is the principle of proximodistal development that describes the direction of development (from nearer to far apart). It means that the spinal cord develops before outer parts of the body. The child‘s arms develop before the hands and the hands and feet develop before the fingers and toes. (ii) Development proceeds from the head downwards. This is called the cephalocaudal principle. According to this principle, development occurs from head to tail. The child gains control of the head first, then the arms and then the legs.

4. Individual Differences in the Development Process: - Even though the pattern of

development is similar for all children but the rate of development varies among children. Each child develops as per his abilities and perception of his environment. Children differ from each other both genetically and environmentally. So, both biological factor and environmental situations have their impact on individual development which leads to individual differences in development. Understanding this fact of individual differences in rates of development should aware us to be careful about using and relying on age and stage characteristics to label children.

5. Development depends on maturation and learning: - Maturation refers to the sequential

characteristic of biological growth and development. The biological changes occur in sequential order and give children new abilities. Changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. These changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. The child‘s environment and the learning that occurs as a result of the child‘s experiences largely determine whether the child will reach optimal development. An enriched environment and varied experiences help the child to develop his/her potential.

6. Development is predictable: - Human development is predictable during the life span. Although this development is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, however, it takes place in a pre-defined manner. Specific areas of development, such as: different aspects of motor development, emotional behavior, speech, social behavior, concept development, goals, intellectual development etc. follow predictable patterns. For example, the growth of the child in height and weight etc. continue up to a certain age. In general, it is also found that all children follow a commonality in the development periods of life. All children generally grow following the periods like prenatal period and postnatal period. The postnatal period includes infancy, babyhood, childhood, puberty and so on.
7. Early development is more critical than later development: - Milton writes ―The childhood

shows the man, as morning shows the day.‖ Similarly, Erikson views ―childhood is the scene of men‘s beginning as man.‖ He explains that if parents gratify the needs of the child for food, attention and love etc., his perception towards people and situation remains positive throughout his