Cad 1. human development

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:Meaning, Concepts and

Approaches

What is development?

“By virtue of being born to humanity, every human being has

a right to the development and fulfillment of his potentialities as

a human being.” –Ashley Montagu

Every living creature is called to become what is

meant to be.

Caterpillar

Butterfly

Seed

herb, bush or tree

human baby

mature person(“the person who is fully

alive, the glory of God”-St. Irenaeus)

The process of development involves beginnings and

endings.

What was this organism then?What will this organism be?

“All the world’s a stage,And all the men and women

merely players;They have their exits and

entrances,And one man in his time plays

many parts..” –William Shakespeare

Manolo and Julianna

Human Development• the pattern of movement or change

that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan.• Development includes growth and

decline. This means that development can be positive or negative. (Santrock, 2002)

Major principles ofhuman development

1. Development is relatively orderly.An individual will learn to sit, crawl, then walk before they can run.

Proximodistal Pattern Cephalocaudal Pattern

ProXimodistal Pattern

-Growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremeties.

ex. The muscular control of the trunk and arms comes earlier as compared to the hands and fingers

Cephalocaudal-During infancy the greatest growth

always occurs at the top –the head –with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working its way down from top to bottom (neck, shoulders, middle trunk, and so on)

By understanding how characteristics develop, we can make relatively accurate and useful predictions about learners and design effective instructional strategies based on our knowledge of development. (Santrock, 2002)

Major principles ofhuman development

2. While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the outcomes of developmental processes and the rate of development are likely to vary among individuals.

“ifs” good home with loving and

caring parentswarm and responsible children, adolescents and adults

deprived environment carefree and irresponsible children, adolescents and adults

An individual may develop faster and more favorably than another individual due to differences in heredity and environment.

Different heredity and environment for different people

individual differences

Major principles ofhuman development

3. Development takes place gradually.

Children won’t develop into teenagers overnight. The bud does not blossom suddenly. The seed does not germinate overnight.

That’s the way of nature. More often, it takes weeks, months, or years for a person to undergo changes that result in the display of developmental characteristics.

Major principles ofhuman development

4. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes.

o Biological changes in the physical nature (brain will develop, gain weight/height, hormonal changes)

o Cognitive changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence, and language.

(develop mere sounds to words, to sentences; memorizing to singing to imagining to playing or solving)

o Socioemotional changes in the individual’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality

(our emotions depend on the factors in the society or environment we are situated in)

Ex. A child was undernourished and troubled by the thought of father and mother about to separate, he could not concentrate on his studies and consequently would fail and repeat. As a consequence, he may lose face and drop out of school, revert to illiteracy, become unskilled, unemployed and so on and so forth.

(biological cognitive socioemotional)

Two approaches tohuman development

1. TRADITIONAL APPROACH You believe that an individual will

show extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood and decline in late old age.

Two approaches tohuman development

2. LIFE-SPAN APPROACH You believe that even in

adulthood developmental change takes place as it does during childhood.

Characteristics of Life-span Approach

1. Development is lifelong.2. Development is multidimensional.3. Development is plastic.4. Development is contextual.5. Development involves growth,

maintenance and regulation.