DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

North La Union
Campus Bacnotan,
La Union
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

CHILD AND
ADOLESCENT
LEARNERS AND
LEARNING
PRINCIPLES
(EDUC 101)

PURITA R.
ASPURIA

Module
 2

COURSE
OUTLINE IN
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING
PRINCIPLES (EDUC 101)


COURSE
DESCRIPTION

This is a three-unit course which consists of six (6) modules. The

Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles focuses on child
and adolescent development with emphasis on contemporary research
and theory on biological, cognitive, language, social and emotional
dimensions of development and learning. Further, this includes factors
that affect the progress of development of the learners and
appropriate pedagogical principles.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the course, the students should have been able to have:

1. demonstrate content knowledge and its application within

and/or across curriculum teaching areas;
2. demonstrate an understanding of the different research-based
theories related to the varied dimensions of child and
adolescent development and their application to each
particular developmental level of the learners;
3. demonstrate understanding of pedagogical principles suited to
diverse learners‟ needs and experiences at different
developmental levels;
4. demonstrate knowledge of laws, policies, guidelines, and
procedures that provide safe and secure learning
environments; and
5. demonstrate knowledge of positive and non-violent
discipline in the management of learner procedure.

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☑ 1.
2.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Class attendance as scheduled
Active class participation through mutually agreed platform
3. Prescribed activities indicated in the learning module
4. Midterm and Final Examinations
5. Prompt submission of course requirements
6. Compliance with other requirements aligned to flexible blended
learning modality

 GRADING SYSTEM
Module Assignments - 40%
Course Requirements, Activities, Assignments

Midterm/Final Examination -

60%

Total 100%

 COURSE

CONTENT
Module I Basic Concepts
Lesson 1 Definition Child and Adolescent Learners
Lesson 2 Growth and Development (Nature and Nurture)
Lesson 3 Periods of Development
Lesson 4 Developmental Tasks and Education
Lesson 5 Domains of Development
Lesson 6 Context and Development
Lesson 7 Development and Pedagogy

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Module II Biological Development

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Lesson 1 Biological Beginnings

Lesson 2 Physical and Motor Development
Lesson 3 Neuroscience and Brain Development
Lesson 4 Factors Affecting Biological/Physical
Development Lesson 5 Development Theories: Developmental
Milestones of
Gesell, Ecological Systems Theory of Bronfenbrenner

Module III Cognitive Development

Lesson 1 Cognitive Development (Piaget and Vygotsky)
Lesson 2 Intelligence and Individual Differences
Lesson 3 Language Development
Lesson 4 Factors Affecting Cognitive and Language
Development

Module IV Social and Emotional Development

Lesson 1 Socio-emotional Development
Lesson 2 Development of Self and Social Understanding
(Freud, Erikson, Bandura)
Lesson 3 Development of Motivation and Self-
Regulation (Content and Process
Theories)
Lesson 4 Moral Development Theories

Module V Behavioral Learning Theories and

Approaches to Learning
Lesson 1 The Learning Process
Lesson 2 Approaches to Learning
(Behavioral, Social Cognitive, Information
Processing, Cognitive Constructivist, Social
Constructivist)
Lesson 3 Connectionism
Lesson 4 Conditioning (Classical, Contiguous, Operant)
Lesson 5 Behavioral Analysis in Education
Lesson 6 Gestalt-Insight Learning
Lesson 7 Experiential Learning Theory

Module VI Safety and Security in the Learning Environment

Lesson 1 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and PD 603
Lesson 2 Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (R.A. 10627)
Lesson 3 Child Protection Policy
Lesson 4 Positive Discipline

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 REFERENCES

Corpuz, B.B., Lucas, M.R.D., Borabo, H.G.L., & Lucido, P.I. (2018)
The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles.
Lorimar Publishing, Inc, Quezon City, Philippines.

Lim. L.S., Caubic, R.A. & Casihan, L.L. (2014) The Teaching
Profession. Adriana Publishing Co., Inc., Quezon City, Philippines
Santrock, J.W. (2011) Educational Psychology, 5e. McGraw-
Hill Companies, Inc. New York, NY.

Barkan, Steve E. (n.d.) “Sociological Perspectives on Education”, Section

11.2 from the book: A Primer on Social Problems (v.1.0).
Available online at https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-
primer-on-social- problems/index.html

Kidsense Child Development– avalibalbe online at

https://childdevelopment.com.au/

The Convention on the Rights of the Child UNESCO Courier, October

1991

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MODULE I

BASIC

CONCEPTS

Lesson 1 Definition Child

and Adolescent
Learners

Lesson 2 Growth and

Development (Nature
and Nurture)

Lesson 3 Periods of Development

Lesson 4 Developmental Tasks

and Education

Lesson 5 Domains of Development

Lesson 6 Context and Development

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Lesson 7 Development and Pedagogy

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MODUL

E I BASIC

CONCEPTS


INTRODUCTION

This module has seven lessons that present to you the basic
concepts that are related to child and adolescent development. It will
help you examine how current research and theories on child and
adolescent development contribute to teaching and learning within
and across different areas.
Lesson 1 describes child and adolescent learners according to
the universal definition of the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child the World Health Organization.
Lesson 2 discusses the interaction of nature and nurture and
their influence in growth and development.
Lesson 3 provides a bird‟s eye view of the periods of human
development.
Lesson 4 talks about the developmental tasks of infancy,
childhood and adolescence, on the basis of their physical growth,
psychological pressures, and socio- cultural pressures, and their
educational implications.
Lesson 5 presents the distinctions and the association of the
biological, cognitive and socio-emotional domains of human
development.
Lesson 6 tackles children‟s developmental contexts and their
educational implications
Lesson 7 introduces the concepts of child development and pedagogy.

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OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you must be able to:

1. define child and other basic concepts that are associated to
child and adolescent learning and learning principles;
2. illustrate the influence of nature andnurture in growth
and development;
3. characterize distinctively the stages infancy, early childhood,
middle childhood, adolescence and adulthood;
4. identify the specific developmental tasks of the child and
adolescent learners and their educational implications;
5. illustrate the distinctions of biological, cognitive and socio-
emotional development;
6. write educational implications on varied the contexts
child and adolescent development; and
7. reflect on the relevance of child development and pedagogy

 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

There are seven lessons in the module. Read each lesson

carefully then answer the exercises/activities to find out how much you
have benefited from it. Work on these exercises carefully and critically
and submit your output to your subject professor.

In case you encounter difficulty, discuss this with your subject

professor during the face-to-face meeting.

Good luck and happy reading!!!

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Lesson 1


DEFINITION OF CHILD AND ADOLECENT
LEARNERS

In this lesson, you will learn the universal definitions of child and
adolescent. The definitions by UNESCO and UNICEF are contained in
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC),
described as Magna Carta for Children which defines child as "every
human being below the age of 18 years.” The UNCRC is an
international convention that sets out the rights of children: civil,
economic, political, social and cultural rights. It is monitored by the
United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child which is
composed of members from countries around the world. The UNCRC
will be further discussed in Module 6.
UNESCO and UNICEF represent two different bodies of the
United Nations (UN) that are working together to improve literacy
and education. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization. It is concerned with eradication of poverty,
achieving sustainable development and intercultural negotiation to
promote education, the sciences and culture. It seeks to build peace
through international cooperation in the Education, the Sciences and
Culture. Whereas, UNICEF is the United Nations International
Children's Emergency Fund, a special program of the United Nations
which is committed to the purpose of aiding national efforts for child
care, that is to improve the health, nutrition, education as well as
general welfare of children.
The World Health Organization (WHO) gives the following
definitions of child and adolescent. A child is a person 19 years or
younger unless national law defines a person to be an adult at an
earlier age. However, in these guidelines when a person falls into the
10 to 19 age category they are referred to as an adolescent. An infant
is a child younger than one year of age (Consolidated ARV guidelines,
June 2013).

THINK!

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Lesson 2

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

In this lesson, you will look into the impact of genetics and
enviornment in growth and development. You will also attain
knowledge and comprehension on what discriminates growth from
development.
Human growth and development is a lifelong process of physical,
cognitive, and emotional growth and behavioural change. Growth is
cellular and is observed in quantifiable changes of physical aspects of
the person such as change in size. Development is organizational in
nature and is is seen in the qualitative overall and progressive changes
of the person and change of structure. Human children both grow and
develop dramatically from birth through about approximately 18 years
of age.

The Influence of Nature and Nurture

One of the prevailing issues in psychology is the age-old debate

on nature and nurture, continuously seeking to understand the
influence of nature (genetics) and nurture (environment) on human
development. The debate intends to find out whether genetic factors
have more influence on one‟s behaviour or personality over
environmental factors or the other way around. Nature refers to genes
or hereditary factors which are commonly seen in appearance and
characteristics while nurture implies environmental variables such as
how a child is raised, the socio-emotional relations and the surrounding
culture.
In order to understand the influence of genetics and
environment, try to look into the several perspectives in the fields of
psychology and examine how they agree and/or disagree in their
contentions.
1. Plato and Descartes advocated that there are certain things that
are innate, or that they occur naturally apart from environmental
contexts and influences. They take the standpoint of nativists
with the concept that all or most characteristics and behaviours
are the consequences of inheritance and are the outcomes of
evolution. Genetic traits handed down from ancestors/parents
influence the individual differences that create uniqueness in
every person.
2. John Locke, on the other hand, come with the concept of tabula
rasa, which gives the impression that the mind begins as a blank
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slate – at birth, the human mind has no innate ideas. Thus,
everything that a person knows (knowledge) is determined by
the encounter (experience) with the varied stimuli around him or
her.

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3. Empiricists and behaviorists take the perspective that all or most

characteristics and behaviours result from learning. The
behaviorists believe that all actions and behaviors are the results
of conditioning. Irrespective of genetic background, behavioural
theorists such as John B. Watson believed that people could be
trained to do and/or to become anything.
4. Contemporary views present that more and more psycholgists
and researchers are now starting to become aware of the reality
that these two factors do not individually influence development
instead, they work together (interact). Thus, they find interest in
examining how nature (genes) modulates nurture (environmental
influences) or the other way around. Nevertheless, while few
take the extreme nativist or radical empiricist/bevariorist
approach, the debate on the degree to which heredity and
environment influence behaviour remains.

THINK!

Group Activity
Review a contemporary research article about the influence of nature and nurture in child gr

Title:
Author:
Publisher:
Date of publication:

Write concise notes on the:

Main discussion (problem,findings and conclusions)
Insight and reflection
Educational implication

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Lesson
3

 PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT

In this lesson, you shall see how developmentalists look at

periods of development with their distinctive features. Going back to
Lesson one, it is implied that a 1-year old and an 8-year old are
described as children. Let us not forget that even if they are both
children, they are certainly dissimilar in terms of motor, cognitive, and
social skills.. You will find later that this is also true to a 20-year old and
a 40-year old adults. In order to learn more, you shall then have to
examine briefly the following periods of development: prenatal, infancy
and toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence and
adulthood.

Prenatal Development

Conception signals the beginning of prenatal development which

starts with fertilization in the germinal stage through the implantation
in the embryonic development, and continues through cell
differentiation in fetal development. The average duration for prenatal
development to complete is 38 weeks from the date of conception. The
three stages of prenatal development are called germinal, embryonic
and fetal periods. Germinal stage happens in the first two weeks after
conception, embryoninc stage is the third through the eighth week,
and from the ninth week up until birth is the fetal period. These periods
shall be dealt in details in the next chapter.
It may be helpfu to mention that while the major structures of the
developing body are forming, the health of the mother is equally of
primary concern because the health of the mother will determine the
health of the developing child. Evolutionary psychology helps us
understand that the interplay of nature and nurture are markedly
evident in this period. For instance, environmental factors such as
maternal nutrition and teratogens can affect to a great extent the
development of the child.

Infancy and toddlerhood

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After birth, dramatic growth and changes occur during the first
18 to 24 months wherein a newborn, equipped with several involuntary
reflexes and an initially strong sense of audition (hearing) but poor
vision (sight), is transformed into an actively walking and talking
toddler. Eventually, there is a

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change in the roles of caregivers from managing feeding and sleep to

constantly repositioning guides and acting as safety inspectors for the
enormously energetic toddlers. There is remarkable rate of brain
development as well so do physical growth and language development.
This time, infants display their own temperaments, attitudes and styles
in play. Sense of attachment to primary caregivers develops so that
interactions with them changes very much with possible separation
anxiety. Social and cultural issues mainly address concerns that
include breastfeeding vs formula-feeding, sleeping in cribs vs in the
bed with parents, toilet training and the like.

Early childhood

Early childhood consists of the years after toddlerhood and goes

before formal schooling, hence often referred to as preschool age. It is
roughly between the ages of 2 to 5 or 6. While the child is actively
developing his or her fine (use of small muscles) and gross (use of
large muscles) motor skills, he or she gains remarkable growth in
vocabulary and cognitive development and dramatically acquires
language (first and second) and gains a sense of self and greater
independence A child in this stage has an aggressive and sometimes
violent willpower of doing something that may give him or her the
chance to experience guilt upon the disapproval of significant others.

Middle Childhood

This is the grade school age, ranging form six through eleven.
Much of what children experience at this age is linked to their
rnanagement in the early grades of elementary school. Physical
growth slows down and while the child‟s world becomes one of
acquiring academic skills, the children are able to refine their motor
skills, acquire foundational skills for building healthy social
relationships beyond the family and learn roles that will prepare them
for adolescence and adulthood. It is the time for children to show off
their accomplishments in school in varied areas.

Adolescence

Adolescence is a period of development 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 valuable for experiencing the
adolescent years and and later assuming adult responsibilities.
Important development in the nerve cells also take place during the
adolescence. These developments are linked to hormonal changes but
are not always dependent on them. Developments are taking place in
regions of the brain, such as the limbic system which is responsible for
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pleasure seeking and reward processing, emotional responses and
sleep regulation. Changes in the pre-frontal cortex happen later in
adolescence and theses are for organization, decision-making, impulse
control

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and planning. Linked to the hormonal and neurodevelopmental

changes that are taking place are psychosocial and emotional changes
and increasing cognitive and intellectual capacities. Over the course of
the second decade, adolescents develop stronger reasoning skills,
logical and moral thinking, and become more capable of abstract
thinking and making rational judgements
(www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/
adolescence/development/en/).

Adulthood (Early, Middle and Late)

Early adulthood is in the ages of 20 through 40. While physical

maturation is done, physiological capabilities such as sensory abilities,
reaction time, muscle strength, and even cardiac functioning are at
their peak. Foremost tasks of the stage include establishing identity,
developing more stable emotional stability, establishing a career,
forming intimate and long-term relationship, becoming involved with
various groups in the community, establishing a residence, and
adjusting to marital relationship and learning how to be a parent.
Though not apparent, the aging process starts toward the age range of
30 to 35 where a lot of changes begin to happen in various parts and
functions of the body like the following: hair starts to thin and turn
gray, wrinkles appear because the skin becomes drier, there are
changes in vision, sensitivity to sound decreases (twice as quickly for
men), the immune system weakens, and reproductive ability declines.
Towards the age of 40 and through the mid-60‟s is middle
adulthood. Though characterized by physiological aging, two forms of
intelligence are highlighted: the crystallized and the fluid. Crystallized
intelligence is contingent upon the pile up knowledge and experiences
that the person has accumulated. These include the information and
competencies/skills one has acquired all the way through lifetime. It
tends to hold and may even be enriched as we age. For example,
adults show relatively stable to increasing scores on intelligence tests
until their mid-30s to mid-50s (Bayley & Oden, 1955). Fluid
intelligence, in contrast, begins to drop even prior to middle adulthood
as it is more contigent on the skills of basic information-processing
shown in the slowing down of the skills of cognitive processing and
problem solving and in physiological activities. However, practical
problem-solving skills to handle the real-life problems tend to increase
and apparently, the wise and experienced middle aged ones may
contribute a lot to figure out the best approach to achieve a desired
goal. Being in the sandwich generation, middle- aged adults may be in
the middle of taking care of their children (and grandchildren) and of
their aging parents. And at the same time they may also be
contemplating their own mortality, commitments, goals and
achievements.
Late adulthood covers a wide range of ages with varied
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descriptions, categorized as follows: 1) the young old (65-74 years old),
2) the old old (75-84 years old), and 3) the oldest old (85 years old and
above). The young old are similar to middle-aged adults; possibly still
working, is in very good health for his or her age and keeps moving to
have a lively and interesting life. The old old are normally aging in
which the changes are similar to most of those of the

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same age and may have certain health problems to deal with. The
oldest old are repeatedly weak and need long term health care and
services.

THINK!

1. Create infographic presentation of the distinctive characteristics of the periods of developm

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Lesson 4

 TASKS AND EDUCATION

(HAVIGHURST)

In this lesson, we shall learn what developmental task means

and how important it is in education. Robert L. Havighhurst
(1953) stated: “a development task is a task which arise at or about
a certain period in the life of the individual, successful achievement of
which leads to his happiness and to success with later tasks, while
failure leads to unhappiness and difficulty with later task. It implies
that it is a task which an individual has to and would like to perform in
a specific period in life. Havighurst further writes, “a developmental-
task is the midway between an individual need and a social demand.
It assumes an active learner interacting with an active social
environment”. Taking from an educational and scientific perspective,
the concept of developmental task is in a lot of ways helpful in
education. Its implication is that children and/or young people are
active learners who desire to learn themselves. Physical maturation
process together with socially influenced development must be
considerations in applying the theory in education. The assertion of
Havighurst agrees with behavioural principles that social and
educational arrangements do obstruct or reinforce the learning
process.
Developmental tasks arise from three different sources
(Havighurst, 1948, 1953). First, some are mainly based on physical
maturation (e.g., learning to walk). Another source of developmental
tasks relates to socio- structural and cultural forces. Such influences
are based on, for instance, laws (e.g., minimum age for marriage) and
culturally shared expectations of development e.g., age norms
(Neugarten, Moore, and Lowe, 1965), determining the age range in
which specific developmental tasks have to be mastered. The third
source of developmental tasks involves personal values and
aspirations. These personal factors result from the interaction
between ontogenetic and environmental factors, and play an active
role in the emergence of specific developmental tasks (e.g., choosing
a certain occupational pathway).

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Six Stages of growth and development (http://faculty.mdc.edu).

Stages of G & D Developmental Tasks
1. Infancy and 1. Learning to walk
Early 2. Learning to take solid foods
Childhood 3. Learning to talk
4. Learning to control the elimination of body wastes
5. Learning sex differences and sexual modesty
6. Forming concepts and learning language to describe
social and physical reality.
7. Getting ready to read
2. Middle 1. Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games.
Childhood 2. Building wholesome attitudes toward oneself as a
growing organism
3. Learning to get along with age-mates
4. Learning an appropriate masculine or feminine social role
5. Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and
calculating
6. Developing concepts necessary for everyday living
7. Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values
8. Achieving personal independence
9. Developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions
3. Adolescence 1. Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of
both
sexes
2. Achieving a masculine or feminine social role
3. Accepting one's physique and using the body effectively
4. Achieving emotional independence of parents and other
adults
5. Preparing for marriage, family life, and an economic career
6. Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a
guide to behavior; developing an ideology
7. Desiring and achieving socially responsible behaviour
4. Early 1. Selecting a mate
Adulthood 2. Achieving a masculine or feminine social role
3. Learning to live with a marriage partner
4. Starting a family
5. Rearing children
6. Managing a home
7. Getting started in an occupation
8. Taking on civic responsibility
9. Finding a congenial social group
5. Middle Age 1. Achieving adult civic and social responsibility
2. Establishing and maintaining an economic standard of living
3. Assisting teenage children to become responsible and happy
adults
4. Developing adult leisure-time activities
5. Relating oneself to one‟s spouse as a person
6. Accepting and adjusting to the physiologic changes or middle
age
7. Adjusting to aging parents

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6. Later 1. Adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health
Maturity 2. Adjusting to retirement and reduced income
3. Adjusting to death of a spouse
4. Establishing an explicit affiliation with one‟s age group
5. Meeting social and civil obligations
6. Establishing satisfactory physical living arrangement

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Due to conforming empirical researches on Havighurt‟s theory,

the developmental-tasks concept gained gradual acceptance in
pedagogy. Pedagogical contexts imply that while children are
challenged to acquire new learning tasks and abilities, their existing
skills must be recognized and accepted. An ideal pedagogical
environment provides a variety of opportunities to developing young
persons to utilize their already acquired knowledge and skills and to
win social recognition when they are confronted with novel tasks. The
pedagogical environment must consist of the school or learning center
and the family. The developmental-tasks concept thus assumes the
likelihood that social and educational arrangements support or hamper

THINK!

the corresponding tasks.

1. What does developmental task mean?

2. How can a teacher use practically the concept of developmental task

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Lesson 5

 DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT

You will learn in this lesson the descriptions of the domains that
distinguish specific aspects of growth and change: biological, cognitive
and language and social-emotional.

Physical and Biological Development

Physical growth and development involves growth and

changes that children undergo as they age such as the growth and
changes in the body and the brain, the sense organs, development of
reflexes, motor skills, locomotion and coordination, learning skill, and
health issues. As mentioned in lesson 3, motor skills are gross and fine,
the child's ability to use large muscles and the ability to use small
muscles, respectively. Coordination is one more ability that develops
"on its own" as infants curiously discover their bodies and their
immediate environment. Attempts to put fingers together, reach for
toes, reach for nearby objects signal the emergence and development
of eye-hand coordination. Locomotion indicates that movement of a
part of the body leads to change in the position and
location of the organism. Body movements with no travel, such as
wiggling, bending, swaying are non-locomotive. Movements that
involve the body and an object like pushing or pulling a wheeled toy
truck or swinging a golf club to strike a ball are manipulative.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is the formation of thought processes,

including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, and the
use of language from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. It is
a field of study in neuroscience and psychology that focuses on
development in the specific areas that include conceptual resources,
information processing, perceptual skill, and language acquisition. M
Gauvain, R Richert (2016) defines cognitive development as the
process by which human beings acquire, organize, and learn to use
knowledge. He discusses two aspects of cognitive development:
„what develops,‟ or the content of knowledge, and „how knowledge
develops.‟ Discussion of „what develops‟ focuses on concepts, the
mental groupings of similar objects and other entities that play a
fundamental role in organizing knowledge of experience. The
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processes of memory, problem solving, reasoning, and executive
function are used to describe „how‟ knowledge

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develops (M Gauvain, R Richert, in Encyclopedia of Mental Health

(Second Edition), 2016).

Socio-emotional Development

Socio-emotional development includes the child's experience,

expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish
positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen and others
2005). It represents a specific domain of child and adolescent
development characterized by a gradual and integrative process by
which children acquire the ability recognize, experience, understand,
and manage his emotions and get along well with other children
and .build good relationships with adults. These skills are important for
children to acquire the basic skills they need such as following
directions, cooperation, payig attention and showing self control and
paying attention. Children with good socioemotional skills recognizes if
one is sad or happy. They too can communicate with their friends
differently from the way they do with their teacher and their parents.
More indications of social and emotional skills will be presented in
module 4.

THINK!

1. Through a graphic organizer, describe and distinguish the following develop

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Lesson 6

 CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT

In this lesson, you shall briefly look at the significant impact of

the most influential contexts of children‟s
implications.
development and their educational

Socio-cultural Context

Children grow up in varied socio-cultural contexts with unique

physical, economic, social, cultural, and historical circumstances that
definitely exert significant influence in their childhood and
development. Research has shown that children‟s socio-cultural
context can have a large influence on their development. We know
that culture influences how children develop; across different cultures,
children can develop in quite different ways (Montgomery, 2008). And
we know that children who are deprived of care from a primary
caregiver can often experience difficulties in later childhood because
their early attachment experiences were affected by this (Bowlby,
1980).

Family and School Context

Relationships with parents, siblings and caregivers, peers and

teachers are considerations in the context of early child care and
childhood settings, schools, classrooms, and home-based and school-
based interventions. Vanderamaas_Peeler, et.al (2009) described
parent-child engagement and parental guidance of children‟s
participation in literacy-related activities at home and found that the
extent to which both teaching-oriented guidance and socio-emotional
involvement in early home-based literacy activities may be linked to
enjoyment, motivation and success in subsequent school-based
literacy experiences warrants further investigation among
economically diverse families. Development involves a process of
learning and improvement, and children can only learn when others
are there to support them, like parents, teachers and siblings or other
child‟s significant others.

Children‟s Appraisal of Relationships and Context

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Children‟s appraisal and interpretation of relationships and
contexts can be assets or dangers for beneficial learning and
development as they imply both positive and negative effect through
early childhood and adolescence and may even extend into
adulthood. It is always advantageous if parents (and

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other caregivers) possess knowledge of the sensitive periods (windows)

for brain development, parental (caregiver‟s) responsiveness and
emotional attunement, mindfulness, intentional skills development,
reciprocal interactions, enriching opportunities. Such knowledge foster
and support positive adaptations, learning, resilience, health, and child
welfare.

Other Contexts

World wide contextual factors such as chronic stress and anxiety,

institutionalized racism, stereotype threat, racial identity, child abuse,
parent‟sseparation, domestic violence are affecting development
unfavorably.

THINK!

Think deeply and reflect on your “own context and development”. Write a refle
socio-cultural context
family and school context

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Lesson 7

 DEVELOPMENT AND PEDAGOGY

This lesson will teach you what pedagogy means, its connection
to development and its implications to education.

Pedagogy

Taken as an academic discipline, pedagogy is the study of how

information and skills are conveyed in the educational context. It has
become an important word in education and teaching and is referred to
as the science of teaching. Due to diverse learners‟ profile, political
and socio-cultural contexts, varying practice of pedagogy occurs
largely. The interactions of these factors during learning constitute a
major consideration in teaching.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss social reformer and educator, is
known as the Father of Modern Education. He saw teaching as a
subject worth studying in its own right and he is therefore known as
the father of pedagogy, the method and practice of teaching,
especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept
(www.jhpestalozzi.org).
Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist who is famous on child
development believed that children construct their understanding of
the things around them and that learning happens when they
experience inconsistencies between what they previously know and
what they discover themselves. He emphasized that child and
adolescent learning needs and capabilities are significantly different
from those of the adults.

The Relationship of Development and Pedagogy

While there are certain universal and eventually predictable

dimensions of development, diversity of learners most of which are
attributed to socio- cultural differences, child and adolescent learners
differ in the ways that they learn and develop. Every child comes to
school with his unique temperament, learning style, family background
and orientation, and patterns and growth phasing. In order to deal with
these variations, teaching then requires thorough knowledge on
principles and theories of development, learning theories and learning
context and developmental tasks concept. The teacher must also be
deeply aware of his facilitative role in learning, the nature of individual
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children including those with children special needs, students‟ profile
and context and must embrace diversity. He/she must be
able to know

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expectations from the students and always mindful of the importance

of student motivation. The child must be taught the way he learns.
Pedagogy and child development then implies the use of learner-
centered teaching methodologies and strategies which allow each
learner to avail of the best learning. It is important to understand the
dynamics of the learning process inorder to aid learners to pay
attention to, and later construct their own knowledge based on their
understanding of the lesson. (For the Learner-centered principles,
please see Appendix A - Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

THINK!

(LCP).

What does the statement “Teachers must teach the way

students learn” mean? Illustrate with specific example.

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 MODULE SUMMARY

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

(UNCRC) defines child as "every human being below the age of 18
years” while the World Health Organization (WHO) gives the following
basic definitions of child and adolescent: a child is a person 19 years or
younger but when a person falls into the 10 to 19 age category, he or
she is referred to as an adolescent. Several viewpoints present
discussions on the age-old debate on the influence of nature and
nurture in development. Nativists claim more influence of hereditary
traits while empricists and behaviorits take the view that most traits
and behaviors are consequences of learning. Contemporary views
however, are now becoming more interested with how nature adapt to
nurture and vice versa. Developmentalists look at periods of
development and divide the life span with unique characteristics of the
different stages of childhood through adulthood. In each of the period
arise a developmental task described as a skill which arise at or about
a certain period in the life of the individual, successful achievement of
which leads to his happiness and to success with later tasks, while
failure leads to unhappiness and difficulty with later task. A
developmental task is the midway between an individual need and a
social demand. These tasks arise in the domains of development and
can be biological, cognitive and language and social-emotional. There
is a significant impact of the interplay of context and development.
While there are certain universal and predictable dimensions of
development, socio-cultural differences bring about diversity in
student profile hence, child and adolescent learners differ in the ways
that they learn and develop. Pedagogy then requires thorough
knowledge on principles and theories of development, learning theories
and learning context and developmental tasks concept. The teacher
must be facilitative in his role in the classroom and teach the child
according to his nature and the way he learns.

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 SUMMATIVE TEST

In 50 words each, discuss the importance of having a knowledge of the

following basic concepts to a classroom teacher?

a. Developmental tasks
b. Context and development
c. Pedagogy and development

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MODULE II
BIOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT

Lesson 1 Biological Beginnings

Lesson 2 Physical and Motor

Development

Lesson 3 Neuroscience and Brain

Development

Lesson 4 Factors Affecting Biological/

Physical Development

Lesson 5 Development Theories:

Developmental Milestones
of Gesell, Ecological
Systems Theory of
Bronfenbrenner

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MODULE II

BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT


INTRODUCTION

This module deals with the relevant concepts and theories that
prtain to the physical or biological development of children and
adolescents. It attempts to make connections, using knowledge on
contemporary research literature connecting biological development
theories and developmentally appropriate teaching strategies that are
suited to learners‟ profile and contexts.
Lesson 1 deals with the acquisition of knowledge on the
formation of human life, the biological beginnings.
Lesson 2 discusses the basic principles and the stages of
physical growth and motor skills development and their educational
implications.
Lesson 3 deals with current advances in neuroscience that show
how critical periods are activated during the development of the brain.
Lesson 4 discusses significant factors that positively and
negatively affect physical growth and motor development and their
educational implications
Lesson 5 examines theories of biological development with
emphases on maturational and developmental milestones and
ecological systems.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you must be able to:

8. formulate an insight on how human life is formed;

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9. conduct validation of skills and write findings, conclusions
and a recommendations for classroom application;
10. ilustrate the connection of neuroscience and brain
development; 11.propose an intervention that
enhances physical and motor
development; and

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12.formulate reflections on the significance of the theories of

developmental milestones and ecological systems in child
development and their educational implications .

 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

There are five lessons in the module. Read each lesson carefully
then do the exercises/activities to find out how much you have
benefited from it. Work on these exercises/activities carefully and
critically then submit your output to your subject professor.

In case you encounter a difficulty, discuss this with your subject

professor during the face-to-face meeting.

Good luck and happy reading!!!

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Lesson 1

 BIOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS

Genetic Foundations of Child Development

Children are born with established genetic instructions that

impact their special traits and their developing physical features at
birth and and as they grow. The most recent developments in genetics
have more precise information that the life of a new individual begins
with the union of two highly specialized haploid cells (each with 23
chromosomes), the spermatozoid and the ovum, which give rise to a
new cell called zygote. The zygote contains a new genetic code with 46
chromosomes. The zygote has a new genetic structure, distinct from
that of the ovum and of the spermatozoid, distinct from those of the
parents as well. Genetically-based traits include physical appearance,
certain temperament, or unusual talent.

Prenatal Development

Prenatal development refers to the process in which a new

individual develops from a zygote into an embryo and later a fetus.
This period, also known as gestation (pregnancy), is divided into three
stages: the germinal, the embryonic, and the fetal.

A. Germinal Stage

The germinal stage begins with conception, when the sperm and
the egg cell unite in one of the two fallopian tubes. Cell division begins
approximately 24 to 36 hours after conception and continues at a
speedy rate and then the cells develop into a blastocyst, a structure
that contains inner cell mass (ICM) which then forms the embryo. The
blastocyst is made up of three layers, namely: the ectoderm (will
become the skin and nervous system), the endoderm (will become the
digestive and respiratory systems), and the mesoderm (will become
the muscle and skeletal systems). Two week-period after conception,
the blastocyst arrives at the uterus and is attached to the uterine wall
through a process called implantation and is now called embryo. For a
more vivid understanding of the prenatal stage, please click
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5OvgQW6FG4 and watch the
video “Fertilization”.

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B. Embryonic Stage

The embryonic stage starts after implantation and continues until

eighth week where the mass of cells is now called embryo. Nearly
immediately after implantation, the cells continue to rapidly divide as
clusters of cells begin to assume different functions in various systems
of the body in a procees called differentiation. The basic outlines of the
body, organs, and nervous systems are established. That means the
heart begins to beat, other organs form and begin to function,
and the neural tube forms lengthways the back of the embryo,
forming into the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain). This
makes the stage a critical period. By the end of the embryonic
stage, the embryo is only about an inch long and all essential external
and internal structures have been formed and all organs are
developed.

C. Fetal Stage

The last stage of prenatal development lasts from two months

after until birth. About a month into this stage, the sex organs, bones
and muscles begin to form. By 12 weeks the fetus fills the entire uterus
and in two weeks more, the sex can be determined. By around 16 to
20 weeks, the gestating woman feels the fetus moving in the uterus.
By about 24 weeks, hearing has developed and a startle reflex
develops too. The internal organs such as heart, lungs, stomach, and
intestines, have formed enough so that when born prematurely at this
time, a fetus has a chance of survival outside of the uterus. At 36 to 38
weeks, all organs and systems are functioning in a healthy fetus.

Brain Development

The brain emerges during embryonic development. About two

weeks after conception comes the neural plate, a layer of specialized
cells in the embryo begins to slowly fold over onto itself forming a
tube-shaped structure. In the first trimester, nerve connections are
built allowing developing human to move around in the womb, while in
the second trimester, more nerve connections and brain tissues are
formed. Most neurons are produced between
10 and 26 weeks after conception. Fetal brain cells are generated at
about 250,000 per minute making most likely that infants will be
equipped with all the neurons for the their entire life at birth. The next
stage of neuron development is cell migration wherein neurons move
from near the center of the brain where they are produced, to their
appropriate locations and is completed seven months after conception.
Cell elaboration allows axons and dendrites grow and form connections
with other cells. Cell elaboration continues for many years after birth.
Myelination, the process wherein nerve cells are covered and insulated
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with a coating of fat cells, starts prenatally and continues after birth.
This process speeds up the velocity of information that travels through
the nervous system. The nervous system starts to form as a hollow
tube on the embryo back and later forms into a huge mass of
neurons

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forming the spinal cord and the brain and which later become the three
major divisions: a) the hindbrain (located at the lowest portion of the
brain) controls motor development, b) the midbrain (located between
the hind and forebrain) relays information to eyes and ears, and c) the
forebrain, the largest region of the brain which is responsible for
thinking, language and regulation of emotion.

THINK!

What insight did you derive from the video “Fertilization”?

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Lesson 2

PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Physical and motor development refers to the biological changes

that children go through as they grow. Crucial aspects of physical and
motor development in infancy and toddlerhood include body and brain
changes, development of reflexes and motor skills, ability for
sensations, learning skills, and good health. Newborn infants develop
their physical senses. Before birth, their sense of hearing is developed
and can identify their mothers‟ voice soon after birth and can
recognize their mothers‟ smell few days after birth. They love to look
at faces and will be curiously seeking interesting things to look at. The
ability to grow, develop, and learn arises fast as they begin to explore
using their senses.

Components of Physical Growth and Motor Development

In order to interact with their environment and explore more,

young children eventually develop the following basic skills:
1. Gross motor skills. These skills require the expansion of large
muscles and the developing of muscle strength in the arms, legs,
and core that lead to large muscle movements like reaching,
rolling, scooting, crawling, cruising, walking, climbing and
running. While they grow, infants and toddlers increasingly
strengthen their muscles and develop more the ability to control
their bodies.
2. Fine motor skills. These involve a refined use of the smaller
muscles to aid smaller and more precise movements in the
hands, fingers and toes. Young children use their fine motor
skills to hold small items, write and sketch, turn pages of a book,
button clothing, eat, grasp, use computer keyboards, cut with
scissors. Refined abilities that involve the hands started with
simple actions as the child explore such as grabbing any near
object then will progress to more precise movements that
require precise eye-hand coordination.
3. Coordination. This requires development of a sense of balance
and the ability to do multiple physical activities where the child
can get the arms and legs to work together well (coordinated).
These coordinated activities are shown in twisting, catching,
reaching, and dribbling a basketball using arm and hand to
bounce the ball while the feet and the legs move the person from
one place to another in the court.

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4. Locomotor Skills. These are the skills to move the body from
place to place such as walking, running, jumping, skipping,
hopping, sliding,

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leaping and galloping. This kind of movement facilitates

development of gross motor skills.
5. Non-locomotor Skills. This type of skills helps develop balance
and coordination and is called stability skill as it involves the
limbs or body parts, and the whole body while staying in one
place. Physical abilities like bending, stretching, twisting, turning,
wiggling, sitting and rising illustrate non-locomotor movements.
6. Manipulative skills. The movements involve controlled use of the
hands and feet. Physical abilities such as grasping, waving,
opening and closing hands, waving, throwing and catching are
examples of manipulative movement. These kind of movements
help develop fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
7. Developmental task. It is an age-specific skill that a person must
accomplish during a particular age period in order to succeed in
the succeeding stage of development.
8. Developmental milestone. These are skills achieved by children
at a particular age.

Principles of Motor Development

The following principles explain the universality of progress of

development and the underlying casues of individual differences in the
rate of motor progress.
1. Motor control of the head precedes control of the arms and
trunk which precedes control of the legs (cephalocaudal
trend).
2. Head, trunk, and arm control appears before coordination of
the hands and fingers (proximodistal trend).
3. Motor skills start out as gross activities and move toward
mastery of fine movements.
4. Every new skill is a combined outcome of the development of
the central nervous system, movement potentials of the body,
the task the child gives attention to, and environmental
context and support.
5. Each skill when initially acquired is exploratory and tentative
thus, requires revising and combining it with earlier acquired
skills into a more complex system.
6. Early motor skills are due to interactions of nature and nurture.
7. Cross-cultural research shows that early movement
opportunities and a stimulating environment contribute to
motor development.

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Physical and Motor Development in Infancy, Childhood and

Adolescence

A.Infancy (birth to 2 years)

Overall Physical Growth and Body Proportions

The average new-born weighs approximately 7.5 pounds,
although a healthy birth weight for a full-term baby is considered to be
between 5 pounds, 8 ounces (2,500 grams) and 8 pounds, 13 ounces
(4,000 grams. The average length of a newborn is 19.5 inches,
increasing to 29.5 inches by 12 months and
34.4 inches by 2 years old (WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study
Group, 2006). For the first few days of life, infants typically lose about
5 percent of their body weight as they eliminate waste and get used to
feeding. This weight loss is temporary and is followed by a rapid period
of growth. By the time an infant is 4 months old, he or she usually
doubles in weight, and by one year, birth weight is tripled. By age 2,
the weight has quadrupled. The average length at 12 months (one
year old) typically ranges from 28.5-30.5 inches. The average length at
24 months (two years old) is around 33.2-35.4 inches (CDC, 2010).
Change in body is one remarkable physical change that occurs in the
first several years of life. During prenatal development, the head
initially makes up about 50 percent of a child‟s entire length. At birth,
the head makes up about 25 percent of a newborn‟s length. In
adulthood, the head comprises about 15 percent of a person‟s length.

Brain Development
Experts claim that 90% of brain development occurs by age 5.
While an infant is equipped with the necessary neurons in the cerebral
cortex (responsible of feelings, thoughts, memories and voluntary
actions) at birth, it is the connections between the neurons that lead to
the production of synapses. A synapse is a structure in the nervous
system that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or
chemical signal to another neuron or to the target effector cell. Shortly
after birth, the brain produces trillions more connections between
neurons that can possibly use. The brain eliminates connections that
are seldom or never used (Santrock, 2002). The glial cells (neuroglia)
that nourish, insulate, and remove waste from the neurons develop
most rapidly during infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. At birth,
the newborn‟s brain is roughly 25 percent of its adult weight and will
be 75% of its adult weight on his/her second birthday.

Reflexes to Voluntary Movements

Infants are born with reflexes, involuntary movements that they
use to react to stimulation and for survival. Survival reflexes include: a)
breathing reflex such as hiccups, sneezing, and thrashing reflexes to
maintain an oxygen supply, b) reflexes such as crying, shivering, and
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pushing blankets, and tucking the legs close to regulate body
temperature, c) the sucking reflex (sucking on object that touches their
lip), and the rooting reflex (search for a nipple and turning toward any
object that touches the cheek) to manage feeding, There

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are also reflexes which are not requisites for survival, but are
indications of the functioning condition of the brain and the body. Such
reflexes include the babinski reflex (toes fan upward when feet are
stroked), the stepping reflex (babies move their legs as if to walk when
feet touch a flat surface), the palmar grasp (the infant will tightly grasp
any object placed in its palm), and the moro reflex (babies will fling
arms out and then bring to chest if they hear a loud noise). Reflexes
are transformed into intended (voluntary) motors skills.

Some Motor Skills (and Milestones) of Infants

Birth to 3  Raise head slightly when lying on stomach
Months  Hold head up for a few seconds, when supported
 Hold hand in a fist
 Lift head and chest, while lying on stomach
 Use sucking, grasping, and rooting reflexes
 Touch, pull, and tug own hands with fascination
 Repeat body movements, and enjoy doing so
3 to 6  Roll over
Months  Push body forward and pull body up by grabbing the
edge of a crib
 Reach for and touch objects
 Reach, grasp, and put objects in mouth
 Make discoveries with objects (say, a rattle makes noise
moved)
6 to 9  Crawl
months  Grasp and pull things toward self
 Transfer objects between hands
9 to 12  Sit with no support, stand by himself, walk with help
months  Throw objects, roll a ball, drop then pick up toys
 Pick things up with thumb and forefinger
 Walk unaided, walk backwards, move to music
 Push and pull objects
 Seat self in a child's chair
 Walk up and down the stairs with help
 Pick up toys while standing
 Paint with whole arm movement
 Put rings on a peg
 Turn two or three pages at a time, scribble , Turn knobs
Between  Stand alone and walk while holding on to omeone‟s hand
12  Extend (stick out) arms, legs and feet to get
and dressed and undressed
24  Walk without asistance, starts walking up stairs.
month  Drink from a cup with assistance, use spoon clumsily to
s eat
 Pick up or grasp objects using index finger and thumb
(pincer grasp)
 Point, poke and may even pinch
 Put things in and out of a bucket
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 Scribble using thick (big) crayon

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B. Early Chidhood (2 to 7 years)

Brain Changes
The nervous system continue to develop dramatically during early
childhood. All through life we continue to produce and prune synapses,
but the age of birth to 3 is a time of massive brain activity when the
amount of synapses created is equal to 700 new neural connections
per second. The postnatal fast formation of glial cells and myelin
sheaths help to explain why older children may well perform behaviors
that younger children are not able to. Lateralization localizes assorted
functions, competencies, and skills in the left and right hemispheres.
Although the hemispheres may have separate functions, these brain
masses almost always coordinate their functions and work together.
The two cerebral hemispheres develop at different rates, with the left
hemisphere developing more fully in early childhood at ages 2 to 6
(and the right hemisphere in middle childhood, ages 7 to 11).

Some Gross Motor Skills (and Milestones) of Children in Early

Childhood

2 to 3 Years  Sits on or peddles a tricycle with support

 Runs with few falls or trips
 Walks up stairs while holding onto something
 Jumps over small obstacles
 Assists with household tasks or activities
3 to 5 Years  Runs with energy and coordination
 Catches a ball with some practice
 Throws a ball 5 to 15 feet with overhand motion
 Walks up and down stairs alone
 Hops on one foot
 Rides a tricycle and steers well
5 to 7 Years  Changes clothes without help
 Catches a ball bounced to them
 Runs easily and participates in games of tag, etc.
 Rides a bicycle with ability
 Kicks a ball with ability
 Carries out household tasks (cleaning room,
making bed, etc.)

Physical changes
Although physical development in this stage is dramatic,
development is more stable than during infancy. By age 3, children
begin to lose their baby fat and soon acquire the leaner body. The
child's trunk and limbs grow lengthier, and abdominal muscles develop
giving a tightened appearance of the stomach. Boys appear to have
more muscle mass than girls. They may grow to be about 38 inches tall
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and weigh about 32 pounds. By age 6, healthy pre-schoolers grow

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an additional 2 to 3 inches and gain from 4 to 6 pounds per year

hence, reach a height of about 46 inches and weigh about 46 pounds.

Some Fine-motor Skills (and Milestones) of Children in Early Childhood

2 to 3 Years  Uses utensils to feed self
 Brushes teeth with a toothbrush with help
 Uses basic scissors for cutting
 Holds and uses pencil or crayon for basic drawing
 Snaps, buttons or zips with help
3 to 5 Years  Builds using blocks stacked on top of each other
 Cuts paper in shapes
 Draws with pencil, crayons, other implements
 Turns pages of a book
 Pours water from pitcher to cup
5 to 7 Years  Draws multiple shapes and figures with various
implements
 Strings beads for projects
 Uses a comb, toothbrush, washcloth without support
 Prints letters, numbers, etc.
 Cuts shapes clearly, easily

Some Balance and Coordination Skills (and Milestones) of Children in

Early Childhood

2 to 3 Years  Jumps off a step without falling, maintains balance

 Uses spoon and fork for eating
 Participates in creative movement, such as dance, art,
etc.
 Draws lines, shapes
 Builds structures with eight or more blocks
3 to 5 Years  Marches or dances in rhythm to music
 Draws letters and numbers
 Holds fork or pencil with three fingers and not a fist
 Uses a toothbrush and floss alone
 Puts on and changes own clothes with some help as
needed
5 to 7 Years  Good balance and more smooth muscle coordination
 Handedness (left or right) develops
 Draws patterns and figures
 Puts together puzzles and games
 Ties shoes without help
 Plays a musical instrument with practice

C.Middle Childhood (Eight to

Twelve Years) Brain Changes
Early in middle childhood, the corpus callosum that connects the
two hemispheres matures. A growth spurt occurs in the brain so it is
nearly adult- size by ages 8 or 9 and this enriches the frontal lobes
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which are responsible for

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planning and reasoning, social judgment and ethical decision making.

Impairment to the frontal lobes can result in unpredictable emotional
outbursts, inability to plan, then poor judgment. As the size of the
frontal lobes increases, children are able to increasingly engage in
activities that involve rational order like putting together a mechanical
toy by connecting the disassembled parts and making it move by
adding a power source by themselves. Handedness, the preference for
using one hand over the other appears to be strongly established by
middle childhood. Typically, right‐ handedness is associated with left‐
cerebral dominance and left‐handedness with right‐cerebral
dominance. An ambidextrous shows no preference for one hand over
the other.

Physical Changes
Great variations in growth patterns, nervous system
development, motor skills, and health issues happen in this period.
Growth is slow and steady until children start to develop at a quicker
pace upon the onset of puberty. While school‐age children grow up
physically, muscle strength and stamina increase, motor skills improve
and coordination develop faster, stronger, and better. This is an
opportune time for children to become more skilled in gross motor
activities that are necessary for complex movements to participate in
varied physical activities with other children. Children love to run,
jump, leap, throw, catch, climb, and balance. They play baseball, ride
bikes, roller skate, take karate lessons, take ballet lessons, and
participate in gymnastics hence, an ideal time to learn organized
sports. They love using their hands meticulously refining what they
learn and practice in pre-school such as sketching, writing, cutting,
pasting, shaping, molding, and creating something of their
perspective. Learning to play an instrument (like piano, violin, flute,
guitar,etc.) or drawing and painting help children to further develop
and cultivate fine motor skills.

D. Puberty and Adolescence (Twelve to

Eighteen Years) Primary and Secondary Sex

Changes
Apart from acne and noticeable body odor, the most visible physical
changes that occur to adolescents are the effects of the puberty, the
maturing of the reproductive organs.. It is marked by primary sex
characteristics and secondary sex characteristics. Primary sex
characteristics indicate changes in the sexual organs (uterus, vagina,
penis, and testes) which are seen in the enlargement of the testes,
penis, prostate gland, and seminal vesicles, breast and hips. These
changes normally begin to occur between the ages of 9 and 14 years.
Development in this period is governed by the pituitary gland through
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the release of the hormones such as testosterone (males) and
estrogen (females). Secondary sex characteristics refer to other visible
changes seen in height and body shape as a result of the primary sex
characteristics.
The most significant puberty-related milestone for young men is
spermarche, the first ejaculation which generally happens between the
ages of

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12 and 16. The spermarche signals that a boy has turned into a sexual
being now able to produce sperm and can fertilize a female egg by
means of sexual activity that may result in pregnancy. This first
ejaculation often occurs during sleep and is often called a "wet dream."
Along this change, when emotionally stimulated (or even for no reason
at all) young males may experience spontaneous erections when
they're awake. Nocturnal emissions occur with the peak of the height
spurt. Boys' voices change at the same time as the penis grows.
The primary sex characteristic changes for young girls happen
when the uterus starts to build a lining that will later be shed through
menstruation, and the vagina begins to produce a mucus-like
discharge which is an early form of vaginal lubrication. As the young
woman matures, this lubrication can be produced when she gets
sexually aroused and even in cases of no sexual arousal in months or
just weeks before a girl experiences menarche, first menstruation.
Menarche is the most significant primary sex change for young female
adolescents and comes between ages of 10 and 15. Regular
menstruation occurs when uterus discharges the bloody lining tissue
produced inside it throughout the past month (or 28 days). Girls may
initially develop breast buds as early as the age of 8 and breasts
develop fully between ages 12 and 18. At around the ages of 9 and 10,
pubic hair, armpit and leg hair usually begin to grow at about age 9 or
10, and reach adult patterns at about 13 to 14 years. There has been
increasing evidence of a trend toward earlier sexual development in
developed countries-the average age at which females reach
menarche dropped three to four months every ten years between 1900
and 2000 (O Karapanou, 2010).

Physical and Motor Development

Adolescence begins with sexual maturity and is characterized
another period of growth spurts hence, the accelerated physical
growth. The growth of adolescents is generally completed by the end
of puberty, between ages 12 and 16 years. Adolescents can grow up to
four inches and gain eight to ten pounds per year. This growth spurt
normally happens by two years of fast growth, and subsequently by
three or more years of slow, steady growth. Timing of spurts in growth
cannot be easily predicted but by the end of adolescent years, there
may be a total gain of seven to nine inches in height and as much as
forty or fifty pounds in weight. Growth varies across individuals and
gender. Generally, females begin to develop at an earlier time than do
males. Girls growth spurt peaks though at around age 11.5 and slows
around age 16.

Improved Motor Skills of Adolescents

While adolescents continue to develop physically they become
more able to move their bodies with improved skill and precision.
Relative to boys, adolescent girls make only modest gains in their

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gross and fine motor skills up to more or less 14 years of age. Beyond
this, if they do not have specific training for a particular sport or a
hobby, they normally do not get any further development in their
motor skills. In contrast to girls, particularly gross motor

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skills of adolescent boys continue to improve. Adolescent boys rapidly

gain physical speed, jumping and throwing strength, and stamina all
the way through the entire adolescent years and may even extend in
the early 20's.

THINK!

Group Activity
Conduct a simple survey to validate motor skills of
preschoolers.
Formulate your research problem and objectives.
Based from the lesson, prepare a checklist for your survey.
Interview parents/caregivers/teachers of pre- schoolers using the checkli
Present your summary of findings, conclusions and recommendation. (Re

(Checklist must be checked before use)

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Lesson 3

 NEUROSCIENCE AND BRAIN

DEVELOPMENT

Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary science concerned with the

study of the structure and function of the nervous system. As Minsky
wrote (1986), the principal activities of brains are making changes in
themselves. In this lesson you shall learn about recent developments
that highlight the importance of neuroscience in understanding major
concerns of early childhood development and in education.
Neuroscience provides a multi-view approach to understand and
address the needs of young children as they grow and develop. Now,
more experts and practitioners call for early childhood educators to
have a deeper awareness and understanding of neuroplasticity, the
process of brain development as a result of experiences. The brain
changes and adapts when we practice a skill more frequently. The
more often the brain and muscles perform, the more coordinated we
become in our movements because more neuroplasticity occurs.
In order to have a better understanding of the lesson, read
critically the following articles.

Article 1: Brain Plasticity: What is It?

Source: https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html

Plasticity, or neuroplasticity, describes how experiences

reorganize neural pathways in the brain. Long lasting functional
changes in the brain occur when we learn new things or remember
new information. These changes in neural connections are what we call
neuroplasticity.
Facts about Neuroplasticity

FACT 1: Neuroplasticity includes several different processes that take

place throughout a lifetime. Neuroplasticity does not consist of a single
type of morphological change, but rather includes several different
processes that occur throughout an individual's lifetime. Many types of
brain cells are involved in neuroplasticity, including neurons, glia, and
vascular cells.
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FACT 2: Neuroplasticity has a clear age-dependent determinant.

Although plasticity occurs over an individual's lifetime, different types
of plasticity dominate during certain periods of one's life and are less
prevalent during other periods.

FACT 3: Neuroplasticity occurs in the brain under two primary

conditions: 1) During normal brain development when the immature
brain first begins to process sensory information through adulthood
(developmental plasticity and plasticity of learning and memory), and
2) As an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function and/or to
maximize remaining functions in the event of brain injury.

FACT 4: The environment plays a key role in influencing plasticity. In

addition to genetic factors, the brain is shaped by the characteristics of
a person's environment and by the actions of that same person.

Developmental Plasticity: Synaptic Pruning

Gopnick et al. (1999) describe neurons as growing telephone wires

that communicate with one another. Following birth, the brain of a
newborn is flooded with information from the baby's sense organs.
This sensory information must somehow make it back to the
brain where it can be
processed. To do so, nerve cells must make
connections with one another, transmitting
the impulses to the brain. Continuing with the
telephone wire analogy, like the basic
telephone trunk lines strung between cities,
the newborn's genes instruct the "pathway"
to the correct area of
the brain from a particular nerve cell. For example, nerve cells in the
retina of the eye send impulses to the primary visual area in the
occipital lobe of the brain and not to the area of language
production
(Wernicke's area) in the left posterior temporal lobe.
The basic trunk lines have been established, but the
specific connections from one house to another
require additional signals.
Over the first few years of life, the brain grows
rapidly. As each neuron matures, it sends out
multiple branches (axons, which send information
out, and dendrites, which take in information),
increasing the number of synaptic contacts and
laying the specific connections from house to house,
or in the case of the brain, from neuron to neuron. At
birth, each neuron in the cerebral cortex has
approximately 2,500 synapses. By the time an infant
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is two or three years old, the number of
synapses is approximately 15,000 synapses per neuron (Gopnick, et
al., 1999). This amount is about twice that of the average adult
brain. As we age, old

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connections are deleted through synaptic pruning.Synaptic pruning

eliminates weaker synaptic contacts while stronger connections are
kept and strengthened. Experience determines which connections will
be strengthened and which will be pruned; connections that have been
activated most frequently are preserved. Neurons must have a purpose
to survive. Without a purpose, neurons die through a process called
apoptosis in which neurons that do not receive or transmit information
become damaged and die. Ineffective or weak connections are
"pruned" in much the same way a gardener would prune a tree or
bush, giving the plant the desired shape. It is plasticity that enables
the process of developing and pruning connections, allowing the brain
to adapt itself to its environment.

Injury-induced Plasticity: Plasticity and Brain Repair

During brain repair following injury, plastic changes are geared

towards maximizing function in spite of the damaged brain. In studies
involving rats in which one area of the brain was damaged, brain cells
surrounding the damaged area underwent changes in their function
and shape that allowed them to take on the functions of the damaged
cells. Although this phenomenon has not been widely studied in
humans, data indicate that similar (though less effective) changes
occur in human brains following injury.

Article 2 : Neuroscience and Brain

Development” By Daniela Silva
Posted June 19, 2018 in Educational Articles

The technological advances in neuroscience allowed scientists to

research and develop studies about the human brain, especially in the
first six years of a child‟s development. This period is a phase of
greater plasticity, which is the ability that the brain has to change
through the numerous connections made between the neurons for
each new experience and learning. It is through the plasticity that the
brain alters its structure and operations, and in this way, it generates
new knowledge and skills for a child‟s life. With neuroplasticity, the
brain is able to modify the physical structure, the chemicals and the
function. This occurs through the experiences and stimulus
encountered by the child in his or her interactions with the
environment.
From the birth period, the child‟s brain is developed in a fast and
effective way. This period marks the beginning
of the neuropsychomotor development, the learning of movements of
the head, arms, hands, legs and feet. The child becomes able to touch
and handle objects as well as capable in developing speaking skills
through the interactions with the environment. As the child interacts
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with the environment, new synaptic connections are formed in the
brain, resulting in different learning

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and skills. The first steps bring to the children a universe of curiosities
and first discoveries. The movement becomes an instrument of
interaction and socialization for children who, with the right stimulus
(according to the age), have the opportunity to develop their
coordination and physical skills. When moving, children learn about
the world and necessities, so they are able to express in each new
discovery their own reactions and feelings.
At two, the children gain the ability to freely move arms and legs
and have grown in physical strength. They are able to socialize with
other children and differentiate a variety of objects, such as indicating
toys and materials of their own preference. This is a great opportunity
to stimulate physical, manual and social skills with in-group
recreational activities and the handling of small musical instruments.
At this age, children begin to develop self-control thus it is a great
opportunity for parents to teach what is right and what is wrong
with simple language and with examples of what was
experienced during the day. Learning to deal with frustration and
developing boundaries with clear explanations are important lessons in
this stage of life when the children learns to play in-group and get
along with other children.
Three-year-old children develop fine motor skills, which are the
ability to use and control the small muscles of the body, such as
holding on a pencil to draw, handling story books, cutting or tearing a
paper and wearing or buttoning a shirt. At this stage, parents can
stimulate the autonomy and self-care by encouraging the child
to organize his or her personal belongings and by developing
hygiene habits with his or her own body. The child‟s language grows
with the learning of new vocabulary and the acquisition of new
phrases. For this reason, parents should encourage the child to talk
and interact with them and with other children. Activities such as
listening, telling stories and singing songs help in the development of
the oral language.
When children are between four and six years old, they
demonstrate interest in plays of make-believe and recreational
activities with peers. This is the ideal stage for the apprenticeship of
social skills such as empathy, cooperation, trust, solidarity and
respect for others. At this stage, children learn to make decisions and
to make choices, such as understanding what foods are best for their
health, the importance of respecting and obeying rules and how to
develop self-control and manage their own emotions.
The development of numerical skills and language abilities are
more intensified during this period. Children are able to reason, solve
problems, understand quantities and measures, develop
hypotheses and argue using examples. Playing in groups or with
rules are ideal for the development of social skills. Board games in
which children needs to count the obstacles in order to reach the finish
are effective strategies to improve mathematical competencies.
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As we can see, children are born with a great potential of
development and learning, especially during the first six years of life,
because of the plasticity that the brain has. It resembles a sponge by
managing to apprehend a

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range of information and knowledge. The key to a healthy child

development is in the importance of providing stimulus and
learning environments so that the child can develop and improve his
or her physical, cognitive, social and affective skills. These skills are
improved through practice and are reinforced by personal experiences,
such as events occurred in day care, pre- school, at home, in the
park, in the nature or through the relationships with peers and
adults.

THINK!

Reflect on articles 1 and 2 and explain with illustration in not more than 100

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Lesson 4

 FACTORS AFFECTING
BIOLOGICAL/PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

There are influences that may foster or obstruct growth and

development. You will learn here how the following factors affect
biological and physical development of growing and developing
children.

1. Heredity. It is the genetic transmission of physical features from

parents to offspring. These features include height, body
structure, weight, body structure, color of the eye, hair texture,
and just as intelligence and aptitudes. Some illnesses and
conditions like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, can also be
passed on by genes thus, affect a child‟s growth and
development.
2. Environment. Nurturing and favorable environmental factors can
bring out the best of the inherent (genetic) qualities.
Environment represents the totality of physical and psychological
stimulation the child gets and reacts to such as the physical
surroundings, social environment and relationships with
significant others in his life (family, peers, etc.) and the
conditions of the place where he lives and grows. This may be
illustrated in the case of a well-nurtured children who
consistently perform better than those deprived. Like family,
school is an important aspect of the child‟s environment that aid
in fostering desirable social and interpersonal skills.
3. Sex. Boys and girls grow up differently. At the onset of puberty
for instance, boys are more likely to be taller and physically
stronger compared to girls. Girls though tend to mature faster in
adolescence, as boys mature over an extended period of time. In
terms of structure of the body, boys appear to be more athletic
and more fit for activities of strength, rigor and stamina.
4. Play (and exercise) and health. In this context, exercise means
normal playtime and sporty movements that allow the body to
gain increased muscular strength and bone mass. Proper play
(and exercise) helps children grow healthy and strengthen the
immune system. Outdoor play gives them the chance to adjust
them to microorganisms that aid build resistance and better
gross motor skills development

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5. Nutrition (maternal and child nutrition). Proper nutrition during
prenatal development and in infancy through early childhood has
lifetime good consequences. A balanced diet abounding
in vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and carbohydrates is vital
for the body and brain

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development. Malnutrition can lead to diseases that adversely

affect physical growth, motor development and maturation.
Thus, there are children with interrupted growth and motor
development.
6. Early Sensory Stimulation. Scientists now believe that to achieve
the precision of the mature brain, stimulation in the form of
movement and sensory experiences during the early developing
years is necessary (Greenough & Black, 1992; Shatz, 1992).
Experience appears to exert its effects by strengthening and
bonding synapses which are the connections that are made
between neurons. Connections that are not made by activity, or
are weak, are “pruned away,” much like the pruning of dead or
weak branches of a tree. Due to differences in experience, not
even identical twins are wired the same (Chugani, 1998). Hence,
providing developmentally appropriate stimulation of senses
allows the child to use more sense and use them more.
7. Geographical Influences. The place and neighborhood where the
children live, the school they attend, the opportunities in the
community, and their peers are some of the socio-cultural factors
that influence child growth and development. Where you live has
a great influence on how you grow and develop. The availability
of parks and sports facilities is a big factor in the physical and
motor enhancement of the growing children. The weather in a
particular place can influence children in bodily rhythms and
other health conditions.

THINK!

Group Activity

Each member shall read a contemporary research article about a factor of d

From your readings, propose an intervention that enhances motor developm

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Lesson 5

DEVELOPMENT THEORIES:

 DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES OF
GESELL AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
THEORY OF

In this lesson, you shall examine two major development theories

that may be able to provide building blocks of developmentally
appropriate practices in child development.
.
A. Gesell‟s Maturational Theory (Development Milestones)

In the early 20th century, Arnold Gesell, a psychologist and

pediatrician, started to draw a map for child development. He proposed
his maturational theory that focused on the physical and mental
development of children. He founded his theory on three key
assumptions: 1) development is biologically based; 2) “good and bad
years” are alternating; and 3) body types are associated with
personality development. He conducted his quantitative research
extensively on small number of sample where he started with pre-
school children and later to those with ages 5 to 10 and followed by 10
to 16. He observed and documented patterns in ways that children
develop and he came up with a basic principle that all children go
through comparable and predictable sequences, but each child goes
through these progressions at his or her own pace due to genetic make
up. He suggested a minimal influence of environment in development.
From his findings, he derived a conclusion that mental and physical
development in infants, children, and adolescents are comparable and
in parallel with orderly processes.
From the findings in his systematic study, he devised the Gesell
Development Schedules, a tool which could be used with children from
four weeks through six years of age. The tool assessed responses to
standardized indicators (materials and situations), qualitatively and
quantitatively. Areas emphasized were motor development, language
development, adaptive behavior, and personal-social behavior. Results
of the study were initially noted as developmental age (DA), and then
translated into developmental quotient (DQ). The DQ was representing
“the portion of normal development that appears at every age/stage.”
With a rich training in physiology, Gesell had the confidence to
focus on developmental milestones and he became a strong proponent
and a significant pioneer in the maturational views of child
development. He strongly believed that child development is
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consistent with a predetermined and naturally unfolding courses of
growth. His findings and conclusions gave him the confidence to
designate developmental milestones in ten major areas namely:

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motor characteristics, emotional expression, personal hygiene, fears

and dreams, self and sex, school life, play and pastimes, interpersonal
relations, ethical sense, and philosophical attitude.
Today, though
developmental quotient is not
recognized as a reliable
assessment measure of
intellectual ability, Gesell is still
known for his advances in the
systematic methodology of
carefully observing, measuring
behavior, documenting and
describing how a child develops.
In the end, his most famous
achievement was his influence in
the normative approach of
studying child development. His
theory designed a foundation for
subsequent researches that
dealt
with both normative (or average) developmental tendencies and also
those with individual differences in development. In addition, he
launched the use of observation by way of one-way mirrors and
photography as research instruments.

Key Principles of Maturational Theory of

Gesell (https://www.tutor2u.net/hsc/reference)

1. Children develop through similar and predictable sequences.

However, Gesell noticed that they did so at their own pace, and
suggested this development starts to occur before the child‟s
birth.
2. The pace that the individual develops through the sequences is
influenced by internal factors, such as physical and mental
development and genetics,
3. He disagreed with theorists who suggested that development
was largely down to environmental factors.
4. If a child experienced delayed development, that would be due
to heredity.
5. A child should only be taught to complete tasks when they are
physically and mentally ready to do so. Teaching a child to do
something that is in advance of their developmental age would
do them more harm.

Findings of the Study: Identification of the Cycle of Six Gesell

Stages Gesell‟s cycles of development are divided into six

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distinct stages (which
are repeated throughout life). One cycle contains the following stages: 1)
Smooth, 2) Break-Up, 3)Sorting Out, 4) Inwardizing, 5) Expansion, and
6) Neurotic “Fitting Together”. See figure below of the cycles of development.

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Dr. Arnold Gesell hypothesized that development can be

understood as a cyclical spiral, where each rotation of the spiral
encompasses the time it takes to move through six distinctive
developmental stages recurrent throughout life. The figure below
shows that the time to complete a cycle is faster in the early years of
life and then it slows down with age.

How the Cycles work at different

ages 18 months to 4 ½ years
- Eighteen-month old - their behavior is characterized by tantrums.
- Two years of age - their behaviour becomes smoother and calmer,
- Two-and-a-half - tantrums return; children‟s behavior is more
rigid and demanding.
- Three years of age - they tend to be more easy-going and cooperative
- Three-and-a-half years - children‟s temper tantrums are
regressing till age of four
- Four-and-a-half - when they experience emotional outbreaks

5 to 8 years
- Five-year olds - much more positive, optimistic and cheerful.
- Five-and-a-half to age six-and-a-half - more tense, more
negative and more likely to disobey.
- Age of six-and-a-half - behavior smoothens
- Age seven - very moody, melancholy, fearful, and critical.
- Age of eight - very energetic and outgoing

9 to 17 years
- Nine-year-olds - worried and anxious and more demanding
- Age ten and for the most part, really want to be “good” and do
the right things.
- Ages 11. 13, 15, 17 more negative, more oppositional, less
confident, more shy and less happy during the odd numbered
years
- Ages 12, 14 and 16 - they are more positive, more
cooperative and friendl, energetic and more confident.

B. Bronfenbrenner‟s Ecological Systems Theory

Urie Bronfenbrenner founded the Ecological Systems Theory to

illustrate the complex relationship between the child, the family, and
the society and the impact on child development. Prior to the birth of
Bronfenbrenner‟s theory, experts used to examine phenomena in their
fields independently. For instance, child psychologists examined the
child, sociologists dealt with the family, anthropologists investigated
the society, economists analyzed the economic matters of the real
time, and political scientists conducted investigations on the political
structure. Brofenbrenner‟s theory looks into
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possibility at how these fields can be interdisciplinary in the

development of humans.
Bronfenbrenner believed that everything in the surrounding
environment has an influence on a person‟s development. His
ecological systems theory accounts that that human development is
affected by varied types of environment systems hence, also known as
the Human Ecology Theory. He considers child‟s development in the
contexts of relationships and describes his theory as complex layers of
environment wherein each layer has an influence on a child‟s
development. A person's environment has five different levels: the
microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and
the chronosystem.
The microsystem is the layer that is close to and has direct
contact to the child as his family, school, peers, neighbourhood and
childcare environments. Relationships have effect in two directions
which can be away from the child and toward the child which
Bronfenbrenner regards as bi-directional influences. For example, a
child‟s parents may affect the child‟s beliefs and
behaviour and the child also affects
his/her parents‟ behaviour and
beliefs.
The mesosystem is comprised
of connections between the child‟s
close environments such as home
and school of the child. When a
child encounters difficulties in
school, chances are great that the
family gets parental involvement in
school. The quantity and quality of
family-school interactions definitely
have an influence on the functioning
and performance of the child.
The exosystem includes

the external settings, events and

situations and other social systems
where the child
himself is not directly involved in but are indirectly and profoundly
influencing his development. This includes parent‟s workplace, the
media, the government (and politics), the economy (and corruption),
health conditions (like covid19/pandemic),
The macrosystem encompasses all the various cultural
subsystems and the general beliefs and values, and is composed of
written and unwritten policies (principles) that regulate everybody‟s
behaviour. These principles can be legal, economic, political, religious,
or educational. They give meaning and value to individual life and
control the nature and scope of the interactions between the various
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levels of the total social system. A parent who‟s actively involved in
the child‟s activities positively affect the latter‟s development and
functioning.
The chronosystem covers all the other levels. It is made up of the
environmental events and transitions that occur throughout a
child's life,

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comprising those events that are socio-historical in nature like

historical context of the time the child grew up (such as the times of
war, health and economic crisis due to covid19, technology age or
simply remarrying of a parent of a teen-age child that greatly impact
the child‟s development.

THINK!

Write a reflective essay of not more than 100 words on the significance of the following theories on
Maturational theory
Ecological systems theory

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 MODULE SUMMARY

Biological beginnings is signalled by conception which is the start

of prenatal development, divided into three stages the germinal, the
embryonic, and the fetal. Conception marks the beginning of biological
beginnings where a new individual develops from a zygote into an
embryo and later a fetus. Vital aspects of physical and motor
development can be classified as gross motor and fine skills;
coordination, locomotive, non-locomotive and manipulative skills.
These skills lead to developmental tasks and milestones in infancy,
childhood and adolecsence and through adulthood. There are universal
principles that explain the progress of development as well as the
causes of individual differences in the rate of motor progress. It is due
to neuroplasticity that the brain is capable to change the physical
structure, chemical components and eventually, the functions of the
brain. This happens everytime a new knowldege and skill is generated
through the experiences and varied stimuli encountered by the child as
he interacts with the environment. Child development may either be
improved or impeded by several factors that include heredity,
environment, play, sex, nutrition, early sensory stimulation and
geographical influences. In terms of developmental milestones the
maturational theory of Gesell stresses that children develop in an
orderly succession set by heredity and such development will not occur
if the child is not ready for its occurence. Bronfenbrenner‟s ecological
systems theory on the other hand, believed that development of the
child is affected by his interaction with different levels of environment.

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 SUMMATIVE TEST

1. Differentiate gross motor development and fine motor

development. Substantiate the difference by making a list of
gross motor skills and fine motor skills of early childhood.

2. Discuss briefly (50 to 75 words) the link between neuroscience

and brain development

3. Discuss briefly in 30 to 50 words each the educational

implication of the developmental theories of Gesell and
Bronfenbrenner.

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MODULE III

COGNITIVE

DEVELOPMENT

Lesson 1 Cognitive Development

(Piaget and Vygotsky)

Lesson 2 Intelligence and Individual

Differences

Lesson 3 Language Development

Lesson 5 Factors Affecting Cognitive

(and Language) Development

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MODUL
E II COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT


INTRODUCTION

This module deals with the concepts and theories that are
related to cognitive development. It intends to find connections,
through the use of knowledge on contemporary research literature in
relation to theories on cognitive development and developmentally
applicable teaching approaches or strategies that are suited to the
learners‟ profile and environmetal contetxts in terms of needs,
strengths, gender, interests and experiences.
Lesson 1 tackles the theoretical perspectives on cognitive
development of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky and their their
application in education.
Lesson 2 delves into the theories of intelligence and individual
differences.
Lesson 3 provides brief overview of the major theories, and
stages of language development.
Lesson 4 discusses significant factors that positively and
negatively affect cognitive development and language development

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you must be able to:

13. synthesise the major themes of Piagetian and Vygotskian
theories highlighting their agreements and disagreements and
their applications in the classroom;
14. summarize the theories of intelligence and individual
differences highlighting their commonalities and differences
and reflect on their significance in education;
15. summarize the milestones of language development of
infancy, early and middle childhood; and
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16. write a review of a research article on situations and contexts
that aid or impede cognitive and language development and
illustrate their educational implications.

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 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

There are four lessons in the module. Read each lesson carefully
then do the exercises/activities to find out how much you have
benefited from it. Work on these exercises/activities carefully and
critically then submit your output to your subject professor.

In case you encounter a difficulty, discuss this with your subject

professor during the face-to-face meeting.

Good luck and happy reading!!!

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Lesson
1

 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

In this lesson, you will learn about cognitive development

which is the acquisition and expansion of knowledge, skills, problem
solving ability, dispositions and the use of language that help children
to imagine, realize and understand the things around them. Cognitive
development concerns with the affective development, which is related
to the emotions and the psychomotor development, the movement and
activities that are associated with the mental process (Elsayary, 2018).
In education, cognitive development is widely considered to be one of
the most important aspects of students' learning.
Read and understand the discussions on how cognitive
development is achieved according to two prominent theorists in this
domain of development, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, and then know
the commonalities and differences in their perspectives and their
educational relevance.

I. Jean Piaget‟s Theory of Cognitive Development

If logic itself is created rather than being inborn, it follows that
the first task of education is to form reasoning." - Jean Piaget (1896-
1980)

Jean Piaget (Swiss psychologist) got an initial job in Paris which

had something to do with the standardizing of the Binet-Simon tests
(the first Intelligence tests that assessed IQ score). With this chance to
work with Alfred Binet (psychologist who introduced the measurement
of intelligence), Piaget found that a lot of children of the same ages
provided the same kinds of incorrect responses to particular questions.
He speculated “what could be studied from such a scenario”? He then
got the interest to learn more deeply about intellectual or cognitive
development of children and decided to conduct a research and after
an interview with hundreds of children, he found that those who are
permitted to commit mistakes do find ways to learn their errors, to
correct them, and to find solutions thus, carry out their own learning.
Out of his observations, he inferred that “children were not less
intelligent than adults, they just think differently”. He develop his
Cognitive Development Theory, a discontinuous stage theory with the
three basic principles: 1)All children go through same stages in the
same order, 2) One can only be in one stage at one time, and 3) It is
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not possible to regress into a previous stage. He believed that new
learning happens as new experiences are being assimilated into an
already existing knowledge. He introduced the basic concepts of
schema, assimilation, accomodation, and equilibration. His theory
suggests that children move across four distinct stages of mental
development.

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Basic Concepts

1. Schema refers to a set of interrelated mental representations of

various things that represent the world. It then indicates the way
things are sensed, interpreted and reflected on and in the end turns
out to be the beginning of human knowledge. For example, a young
child has a schema of a dog because there is a dog at home, he knows
that it is an animal, a friendly pet who looks at him eye to eye, has four
legs, furry and is less than 1.5 feet in height. Schema serves to
organize and deposit information in the brain.

2. Adaptation: Assimilation and Accomodation

Assimilation of knowledge is a part of adaptation which occurs
when a learner incorporates a newly perceived stimulus (can be a thing
or a new idea) into existing schema. This process may sometimes be
subjective as we are influenced to adapt information to fit in with our
previous views. Relating it to the example in schema, when the same
child sees an animal in a movie or in a children‟s book, he tags it “dog”
because of his previous knowledge (existing schema) about a dog.
Accommodation is a part of adaptation that occurs when the
learner adapts the old schema or constructs a new schema on the
basis of the old one in order to accept and accommodate the new
object when it fails to conform
(match) to the subject's
schema. In a movie or in a book
or even in a park, when the
child sees a small dog of about
less than a foot tall and another
one taller than 3 feet, his
schema about a dog changes
incorporating the information
he just learned that a dog can
be small, big or bigger. Piaget
emphasizes that
accommodation occurs only
when a new object can arouse
the interest of the subject.
Accommodation indicates the process of how the subject under the
influence of the object is modified and transformed, whereas
assimilation indicates the conservative process of how the subject
modifies and transforms the object. In short, assimilation and
accommodation represent the interactions between the subject and
the object (Lei, 1987, p. 110).
Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance linking
assimilation and accommodation via a process he called equilibration.
This process is about transforming and adapting one‟s thinking to new
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information in order to move from one stage of thinking into the next.
In the case of the schema of the child of a dog, for instance, when he
goes to a family friend‟s house and is approached by an angry dog
who seems to like to bite him or her, he or she experiences a
disequilibrium (whether dogs are friendly pets or not)

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and later will realize that dogs cannot be friendly at all times and in all
situations.

Stages of Development

1. Sensorimotor Stage: Approximately Birth to 24 months

Infants gain their first understanding of the immediate world via
their senses and through their own actions which at first are reflexes
such as looking, sucking, listening and grasping. The goal of this period
is object permanence, the child's capability to understand that objects
continue to exist even if it is not seen by the child. Let's say, Erika, 16
month-old, insistently opens a box where some of her toys are kept
because she knows that her most-liked “winnie the pooh” stuff toy is
there even if she does not directly see it.
This stage is comprised
of six sub stages with specific
skills.1) Reflexes (0-1
month):
The child understands the
environment through
reflexes. 2) Primary circular
reactions (1-4 months):
Consists of organizing
sensation and new schemas.
Say, a child may put his/her
thumb then sucks it and since
he/she finds pleasure in it,
he/she repeats the behavior.
3)
Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months): The child starts to
purposefully repeat an action to cause a response in the environment
like persistently picking up something then putting it in his or her
mouth. 4) Coordination of reactions (8-12 months): The child obviously
shows purposeful actions and may combine schemas to get the results
that he or she wants. For example, a child who wants to play with a
favorite toy pushes other toys and other things out of the way to reach
that specific toy. 5) Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months): This is
the period of trial-and-error experimentation. When in the seashore, a
child digs a hole, builds a sand castle and then puts back the sand in
the hole. 6) Early representational thought (18-24 months): Children
start to acquire symbols to refer to events or objects and begin to
understand them through mental operations.
2. Preoperational Stage: Approximately 2 to 6 years
Language development is one hallmark of this stage where young
children are able to use symbols, numbers and words like mommy,
puppy, doll and ball to refer to a real person, animal and objects.

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Egocentrism is one attribute that makes this stage distinct where
young children experience difficulty to understand the points of view of
other people. Children become gradually skilful at using symbols so
there is an increased desire in pretend play. Before the age of five,
Piaget found few children manifested some comprehension of

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conservation, a skill in logical thinking used to realize that some

properties of objects like number, length, mass, weight, volume, and
quantity will remain before and after any adjustment in the form,
shape, or apparent size. In the picture, the child knows that the volume
of the liquid remains the same despite of the properties of the
containers. During this stage then, a specific realistic factor like weight,
volume, and quantity) remains an invariant in the child‟s mind. The
main goal of this stage is symbolic thought (symbolic thinking).
3. Concrete Operations: Approximately 6 to 11years
School-age children can perform concrete mental operations with
symbols that utilize numbers and those with organizing objects by
specific qualities such as size or color. They acquire a better knowledge
of mental operations as they begin to think logically (inductive) about
concrete events but with difficulty in understanding abstract concepts.
Inductive logic is reasoning from a specific knowledge (or experience)
to a general assumption. The capability for reversibility prominently
characterizes this stage. It is the aptitude to know that numbers or
objects can be returned (reversed) to their original condition (example:
72 /9 = 8; 9 x 9 =72) thus, the probability to go back to the starting
point or beginning of a process.
4. Formal Operations: Approximately 11 to adulthood.
As adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an
abstract manner by manipulating ideas in their head, without any
dependence on concrete manipulation (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958).
Abstract thinking, deductive reasoning and systematic planning
characterize this stage. Typically developing early adolescents can
think and reason abstractly, solve and answer hypothetical problems.
Deductive reasoning involves the ability to apply a general principle to
prove a specific outcome. This thinking skill is useful and relevant in
the sciences and mathematics. Children start to think abstractly to
reflect (and deliberate) possible consequences of actions thus, the
capability of long-term planning. While younger children use trial-and-
error in problem- solving, adolescents can systematically resolve a
problem logically because of the following attributes: 1) they can think
better than children on what is possible (instead of what is real). 2)
they can think abstractly or hypothetically. 3) they begin to think
metacognitively (metacognition is awareness and understanding of
one‟s thinking) thus, they show greater introspection and self-
consciousness. For instance, a student would think “I got a failing
grade in math so I must be poor in math” then after some reflections,
he or she would say ”may be not that I am not really good I in math, I
just have to exert more efforts”. 4) the thinking of adolescents can be
multi-dimensional that is why adolescents are able to talk or discuss
more differentiated ideas and can address issues based on several
points of views.

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II. Lev Vygotsky‟s Theory of Cognitive Development

Vygostky emphasizes that each child is born with the mental

operations of attention, sensation, perception and memory which are
further developed in his or her social and cultural environment. He
stresses that social learning precedes cognitive development and
children can actively construct knowledge. This insinuates that
socialization, community and language play a great role in the
development of cognition.

Major Themes of the Theory

1. Social interaction plays a vital role in cognitive development.

Vygotsky (1978) states that “every function in the child‟s cultural
development appears twice: first, on the social level
(interpsychological), and later, on the individual level
(intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, logical
memory, and formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate
as actual relationships between individual”.
2. More Knowledgeable Other
(MKO). Vygotsky asserts that the most
fruitful experience in a child's education
is his or her collaboration with more
skilled partners. He explains that the
more experienced partner provides help
in the way of an intellectual scaffold,
which allows the less experienced
learner to accomplish more complex
tasks than he may be possible alone
(Stone, 1995; McClellan, 1994). The
more experienced partner is the MKO
which can be anyone (a teacher, a
parent, a coach, or older adult, a peer)
who has a better understanding or
higher ability level than the learner
about a specific task.
3. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is the distance
between a learner‟s ability to perform tasks (like solving the problem)
independently and under the guidance of MKO and/or with peer
collaboration. First, there is what a child can accomplish on his or her
own (actual competence), then there is the ZPD which represents what
we can do with the help of MKO (potential development). ZPD is based
on the idea that mental functions of children are still in the course of
maturation and it implies that learning can accelerate cognitive
development.
4. Scaffolding. Vygotsky defined scaffolding in instruction as the
“role of teachers and others in supporting the learner‟s development
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and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level”
(Raymond, 2000). The zone of proximal development stresses the
constructive role of the social partner (a teacher or a more skilled peer)
of the learner. Thus, teacher becomes a supportive tool (scaffold) for
the student in the ZPD and allows the

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learner to accomplish a task who was seemingly impossible. Learning

is interactive and is an interpersonal activity in which the teacher and
the learner co-construct the answer to a problem. Authority between
the teacher and the learner is shared where inequality between them
resides in their respective levels of understanding. Scaffolding then is
temporary and is removed when the learner does not need it anymore.
You just have to know what to scaffold, when to scaffold and when to
end the scaffolding.
5. Mediations happen when people intentionally introduce tools
and signs between themselves and their environment in order to get
specific outcomes or benefits. Language as a cultural form of
mediation points out the use of different types of language (symbols)
as mediators between the minds and the environment. Vygotsky states
that by using activity mediators, the human being is able to modify the
environment, and this is his or her way of interacting with the nature.
These mediations include “language; various systems of counting;
mnemonic techniques; algebraic symbol systems; works of art; writing;
schemes, diagrams, maps and mechanical drawings; all sorts of
conventional signs and so on” (Vygotsky, 1981, p. 137). Today,
additional mediations add computers, gadgets, technologies to paint
brushes, machineries and the like.

Piagetian and Vygostkian Concepts Compared

Vygots Piag
ky et
Social learning precedes cognitive Self-development precedes learning
development
Cognitive development is
Cognitive development is propelled
propelled by social by
interaction and the child‟s innate tendency to fit
cultural (adapt) to new experiences
experiences
A child learns due to of instructionA child learns due to active self-
and discover
guidance y
Cognivite development can be forced Cognitive development happens
or naturally
accelerated as they are explore and are ready to
learn
The key to cognitive development is Language develops as a result of
skill cognitive
to use language. Outside monologues development. Outside monolgues are
guide thinking and then be insignificant and egocentric speech is
internalized by the child supplementary to thought.

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THINK!

Discuss this activity with a study buddy!

1. Learner‟s errors provide teachers an insight into the child‟s learning and

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Lesson 2

 INTELLIGENCE AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Intelligence is one of the topics most emphasized in education yet

there has been no standard definition of what exactly it is. Some
researchers and theorists propose that intelligence is one distinct
general ability while others suppose that it is not a single ability but a
range of aptitudes, skills, or specific abilities.
Read critically the concepts and theories that follow and be able to
highlight their basic premises, resemblances and differences that will
help you derive your own concept of intelligence.

A. Concept of Intelligence by Alfred Binet

Binet stated "It seems to us that in intelligence there is a

fundamental faculty, the alteration or the lack of which, is of the
utmost importance for practical life. This faculty is judgment, otherwise
called good sense, practical sense, initiative, the faculty of adapting
one's self to circumstances. A person may be a moron or an imbecile if
he is lacking in judgment; but with good judgment he can never be
either. Indeed the rest of the intellectual faculties seem of little
importance in comparison with judgment" (Binet & Simon, 1916, 1973,
pp.42-43). Binet defined intelligence in terms of judgment, practical
sense, initiative, and adaptability (Binet & Simon, 1905). His concept
of general intelligence has three components 1) goal of the mental
processes, 2) capability to display adaptable solutions; and 3) ability to
demonstrate selectivity of judgment and critical anayisis of choices.
In 1905, the first IQ Test or intelligence test, known now as the
Binet- Simon Scale, was introduced and became the grounds for the
development of intelligence tests which are being used up to now. In
1908, they made revisions (dropping, changing and addition of tests
then arranging them correspondingly) of the scale to make it
appropriate according to age levels as the tests were intended to
children from ages three through thirteen.

B. General intelligence of Charles Spearman (1904)

British psychologist Charles Spearman described a concept he

called general intelligence or the g factor. After using a technique of

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factor analysis to investigate certain mental aptitude tests, Spearman
found and concluded that scores on specific tests gave remarkably
similar results. Those who scored

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high on one cognitive test tended to score high on other tests, while those who sco
innate ability to understand the complex things and ideas surrounding us. An exam

C. Primary Mental Abilities of Louis Leon Thurstone

Thurstone rebuffed the idea of any single ability that possesses

general application more than other abilities. After evaluating several
factors that are affecting performance on a specified test at one time,
he devised new statistical techniques he called factor analysis and
generated his Primary Mental Abilities Test in 1938. Instead of looking
at human intelligence as a single general ability, he proposed and
focused on seven distinctive primary mental abilities namely: verbal
comprehension, word fluency, facility with numbers, Perceptual speed,
reasoning ability, spatial visualization, and rote memory.
1. Verbal comprehension, the ability to define and understand
words and is assessed by tests in vocabulary and reading
comprehension.
2. Word fluency, the ability to produce words rapidly in sentences,
and other verbal (word) material.
3. Numerical, the ability to solve arithmetic problems (fast
calculation and solving simple word problems in arithmetic).
4. Perceptual speed, the ability to see differences and similarities as
commonly seen in proofreading and in quick recognition of texts
(letters and numbers).

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5. Reasoning, ability to find rules, use patterns and results in

problem solving.
6. Spatial visualization, the ability to create in mind (visualize)
shapes, patterns, rotations of objects an example of which is how
parts of a puzzle fix together.
7. Memory, the ability to memorize quickly and recall and associate
previously learned items effectively.

D. Multiple Intelligences (MI) of Howard Gardner

The theory of multiple intelligences was initially proposed by

Howard Gardner in his book “Frames of Mind in 1983. Gardner defines
intelligence as a “biopsychological potential to process information that
can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create
products that are of value in a culture” (Gardner, 2000, p.28). Thus, we
may all possess these intelligences, but our level or degree of these
intelligences may differ from person to person because of genetics or
experiences. Gardner disagreed with the earlier view of a single
general type of intelligence which merely focuses on cognitive abilities
and proposed that not every intelligence that a person has and will
have is innate. He initially introduced eight types of intelligences
comprising of Logical-Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-
Kinesthetic, Naturalist, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal. Later, he added
the existential intelligence.
According to MI Theory, identifying each student‟s intelligences
has strong consequences in the classroom. If a child's intelligence can
be identified, then teachers can accommodate different children more
successfully according to their orientation to learning. Teachers in
traditional classrooms primarily teach to the verbal/linguistic and
mathematical/logical intelligences. Look into these intelligence and
their significance in the classroom.

The Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner and their Classroom Implications

Ability Descripti Implication
on
Verbal The ability has to do with Learners demonstrate
Linguistic words, great
Intelligenc written language and how it is skills in the language
e spoken, grammar, writing skills arts as in speaking
and writing,
reading and listening.
Logical- The ability in numbers, Learners score high in
mathemati problem reasoning, numerical
c al solving, reasoning, logical and problem
Intelligence reasoning and recognition of solving.
patterns
Musical The sensitivity to pitch, Learners learn well
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Intelligence rhythm through
melody, and tone like a songs, patterns,
composer, a singer or anyone rhythms, instruments
who loves drumming, tapping and musical expression.
their hands or
feet to the rhythm of a music.

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Visual - The ability to see and Learners understand

Spatial manipulate better
Intelligenc things or objects in mind if they see what is being
e and graphical information talked about. They love
enjoy with maps, art,
charts, graphs, tables,
illustrations, puzzles and
so
on.
Bodily The ability to utilize the body Learner learn best
Kinestheti or through
c parts of the body skilfully, to activities like games,
Intelligenc handle objects or simply doing hands-on tasks, love to
e something involving their join in athletics and in
hands and body efficiently. dances. In traditional
classrooms,
they are the “overly
active".
Interperson The skill to communicate Learners are sociable
al with and
Intelligenc others, verbally and visibly people oriented,
e nonverbally, to understand and love to do their
people and relationship learning
(people smart) because of the
sensitivity to subtle cues on tasks
feelings. cooperatively with a
partner or in groups. In
traditional classrooms,
they
are the "talkative".
Intraperson It is the capability to access Learners are in touch
al and with
Intelligenc deal with one's inner life and their own feelings,
e emotional state, thoughts and values and concepts
reactions to things as a way to thus, appear to be
know and appreciate oneself intuitive and more
and reserved. They know
others. what
they want in life.
Naturalist It is the capability to be Learners love the
intelligence connected to the details of outdoors like field trips,
nature or the natural field experiences
environment as in rock
formation, insects, animals, and
plants and the like. experiential learning,
technology outside the
classroom. They love to

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pick up on subtle
differences in meanings
of
nature.
Existential The ability to deal with bigger Learners learn may
intelligence life ask
questions about existence and "What is our part or role
find answers to existential in this world?" These
questions like “Why do we learners love to go into
exist? Why are we here? “Why philosophy and related
do we die? It also has fields of study.
something to do with
questions on spirituality and
even about God.

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E. Robert Sternberg‟s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Sternberg‟s theory seeks to highlight the interdependence of the

structures and the processes that cause intelligent behavior, the
function of these structures to the question of realizing goals in the
outside world, and the role of experience in building intelligence and
its usage. The theory has three components, analytical intelligence,
creative intelligence, and practical intelligence.
1. Analytical intelligence, the ability to analyze, critique and
evaluate thus, refers to problem-solving abilities. The “book smart”
uses this ability for to analyze a math problem or to compare and
contrast two concepts or to do some evaluating a play or a group
project presented in class. The analytical skill depends largely on the
cognitive processes as it is the ability to reason, to process and
organize information and to solve problems very effectively.
2. Creative intelligence is the ability to discover, invent or to
create something in order to manage a new situation or a new task
effectively utilizing past experiences and existing knowledge and
skills. The “arts smart” uses this ability to create a poetry, art work,
discovery or doable proposals for a project and other creative outputs
after learning a theory.
3. Practical intelligence, the ability to apply, implement or put into
practice what has been learned allowing the person to react and adapt
to the environment or even change it to suit his or her needs. The
practical skill is used when a “street smart” navigates any kind of
environment he is in.

F. Cognitive Information Processing Theory (Atkinson and

Shiffrin)

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin are the foremost two

theorists who are associated with the cognitive information
processing theory. In 1968, they
proposed a multi-stage theory of
memory that explains how an
information goes through a process
from the moment it is received (or
sensed), then processed, until it is
stored in the memory. Relative to the
theoy, they introduced the information
processing model that has three major
components (Eggen & Kauchak, 1999,
pp. 243-244):
1. Information stores – repositories
used to hold information. Three
types of storage are assumed:
sensory, short- term (working),
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and long-term.
2. Cognitive processes – intellectual actions that transform
information and move it from one store to another. Processes
include attention, perception, rehearsal, encoding, and retrieval.

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3. Metacognition – knowing about and having control over cognitive

processes; a form of self-regulation. Metacognition controls and
directs the processes that move information from one store to
another.
The multi-stage theory of memory explains how information is
received by the sensory memory, processed in the short term memory
(or working memory) and stored in the long term memory. This
information-processing model shows that information which enters the
brain is briefly recorded in sensory memory. Once you focus your
attention on it, the information may become part of short term
memory (STM), where it can be manipulated and used (thus, working
memory). Through encoding procedures like repetition and rehearsal,
information may be transported to long-term memory (STL). Retrieving
information from the LTM when needed in problem solving or in
answering a question in a test makes them active again in the STL. In
particular ways, the human memory and the computer memory are
comparable. The LTM somewhat functions like a hard drive of
computer both taking lengthier time to respond but can store a huge
quantity of data.
The sensory memory serves as a tentative holding place for data.
Information enters the human information processing system through a
variety of channels associated with senses like:
 Iconic memory, a sensory memory for vision that lasts just
milliseconds before fading
 Echoic memory, sensory memory that registers specific
auditory information
 Haptic memory, sensory memory for touch (pressure,
hot, cold, and pain)
In the short-term memory, information arrives through encoding
(and rehearsal). Information that enters STM fades away, or decays as
soon as it is no longer attended to within 30 seconds. Decay is a kind
of forgetting that happens when short term memories fade over time.
Long-term memory is the relatively permanent information
storage system. Information is retained and retrieved for hours, weeks,
or years. Storing information in LTM is equivalent to writing information
out to a computer hard drive. Permanent losses may occur as a result
of brain damage, and it is as well possible that some memories just
decay away if they aren‟t retrieved for a very long time.
LTM has several categories like declarative memory and
procedural memory. Declarative memory is also called explicit memory
as it is the retention of facts, data, events like remembering
information for a test or that you have an appointment with your
adviser, your home address and telephone number, email addresses
and passwords, pin numbers, names associated with people‟s
characterisics and the like. Declarative memory provides for
representations of relations beyond the province of events,
encompassing the relations among the facts that constitute our
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knowledge of the world. This idea indicates further critical distinction:
between episodic memory, which contains autobiographical records of
personally experienced events, and semantic memory, consisting of
world knowledge stored outside of

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personal contexts (Tulving, 1972). Episodic memory is recollection of

personal details like first day in the university or your sister‟s
graduation day while semantic memory is recollection of the universal
or common knowledge like the names of colors, the sounds of the
alphabets, the capitals of nations and other essential facts learned
over a lifetime.
Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory involving how to
perform different actions and skills. Essentially, it is the memory of
how to do certain things as riding a bicycle, typing on a keyboard,
playing a musical instrument, swimming, driving, surfing the Net,
joining a virtual seminar or learning a particular technology.

THINK!

Create a summary chart that presents the major concepts of the various

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Lesson 3

 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

This lesson will present to you the principles and theories of

language development. Before you read the lesson, try to answer this
question and write your answer anywhere in the page. Do you agree
that language is a cognition that truly makes us human? Explain
Infants as young as 12 months are reported to have sensitivity
to the grammar needed to understand causative sentences (who did
what to whom;
e.g. the bunny pushed the frog (Rowland & Noble, 2010). When you
define language you have to be sensible to include gestures, symbols,
or motions so as not to disregard the language of the deaf. All
human languages share basic characteristics, some of which
are organizational rules and infinite
generatively. Infinite generatively is the ability to produce an infinite
number of sentences using a limited set of rules and words.
(Santrock,& Mitterer,2001). Subconsciously, children learn their first
language without exerting much efforts. Babies can understand what
they hear and can learn to speak even with no direct instruction.
They just listen to (or simply hear) the sounds and imitate them, and
start producing words and keep on repeating them especially when
their behavior is positively reinforced. Given the standard
conditions, children acquire the basic structures and the vocabulary of
their first language not later than four years old. Second-language
acquisition takes on knowledge in a first language and incorporates the
process that an individual undergoes as he or she learns the
essentials of a new language such as vocabulary, phonology,
grammatical structures, then writing systems.
Language development is learning responses by the
infant from caregivers or any
significant person to societal and cultural influences.

Theories of Language Development

The most well-known theories are those who consider
development to what we are born with (nature) or what we learn from
our environment (nurture), or a combination of both nature and
nurture. Three major theories concerning the above stated statement
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follow.
1. Nativist Theories
The main nativist theorist is Noam Chomsky. He believes that
young children translate what they hear in a speed that can not be
easily explained by behavioral principles. The nativist perspective
stresses that children are

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born with the innate ability to learn language because humans are
biologically wired to get information. Chomsky thought that all humans
have a language acquisition device (LAD) in their brains that helps
them to learn language (any language) spontaneously. The LAD
contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all languages
(Shaffer,et.al,2002). The LAD also allows children to pick up on and
understand words, their organization, and rules of any language they
hear. Chomsky also developed the concepts of transformational
grammar (a grammar that transforms a sentence), surface structure,
and deep structure. Surface structures are words that are actually
written. Deep structure is the underlying message or meaning of a
sentence (Matlin, 2005). The vagueness of this theory, along with
questions on the exact location (which Chomsky proposes to be
somewhere in the brain) and function of the LAD, are regarded by
linguists to be flaws. In the nature-nurture debate, this theory is on the
side of nature.

2. Behaviorist Theories
The behaviorist theory, also known as the learning perspective
theory, argues that children imitate what they see and hear, and that
children learn from punishment and reinforcement (Shaffer,Wood,&
Willoughby,2002). In his book "Verbal Behavior" published in 1957,
Burrhus Skinner described how language is developed through operant
conditioning. When a baby produces a sound that seems like "ma", the
mother is delighted and responds in a way the baby loves such as
clapping her hands, cuddling the baby so happily. The baby struggles
to make the sound again (perhaps until it becomes “ma – ma”
because he or she was “rewarded” by the response (reaction) of the
mother. Skinner said that this approach helps infants develop language
which later will develop syntax (proper meanings and use of words) for
toddlers and young children as they continually hear and eventually
use words. He argued that adults shape the speech of children by
reinforcing the babbling of infants that sound most like words
(Skinner,1957, as cited in Shaffer,et.al,2002). Skinner believed that
nurture is in control of language acquisition.

3. Interactionist Theories
Interactionists think that biological and social factors have to
interact for children to learn language. They argue that children are
endowed with a powerful brain and every child strongly desires to
communicate with others and that desire motivates them to learn to
communicate through language. Language is acquired then out of an
interaction of a human's innate biological inclinations to develop
language and the quality of environmental context where the child
is learning and using language.
In lesson 1, you learned Lev Vygotsky‟s position that children
learn through social interacton and that they use language to
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communicate with significant others that include parents, child-
minders or caregivers, grandparents, siblings and others. They learn by
listening, watching and then they themselves would be modelling the
language and acting out what they they hear and observe. In his
theory, language development is closely tied to

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social behavior. Interactionists focus on Vygotsky's model of

collaborative learning. Collaborative learning is the idea that
conversations with other people can help children both cognitively
and linguistically (Shaffer,et.al,2002).
Jerome Bruner, an American cognitive psychologist, believed that
language development emerges more comfortably and more easily to
most children because of the blend of inborn biological abilities and
social context that offers encouragement and rewards. Bruner writes
that even the children who cannot differentiate between their ideas
and those of others (or things) attempt to use language, implying they
are born with an innate tendency to communicate with others. This is
where the significance of encouragement comes in as a necessary aid
for the child‟s language development. Jerome Bruner agrees with the
idea of a LAD but he argues that Chomsky gives too much emphasis on
the function of LAD without considering that the social context
particularly the behaviour of adults and older children around the child
has a significant influence on language development. He then proposes
the language acquisition support system (LASS) which constitues the
adults and even older children who aid young children in acquiring
language – those who talk to them adapting their language to the level
of comprehension of each child with a lot higher pitch and necessary
exaggerated intonation. For Bruner, every LAD needs a LASS hence,
the interaction.

Stages of Language Development

Considering children‟s profile and their environmental contexts,
there seems to be variations in the time or age at which children
attains a given milestone. In most cases though, language
development has a universal and predictable sequence. For the
detailed Stages of Language Development, please refer to Appendix B.
Take note there are two main areas of language that are
recognized the moment a child starts to use it. These are receptive
language and expressive language. Receptive language is the
understanding or comprehension of language and expressive language
is the use of language through speech or sign as an alternative way to
communicate wants and needs, thoughts and ideas.

THINK!
In a group of 3, conduct some validation of skills that are listed in Appendix B. Each

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Lesson 4

 FACTORS AFFECTING COGNITIVE (AND

LANGUAGE) DEVELOPMENT

Many factors can affect development and you will find out in this
lesson that among the key risk influences that affect cognitive (and
language) development in children can be nutrition, environment, and
maternal-child interactions.

A.Nutrition

It has been assumed that loads of specific nutrients can affect

cognitive processes just like the other domains of development. Then
comes a growing body of literature implying a correlation between
improved nutrition and optimum brain development and functioning.
Nutrients provide building blocks that play a critical role in cell
proliferation, DNA synthesis, neurotransmitter and hormone
metabolism, and are important constituents of enzyme systems in the
brain (Zimmermann, 2011). Since rapid brain growth occurs during the
first 2 years of life, this period of life may be particularly sensitive to
deficiencies in diet (Bryan et al., 2004; Lenroot and Giedd, 2006). This
suggests that the timing of nutritional deficiencies can vastly affect
brain development. Adolescence is also a significant and sensitive
developmental period, with research indicating that structural
reorganization, brain and cognitive maturation and in particular, major
developments in the prefrontal cortex take place during puberty
(Blakemore et al., 2010). Under-nutrition can lead to childrens‟ less
interest for learning and negatively affects cognitive development as
shown in school and other performances.
During prenatal development and the early years of childhood,
nutrition has been considered the greatest environmental influence. A
proper nutritional balance in this formative and sensitive period is
critical for the brain to develop normally. Nutrient deficiencies for
instance in iron and iodine can impair cognitive, and these impairments
are often permanent. Existing literature suggests too that essential
fatty acids are critical for brain development and functioning for they
promote neuronal and dendritic spine growth and synaptic membrane
synthesis thus, influence signal processing and neural transmission.
Some researches point to positive association between maternal fish
intake and cognitive development. In recent years, there has been an
increasing interest in the effect of essential fatty acids, particularly

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long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA), on cognitive brain
development. In Infancy, dietary long chain polyunsaturated
fatty acids

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(LCPUFA) are essential for normal development and in cognitive

development. In infancy, dietary long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
(LCPUFA) are essential for normal development, and in cognitive
development. Randomized, controlled studies evaluated the effects of
feeding term and pre-term infants formula containing LCPUFA or no
LCPUFA on various measures of cognitive behaviour. There are
findings which imply that LCPUFA could improve efficient information
processing as well as attention regulation in infants. There are other
nutrients that have been related to early brain functioning which
include folic acid, choline and many more.
For more insights about the adverse effects of deficiencies in
iodine, iron, zinc and vitamin B-12 in cognitive development, please
read the article Micronutrient Deficiencies and Cognitive Functioning
published by Maureen M. Black. You can access the article through this
link: https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/133/11/3927S/4818043.
In order to gain more insights about the benefits of omega-3
fatty acids, please access the article of Mattthew F. Muldoom, et.al
entitled Long–Chain Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Optimization of Cognitive
Performance by clicking this link: doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00168

B. Environment

Epigenetics claims that environmental contexts can produce

changes in gene expression which can eventually increase one‟s risk
of disease that can even be transmissible to one‟s children. For
instance, exposure to environmental teratogens like tobacco, smoke,
insecticides and many more, either in prenatal or after birth of the
child, can have harmful effect causing cognitive dysfunction. (In
biology, epigenetics deals with the study of hereditary phenotype
changes that do not cause changes in DNA sequence).

Literacy- Rich Environment

Getting students absorbed in meaningful, purposeful literacy

activities requires a number of significant changes in the classroom – in
the physical environment, in the events and activities, and in the
nature and quality of the interactions. –Noel Jones
A literacy-rich environment highlights the importance of
speaking, reading, and writing in the learning of children that involves
selection of materials that facilitate language and literacy
opportunities, reflection and thought construction among infants and
young children. It encourages and fosters reading and writing,
speaking and listening. It contains print learning materials (like books
and posters), electronic and broadcast media (such as radios and
televisions) and digital information and communications (like smart
phones, tablets, computers, internet and technology) which promote a
reading culture, literacy acquisition and better literacy retention along
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with access to up-to-date materials. To illustrate, imagine yourself in a
pre-school or an early elementary school classroom where pupils are
engaged in varied activities such

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as interacting with books and posters, writing, drawing and coloring

activities, watching videos/movies, working in groups, working with
some learning materials individually and the most important is the
presence of a teacher who interacts with them and is accessible for
any help whenever necessary. The situation is a picture of a literacy-
rich learning environment. In addition to reading books, pupils can
interact with ebooks and listen to audio learning materials, as well as
with adults/teachers/staff/parents with varied expertise. Materials in
the classroom must be adapted not only to help pupils to interact with
text, but also to serve as a motivator to engage in reading. A literacy-
rich classroom has labels with words and pictures everywhere so that
pupils constantly connect written language with the things they
represent. Teachers display these labels based on children‟s needs
and interest to provide those with disabilities support in the classroom
(Dorrell, 2002).
What do teachers need to do then? Teachers need to engage
learners in language and literacy activities in all elements of instruction
such as employing games and activities, storytelling/story reading that
children can use to learn independently, or learn with peers. They
serve as scaffolds in learning who provide mediations and demonstrate
their own participation in language and literacy through modeling its
use continually throughout the day. The provision of reinforcers (such
as rewards, incentives, praises) enhances learning.

Story Telling and Reading

It has been said that storytelling is the fundamental preparation

for academic learning. Stories that are read to and read by a child can
connect the home with world of classroom and the world itself beause
they deliver general thread that allow varied cultures to come
together. Stories provides a connection across the cultural diversity.
Normally , children excitedly love to retell a story they have told (and
heard) several times. Perhaps, story telling is the most powerful way
that the child processes experience. By ages 3 and 4, most children
can tell and retell varied types of stories which can be an
autobiography, fantasy, and reports they simply overheard.
Storytelling is a powerful tool for cognitive development for it can
transfer emotions/feelings that boosts thinking capacity, providing a
wonderful activity of learning where in young children raise questions
about how they feel and what they think. A brilliant teller can use
strategies to arouse curiosity and encourage children to ask questions.
Imagination and even visualizations are acquired and developed as
they see pictures in the book and/or pay attention to stories since they
realize how to relate the pictures/images and stories. You can intensify
the memory capability of children by letting them recall and retain the
stories that were already told to them or read for them by asking them
questions, narrate a possible climax, identify the characters or simply
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to retell the story.
The most powerful advantage of storytelling is improved
information and learning in children about various places, practices in
life, relationships and so on. As they learn about good and bad
characters they will realize the idea of

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socially accepted (and unacceptable) forms of behaviors. Stories also

allow children to know about their own cultural roots. Story telling
stimulates expressive language development, receptive language
development, speech and written composition, and also listening and
reading comprehension. For students, it offers powerful situational
learning that develops critical reading, listening and thinking. One of
the most significant outcomes of reading is that it allows children to
use language and to think about it. For instance, children come to
know that what is said is not the same as what is meant, and they
begin grow in vocabulary.

Early Language Stimulation

Early language stimulation is a variety of interaction strategies

that parents/carers can exercise to give confidence to a young
child to use language. Interaction, message, and communication are
not limited words or information used or transmitted. A great part of
the messages and the sense that we communicate are done through
non-verbal language like facial expressions, gestures, body language,
eye-contact, touch and also how close we are to the person we are
talking to. It is always clever to stimulate early language development
by letting infants and early children understand a message through
verbal and non-verbal channels. Some fun activities include rhymes,
riddles, story telling, songs, tong twisters, homonyms, and as they
grow older, word games, word puzzles are stimulating. Just talk, talk
and talk to the child, never criticize a child's pronunciation or speech
patterns, Use television and computers are good aides when they are
used cautiously.

Maternal-Child Interactions

It has been known that mother-child interactions have powerful

effect on the personality development of a child. We must as well ask
the questions whether these interactions greatly influence particularly
the developing intellectual abilities of the child. There are questions
that you as future teachers need to find answers to
1. Do mothers who interact more often with their infants and
children more produce more intelligent children
2. What are the effects of the following factors in the cognitive
development of infants and young children?
a. Maternal depression
b. Inadequate cognitive stimulation
c. Maternal Education

To be able to gain additional insights on the influences of

nutrition and environment and to find answers to the questions above,
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search and read the article “Risk factors affecting child cognitive
development: A summary of nutrition, environment, and maternal –
child interaction indcators for sub-

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Saharan Africa, Published in final edited form as J Dev Orig Health Dis.
2016 Apr; 7(2): 197–217. To have an access to the material,
just click doi: 10.1017/S2040174415001427.

THINK!

Group Activity

n produce more intelligent children. Justify your discussion with an empirical evidence.

cognitive development, how do

children?
a.
the following factors
b.
influence the cognitive development of infants and young

Maternal depression
Inadequate cognitive stimulation

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 MODULE SUMMARY

Cognitive development refers to the proceseses of how children

develop the capacity to think, explore and understand things and
attain acquisition and expansion of knowledge, ability for problem
solving problem solving and the use of language. Psychologists Jean
Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, are the prominent theorists in this domain.
They present similar view that knowledge of a child is constructed but
they have disagreements, the key dissimilarity is that Piaget asserted
that self-discovery or self-development is crucial in learning while
Vygotsky advocated that learning is attained through the assistance of
a more capable partner. Intelligence is one of the most emphasized
topics in education and has been defined in several ways: as a single
ability underlying all other abilities; as a set of distinct abilities; or a set
of interrelated specific abilities. Language is an intellect that truly
makes us human and its acquisition is explained by the major theorists
in language development: the nativist who take into account
development due to what we are born with; the behaviourists who
insist that we learn from our environment and through conditioning;
and the interactionists who tend to believe that development is a
combination of both nature and nurture. In most cases language
development follows a universal and predictable sequence although
the influence of genes and environment somewhat varies the age in
which a child achieves age milestones. There are several factors that
influence child development but nutrition, environment, and maternal-
child interactions are the identified major risk influences that affect
cognitive (and language) development in children.

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 SUMMATIVE TEST

4. The key dissimilarity between the theories of Piaget and

Vygotsky is: “Piaget held that self-development precedes
learning, whereas Vygotsky advocated that learning is achieved
through the assistance of an MKO”. What does this mean?
Explain with a specific example in about 100 words.

5. What is your personal concept of intelligence? Clarify briefly in

about 50 words.

6. Which among the theories of language development is most

applicable in the clasrrom. Justify your stand briefly in about 50
words .
7. Which among the factors that influence cognitive development
do you personally find to be most useful in the classroom
setting? Give brief explanation that support your preference.

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APPENDICES

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Appendix A - Learner-Centered Psychological Principles (LCP)

A. Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

1. Nature of the learning process: The learning of complex subject
matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of
constructing meaning from information and experience.
- Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating,
and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their
own learning.
2. Goals of the learning Process: The successful learner, over time
and with support and instructional guidance, can create
meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
- Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning
goals that are consistent with both personal and educational
aspirations and interests.
3. Construction of Knowledge: The successful learner can link new
information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
- Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating
knowledge by a number of strategies that have been shown to
be effective with learners of varying abilities, such as concept
and thematic organization and categorizing.
4. Strategic thinking: The successful learner can create and use a
repertoire (selecton) of thinking and reasoning strategies to
achieve complex learning goals. Learning outcomes
- Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist
learners in developing, applying, and assessing their strategic
learning skills.
5. Thinking about thinking: Higher order strategies for selecting and
monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and critical
thinking.
- Instructional methods thst focus on helping learners develop

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these higher order (metacognitive) strategies can enhance
student learning and personal responsibility for learning.

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6. Context of Learning:Learning is influenced by environmental

factors, including culture, technology, and instructional practices.
- The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which
it is nurturing or not, can also have significant impact on
student learning.

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B. Motivational and Affective Factors

7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning: What and
how much is learned is influenced by the learner‟s motivation.
Motivation to learn in turn, is influenced by the individual‟s
emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits of
thinking.
- Positive emotional reactions, such as curiosity, generally
enhance motivation and faciltate learning and performance.
Mild reactions such as anxiety can also be beneficial and can
enhance learning and performance as it focuses the learner‟s
attention on a particular task. On the otherhand, intense
negative emotions (like panic, insecirity, anxiety) and related
thoughts (like worrying about competence, thinking over
failure, fearing negative reinforcers, riducle/mockery,
stigmatizing labels) generally detract or reduce motivation,
interfere with learning and contribute to low performance.
8. Intrinsic motivation to learn: The learner‟s creativity, HOT, and
natural curiosity all contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic
motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty,
relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice
and control.
- Educators can encourage and support learners‟ curiosity and
motivation to learn by attending to individual differences
iAcquisitionn learners‟ perceptions of optimal novelty and
difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and control.
9. Effects and motivation on effort: Acquisition of complex
knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and guided
practice. Without learners‟ motivation to learn, the willingness to
exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.
- Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities
guided by practices that enhance positive emotions and

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intrinsic motivation to learn, and methods that increase
learners‟ perceptions that a task is interesting and personally
relevant
C. Developmental and Social Factors

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10. Developmental influences on learning: As individuals develop,

there are different opportunities and constraints for learning.
Learning is most effective when differential development within
and across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domains is
taken into account.
- Awareness and understanding of developmental differences
among children with or without emotional, physical, or
intellectual disabilities, can facilitate the creation of optima
learning contexts.
11. Social influences on learning: Learning is influenced by social
interactions, interpersonal relations, and communication with
others.
- Positive learning activities can also help to establish the
context for healthier levels of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Such contexts help learners feel safe to share ideas, actively
participate in the learning process, and create a learning
community.
12. Individual differences in learning: Learners have different
strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning that are a
function of prior experience and heredity.
- In most cases, educators need to be sensitive to individual
differences, address learners‟ perceptions of the degree to
which these are accepted and adapted to through varied
strategies and IMs.
13. Learning and diversity: Learning is most effective when
differences in linguistic and socio-cultural
experiences/upbringing/personal history are taken into account.
- Careful attention must be given to several factors like
language, ethnicity, beliefs, race, abilities, cultural and socio-
economic status in the design and administration of
instruction….
14. Standards and assessment: Setting appropriately high and
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challenging standards and assessing the learner as well as
learning progress including diagnostic, process, and outcome
assessment are integral parts of the learning process.

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- Assessment can be: ongoing assessment of the learner‟s

understanding of the curricular material, standardized
assessment, performance assessment, self-assessments

Summary of the Learning Principles (by Alexander and Murphy)

1. The knowledge base. One‟s existing knowledge serves as the
foundation of all future learning. It will influence new learning
specifically on how he represents new information, makes
associations and filters new experiences.
2. Strategic processing and control. Learners can develop skills to
reflect and regulate their thoughts and behaviors in order to
learn more effectively (metacognition).
3. Motivation and affect. Factors like intrinsic motivation, reasons
for wanting to learn, personal goals and enjoyment of learning
tasks all have a crucial role in the learning process.
4. Development and Individual Differences. Learning is a unique
journey for each person because each learner has his own
combination of genetic and environmental factors that influence
him.
5. Situation or context. Learning happens in the context of a society
as well as within an individual.

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 Appendix B - Stages of Language Development
CHart Source: KIDSENSE (1800 543 736)

Possible
implications
if
Age Listening Vocabulary Sentences Verbal grammar Concepts Questions milestones
not
achieved

 May have
difficulties
 Attends  Babbling socialising
to (e.g. ma- with parents
sounds ma, da- and joint
and da) attention
voices  Takes  May affect
 Recognis turns muscle tone
6-12 e s facial vocalising in the face
mon expressio with  No  No  No  No as babbling
t hs n s and others specific specific specific specific helps to
tones of  Recognise milestone milestone milestone milestone strengthen
voice s names s s s s the muscles
of a few
objects

 Respond
s to  May have
familiar difficulties
requests  Babbling socialising
(e.g. (e.g. ma- with parents
come ma, da- and joint
here) da)  Can attention
and own  Takes understand  May struggle
name turns one key to copy and
 Understa vocalising word in a learn from
1-2 n ds with  No  No  No sentence others due to
years gestures others specific Specific Specific (e.g. poor
(e.g.  Recognise milestone milestone milestone Where‟s understanding
wave for s names s s s your and attention
„bye‟) of a few nose?)
objects
Module
I
 9

 May have
difficulties
socialising
with peers
and joint
attention
 May struggle
to copy and
learn from
others due to
poor
 Talks about understanding
present and attention
events  May have
 Follows 2  Regular  Position: difficulties
part Plurals – e.g. 1 on; off; in; following
instructio dog, 2 dogs out; up; instruction
ns (e.g.  Articles –„a‟ down; s
Go to and under; top;  May have
your  Names „the‟ open; shut difficulties
room actions  Progressiv  Size: big; being
and get (e.g.  Minimum e – ing – small/little; understood by
your go, run) of 2-3 e.g. The boy long peers
shoes)  By 2 words in a is jumping  Quantity:  May have
 Points to years sentence  Uses Pronouns 1; 2 difficulties
main vocabular (e.g. –  Other:  Understan being
body y is 250- Daddy go „you, I, me, stop; ds and understood by
parts, 300 work mine‟ go/start; asks What unfamiliar
2-3 clothing words  Still talks  Regular Past loud; and Where people
years items,  By 3 to self in Tense – e.g. quiet; questio n  May have
toys and years long “I climbed” heavy; soft; difficulties
food uses monologu  Possessive fast; hot; expressing
when 1000 es „s – cold wants,
asked words e.g. needs,
“Daddy‟s thoughts
car and ideas

 Follows  By 4  Minimum  Begins to 3 to early 4  Understands  May have

3-4 3 part years of 3-4 talk about years: W ho difficulties
years instructi uses words past events  Position:bott questions socialising

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 Tells you  Asks What,
o nearly with
1500
words

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ns what they  Auxiliary „is‟ – om; Why, peers

(e.g. are doing e.g. The behind; first; When and  May struggle
point  Tells you girl is skipping near Ho w to copy and
to the the  Pronouns  Size:short questions learn from
cat, function „he/she‟ – (length) – others due to
the or use of e.g. “He is emerging; poor
dog an object running” or short understanding
and “She (height) and attention
the is drinking”.  Quantity:  May have
monke  Connector 3; every; difficulties
y „and‟ –e.g. “I none following
 Understa want a  Other:hard instructions
n ds banana and an ; slow; light at home,
longer, apple” (weight); child care,
more  3rd Person many kindergarten
complex Singular – colours  May have
sentence e.g. “He difficulties
s wants the being
ball”; “It understood by
eats grass”; peers
“She  May have
reads books” difficulties
 Contracted being
Negative – understood by
e.g. isn‟t, unfamiliar
doesn‟t, people
haven‟t,  May have
shouldn‟t difficulties
 Contracte expressing
d Copula – wants,
e.g. He‟s needs,
happy thoughts
 Past and ideas
Participle –  May have
e.g. It‟s broken difficulties
responding
appropriately
to questions
 Word finding

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difficulties
causing
disfluent
speech

 Talks about Mid-late  May

past and 4 have
future events years: difficultie
 Pronouns  Position: s
„his, hers, mid dle; socialisin
theirs‟ – around; g
e.g. “It away from;  May struggle
is between; to copy and
his/hers/their through; learn from
s“ next others due to
 Comparative – to/beside; poor
er last understanding
and  Size: short and attention
 Continuin Superlative (length);  May have
g to -est: e.g. big, short difficulties
expand bigger, biggest (height); following
 Can  Use of „is‟ vs tall; fat instructions
generally „are„ – e.g.  Quantity: at home,
understan “The monkey 4; most; kindergarten
d colour is eating a few  May have
and banana” vs Late 4-5 difficulties
shape “The monkeys years: being
words are eating the  Position: understood by
(e.g. red, bananas”) in front; in peers
 Follows square)  Past Tense a line;  May have
the  Can sort “to be” – corner; difficulties
meaning objects e.g. middle  Understands being
of others‟ into  Minimum “I was  Size: thin How understood by
4-5 conversa simple of 4-5 running” and  Quantity questions unfamiliar
years ti ons categories word “They were run : 5  Asks people
(e.g. sentences ning” (emerging meanings of  May have
animals,  Connector ); pair words difficulties
food) „because„ –  Other: expressing
e.g. The boy same; wants,
was crying different needs,

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because he (size); thoughts
fell over and different and ideas
(function)

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hurt his knee”  May have

 Adverb –ly – difficulties
e.g. quickly, responding
slowly, quietly appropriately
 Irregular to questions
Plurals –  Word finding
e.g. mice, difficulties
men causing
disfluent
speech

 May
have
difficultie
s
socialisin
g
 May have
poor
attention
 Follows  Uses and
the more concentratio
meaning complex n
of others‟ sentence  May have
conversa s difficulties
ti ons  Uses following
 Follows imaginativ instructions
multi- e at home,
step language school
instructio in play –  Time:  May have
ns likes to yester day, difficulties
 Vocabul  Vocabular pretend tomorrow, retelling
ar y y and act  Irregular morning,  Uses How events
5-6 compreh comprehe out past tense – afternoon, and Where  May
years e nsion ns ion stories e.g. fell, later questio ns have
increase increases  Tells broke, ate difficultie
s several s
attributes following
about an routines
object  May have

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difficulties
being
understood by
unfamiliar
people
 May have

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difficulties
expressing
thoughts and
ideas verbally
and in written
form
 May have
difficulties
responding
appropriately
to questions
 Word finding
difficulties
causing
disfluent
speech

 Gives  May
short oral have
reports difficultie
 Uses s
language socialisin
at a  Position: g
 Can higher left;  May have
classify level to right poor
objects make  Other: attention
according jokes, same; and
to more tease, different;  Able to concentratio
specific engage in season; make n
 Ideas traits (e.g. sarcasm, time of day predictions,  May have
are form, argue  Can justify difficulties
shared colour, point of understan decisions, following
 Follows use or view, d the provide instructions
6-7 multi- compositio explain  Grammar difference solutions at home,
years step n complex is mature between and give school
instructio -what it is situations, reality explanation  May have
ns made of) talk about and s difficulties
movies or fantasy retelling
past events
events  May have

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difficulties
being
understood by
unfamiliar

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in detail people
 Develops  May have
written difficulties
language expressing
skills and thoughts
ability to and ideas
write verbally and
descriptiv in written
e form
paragrap  May have
hs and difficulties
stories responding
appropriately
to questions
 Word finding
difficulties
causing
disfluent
speech
 May have
difficulties
with reading
fluency and
comprehensio
n

 May
have
 Can difficultie
listen for  Can s
a express socialisin
sustaine their g
d period opinion  May have
of time  Can  Uses  Will ask poor
(e.g. retell appropriate questions attention
7-8 attend to  No both grammar in  Can to clarify and
years a guest specific imaginar their speech problem informatio concentratio
speaker milestone y and and written solve n n
at s real work  May have
school) events difficulties

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following
instructions
at home,
school

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 1

 May have
difficulties
retelling
events
 Mayhave
difficulties
problem
solving
 May have
difficulties
expressing
thoughts
and ideas
verbally and
in written
form
 May have
difficulties
responding
appropriately
to questions
 Word finding
difficulties
causing
disfluent
speech
 May have
difficulties
with reading
fluency and
comprehensio
n

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Appendix: Grammar Explanations

Regular Plurals – adds a „s‟ to the end of words to represent more than one (e.g. 1 dog, 2 dogs)
Articles – learns to use the words „a‟ and „the‟ (e.g. “I would like a piece of fruit please” or “I would like the blue lolly please”)
Progressive –ing – adds –ing to the end of verbs (e.g. The boy is jumping)
Uses Pronouns „you, I, me, mine‟ – e.g. “What are you doing?”; “I am happy”; Adult: “Who wants a lolly? Child: Me!;
“That‟s mine” Regular Past Tense – learns to put –ed on the end of verbs to represent that something has happened earlier.
This tends to be used for all verbs even if it requires an irregular past tense (e.g. “I runned” instead of “I ran”)
Possessive „s – learns to put an „s on the end of nouns (i.e. naming words) to indicate possession (e.g. “Daddy‟s car”)
Auxiliary „is‟ – learns to include the “helping verb” „is‟ in a sentence (e.g. The girl is skipping)
Pronouns „he/she‟ – learns that when talking about males we use the pronoun „he‟ and when talking about females we use
the pronoun „she‟ (e.g. “He is running” or “She is drinking”)
Connector „and‟ – learns to join two small sentences together using the word „and‟ (e.g. “I want a banana and an apple” rather
than “I want a banana. I want an apple”)
3rd Person Singular – learns to add an „s‟ to the verb (action word) when it is followed by a 3rd person pronoun (he/she/it) – e.g.
“He wants the ball”; “It eats grass”; “She reads books”
Contracted Negative – learns to combine the auxiliary verbs (e.g. is, does, have, should) with the negative „not‟ – (e.g. isn‟t,
doesn‟t, haven‟t, shouldn‟t)
Contracted Copula – learns to combine a pronoun with a copula (i.e. a verb that connects the subject of the sentence to the
word after the verb) – e.g. He‟s happy
Past Participle –It‟s broken
Pronouns „his, hers, theirs‟ – e.g. “It is his/hers/theirs”
Comparative –er and Superlative -est:e.g. big, bigger,
biggest
Use of „is‟ vs „are‟ – learns to use „is‟ and „are‟ based on the number (i.e. „is‟ for singular and „are‟ for plural – e.g. “The
monkey is eating a banana” vs “The monkeys are eating the bananas”)
Past Tense “to be” – e.g. “I was running” and “They were running”
Connector „because‟ – learns to join two sentences together using the word „because‟ – e.g. The boy was crying because he
fell over and hurt his knee”
Adverb –ly – e.g. quickly, slowly, quietly
Irregular Plurals – irregular plurals are used fairly consistently by the age of 5 years (e.g. mice, children, men)
Irregular past tense – irregular past tense is used consistently (e.g. fell, broke, ate)
This chart was designed to serve as a functional screening of developmental skills per age group. It does not constitute an
assessment nor reflect strictly standardised research.
The information in this chart was compiled over many years from a variety of sources. This information was then further shaped
by years of clinical practice as well as therapeutic consultation with child care, pre-school and school teachers in South Australia
about the developmental skills necessary for children to meet the demands of these educational environments. In more recent
years, it has been further modified by the need for children and their teachers to meet the functional Australian Curriculum,
Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) requirements that are not always congruent with standardised research.

EDUC 101 – The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning