THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

DAVID LIVINGSTONE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

SECONDARY TEACHER’S DIPLOMA

BY EXTENSION STUDIES (DES)

NAME : KAREN, M. NYAMBE

DALICE NO. : 182020649

SUBJECT COMB. : ENG/SOCIAL STUDIES

COURSE : PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION

LECTURER : MS. HACHIBOOLA

YEAR OF STUDY : 2018 (1st Year)

QUESTION: Assignment One:

Explain why teachers need to learn about theories of human development.

Due Date: 13th March, 2018. Length: 3 pages

Human life starts from a single fertilized cell. It is through the constant interaction with the
environment and hereditary processes that result in the growth and development of the innate
capabilities, abilities and potentialities of a human being. Thus the task of formal as well as
informal education is to help in the all-round growth and development. In this regard, it is
thusly important that individuals such as teachers who are supposed to take the duty of
helping children to grow and develop, satisfactorily, must be acquainted with the nature of
growth and development endorsed in the theories of development. This paper will
comprehensively explain why teachers need to learn about theories of human development.

The concept of human development according to Sharma and Sharma (2006) and VanderBos
(2015) refers to the psychological, emotional, and physiological changes that take place in
humans from the time of birth up to adolescence and beyond. It focusses on how the
individual starts from dependency, and eventually exercises autonomy. Among the prominent
theories of development include: Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development; Sigmund Freud’s
Psychosexual Development and Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development (Seifert and
Sutton, 2009). It is only with knowledge of growth and development of the learner at each
stage of his or her life that it is possible for the teacher to render proper guidance, arrange
learning situations and plan instructional programmes for bringing desirable harmonious
development in their personalities (Mangal, 2007). Since teachers deal with human beings
such as learners, the centration of this essay will be highly related to teaching and learning.

To begin with, collectively, the developmental theories help the teacher to know the learner
he or she is dealing with. According Kakkar (1993) and Mangal (2007), thinkers like
Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel and Tagore have made it clear that teaching must be based on
the nature of the child. The teacher must know what sort of child he or she is dealing with and
accommodate the methods to the laws of nature. Part of what the teacher would know about a
learner from theories of human development includes personality, abilities, stage of
development or age, etcetera. Such knowledge is the foundation of instruction, selection of
materials and content and many other aspects.

In planning instruction for example, the teacher will want to know what activities and
expectations are appropriate for the learners. The preparation of appropriate instruction the
teacher does not only need to know about how the students are unique, but also about general
trends of development during childhood and adolescence. For example, Erikson in his
psychosocial development theory, at about 6 to 12 years, people are industrious, that is, they
like trying out things and to succeed, else, they will feel inferior (Slavin, 2006). It is thus
important that teachers plan instructions that allow learners to explore their world, learn by
doing and design other instructional activities that best suit the learners’ stage of
development, abilities, and so on. Also, learning should be social, that is, methods of learning

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and teaching should promote the social aspect, for example group work; so that human beings
can develop as social beings.

In continuity, since developmental changes in hypotheses are said to be sequential or happen

in a specific order and to build on each other – sort of a “staircase” model of development.
Arguably, young people for example, must have tangible, hands-on experience with new
materials before they can reason about the materials in the abstract. The order cannot be
reversed. In this case, teachers with the understanding of human development theories are
likely to teach according to the stage of the learner, for example, Grade 1 or 2 pupils learn
counting using objects like sticks or stones, and later on count without those objects. The
sticks or stones are scaffolds which makes the learning of new content easier for the learners.
It would be absurd for a teacher to present advanced material that does not suit the age of the
learner, for example, presenting quadratic equation to grade 5 pupils. Reference to the
cognitive development theory (pre-operational stage) lack of conservation and reversibility,
for example, 1 + 3 may be known to be = 4, but it may be difficult for a child to reverse it, for
example, 4 – 3 = 1. Such awareness helps the teacher teach effectively.

Furthermore, all children have needs of love, security and affection. For a child to attain full
development he/she must have his or her need adequately satisfied at home and school.
Favourable social and emotional environment must be developed around him or her. In this
regard, teachers need the knowledge of human development as it will aid them with
understanding of what learners need in order for them to develop fully. According to Mangal
(2007), midway between the learner and the teacher in an educational process are the learning
situations or the learning environment. Much depends upon the appropriateness of this
midway element. The knowledge of human development equips the teacher to take care of
the desirable learning situations and environment to satisfy the needs of the learners.

Also, theories of human development are a necessity to the teacher, in that it helps the teacher
to render guidance services. According to Woolfork et al (2008) the teacher is the person who
knows the children better, even more than their parents. Thus he or she is in a better position
to diagnose the abilities, interests and aptitudes of his/her pupils and consequently have an
idea of the direction and speed of their development and indeed show the right direction to
his/her pupils for their total development.

Typical of Erikson’s psychosocial development, at the ages of 12 to 18 years, the stage of

identity versus role confusion, where people ask the question “who am I?” Slavin (2006)
outlines that at this stage, people try out various sexual, occupational and educational roles;
the reassembly of the individual’s basic drives (ego) with his or her endowment (resolution of
the previous crises) and his or her opportunities needs, skills goals and demands of

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adolescence and approaching adulthood. Failure to which, an individual can experience role
confusion. In the view of the teacher acting as a guide, Sutton and Seifert (2009) emphasize
that, “teachers can minimize role confusion in a number of ways. One is to offer students lots
of diverse role models — by identifying models in students’ reading materials, for example,
or by inviting diverse guests to school. The point of these strategies would be to express a key
idea: that there are many ways to be respected, successful, and satisfied with life.” Arguably,
without knowledge of human development, teachers cannot appropriately guide students in
the right path, to fuller development.

Knowledge of theories of human development also aids the teacher in evaluation and
assessment. According to Mangal (2007), after imparting learning experiences to the child,
the behavioural changes in him or her need to be examined and also in the beginning the
potentialities are to be known. In this regard, the teacher with knowledge of human
development will ensure all the aspects of the learner are assessed and evaluated, that is, the
social, cognitive, emotional and others. Relatively, assessment and evaluation further helps
the teacher to understand learner’s developmental progress, challenges and successes, and be
able to appropriate deal with them.

Human psychology also helps the teacher deal with classroom problems. According to
Sharma and Sharma (2006), if the teacher wants to solve disciplinary problems, he or she
needs to have adequate and comprehensive knowledge of human psychology. Alongside
comprehension of Kohlberg’s moral development, for example, teachers can be able to deal
with classroom disciplinary problems with fewer difficulties.

Lastly, comprehension of human theories of development also helps the teacher to be able to
comprehend learning disabilities that may exist in some pupils and be able to professionally
handle such children according to best techniques and methods suggested by psychologists
(Kakkar, 1993). For example, children with visual anomalies or problems may be aided by
use of visual enhancing technologies and braille among others.

In conclusion, the essay has comprehensively explained reasons why teachers need to study
or have knowledge about theories of human development. According to the findings, since
the teacher is at the core of ensuring the full and well-rounded development of learners’
social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects, the essay centered the discourse
on the day-to-day activities of the teacher in line with imparting of knowledge. Thus, theories
of development helps the teacher know his or her learners, plan classroom instructions, set
favourable learning environments, offer guidance and many other roles discussed above.
Needless to say, all these aspects relate to the stages of development of the individual.

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REFERENCES

Kakkar, S.B (1993). Educational Psychology. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Private Ltd.

Mangal, S.K (2007). Essentials of Educational Psychology. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of

India Private Ltd.

Seifert, K and Sutton, R (2009). Educational Psychology 2nd Edition. Zurich: Jacobs
Foundation.

Sharma, R.N and Sharma, R.K (2006). Advanced Educational Psychology. New Delhi:
Atlantic Publishers and Distributors.

Slavin, R.E (2006). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice 11th Edition. Boston:
Pearson.

VanderBos, G.R (2015). APA Dictionary of Psychology 2nd Edition. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association (APA).

Woolfolk, A et al (2008). Psychology in Education. England: Pearson education Ltd.

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