32 F a c il it a t in g L e a r n in g

aeveiopment in the chi]

aoie o f social interactia
r*5cematic manner o f f
The correct answ ers to the opening activ ity are: l.D , 2.F, 3.E, je®T»er to effectively a!
4.C, 5.A. and 6 B. D id you get them all right? W ell, we hope you more knowledgeable od
did! The ideas o f the theorists, Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Vygostsky and i t performance than if
Bronfenbrenner remain to be foundational in the teacher’s understanding ‫־‬fter eventually become
of the learners’ development. Let us recall highlights o f their theories. independently in the fun
Freud said, “The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh o f its I ‫ ־‬: illustrates this.
bulk above water.” This is o f course the very famous analogy that Freud Bronfenbrenner's i
referred to when he explained the subconscious mind. He believed that presents child
much o f what the person is really about is not what we see in the outside that comprise d
and what is conscious, but what is there hidden in the subconscious mind. mesosyste
As teachers, it is important that we remember not be too quick in making kyer is further mad
conclusions about our students’ intentions for their actions. Always consider jccrts out that a child
that there are many factors that may influence one’s behavior. ar‫׳*־‬si.opinent. The chii
F reud also em phasized the three com ponents th at m ake up o n e ’s *er^een his/her imm<
personality, the id, ego and the superego. The id is pleasure-centered; the *scecal landscape fuel
ego, reality-centered and the superego, which is related to the ego ideal or 3! ■ > one layer w ill i
conscience. ar*eaopcnent then, we 3
Freud believed that an individual goes through five psychosexual stages srrrtH im ent. but also
o f development. This includes the oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital
stages. Each stage demands satisfaction o f needs, and failure to do so results What follow are
in fixations. i r r c zpfes o f these imp
Erikson said, “Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have I M a c o t Developmea
in tegrity enough not to fear d e a th .” He believed in the im pact o f the
significant others in the developm ent o f one’s view o f him self, life and
o f the world. He presented a very com prehensive fram ew ork o f eight
psycho-social stages o f development. It is Erikson who described the crisis
(e x p re sse d in o p p o site p o la ritie s ) th a t a p e rso n goes th ro u g h ; the
maladaptations and malignancies that result from failure to effectively resolve
the crisis; and the virtue that emerges when balance and resolution o f the
crisis is attained.
Piaget said, “The principle goal o f education in the schools should be
creating men and women who are capable o f doing new things, not simply
repeating what other generations have done.”
P iaget’s theory centered on the stages o f cognitive developm ent. He
described four stages o f cognitive development, namely the sensory-motor,
pre-operational, concrete-operational and formal operational stages. Each
has characteristic w ays o f thinking and perceiving that shows how one’s
cognitive abilities develop.
Kohlberg said, “Right action tends to be defined in terms o f general
individual rights and standards that have been critically exam ined and
agreed upon by the whole society.” Kohlberg proposed three levels o f moral
development (pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional) which
are further subdivided into the stages. Influenced by Piaget, K ohlberg
believed that one’s cognitive developm ent influenced the developm ent of
one’s moral reasoning.
Vygotsky said, “The teacher must orient his w ork not on yesterday’s
 Module 3 - Review of Theories Related to the Learners’ Development 33
liv elo p m en t in the child but on tom orrow ’s.” Vygotsky em phasized the
role o f social interaction in learning and developm ent. Scaffolding is the
system atic m anner o f providing assistance to the learner that helps the
tam er to effectively acquire a skill. He believed that guidance from a
ore knowledgeable other (M KO) w ould lead a learner to a higher level
perform ance than if he w ere alone. This higher level o f perform ance cBrcmfenbrenner
said, “‘We as a
eventually becomes the learner’s actual performance when he works nation need to
rcependently in the future. His concept o f zone o f proximal development Be reeducated
PD) illustrates this. about the
necessary an d
B ronfenbrenner’s m odel also know n as the B ioecological System s sufficient
Theory presents ch ild developm ent w ithin the context o f relatio n sh ip conditions f o r
ems that comprise the child’s environment. The model is composed o f making Human
beings Human.
;rosystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and the chronosystem.
W e need to be
Each layer is further made up o f different structures. The term “bioecological” reeducated not
Dints out th at a c h ild ’s ow n b io lo g ica l m ake-up im pacts on h is/h er as parents —
jevelopm ent. The child’s growing and developing body and the interplay but as workers,
neighbors, an d
retw een h is/h e r im m ed ia te fa m ily /c o m m u n ity e n v iro n m e n t, and the friends; an d as
cietal landscape fuel and steer his/her developm ent. Changes or conflict members o f the
any one layer w ill ripple throughout other layers. To study a c h ild ’s organizations,
committees,
development then, we must look not only at the child and his/her immediate boards— and,
. ironm ent, but also at the larger environm ent w ith w hich the child especially,
■*erects. the informai
networks
W hat follow are graphic organizers that w ill help you review the that control
principles o f these im portant theories. You m ay refer to any Child and our social
Adolescent Development book or other resources to complete them. institutions
a n d thereby
determine the
conditions o f
life f o r our
fam ilies an d
their children. "