HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Personality development

Why do teachers study personality development?

 It plays a significant role/part in an individual ‘s success or failure in life
 Teachers facilitate the success of students at school and later in life
 To develop better understanding of themselves and the learners
• Learning contributes towards one’s personality
• To predict the learner’s behaviour and deal with it accordingly
• Personality is a result of interaction between heredity and the environment: the
home, the school, peers
• Personality traits are acquired Gage & Berlin (1984), therefore teachers can
assist
• Personality is not static

What is personality?
Personality refers to the characteristics/blends of characteristics that make a person
unique. These are the distinctive patterns of behaviour and thoughts that are
characteristics of an individual). Personality development refers to
character/unhu/hunhu/Ubuntu.
Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical
systems that determine his characteristics behavior and thought (Allport.1961, p28 cited
by McLeod, 2017).
Eysenck (1991: 2) “personality is the more or less stable & enduring organisation of a
person’s character, temperament, intellect & physique which determine his/her unique
adjustment to the environment”. These are the distinctive patterns of behaviour and
thoughts that are characteristics of an individual. E.g a shy person, reserved, thoughtful,
friendly, quick to judge.
Personality development in an African context
Personality development is influenced by biological and environmental/social factors.
Africans believe that personality has strong biological foundation. A child may be born
with physical features and characteristics/traits resembling his father/grandfather/any
relative. If a child does not resemble any of his/her relatives a lots of questions are
raised. It was suspected that the spouse had extra marital affairs resulting in the birth of
a child who did not belong to that particular clan.

Socialization plays an important role in personality development. According to Nguni,

”umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, also Mkhize, (2004) says that, “humans are made
humans by others”. A person is a person through others. Nwoye, (2017) notes that
mature human beings are not born but made”. A person becomes a person through
others. You are because we are.

Dance, songs, storytelling, heroic recitations, poetry, work songs, dirges (songs, hymns
sung at funerals, songs that express mourning/grief) and oral art influence personality
development. For instance, a song of insult was used as weapons to help individuals
reflect on levels his/her of maturity e.g. a song “Torima musana wandirwadza pakudya
ndomera manhenga; Kusarima woye woye torai mapadza muchirima”. They were also
used to instill good use of language, diligence, perseverance, patience and moderation
which were deemed critical for future adult roles. A mature and wise person should
know when to speak and when to remain silent. One who talks too much may not keep
secrets and was not considered a good person. Such persons were avoided when
serious issues were being discussed ‘padare’. “Vaienda kunovhiyia mbudzi vamwe vari
padare”. The ability to control one’s speech was considered important and a sign of
maturity. Nwoye, (2017) says that ‘effective use of silence defines a man/woman of
character and is an attribute or virtue of the wise man/woman’. Todays’ society does not
tolerate people who cannot keep secrets as they are referred to as individuals “with foot
and mouth diseases’ and other such names.

Silence was attributed to:

 Integrity
 Courage
 Prudence
 Modest
 Power of the soul
 Temperance

Task: Find out the meaning of these terms.

A lot of traditional practices and processes helped to teach the individual to know
himself/herself as a member of the dead, parents, forbears and the culture he/she must
nurture. Stories were also very important, and some of these were and are still passed
on from one generation to another. There is a ChiShona folktale about some girls who
went to fetch water and met some gentlemen who proposed love to them. They fell in
love and eloped with these gentlemen and did not return to their homes. They went
away with their loved ones to their homes. They were later shocked when their
husbands turned out to be lions and wanted to consume them. What do we learn from
this story?

Instruments that were used to enhance personality development

 Direct teaching
 Peer modelling
 Apprenticeship
 Songs
 Proverbs
 Stories

Agents that promoted personality development

Bringing up a ‘good’ well-mannered child was everyone’s business. ‘It takes the whole
village to raise a child’.
  Adults in the community
 Siblings
 Teachers
 Parents- instilled their behavioural patterns through social modelling to their
off springs.

The home and the community worked together to enhance personality development.
They believe that compliance/agreeing to the child’s wishes and requests spoils the
child. An African child who was well cultured possessed a clear self-concept of
himself/herself. He/ she was expected to behave in socially acceptable ways and to
make responsible decisions and actions. Supervision of the child was everyone’s
business.

Tasks
1. “Stories outlive the sound of war drums and the exploits of brave fighters”. Discuss
this in relation to strategies that were used to facilitate personality development.
2. Discuss the assertion that society make humans.
3. Examine the view that, ‘It takes the whole village to raise a child’.