After exploring the school environment, your next journey to Episode 2

provides you an opportunity to observe learners of different ages and grade

levels. This episode will highlight the differences in their characteristics and
needs. As a future teacher, it is important for you to determine your learners’
characteristics and needs so that you will be able to plan and implement learning
activities and assessment that are all developmentally appropriate.

At the end of th
is episode, you must be able to differentiate the needs,
characteristics, and behavior of learners from different development levels.

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) for

principles of child development and learning that inform developmentally appropriate
practice:

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 1. Domains of children’s development--physical, social, emotional, and
cognitive-are closely related.

2. Development occurs in a relatively orderly sequence, with later abilities, skills,

and knowledge building on those already acquired.

3. Development proceeds at varying rates from child to child as well as unevenly

within different areas of each child’s functioning.

4. Early experiences have both cumulative and delayed effects on individual

children’s development; optimal periods exist for certain types of development
and learning.

5. Development proceeds in predictable directions toward greater complexity,

organization, and internalization.

6. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and
cultural contexts.

7. Children are active learners, drawing on direct physical and social experience
as well as culturally transmitted knowledge to construct their own
understandings of the world around them.

8. Development and learning result from interaction of biological maturation and

the environment, which includes both the physical and social worlds that
children live in.

9. Play is an important vehicle for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive

development, as well as a reflection of their development.

10. Development advances when children have opportunities to practice newly

acquired skills as well as when they experience a challenge just beyond the
level of their present mastery.

11. Children demonstrate different modes of knowing and learning and different
ways of representing what they know.

12. Children develop and learn best in the context of a community where they are
safe and valued, their physical needs are met, and they feel psychologically
secure.

Read: https://www.virtualeduc.com/v7/resources/data/TAD.3/TwelvePrinciples.htm

Now, are you ready for your first learning activity? I bet you are, so let’s
begin.

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 Your Activity 2.1
Observing Characteristics of Learners at Different Stages

To achieve your learning objective, you will need to pass the following
steps:
1. Observe different learners from different levels (kinder,
elementary, high school, and college).
2. Based on your observations, describe each learner.
3. Interview them to verify your observations and descriptions. Make
sure that health protocol is widely observed.
4. Compare the learners in terms of their characteristics, needs and
learners.

Now, use the observation guides and matrices below for you to document
your observations.
LEARNER’S CHARACTERISTICS OBSERVATION GUIDE
Read the following statements carefully. Then write your observation report on
the provided space. Your teacher may also recommend another observation
checklist if a more detailed observation is preferred.

PHYSICAL
1. Observe their gross motor skills on how they carry themselves, how they
move, walk, run, go up the stairs, etc.
2. Are gross movements clumsy or deliberate/smooth?
3. How about their fine motor skills? Writing, drawing, etc.
SOCIAL
1. Describe how they interact with teachers and adults.
2. Note also how they interact with peers. What do they talk about? What
are their
concerns?
EMOTIONAL
1. Describe the emotional disposition or temperament of the learners
(happy, sad, easily cries, mood-shifts).
2. How do they express their wants/needs? Can they wait?
3. How do they handle frustrations?
4. Describe their level of confidence as shown in their behavior. Are they
self-conscious?
COGNITIVE
1. Describe their ability to use words to communicate their ideas. Note
their language proficiency.
2. Describe how they figure out things. Do they comprehend easily? Look

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 for evidence of their thinking skills.
3. Were there opportunities for problem solving? Describe how the
showed problem-solving abilities.

LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT MATRIX

Now, record the data you gathered about the learner’s characteristics and
needs in this matrix. This will allow you to compare the characteristics and needs
of learners of different levels. The items under each domain are by no means
exhaustive. These are just simple indicators. You may add other aspects which
you may have observed.

Development Domain Preschooler Elementary High School College

Physical They love to play They love to play Some high school College
• Gross Motor skills with friends. They outdoors. students are students are
• Fine Motor skills always run around More physically stronger than like adults.
• Self-help skills and they have a lot active. elementary They are more
of energy. students. developed
when it comes
to physical
aspects.
Social They want to have They are more At this stage College
• Interactions with many friends. open in they’d love to students tend
Teachers They always share socializing. work on a group. to socialize
• Interactions with how their day They also have They always more.
classmates and friends went. many friends. want to learn They have
• Interests within their their group of
group of friends. friends where
they share
their learning.
Emotional At this age there At this age, They are more They are more
• Moods and are times that learner can open about their responsible
Temperament, they’ll get grumpy identify what is feelings. about their
expressions of feelings for no reason. right and wrong. feelings. And
• Emotional They cry easily They can express they can
interdependence and always want what they feel. manage their
their parents’ And they can emotions and
attention. already express feelings well.
their idea.

Cognitive They easily imitate They can They can make They can also
• Communication Skills what they saw from communicate to their own make their own
• Thinking Skills adults. others. decision. But with decision but
• Problem Solving They are starting to
Not all learners the guidance of they are more
read and write but
from this stage can not all learners their parents. responsible of
communicate well. from this stage can it.
understand what
they’ve read.

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 Write the most salient development characteristics of the learners (from
kinder to high school) you observed. Based on these characteristics, think of
implications for the teacher. Present your data through graphical or tabular
presentations. Use the space provided.
SALIENT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE
LEVEL CHARACTERISTICS TEACHERS
OBSERVED
PRESCHOOL They are energetic and Teacher should be
always love to play. patient to preschoolers.
They get grumpy for no Teachers should make
reason sure that they are on
their learners’ side when
they have their
tantrums.
ELEMENTARY More interactive Teachers should
prepare physical
activities while learning.
HIGH SCHOOL Want to learn with their Group activities are
group of friends more suitable at this
stage.
COLLEGE Want to learn with their Group discussion are
group of friends. suitable at this stage.

1. What comes to mind while you were observing the learners? Have you
recalled your experiences when you were at their age? What
similarities or differences do you have with the learners you
observed? Use Venn Diagram to illustrate your idea.

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 Loves to Want to Had their
play with be with own
friends. friends group of
Want to and have friends.
hang out fun
with their
friends.

2. Do you have teachers that you will never forget for positive or
negative reasons? How did they help or not help with your needs
(physical, emotional, social, and cognitive)? How did it affect you?

Yes, I do have teachers that I won’t forget. They are my senior high cookery and
housekeeping teachers. Whenever we have class, they always make sure that we are
doing our work right. They also give us life lessons that gives us motivation to
continue our study. They are also the reason why I choose to become a TLE teacher,
because someday I want to be like them.

3. Share here your other thoughts and insights.

Every student has its own attitude and uniqueness. As a future teacher we really
need to know their differences and needs. Because this will help us understand
them deeply and with that, we can help them by guiding them.

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 Which is your favorite theory of development. How this theory guides you
as a future teacher? Clip some readings about this theory and paste them here.

One theory of development that I like is Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development. What
I like about this theory of development is that it talks about the different stages of human as
they grow. And I think it would help me as a future teacher because it will give me the
knowledge on how I can handle and understand my students.

Wow! Congratulations. You are done with the observation activity for
Learning Episode 2. To successfully end your Learning Episode 2, go to your LMS
and answer the Learning Episode 2 Quiz.

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