Unit 2

Basic Concepts and Issues

on Human Development
Introduction

In this unit…. (please

listen)
 MODULE 1

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:
MEANING, CONCEPTS
and APPROACHES
 Learning
Outcomes:
At the end of this Module, you should be able to:

•Define human development in your own words.

•Draw some principles of human development.

•Distinguish two approaches to human

development.
Here are pictures of John and Nessa. Each one is a
bundle of possibilities. Describe what they were
before birth and who they will possibly be after birth
( their point of origin) unto adulthood. What will
they possibly become? Expound your answers.
MEANING OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
Human development - pattern of movement
or change that begins at conception and
continues through the life span.
Development includes growth (positive) and
decline (negative).
 MAJOR PRINCIPLES
OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
1. Development is relatively orderly.

PROXIMODISTAL PATTERN - muscular control

of the trunk and the arms comes earlier as
compared to hands and fingers.
 CEPHALOCAUDAL PATTERN- During infancy, the
greatest growth always occurs at the top - the head
with physical growth in size, weight and future
differentiation gradually working in its way down
from top to bottom (ex. Neck, shoulders, middle
trunk and so on)

A. CEPHALOCAUDAL B. PROXIMODISTAL
DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT
2. While the pattern of development is likely
to be similar, the outcomes of developmental
processes and the rate of development are
likely to vary among individuals.

If children come from good home with loving and

caring parents, they may develop into warm and
responsible children, adolescents and adults. If they
come from deprived environment, they may develop
into carefree and irresponsible adolescents and
adults.
3. Development takes place gradually.

While some changes occur in a flash of

insight, more often it takes weeks ,
months, or years for a person to undergo
changes that result in the display of
developmental characteristics.
4. Development as a process is complex because it is
the product of biological, cognitive and socio
emotional processes.

BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES involve

changes in the individual’s physical nature.

Children will experience hormonal changes when

they reach the period of puberty, and
cardiovascular decline as they approach late
adulthood.
COGNITIVE PROCESSES

Involve changes in the individual’s thought,

intelligence, and language.

. Ex. Children develop from mere sounds to a word

becoming two words, the two words becoming a
sentence.

They would move on to memorizing their first prayer,

singing Lupang Hinirang, solving chess and solving
math problem.
SOCIO EMOTIONAL PROCESSES

Changes in the individual’s relationships with other

people.
These biological , cognitive, and socio
emotional processes are intertwined. While
these processes are studied separately, the
effect of one process or factor on a person’s
development is not isolated from the other
processes.
TWO APPROACHES TO HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT

1. TRADITIONAL - Extensive
change from birth to
adolescence, little or no change
in adulthood and decline in late
old age.
Life-span development characteristics:
(Santrock,2002)

1. Development is lifelong. It does not end in adulthood.

2. Development is multidimensional . Development
consists of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional
dimensions.
3. Development is plastic. Development is possible
throughout the lifespan.
4. Development is contextual. Individuals are changing
beings in a changing world.
5. Development involves growth, maintenance and
regulation. The goals of individuals vary among
developmental stages.
Principles of child development and learning that
inform practice.
Below are the principles of child development and
learning which are the bases of developmentally
appropriate practice (DAP) in early childhood program
for children from birth through age 8, which are stated in
the position paper of the National Association for the
Education of Young Children (2009)

1.All the domains of development and learning-physical

social and emotional, and cognitive are important and
they are closely interrelated.
2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow
well documented sequences , with later abilities, skills and
knowledge building on those already acquired.

3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from

child to child, as well as at uneven rates across different areas
of child’s individual functioning.

4. Development and learning result from a dynamic

and continuous interaction of biological maturation
and experience.

5. Early experiences have profound effects, both

cumulative and delayed, on a child’s development and
learning; and optimal periods exist for certain types of
development and learning to occur.
6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity,
self-regulation, and symbolic or representational
capacities.

7. Children develop best when they have secure,

consistent, relationships with responsive adults and
opportunities for positive relationships with peers.

8. Development and learning occur in and are

influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts.

9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the

world around them, children learn in a variety of ways;
10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-
regulation as well as for promoting language,
cognition, and social competence.

11. Development and learning advance when

children are challenged to achieve at a level just
beyond their current mastery, and also when they
have many opportunities to practice newly acquired
skills.

12. Children’s experiences shape their

motivation and approaches to learning, such as
persistence , initiative and flexibility.
Reflection