The Child and

Adolescent
Learner
Chapter 1 Report
 Principles on Child Adolescent as Learners

The child’s learning process cannot be described simply as it is

determined by various factors:

1. His nature as a learner.

2. The goals of learning or pedagogy.
3. The intervention of the environment on the learning
process.
The child or the adolescent learner should among other
things be considered as human being. He undergoes the
processes of growth and development.

Without a favorable environment, normal growth and

development cannot occur. The importance of hereditary
endowment is greater at the stage of conception than it would be
if it were subject to change.
Hurlock (1982) gave two ways by which
determination of hereditary endowment affect their
life.

1. Hereditary places limits beyond which

individuals cannot go.

2. Hereditary is a matter of chance.

 The 3 Elements
1. Increase in size
2. Differentiation of structure
3. Alteration of form

These elements comprise development, the

series of orderly and irreversible stages that
every child goes through from beginning of its
life to the end.
No two living individuals, as the learners we
are studying, are exactly alike.

Each grows and develops in a unique fashion

within the limits that his heredity and
environment permit. Every child has its own
way of growing and developing.
Science now knows that all children grow in
much the same pattern.

Studies shown that this general pattern leaves room for considerable
individual variation.

In the child’s overall speed of growth, the ages at which he grows

more rapidly; the trajectory he follows to reach his destined height.
Learners respond differently to
academic stimuli

According to Begley 1999, every person

has a certain “constitutional” traits that
influence the way his body organs
respond to stress.
Nearly all human behavior is learned
rather than inherited.

A man’s stage by stage development from

childhood is necessity to give him time to
acquire the mass information and skills without
which he could not survive as an adult.
Childhood, as a developmental stage of a person can be
divided into:

Early Childhood Late Childhood

Refer to that stage

Refer to that stage
between 2 years to 6
between 6 years to 12
years.
years.
 Early Childhood
• A critical period wherein the foundation for later
development is laid.
• Some parents consider this stage a problem age or
troublesome age.
• Some parent refer to this stage as toy age.
• To the educators, this stage is the pre-school age.
• Psychologists use various names such as pregang stage.
• This is also called the exploratory stage, questioning stage
and creativity stage.
Late Childhood
• The elementary schooling age from Grade 1 up to Grade 6.
• This is the troublesome stage.
• Parents call this the sloppy age.
• Some parents call this the quarrelsome age.
• Educators call this stage as elementary school age.
• A critical period in the achievement drive.
• Psychologist call this the gang age.
 Adolescence
The term adolescence comes from the Latin word “adolescere”
meaning “to grow” or “to grow to maturity”. Today, this term, has
a broader meaning.
 Romeo and Juliet during
Shakespeare’s time (16th Century)
were considered young adults at the
age of 13.

In the centuries past, sexually mature person was never treated as a

“growing child”. In this century, sexually mature folks spend some six
years, ages 12 -18, under the authority of their parents.
 Adolescence
• Psychologically, it is the age when the individual becomes integrated into society
of adults.
• Marks as a passage from the childhood stage to maturity wherein what has
happened before leaves a mark on what happens now and in the future.
• A period of change.
• A problem age.
• A time to search for identity.
• A time of unrealism.
 Difference Among Learners
Temperamental differences between the sexes of learners are hardly hard news.
Studies by Fels Research Institute for the Study of Human Development have
helped define these differences and have revealed that some appear as soon as
three months after birth.

Examples:
• Boys have a shorter attention span than girls.
• Boys are also more independent and aggressive.

Several experiments conducted by Fels pointed out not only temperamental differences but
also mental abilities of learners. Psychologists formerly believed that children’s mental
abilities matured in a gradual and orderly manner.
Rights of Children and Young Persons

Human Rights
Rights which are essential for us to live
as human beings. Without human
rights, we cannot fully develop
ourselves and use our human qualities,
our intellgience , our talent and our
spirituality.
 First Second
The value of respect and its Human rights refer to a wide
constituent element of reciprocal continuum of value claims ranging
tolerance and mutual forbearance from the most justiciable to the
are understood to be inherent most aspirational despite varying
among individuals and groups in the environmental circumstances and
sharing of wealth, enlightenment and differing world views.
other cherished values.

Nature of
Human
Rights
Third Fourth
If a right is determined to be Human rights are not
a human right, it is general or absolute.
universal in character.

Human rights are commonly

Fifth assumed to refer to what is
fundamental as distinct from
nonessential.
 The Rights of the Child
Rights to life, the most Rights to protection from all forms
01 fundamental of such rights of violence, including sexual 03
exploitation
Every child has the right to
Every child, whether male or female,
live and grow up in a healthy
is not to be indulged with in sexual
and peaceful environment
intercourse or lasciviousness

02 Rights to name and

nationality Right to Education 04
Every child should be given a
name and identified by his Every child should receive
nationality. formal education

05 Right to freedom of
thought
Every child possesses human
intelligence which allows hum the
freedom to a thinking process and
creative endeavor.
 The Situation Filipino Children and Young
Persons

The Philippines government’s policy to give protection to children is set forth in

Section 13, Article 1 of the Philippine Constitution which provides that:

“The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building and shall
promote and protect their physical , moral, spiritual, intellectual and social being.
It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and encourage their
involvement in public and civic affairs.”
 Legislative enactments were promulgated to give
effect to the State’s declared policy.
Republic Act 9344 Republic Act No. 7658
The Act establishing a Known as “An Act
Comprehensive Prohibiting the
Juvenile Justice and Employment of Children
Welfare System Below 15 Years of Age”

Republic Act No. 7610 The Rights of Child

The Philippine government ratified
Known as “The Special during the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the
Protection of Children
Child. This is the landmark
Against Child Abuse” international legal instrument that
codifies and enshrines the rights of
children.
 Legislative enactments were promulgated to give effect to the
State’s declared policy.

Filipino Children: Child

Republic Act No. 8353
21
This is a strategic
Known as The Anti-Rape
programming network that
law of 1997 also known as
promotes and safeguards An Act Expanding the
the right of Filipino
Definition of the Crime of
Children
Republic Act No. 8049 Rape.

Known as An Act of Regulating

hazing and Other Forms of
Initiation Rites in Fraternities and
Sororities and Other Organizations
and Providing Penalties Therefore.
Status of the Filipino Youth
The state of Filipino children and young people was published in a daily nationwide paper
(PDI, Sept 22. 2005). It says that about 5000 children, majority of them innocent and some
as young as eight are languishing in jails throughout the Philippines mixed together with
hardened criminals and at grave risk of violence and sexual abuse.

A petition to some Filipino children in prison has been circulated on the Internet website
www.PetitionOnline.com for presentation to the UN and international rights group in an
apparent effort to force the Philippine government into taking action.
 Petition Facts on Filipino Children and Youth

Forty-five percent (45%) or about 33 million of

the Philippine population are children aged 17
The Children
and younger. Majority or 13.85% of this group
are aged 0-4 years.

For every 1000 infants born, almost 43 die

Health instantly due to illness, malnutrition, absence of
medical services and other causes.

Sixty percent (60%) of children in the elementary

Lack of Education grades stop schooling upon reaching second
grade due to high cost of education.

Work Filipino children enter the working force early.

 United Nations Report
United Nations reported that around 1.2 billion young people ages 15-24 years old
are:

● Increasingly seeking the bright lights of

the cities, engaging in international
activities.
● Becoming more influenced by the global
media than by their own families and
communities.
● Living on less than 2 dollars a day or
surviving on less than 1 dollar a day in
2002
● Currently living with HIV or AIDS.
● Reaching adolescence earlier.
● Marrying later.
● Increasingly engaging in premarital sex
although early pregnancy has declined in
many countries.
● Increasing in the use of synthetic drugs
mostly in recreational settings.
● Being affected by increase in violent
conflicts, both as perpetrators and
victims.
 The following findings were reported by the Department of Health
Some 33,000 Filipino babies born every year are
suffering from threatening congenital metabolic
disorders.
This congenital disorder are:
❏ Hyperthyroidism (HD) - a disease caused by the
under activity of the thyroid gland resulting in
underproduction of thyroid hormones essential
for physical growth and development.
❏ Galactosemia (GAL) - is a hereditary disease
that is caused by the lack of liver enzyme
required to digest galactose.
❏ Congenital AdrenalHyperplasia (CAH) -
pertains to a set of inherited disorders that
occur because of excess productions of
make hormones.
❏ Phenylketonuria (PKH) - is a hereditary
disease caused by the lack of a liver enzyme
required to digest phenylalanine.
❏ Glucose 6-Phospate Dehydrogenase (G6PD)
deficiency - the most common genetic
enzyme that can cause premature
destruction of red blood cells (hemolytic
anemia) when affected individuals is
exposed to certain foods, medications,
chemicals or pollen.

The Department of Health said that these conditions could easily be detected if the
infants were submitted to newborn screening tests required under Republic Act 9288
or the Newborn Screening Law passed in 2004.
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
(UNICEF) Report

● Illegal drug syndicates now prefer to hire children as drug runners because of their
loyalty to their employers and elusiveness to government law enforcers.
● Filipino child laborers now endure amounts of stress that is equivalent to what suffer
at work.
● Upgrades in media technology are actually harmful to children whose sole venue for
“socialization” had switched from the nanny (yaya) to the television.
● More children are left unattended or in the care of a dysfunctional family set up
because more mothers leave for work in the cities or abroad.
● Children are finally developing their own biases, which perpetuate conflicts.
 Causes of the Situation
Poverty
The report to UN said that
poverty in the Philippines is
characterized by a “chronic
or a cylical condition of
deprivation of basic services
that includes basic education
durable housing, and
clothing.
Change in work
landscapes
In 1993, sixteen percent
Weakness in child
(16%) of households with protection laws
children below 12 were
left unattended or with no
There are laws for the
adult supervision. protection of children but
the problem is the
implementation of these
laws
Cabreza (2005) gave following suggestions to improve the
condition of Filipino Children

Draft “specific legislation” that

increase budgetary allocation would criminalized child
pornography and pedophilia

Create laws that institutionalized a Make mandatory policies for the

juvenile system to promote government to consult children
rehabilitation about laws affecting them
 In Nash’s study (2005), the recommendations were:

The immediate delivery of basic Development of income-

services to communities affected generating opportunities for
by armed conflicts families in these areas

Formulation of methods and

Inclusion of the issue of child
strategies addressing children’s
soldier in the peace process
developmental needs
The United Nations International Labor Organizations (UN-ILO) Report

The UN-ILO reported that Filipino children

are being recruited for the armed conflict in
the Central Mindanao. They regards this as
the worst form of child labor.
Yap (2005) states that “Filipino children take
up arms voluntarily as their way out of
poverty and abuse. The result of this
nationwide study of almost 200 children
involved in armed rebel groups..”
 Government Interventions

On the government’s part, the formation of agencies and organizations to counteract

illegal child labor practices gas taken into effect.

The National Youth Commission (NYC) Medium-Term Youth Development Plan which
pushes for the creation of the Youth Development Council in local governments has
been tasked to ensure that the national plan is translated to the local setting.
Government Interventions

NYC was envisioned to be the proactive authority in youth development. Its

mission is to be the leader in providing a framework for youth development and
to ensure the:

1. Formulation of relevant policies

2. Harmonization of multi-sectoral effects
3. Innovation and coordination of programs towards
greater participation, promotion of the Filipino youth
 “Our most important
task as a nation is to
make sure all our young
people can achieve their
dreams.”
-Barack Obama