The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Week 2- Basic Concept

Instructor: Angelie Mae B. Bonaobra

I. Growth and Development: Nature or Nurture?

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest
philosophical issues within psychology. So what exactly is it all
about?
 Nature refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that
influence who we are—from our physical appearance to our
personality characteristics.
 Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact
who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we
were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture
Nature
Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or that
they occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Nativists take the position that all or most
behaviors and characteristics are the results of inheritance.
Psychologist Francis Galton, a cousin of the naturalist Charles Darwin, coined both the terms
nature versus nurture and believed that intelligence was the result of genetics. Galton believed that
intelligent individuals should be encouraged to marry and have many children, while less intelligent
individuals should be discouraged from reproducing.
Nurture
Well-known thinkers such as John Locke believed in what is known as tabula rasa, which suggests
that the mind begins as a blank slate. According to this notion, everything that we are and all of our
knowledge is determined by our experience.
Empiricists take the position that all or most behaviors and characteristics result from learning.
Behaviorism is a good example of a theory rooted in empiricism. The behaviorists believe that all
actions and behaviors are the results of conditioning. Theorists such as John B. Watson believed that
people could be trained to do and become anything, regardless of their genetic background.
One example of an empiricist theory within psychology is Albert Bandura's social learning
theory. According to the theory, people learn by observing the behavior of others. In his famous Bobo
doll experiment, Bandura demonstrated that children could learn aggressive behaviors simply by
observing another person acting aggressively.
What is the right answer?
Up to this time the debate continues. Researches are on-going. But let me tell you that most
life-span developmentalists recognize that extreme positions on these issues are unwise. Development
is not all nature or all nurture. (Lerner, 1998 as quoted by Santrock, 2002). Both nature and nuture,
characterize our life-span development. The key to development is the interaction of nature and nuture
rather than either factor alone (Rutter, 2001 as quoted by Santrock, 2002). In other words, it is a matter
of "both-and" not "either-or". To summarize, both genes and environment are necessary for a person
even to exist. Without genes, there is no person; without environment, there is no person (Scan and
Weinberg, 1980, quoted by Santrock, 2002). Heredity and environment operate together -or cooperate
and interact - to produce a person's intelligence, temperament, height, weight, ability to read and so on.

II. Periods of Development

a. Prenatal Period
Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major
structures of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of
primary concern. Understanding nutrition, teratogens (or environmental
factors that can lead to birth defects), and labor and delivery are primary
concerns

b. Infancy and Toddlerhood (from birth to 2 years)

The first year and a half to two years of life are ones of dramatic
growth and change. A newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor
vision is transformed into a walking, talking toddler within a relatively
short period of time. Caregivers are also transformed from someone who
manages feeding and sleep schedules to a constantly moving guide and
safety inspector for a mobile, energetic child.

c. Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)

Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years
consisting of the years which follow toddlerhood and precede
formal schooling. As a three to five-year-old, the child is busy
learning language, is gaining a sense of self and greater
independence, and is beginning to learn the workings of the
physical world. This knowledge does not come quickly, however,
and preschoolers may have initially have interesting conceptions of
size, time, space and distance such as fearing that they may go down
the drain if they sit at the front of the bathtub or by demonstrating how long something will take by
holding out their two index fingers several inches apart. A toddler‘s fierce determination to do
something may give way to a four-year-old‘s sense of guilt for doing something that brings the
disapproval of others.

d. Middle Childhood and Late Childhood ( 6 to 12)

 The ages of six through twelve comprise middle childhood and
much of what children experience at this age is connected to their
involvement in the early grades of school. Now the world becomes
one of learning and testing new academic skills and by assessing
one‘s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons
between self and others. Schools compare students and make these
comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms
of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their motor skills at this point
in life. And children begin to learn about social relationships beyond the family through interaction
with friends and fellow students.

e. Adolescence (13 to 18 years old)

Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change
marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation,
known as puberty. It is also a time of cognitive change as the
adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and to consider
abstract concepts such as love, fear, and freedom. Ironically,
adolescents have a sense of invincibility that puts them at greater risk
of dying from accidents or contracting sexually transmitted
infections that can have lifelong consequences.

f. Early Adulthood (19 to 29 years old)

The twenties and thirties are often thought of as early adulthood.
(Students who are in their mid-30s tend to love to hear that they are a
young adult!). It is a time when we are at our physiological peak but are
most at risk for involvement in violent crimes and substance abuse. It is a
time of focusing on the future and putting a lot of energy into making
choices that will help one earn the status of a full adult in the eyes of
others. Love and work are primary concerns at this stage of life.

g. Middle Adulthood (30 to 60 years old)

The late thirties through the mid-sixties is referred to as middle
adulthood. This is a period in which aging, that began earlier, becomes
more noticeable and a period at which many people are at their peak of
productivity in love and work. It may be a period of gaining expertise in
certain fields and being able to understand problems and find solutions
with greater efficiency than before. It can also be a time of becoming
more realistic about possibilities in life previously considered; of
recognizing the difference between what is possible and what is likely.
This is also the age group hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic in Africa resulting in a substantial decrease
in the number of workers in those economies (Weitz, 2007).

h. Late Adulthood (61 years and above)

This period of the lifespan, late adulthood, has increased in the last 100 years, particularly in
industrialized countries, as average life expectancy has increased. Late adulthood covers a wide age
range with a lot of variation, so it is helpful to divide it into categories such as the “young old” (65-74
years old), “old old” (75-84 years old), and “oldest old” (85+ years old). The young old are similar to
middle-aged adults; possibly still working, married, relatively healthy, and active. The “old old” have
 some health problems and challenges with daily living activities;
the oldest old are often frail and in need of long term care.
However, many factors are involved and a better way to appreciate
the diversity of older adults is to go beyond chronological age and
examine whether a person is experiencing optimal aging normal
aging (in which the changes are similar to most of those of the same
age), or impaired aging (referring to someone who has more
physical challenge and disease than others of the same age).

III. Developmental Task

In each stage of development a certain task or tasks are expected of every
individual. Robert Havighurst defines developmental ask as one that "arises at a
certain period in our life, the successful achievement of which leads to happiness
and success with later tasks while failure leads to unhappiness, social disapproval,
and difficulty with later tasks.,' (Havighurst, 1972).

Havighurst’s Developmental Task Theory

Infancy and Early Childhood (0-5)
1. Learning to walk.
2. Learning to take solid foods
3. Learning to talk
4. Learning to control the elimination of body wastes
5. Learning sex differences and sexual modesty
6. Acquiring concepts and language to describe social and physical reality
7. Getting ready to read
8. Learning to distinguish right from wrong and developing a conscience

Middle Childhood (6-12)

1. Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary game
2. Building wholesome attitudes toward oneself
3. Learning to get along with age-mates
4. Learning an appropriate masculine or feminine social role
5. Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and calculating
6. Developing concepts necessary for everyday living.
7. Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values
8. Achieving personal independence
9. Developing acceptable attitudes toward soicety

Adolescence (13-18)
1. Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes
2. Achieving a masculine or feminine social role
3. Accepting one's physique
4. Achieving emotional independence of adults
5. Preparing for marriage and family life
6. Preparing for an economic career
7. Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide to behavior
8. Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior

Early Adulthood (19-29)

1. Selecting a mate
2. Learning to live with a partner
3. Starting a family
4. Rearing children
5. Managing a home
6. Getting started in an occupation
7. Taking on civic responsibility

Middle Age (30-60)

1. Helping teenage children become happy and responsible adults.
2. Achieving adult civic and social responsibility
3. Satisfactory career achievement
4. Developing adult leisure-time activities
5. Relating one’s spouse as a person
6. Accepting the physiological changes of middle age
7. Adjusting to aging parents.

Later Maturity (61-and over)

1. Adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health
2. Adjusting to retirement and reduced income
3. Adjusting to death of a spouse
4. Establishing relations with one’s own age group
5. Meeting social and civil obligations
6. Establishing satisfactory physical living arrangement

References:
Corpus, B.B., Lucas, M.R.D., Borabo, H.G.L, & Lucido, P.I. (2015) Child and Adolescent. Lorimar
Publishing, Inc, Quezon City, Philippines.
Cherry, K. (2021). The Age Old Debate of Nature vs. Nurture. Very well Mind.
[Link]
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 SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
MALILIPOT, ALBAY

Prof Ed 1: The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Activity 1

Name: _____________________________________Year and Section: ______________________

A. Put a check (/ ) if the statement is correct and mark it X if the statement is wrong. If you
mark a statement X, explain why.
_________1. Heredity exerts a greater influence on human development than environment.

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________2. What has been experience in the earlier stages of development can no longer be
change.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________3. Preparing children for school readiness is the major concern of middle childhood.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________4. Failure of achieving developmental tasks in an earlier stage also means failure for
the learner to master the developmental task in the next stage.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________5. Developmental tasks are only for the first 3 stages of human development.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

B. What are the implication of these developmental task to your role as a facilitator of
learning? Let's pay particular attention to the stages that correspond to schooling - early
childhood, middle and late childhood and adolescence.

Example:
1. Early Childhood - What are preschool teachers supposed to do with pre-schoolers?
Help them develop readiness for school and not to be too academic in teaching
approach. They ought to give much time for pre-schoolers to play. Or perhaps help pre-
schoolers develop school readiness by integrating children's games in school activities.
 2. Middle and Late Childhood
Elementary school teachers ought to help their pupils by
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

3. Adolescence
High school teachers ought to help their students by
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________