EDU 3102 Short Course Work: Childrens Development

1.0 Introduction The early years of a childs life are very important for his or her development. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) website, healthy development means that children of all abilities are able to grow up, where their physical, cognitive, social, emotional and educational needs are met. Therefore, having a safe and loving home and spending time with family also playing, singing, reading, and talking are very important, with addition of proper nutrition, exercise, and rest can also make a big difference. Child development refers to the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual progresses from dependency to increasing independence.

2.0 Concept of Growth and Development in Children In reference to Mok Soon Sang (2006), most psychologists define growth as the physical and quantitative changes that occur in human beings. While development, on the other hand, refers as a continuous process that takes place from the time of birth until death. According to more researches, growth and development of human beings with respect to the physical, cognitive, emotional and social changes are influenced by two main factors such as hereditary factor and the environmental factor.

Table 1 briefly explains the differences between growth and development in terms of physical and cognitive aspects of individuals.

Aspects Physical

Growth

Development

Growth in size, weight and Development of skills such other parts of the human as the ability to walk, using body like teeth and the the 5 senses accordingly inner organs. and singing.

Cognitive

Growth of human brain with Development an increase ability to think.

of

thinking

skills such as memorizing, rationalizing, inferring, analyzing, and

predicting

problem solving.

Table 1: Differences between growth and development in terms of physical and cognitive aspects of individuals.

2.1 Principles of Growth and Development There are a few principles regarding growth and development. These principles of the early development may affect the later years of a childs development. The growth and development principles are as follows. Firstly, growth occurs in two directions that is from above to below, which is from the head going downwards. In a scientific term, it is known as cephalocaudal. This principle explains that the child gains control of the head first, then the arms, and then the legs. This is why new born babies start from moving their heads, then reaching out their hands and soon later, they start crawl for a bit and start to practice standing with their feet. Next, the development proceeds from centre of the body to all directions and it is also known as proximodist. For example, an infant learns to control the muscles of their chest and shoulders before they can control their arms, hands or fingers. The growth occurs from large muscle movements to more refined muscle movements. Diagram 1 shows the directions of growth.

Figure 1: The direction of growth

Moreover, growth of physical structures precedes development of skills and functions. This can be seen with babies who learn to sit, crawl and walk before they learn to speak. Thus, growth takes place from general to specific. Furthermore, growth and development generally occur at the same rate but differs from an individual to another. For example, many toddlers may start to babble words like mama, dada and so on around 4 months old, and they would speak at the age of 1 to 1.5 years. However, some may acquire this ability faster and more fluent when compared to other toddlers. Next, growth occurs only up to a certain stage while development is continuous until death. For example, the size of feet usually stops growing by the age of 16 and 17 but ones development of abilities and skills is a life-long process. I consider this fortunate as we are always given the opportunity to improve ourselves. Imagine if you are only given 10 years to acquire everything that you will use for a life-time. That would be tremendously stressful for parents and their child, and besides it is such an absurd idea. Although, there is such a thing known as the 7 years window but it is more like the golden opportunity to mold the young ones faster and better because they brain

absorbs information faster and scientists refer to it as sponge absorption and their muscles are less rigid, hence it is easier to train them in sports for instance. Growth and development are much interrelated. Unhealthy growth can hinder spiritual, emotional as well as social development. This can be seen with special needs child. Dianne Nixon and Maree Aldwinckle (2003) said that most frequently recorded individuality disability was impaired speech (19%), followed by developmental delay (16%), social/emotional problems (13%) and behavioural problems (12%0. Within these categories, they have a wide range of disabling conditions such as Down Syndrome or Spina Bifida. As you can see, defect in normal growth can affect much of a childs abilities and skills. For another instance, a boy with Polio will have the difficulty to walk.

Figure 2:The troubles of walking for children with polio. Mental development takes place from concrete to abstract. Children usually learn facts first such as the alphabets, the names for the animals and things around them before they start to understand more abstract knowledge like religious faith or values. Besides that, self- concept of a child takes place from egocentric to altruistic. A child at the age of 3 would be more selfish as he or she would not want to share their toys rather at the age of 7, where these children have understood the meaning of friendship and the importance of sharing with their friends.

3.0 Factors that Influence the Development of Children Mok Soon Sang (2006) said that researches conducted by psychologists have revealed that it is impossible to have two persons developed at the same rate. She also added that these psychologists argued that heredity and environment are two factors which cause the rate of growth and development of individuals to be different from one another. 3.1 Genetic Influence It is known that gene is an important factor in determining individual inherited characteristics of the parents, including some of their pathogenic heredity. Genetic influences on individual development therefore can be studied from the differences of individual characteristics in terms of physical, mental and emotional aspects. 3.1.1 Individual Differences due to Genetic Influence Individual differences can be referred as inequalities in individual development of physical and cognitive aspects. Individual differences can be illustrated according to two aspects, physical and cognitive. There is no two persons possess entirely the same physical characteristics. They might be different in terms of gender, appearance and body size, as well as physical skills. In cognitive aspects, an individual is different from another in terms of mentality, learning, memory, reasoning and analyzing abilities, as well as intelligence. 3.2 Physical Differences Findings of some researches according to Mok Soon Sang (2003) have shown that external physical characteristics, especially the colour of a childs hair and the sensory organs are inherited from the genes of the parents. However, most of the physical traits are polygenic traits which means their characteristics are influenced by more than a pair of genes, such as skin colour and motor coordination which is complex physical abilities. This can be seen in Malaysia schools where there are multiracial students. Skin colour among students differs due to different races and their genetic hereditary. 3.3 Cognitive Differences Research conducted by psychologists Galton (1985), Goddard (1890), Newman (1937) and Shieldo (1962) as cited by Mok Soon Sang (2003), had proved that every individual has different level of intelligence and mental ability among the peer group. The difference in intelligence among individuals can normally be observed from their academic performance in class.

Psychologists often conduct survey to relate the differences in intelligence of individuals with their parents level of intelligence. Usually, intelligent parents will normally produce smart children. We all know that this might not be necessarily true all the times. I am sure most of us have met high achievers who are not so fortunate to have well to do or smart parents. There are some special cases here and there that are the total opposite of the theories founded. Besides, other factors like social, cultural environment also contribute to the intelligence development.

3.3.1 Environmental Influence Many research studies have proved that factors such as family background, peer group, socioeconomic status, society culture and belief, technological resources, teachers and school also influence every stage of an individuals growth and development.

a) Family Influence The family unit itself poses a great influence over human development. Family factors which influence the development of an individual include home atmosphere, food, guidance and socioeconomic status of the family. It is generally known that differences in home atmosphere, food, guidance, and family socioeconomic status will produce individuals with different levels of development. Examples: i. Children who are born in a friendly and affectionate family will experience healthy emotional development. This can be seen when I was interviewing students in SK (F) Bandar Baru Serting where I recently went for my school based experience activity. Many students in the first classes who come from middle to upper middle classes are better at communication and answering my questions when compared to the students coming from last classes who are mostly not from well to do families, they are either a bit shy or rowdy and not listening to what I ask. I supposed that they dont often speak to their parents who usually leave these children to take care of themselves while going to work and hence they do not know how to behave appropriately. Their socioeconomic status are explained by Data Teacher who kindly spent some time with us to show the webpage where all of the details of the students are kept.

Figure 3: Some of the students we managed to interview regarding their family and school culture.

ii. Sufficient nutritious and balanced food diet will help them to develop their physical health in satisfactory condition. This is quite a big scope to generalize for children from middle class or lower class. From my short observation, I noticed that most middle class children are normal while some lower class children are overweight. They often eat rice as I can see during recess. iii. Children who are nurtured and educated properly will normally able to develop their potentials, behaviours, and emotions optimally. As I have mentioned earlier, most of the students in the first class consists of students who come from middle class onwards. Their parents are usually government executives or teachers.

It can be concluded that pupils from educated or well to do socioeconomic status family will normally experience optimal intellectual and physical development. This is due to the fact that educated and well to do parents usually try their best to provide nutritious food and sufficient education facilities simply because they know the ways around to improve self-development and they can also afford to do so.

b) Peer Group Peer group plays an important role in influencing individual development, especially in intellectual, personality, emotional and social aspects. Examples:

i. Children who mix with industrious peer group will be an asset for their intellectual and potential development. From what I have seen, this is valid but I am sure that children mix with their industrious peer group not for the benefits but rather of the common interests. Usually the students from the first classes are friends with their own classmates and do not mix with other classes even during occasions when they have the opportunity to do so. Perhaps the difference in attitude and topics to talk about are the obstacles. ii. Children who frequently socialized with courteous and well-disciplined peer group will tend to follow their good example. This is also known as peer pressure and it is known to many parents who usually fuss about the friends their children mix with, which is a good thing.

c) Society Culture and Belief Society is an environment for people to interact. Different culture and belief of a society will influence childrens development in socioeconomic, personality and spiritual aspects. Examples: i. Differences in values of life will form different philosophy of life among individuals. I noticed that many people in the school are religious Muslims, many female teachers who wear wide and long hijabs and the children mainly know how to read the Al-Quran. This is the total opposite when compared to the primary school I attended back then. Most of female teachers do not wear head covers, the Muslim women of course and many of my classmates who are Muslim are not well verse in Quran readings. ii. Difference in culture and religion will produce different ways of living as well as human behaviours. This is also relevant to my explanation above. Another Islamic culture they have in school is that all of the students will recite a prayer before and after their classes. This is also very different from my former primary school because 80% of the students are non-Muslim whilst this school comprises of majority Muslim students. iii. Materialistic society will influence individual attitude with emphasis on self-importance and materialistic gain, and tend to ignore spiritual and psychological values of individuals. This statement is the direct opposite of the environment in the school I visited. Fortunately, the students there care nothing about materialistic gain or anything that revolves around that. They are contented with what they have and they have such strong religious faith. This is different if you were to visit a town school where all children are aware of who is richer and poorer which I experienced back then during my time in the 90s.

(d) Teachers and School Teacher and school environment also pose great influence on the development of pupils in terms of physical, intellectual, emotional, and social aspects. Teachers who are emphatic and efficient in class will be able to produce educated, competent, good behaviour and responsible pupils. Similarly, school with conducive environment will help to develop optimally the cognitive and the psychomotor aspects of the pupils. Unfortunately, I have noticed that there was a lack of emphasis on computering skills among students in the school I visited, while I was exposed to use a computer often back in my primary school which was about 10 years ago. Therefore, these children are a bit late in that progress, what more we are now in the times where Facebook can be just as important as reality to some.

4.0 Childrens Development Human development is a continuous process form birth to the stage of adulthood. Changes in the physical aspect are often referred as basic growth while the concept of development is principally explained as changes in the mental and social behaviour. According to Karl Garison as cited by Mok Soon Sang (2003), he considers human development as the result of human action which is related to physical and learning development. Children in the middle childhood at about 6 to 12 years old whose brains are usually fully developed would have acuity in perception and learning. This is why children starts to enroll in primary school by the age of 7. They also have better muscle control and coordination, and body balance. The children in SK (F) Bandar Baru Serting are all normally developed and I have collected some physical data of about 4 students from pre-school at the age of 6 and standard 2.

4.1 Physical Development Data Collection Pre-School: 6 years old Data Name MALE Muhammad Zulfaqhri Bin Mohd Norafikin FEMALE Siti Aishah Binti Osman

Picture

Weight Height Students body size Head measurement

23 kg 114 cm Medium 51 cm

21 kg 115 cm Small 52cm

Table 2: Physical data of pre-school children

Standard 2: 8 years old Data Name MALE Muhammad Aliff Rahimi Bin Asmawi Picture FEMALE Intan Syaqila Binti M. Shapiee

Weight Height Students body size Head measurement

24 kg 126 cm Medium 52cm

24 kg 123 cm Small 53cm

Table 3: Physical data of standard 2 students

4.1.2 Discussion on the Physical Development of the Children Below is the average data between the children in pre-school and in standard 2. Average of Weight Height Body size Head measurement Table 4 Table 4 shows an increase in weight and height among the students as they shift from pre-school to standard 2. This is because of the growing process children are going through as presented earlier regarding growth principle and concept. As mentioned in 2.0, growths are changes that can be seen and measured from one stage to another. We can see how the changes progresses and increases from 6 years old to year 2. The size and height of the students bodies increase from year to year. As you notice, there are differences between height and weight among students. The rates of growth will vary between children because each child is exposed to different kinds of environment, comes from different sets of genetic and other hereditary factors are also applicable. The development of the human begins from birth until the end of life, these children are just about to start their middle childhood where their growths wouldnt be as rapid as when they were in early childhood. Their growths would be more stable and subtle. Pre-School 22 kg 114.5 cm Small 51.5 cm Year 2 24 kg 124.5 cm Medium 52.5 cm

4.2 Cognitive Development Jean Piaget from Switzerland is a well-known education psychologist believed that cognitive development of children normally goes through four stages according to their growth and development. I will discuss on the pre-operational and concrete operational periods as the students I have used to test on Piagets Conservation Task are at the age of 6 and 8. Developmental Stages Years Major Characteristics of Piagets Cognitive development Pre-operational 2-7 Development of symbolic thought. Centration: focus only one feature of a problem. Irreversibility: inability to visualize reversible actions. Unable to master conservation of concept due to centration, irreversibility.

Concrete Operational

7-12

Developmental of mental operations applied to concrete objects and events.

Able to learn operations of reversibility and de-centration. Master conservation of number at the age of 6-7, mass and length at 7-8 and area at the age of 8-9.

Table 5

I have done Piagets Conservation task on number, length and area with 4 students and below are the discussion and the result. Pre-operational stage: 6 years old Test 1: Number Two identical rows of objects are shown to the child who agreed they have the same number. One row is lengthened and the child is asked whether one row now has more objects.

Test 2: Length Two pens are aligned in front of the child. The child agreed that they are of the same length. The experimenter moves one pen to the right and then asks the child if they are in equal length.

Test 3: Area Two identical baskets have wooden blocks placed in them in identical positions. The child agreed that the same amount of space is left in each basket. The experimenter scatters the blocks in the basket and then asks the child if one of the baskets has more space covered.

Result: Name 1. Siti Aishah Number She has given the wrong answer. Reason: The colours were different. Length She has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The pen above is longer. Area She has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The scattered blocks covers more space.

2. Muhammad Zulfaqhri

He has given the wrong answer. Reason: The colours were different.

He has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The pen above is longer.

He has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The scattered blocks covers more space.

Table 6

According to Piaget, these children has not yet grasp the understanding of conservation of number, length and area because they do not understand irreversibility and due to centration, they can only comprehend one problem at a time.

Concrete operational stage: 8 years old Test 1: Number Two identical rows of objects are shown to the child who agreed they have the same number. One row is lengthened and the child is asked whether one row now has more objects.

Test 2: Length Two pens are aligned in front of the child. The child agreed that they are of the same length. The experimenter moves one pen to the right and then asks the child if they are in equal length.

Test 3: Area Two identical baskets have wooden blocks placed in them in identical positions. The child agreed that the same amount of space is left in each basket. The experimenter scatters the blocks in the basket and then asks the child if one of the baskets has more space covered.

Result: Name Number Length He has given the wrong answer. Reason: The pen nearer to him is longer. Area He has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The scattered blocks covers more space.

1. Muhammad Aliff He has given the Rahimi correct answer. Reason: He counted before answering and he told me there was the same amount of blocks.

2. Intan Syaqila

She has given the wrong answer. Reason: The lengthened row looks longer.

She has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The pen above is longer.

She has given the wrong answer too. Reason: The scattered blocks covers more space.

Table 7

According to Piaget, these children at the age of 8 should grasp the conservation of number and length. However, the conservation of area are usually understood by the age of 9. From the results, it is not necessary that children should grasp the understanding of number and length by the age of 8. Intan Syaqila could not answer correctly. However, Aliff Rahimi understood the conservation of number well.

5.0 Discussion The effectiveness of teaching-learning activities in class depends on the teachers planning according to the pupils level of development. With this in mind, the strategy of teaching-learning should be suitable to the pupils stages of physical and cognitive development.

5.1 Implications of Physical Development Teachers should organize physical education, game activities and practical work according to the pupils physical development. That is why children in standard one learns the basic physical movements only during physical education (Pendidkan Jasmani) like catching the ball and then they learn to skip in standard two and finally they learn more complex movements in netball during standard 6. Next, teachers must avoid physical activities and games as well as practical work such as complex living skills, if pupils physical abilities were not mature enough to handle these activities. According to the syllabus, primary school children are not allowed to cook as it may danger their lives.

5.2. Cognitive Development First and foremost, teachers must plan interesting and meaningful teaching-learning activities. Teach something that they can relate to with their daily lives. Next, an educator must prepare various teaching aids to form correct concepts. They should be colourful, attractive and easy to use. These days, teachers get the help from Powerpoint slide shows that can insert videos, moving animations and even colourful fonts rather than just talk and chalk. Learning contents should be planned and arranged according to the following stages: Form easy to complex From general to specific From concrete to abstract From acquired knowledge to new knowledge or experience From nearby surrounding or situation to a distant surrounding yet to be explored.

From the given examples, a teacher may take his or her students for a field trip. I am the new environment and experience will broaden their thinking and see the outside world by themselves.

5.3 Ways for Teachers to Polish Potential Students The word potential carries the meaning of an individuals hidden capabilities and ability, if properly utilized; it can be used to perform a certain activity.

In fact, human potential is closely related to human talent which forms an important aspect of human nature. In this case, human potentials is referred to the ability to perform a certain activity according to ones own nature which he or she is potentially endowed.

First of all, to enhance abilities in logical-mathematical intelligence, a teacher should teach discovery methods to students and use rational and creative thinking to solve mathematical problems. According to Maria Montessori, children will learn faster if they are given the opportunity to do things by themselves.

Next, for linguistic intelligence, teachers must use effective technique to arouse pupils appreciation of language, sounds and environmental beauty. In the new syllabus, KSSR, students are taught to learn phonetics where they learn the sounds of the words.

Musical intelligence can develop by teaching interesting songs and practicing rhythm and pitch with students. Music teachers should be more patient as they are students who did not get any musical exposure from home.

The hidden human potentials can be developed and become better through proper encouragement and motivation. As such, teachers should always plan their lessons well and encourage students in positive ways.

6.0 Summary and Suggestion A theory of growth and development in a child is very important for teachers to understand their students better. According to Nixon and Aldwinckle (2003) asks whether how much is the developmental change is influenced by the inbuilt biological and genetic characteristic. The question whether it is nature or nature has been the long-standing, central debates throughout the century. However, in my opinion, both nature and nurture are as important as they work hand in hand to develop an individual. Throughout my observation in school during my school based experience in SK(F) Bandar Baru Serting, I have noticed that some teachers are not aware that every child is unique is his or her own way. Some may be more intelligent than the rest and others simply need more time to digest the new information and lessons in class. Hence, teachers should learn that these theories that prove the differences of physical and cognitive differences between individuals. Piagets stages of cognitive development provide a clear framework for looking in details at the process on how children develop. As such, his theory has been extremely useful to for educators and other professionals working with children. In fact, it has come to be the guiding force in planning curricula and in educating parents about reasonable expectations for their children. On the other hand, as you may know, there is always two sides to a coin. There are some weaknesses in Piagets theory. If we were to depend solely on Piagets theory, we might think that intellectual development occurs independently without taking notes on the social and emotional changes described by other psychologists such as Erikson, amd Vygotskys.

Reflection The name of Allah,Most Gracious,Most Merciful. First and foremost, I am grateful that this assignment has been completed in time thanks to our lecturer who has motivated us to be on the right track to finish this task and not to forget my classmates who are very informative and helpful. This task requires us to conduct a research and observation in our assigned schools during the school based experience with reference to Piagets Conservation task to test a childs cognitive development. I am glad that this task has been given to us as I realized that educators to be need to be aware of these theories to better understand our students and have reasonable expectations of them. It was fun and educational during the observation period. I realised that there is so much more to a teacher than just teaching in class. One needs to be patient and kind and a teacher doesnt only teaches but also learns.

Data collection went on handily although there were some hitches and glitches during the write up. I was unlucky when my Words application crashed and 2 pages of what I have written went down the drain, it disappeared into thin air. Then, after that frightful incident, I save my essay into my pen-drive at every paragraph and I was still skeptical if the application would crash seconds before I manage to save. I am glad that it was a smooth sailing despite that one horrific incident and I am sure that this task will benefit us most in the near future as teachers. Thank you.

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