STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

It is clear from the previous discussion that growth, development and behaviour of an individual have variations at different ages. Psychologists have divided the life span of an individual into different stages, each of which have certain common characteristics.  Knowledge of various stages of development and its characteristics is essential for the teacher so as to make the teaching learning process effective, appropriate, and meaningful.

Modern education is based on the psychology of the educand. The educand’s psychology is conforms to the stage of his development. By knowing the various stages of development through which an individual child is passing, the teacher can know his needs, interests and abilities and can plan his teaching strategy accordingly.

The different stages in the development of an individual can be classified as follows:

1.     Pre-natal Stage                        - From conception to birth

2.     Infancy                                    - From birth to 3 years

3.     Childhood                                - From 3 to 12 years (in strict sense   

   up to the onset of puberty)

a.      Early Childhood  - 3 to 6 years

b.      Later Childhood  - 6 to 12 years

4.     Adolescence                             - From 12 to 19 years (from the onset of

  puberty to the age of maturity)

5.     Adulthood                               - From 20 to 60 years

6.     Old age                                    - 61 years and above

Although each stage is different from the other, we cannot draw a clear cut dividing line between different stages since stage merges with the next and because of the fact that developmental process is a continuous one. A study of the pattern of growth and development exhibited by the individuals provides very useful data for parents and teachers to plan the development and education of the children.  

PRE-NATAL PERIOD

The pre natal period extends from conception to birth, normally it is 280 days. The child’s development within the womb is a very important phase of his entire development. During this period the developing organism is dependent upon the mother for the digestion of food, excretion of waste products, external respiration, body temperature etc. Factors like mother’s health, food, emotional experiences and certain desires are some of the factors which influence the development during this period. Birth is merely an interruption of the normal development. This interruption is characterized by a change in the environment form that of mother’s womb to that of the world outside.

INFANCY PERIOD

The first 3 years of the life of a child is the period of infancy. The first two weeks is known as the period of neonate or the new-born. The period from the third week to the end of three years is known as babyhood. These 3 years of life are of tremendous importance in the progress of the individual. It is at this time that the infant adjusts to the totally new environment out-side the mothers body and thus learns to be self-dependent.

Physical and Motor Development: Rapid physical growth are marked in these years. Boys shown an increased rate  in growth than the girls. The trunk grows faster than the head and the proportion between  the two changes. The bodily functions tend to become stable and controlled.

Emotional Development:   At birth, for the expression of emotions like pleasure and pain, the baby is able to cry only. Later he can express fear, anger, disgust, etc. The child feels pleasure in the company of his mother and distress in her separation.

Intellectual Development:   There  is rapid improvement in the structure and function of the sensory organs. Now the child is able to perform all functions of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching etc. almost as good as a mature individual.

Social and Moral Development:  Mother is the first and best friend and socialize of the infant. Other family members are in the next in position. At the end of this period the child begins to establish contact with other infants.

Language Development: Language development of the infant begins from the birth cry. The 10 month old child is able to use one word. By the end of the first year he is able to use 3 0r 4 words.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

[Pre-School Stage]

Early childhood, extends from 3 – 6 years, is labeled by the parents as the problem age or toy age; by the educators as the pre-school age and by the psychologists as the pre-gang age.  During this stage children are obstinate, disobedient, negativistic and antagonistic. Hence most parents consider early childhood as a problem age. Educationally this is the most important and impressionable age. This stage plays a significant role in the development of character and personality. Exploratory age, questioning age, imitative age etc. are the other names of this period.

Developmental Characteristics of Early childhood:

Physical and Motor Development:  Early childhood is a period of slow, steady and uniform physical growth. The average annual increase in height is three inches and in weight is three to five pounds. Eruption and replacement of teeth is a remarkable in this period. Brain has developed 90% of its adult weight. A variety of motor skills like crawling, walking, running, jumping, climbing etc. are also develops in this period.

Emotional Development:   Emotions are especially intense during early childhood. The emotional behaviour of the child at this stage is further differentiated into shame, anxiety, envy, hope, disappointment and affection for parents and other members of the family. The most primitive sentiment is his love for his own self. Therefore this stage is called ‘Narcissism’, auto erotism or self-love. But soon the child extends his sentiments to his parents. According to Sigmund Freud, Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex are developed in this period. It is certain that, to a great extent, a boy has got great attachment to his mother and the girl to her father.

Intellectual Development:  At this stage the child has got varied experiences connected with his immediate environment. He accumulates a heap of knowledge. He understands the basic functional relationship between things and events. He begins to form concepts of physical and social reality.  Ego-centrism and fantasy are in a high degree at this stage.

Gradual development in the perception of size, shape, colour, time; rapid increase in memory, thinking and reasoning, creativity and imagination etc. are also develops in this stage.

Language Development: During the first 8-10 months, the child’s only mode of communication is babbling and cooing. The first words are uttered around child’s first birth day. Then  there is a rapid increase in vocabulary.  Words are combined into phrases and sentences, and simple thought are communicated with ease.

Social Development:   During early childhood the child acquires the preliminary training and experiences needed to become a member of a group in later childhood. During this stage, children become increasingly aware of their bodies and learn their sexual identities as male and female. This self awareness contributes to the development of their positive and negative self attitudes. During pre-school years children develop new inter-personal and appropriate relationship with others. They learn to share and compete with siblings and peers. The social qualities such as co-operation, sympathy, social approval, teasing, quarrelling  etc. are develops in this period. The important features of socializations during pre-schools years are:

1.     Feelings of autonomy develops in children

2.     Social environment expands beyond home

3.     Child seeks social approval for his actions

4.     Children of both sexes play together without any discrimination

5.     They learn to co-operate with others and to make friends on shared interests and similar personality traits

LATER CHILDHOOD

[Primary School Stage]

Later childhood extends from the age of six years to the time individual becomes sexually mature. It spreads from 6 to 12 years. Educationalists call this age as elementary-school age and psychologists as gang age or age of conformity. The period is marked by rather slow and uniform growth.  It is in this period, even the nicest child often begins to behave in the most awful way and hence requires proper guidance and counselling. At this stage several functional changes take place in the child. It gradually gains maturity in all physical and mental spheres. As regards sex, it remain dormant,  but emerges with great force only at the end of this stage. It is why this stage is called latency period.

Developmental Characteristics of Later Childhood:

Physical development:  Later childhood is a period of slow and relatively uniform growth until the changes of puberty begins. The growth is slowest for girls between nine and ten years, while boys grow slowest between ten and eleven years. The first teeth are replaced by permanent ones. Bones becomes harder and height and weight increase. Flattening of the forehead, sharpening of the nose and broadening of the chest are other notable changes. The most significant physical change occurring during this period is the lengthening of the limbs.

Motor Development:  Motor abilities improve a great deal between sixth and twelfth year. Improving muscle co-ordination helps the child to acquire new skills and improve the already acquired ones. They have a reasonably good mastery over the basic motor skills of sitting, standing, walking and simple finger manipulation. By the age of twelve, muscle co-ordination is almost perfect. 

Emotional Development:  During this period the child learns to control emotional expression in social situations, especially the unpleasant ones and to use emotional catharsis to clear their pent-up emotions. Fear of many common things slowly disappear, but fears caused by imaginary stimuli begin in this age. The child experiences more frustration,  and jealousy is intensified.  Desire for acceptance as a member of the gang is developed and he likes to have company of his own sex.

A catharsis is an emotional release. This emotional release is linked to a need to release unconscious conflicts.  The individual may instead release these feelings in another way, such as through physical activity or another stress relieving activity

Intellectual Development:  Primary school stage is the age of intellectual development. The child develops powers of observation, attention, reasoning and abstract thinking. They can focus on more than one aspects of a situation and can globally experience what happens around.  His power of perception becomes keen and memory become keener. Here he learns the three  R’s – reading, writing and arithmetic.   He is able to read books from which he gathers information and derives pleasure. Rote memory gives place to logical thinking. This is the period of physical and intellectual stability.

Social and Moral Development:  This period is marked by greater degree of social awareness. He tires to loosen the control of the family and becomes more increasingly independent of his parents. He becomes an active member of a peer group. Peer group becomes an important  agent of socialization during this period. He develops social qualities like co-operation, team spirit etc. to adjust with the social environment.   He believes in group loyalty and tries to conform to the rules and values maintained by the group.  

Speech and Language Development:  During the later childhood, all areas of speech – pronunciation, vocabulary, comprehension and sentence structure – improve rapidly. By the age of 9 – 10, children develop an increasingly complex understanding of syntax. Grammatical errors are slowly eliminated and they talk fluently.

ADOLESCENCE

(Secondary or Higher Secondary School Stage)

          Adolescence is that span of years which boys and girls move from childhood to adulthood mentally, emotionally, socially and physically. It is a period from the onset of puberty to the age of maturity. It is a period of rapid physical and biological changes which may lead to confusions, tensions, frustrations and feelings of insecurity. It is a period of transition when changes of attitude and behaviour are most rapid. Stanley Hall rightly calls it is the period of stress and strain, storm and strife.  Holling Worth calls this the period of temporary insanity. It is because of the restlessness and disturbance due to the nature of development that takes place during this period.

Adolescence experiences create conflicts between himself and society. Change of role in society, shattered relations in home, failure to decide his status in social settings, difficulty in adjusting with the opposite sex, unnecessary restrictions on movement etc. give rise to tensions and worries. During this stage emotions fluctuate very frequently and quickly. He tries to oppose the views of parents and school authorities, but such efforts often fail. 

The adolescent lives in an intensely emotional life, in which the rhythm of positive and negative phases of behaviour gets lost. This results in constant alteration between intense excitement and deep depression. All these create a considerable degree of  stress and strain in the adolescent.

Adolescent is also known as  the period of transition because during this period an individual is neither a child nor an adult. During this period the individual’s status is vague and there is confusion about the role he is expected to play. He is often looked upon in an ambiguous manner by the elders. Sometimes he is expected to behave as an adult and at other times he is treated as a child.  This is the time when the individual is striving to wean himself away from the family in order to become a self sufficient and autonomous person. Some may take the drugs or get addicted to alcohol if their needs are thwarted or denied.  Hence Holling Worth calls it a period of temporary insanity. 

It is a very crucial period when the individual attains maturity physically, intellectually, emotionally, sexually and socially. The growth achieved, the experiences gained, the responsibilities felt and the relationships developed at this stage determine the complete future of the individual. 

Psychological Characteristics of Adolescence

1.     Self-consciousness is too much developed in adolescence.

2.     The adolescent is intensely emotional

3.     An adolescent is essentially a hero-worshipper

4.     Adolescent shows interest in physical attractiveness and good grooming

5.     Sex-consciousness become too intense at this time. They become interested in opposite sex and in extreme cases homosexuality  is established.

6.     Peer group relationship is too much intense at this time.

7.     Adolescence is a period of day-dreaming.

8.     It is the period of acquiring the attitudes and values needed for effective participation in society.

9.     The Adolescent wants to free himself from bondage. There is a tendency to revolt against authority.

10.                        Adolescents have strong desire to achieve self-sufficiency and make himself quite independent like an adult member of the society.

Developmental Characteristics of Adolescence

Physical and Motor Development:    During adolescence the physical growth reaches its peak and body takes its final shape. The growth and functioning of organs reach their upper range and the glands become extremely active.   There is a sudden shoot up in height, weight  and size. The arms and legs their final length. The size of the bones and muscles increase to the greatest extent possible. Along with these somatic changes, motor activity also attain its maximum limit.

The respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems acquire their full development. Brain gets fully developed. Pimples may appear on the face. There occurs change in voice among both sexes. The voice of boys deepens and becomes harsher while the voice of girls become shrill and sweet during this period.

During adolescence the individual attains biological maturation which is accompanied by the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics.  There is growth of hair under arms and around genital organs.  Boys develop beared and moustaches on their faces and in girls the growth of breast and widening of pelvis are significant physical developments.  The girls begin to menstruate monthly and boys has nocturnal emission accompanied by erotic dreams.

Emotional Development:  Adolescence is characterized by emotional instability and intensity. It is the period of heightening of all emotions like anxiety, fear, love, anger, etc.   It is because of this fact the adolescence is considered as a period of stress and strain. Adolescents  are not consistent in their emotional expression. Their emotions fluctuate very frequently and quickly. Sometimes they appear to be enthusiastic and sometimes moody.

Self consciousness, self respect and personal pride will be too strong in adolescents. He is often irritable, easily excited and explode emotionally instead of trying to control his emotions.  What he feels, he feels it very strongly and when he reacts, he reacts vigorously. At no stage the individual is so restless and emotionally perturbed and touchy as in adolescence. He is too sensitive, inflammable and moody.

Intellectual Development:   Adolescence is a period of great intellectual advancement.  In this period functioning of the cognitive system develops in to its maximum level.  Intellectual powers like critical thinking, logical thinking and abstract reasoning develop.  Span of connection widens,  depth of understanding increases and functioning of memory sharpens. 

The adolescent develops fine imagination. The improper channelization of imagination may lead an adolescent to day-dreaming.  Writers, artists, poets, philosophers and inventors are all born in this period.  The adolescent learns to reason and seek answer to everything scientifically.  Ability to solve problems increasing during this period. The areas of interest widens and his love for adventure reaches its climax. All adolescents have one or more hobbies and strong likes and dislikes.

Social Development:  The most important characteristics of social development during adolescence is the increased influence of peer group. The   individual develops a strong sense of loyalty towards the group. He wants to  be accepted by the members of the group which he belongs. The friends as well as the peer group selected by an adolescent shape his behaviour to a great extent. They develop a philosophy of life regarding values, beliefs, activities, conduct etc. with regards to the philosophy of the peer group.

Adolescence is the period of increased social conformity. The individual becomes self-conscious of his place in the society. They want to become his behaviour according norms of the society. They seek social status and look for the approval in the society.  They develop a feeling of social responsibility and are highly critical of social evils and injustice. During adolescence, boys and girls express a greater need for independence and strive for total social freedom from their parents. They make friendship with those who conform to their standard and posses the personality trait they like. They do not tolerate the interference of others in selecting friends.

          In the beginning of adolescence the individual critically examines the moral code and asks a number of questions to establish his view points. Later he develops the ability to differentiate what is good and what is bad.

Sexual Development:  The whole personality structure and behaviour of the adolescent is dominated by sex. During adolescence the individual becomes very conscious of sex.  Contrary to the style of behaviour during childhood, the adolescent exhibit sexual trends in companionship.   During this period the sexual development goes into three stages.

1.     Stage of Auto-erotism:   In the beginning sexual tendency manifests in self-love. Boys and girls fall in love with themselves. Self decoration and admiring before the mirror is a common practice. According to Freud this the stage of narcissism. [Narcissus, a Greek prince of almost unparalleled beauty, fell in love with himself]   Self enjoyment by indulging in masturbation is prevalent at this stage.

2.     Stage of Homo-sexuality:  During the adolescence boys and girls are attracted to the members of their  own sex. Persons of this age can often be seen roaming together, praising each other and finding other modes of expressing their mutual affection.

3.     Stage of Hetero-sexuality:  During later adolescence, young men and women are seen attracted towards each other. They are increased to make friendship or even establishing sexual relationships with the members of opposite sex.

WHAT AND WHY OF ADOLESCENCE

Adolescence is a Period of Transition or Role Confusion:   Adolescence is known as the period of transition because during this period an individual is neither a child nor an adult. He has passed through childhood and yet is to become an adult. During this stage the status of the individual is vague and there is a confusion about the roles which the individual is expected to play. Sometimes he is expected to behave as an adult and at other times, he is treated as a child.

Adolescence is a Period of Stress and Strain:  During adolescence the individual comes under social pressure and faces new conditions for which he received little training during childhood. He experiences conflict between himself and with the society. Change of role in society, unfavourable relations in home, difficulty in adjusting with opposite sex, unnecessary restrictions on movements etc. give rise to tension and worries.

          During this stage he tries to oppose the views of parents and school authorities. But he is not always successful and it makes him restless, moody and emotionally disturbed one.  As his emotions fluctuate very frequently, a considerable degree of stress and strain is created in the individual. That is why the adolescence is often designated as a period of stress and strain or a period of storm and strife.

Peer group influence during Adolescence:  The most important social development during adolescence is the increased influence of peer group. The adolescent picks up the norms, habits and social qualities of his companion. His interests, attitudes and values are greatly influenced by his peers. Peer group is a very powerful instrument in moulding the social behaviour of the teenagers. As  mentioned in an English proverb  “A cheerful friend is like a sunny day spreading brightness all around”.    

The peer group the adolescent learns to co-operate, to lead and follow, to think for a common cause and to adjust in the challenging social situation. The peer group satisfy various psychological needs of children like acceptance, affection, approval, belongings, fame, recognition, expression of thought and opinion etc. It is in this peer group the individual continues to formulate and revise his concept of Self.