Module 5 - Child
Development – 3 credits The study of human development is the study of how people grow and
change over time, in response to social, cultural, biological, and
psychological factors. It is important
to have an understanding of human development across the lifespan, including
what theorists are saying about spiritual development. Child development theory recognizes that children have differing
needs, interests and capacities at different stages of their growth. These have been called
"stages". These stages are not
fixed, nor are they invariant. Children are unique individuals. Rather,
understanding stages of growth are tools for enhancing our understanding of
what children need from their education at specific times, in order to maximize
their potential. Child development theory has many aspects: physical development
(including nutrition, general health, growth, motor development, sensory);
emotional (awareness and expression of feelings); social (how the child
interacts with others); cognitive (processing information, building conceptual
schema, etc. This will be expanded upon
in the unit on learning theory); moral (learning "right" from
'wrong", developing compassion and sensitivity); and spiritual (a new
field of inquiry). It is recognized in
the field of education that curriculum and teaching needs to be "developmentally
appropriate"; that is, resonant with the level of development of the young
child. Much damage to children has been
done by teaching methods that are inconsistent with developmental needs. In this unit, the student carries out their first "inquiry",
based on accepted methods of observation and documentation. The readings include an introduction to this
form of inquiry, as well as readings in human development. I. Introduction II. Human Development ¨
What is a human being? ¨
Evolution ¨
Expressions and Approaches ¨ Physical ¨ Physico-psychic ¨ Psychic ¨
I feeling ¨
Kosas (layers of the mind) ¨
States of Awareness ¨
Psycho-spiritual ¨
Cakras ¨
Spiritual ¨
Faculties ¨
Movement ¨
Motivation ¨
Stages of life span
development III. Child Development ¨
Why we study child development ¨
What is a theory of child
development? ¨
Difference between
development and learning ¨
Some important theories and
theorists IV. Early Childhood Development ¨
Physical ¨
Emotional ¨
Cognitive ¨
Social ¨
Moral ¨
Spiritual V. Coursework ¨
Readings ¨
Assignments Competency in
Child Development The
student teacher has basic knowledge of the makeup of the human being and
various theories and stages of child development, and is able to apply their
knowledge to observing and understanding children of early childhood age.
- Teacher: Arete Brim