EDU
6132 Reflection 1 CHILD/ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
As an undergraduate, my exposure to
child and adolescent development was limited.
I spent most of my time in the biology and chemistry laboratories. The social science courses I took were
primarily in the field of sociology. Sociologists
tend to focus on the multitude of social influences that shape the growth and
development of a human being. The innate
developmental stages, while not ignored, were not deeply examined in my sociology
curriculum. My current understanding of
childhood development centers in large part around the socio-economical
influences placed on individuals.
Harry
Wong, in his First Days of School
discusses the period of rapid development and its immense impact on the
learning of our students (p.42). According
to him, research has shown that the first 4 years of life are those in which
over 50% of mature intelligence is attained.
Hence, this early developmental stage would have a substantial effect on
the individual’s future academic achievements.
Not only that, Wong states that
the early years of school, the years proceeding 4th grade, in culmination with
the primary years (0-4) are shown to demonstrate
the greatest influence on future academic achievement levels throughout an individual’s
life.
There appears to be a critical need to understanding the
balance of external environmental effects alongside the natural processes of
human development. I look
forward to a close examination of this spectrum during the remainder of this
course.
No comments:
Post a Comment