Human Development and Learning: Growth and Adaptation
Human Development
Human development is the acquisition by individuals, communities, and institutions of the capacity to participate effectively in building a prosperous global civilization, both materially and spiritually.
Human Development is the freedom and formation of human capabilities, expanding the range of things people can do and can be.
Perspectives on Human Development
For economics, economic growth leads to development. For psychology, human development occurs through integrations and coordination processes where the mind controls the body. For religion, development is the spirit’s growth in consciousness, intelligence, love, will, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Learning
Definition
Learning is a series of relatively permanent changes produced by the environment. It is a process reflected in adaptive behavioral changes resulting from experience, a potential change in behavior through practice, and the cognitive acquisition enriching internal structures.
Learning creates a potential development area, stimulating internal processes within social partnerships.
Learning and Human Development
Individuals are born with characteristics like sensitivity, activity, and a tendency towards equilibrium and development. They are stimulated by endogenous and exogenous factors, reacting in increasingly complex ways.
Individuals are active, undergoing quantitative changes that accumulate and become evident. The body is homeostatic, reacting to disturbances to regain balance. For example, after physical exertion, breathing accelerates to take in more oxygen.
Development involves progressive changes leading to higher levels of environmental interaction. From helplessness with reflex behaviors, individuals develop symbolic understanding and social significance.
Development
Definition
Development is a sequence of organized and systematic changes leading to higher levels of adaptation to the environment. It is dynamic, sequential, and directional, involving incremental changes towards greater complexity.
Principles of Development
- Sequencing: Functions appear in the same order for all individuals, though timing may vary. For example, head control precedes trunk control, which precedes walking.
- Cephalo-Caudal Direction: Development starts with cranial structures and moves to distant areas.
- Proximo-Distal Direction: Development begins at the body axis and moves to the periphery.
- Differentiation: Development moves from an amorphous to a differentiated state, from simple to complex, and from general to specific. For example, a newborn’s crying is a full-body reaction, later confined to tear ducts.
- Functional Subordination: As larger structures emerge, they control previous structures. For example, newborns are governed by lower nerve centers, but as cerebral hemispheres mature, they take control, enabling conditioned reflexes.
- Asynchronous Growth: Different body parts grow at different rates. For example, a fetus’s head is proportionally large.
- Discontinuity in Rhythm: Growth speeds vary across body parts. For example, the head grows rapidly in the fetal period, then slows, while the trunk and extremities grow at different rates, eventually reaching adult proportions.