MODULE 3 - LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT OF

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Lesson 7
A. Principles of Language Development

Language is defined as a communication system in which a limited number of signals that

can be sounds or letters can be combined according to agreed-upon rules to produce a infinite
number of messages (Sigelman & Rider, 2009).

Intended Learning Outcome (ILO)

 Distinguish the functions between first and second language in the delivery of
instruction.

Engage

To master a spoken language such as Filipino, a child must learn basic sounds, how
sounds are combined to form meaningful statements , what words and sentences mean, and how
to use language effectively in social interactions.

Components of Language

1. Phonemes are the basic units of sound in any given language (Spilt et. al..2015). These
are the sounds we create with the letters of the alphabet. Infants are sensitive to the rhythm
and intonation of language – the variations of pitch, loudness, and timing used when saying
words or sentences, and often considered the “melody” of speech.

2. Morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit of speech; it may be a word, like “place” or
“an”, or an element of a word, like re-and –ed as in “reappeared”.

3. Syntax is the structure of language – the grammar. It is the arrangement of words into a
sentence that makes sense in a given language. Syntax also refers to the rules and
principles that govern sentence structure in a language.

4. Semantics or Meaning of Language. Infants come to understand many words before :

production or (expression) in language development.

5. Pragmatics refers to the use or application of language. It is typically reviewed as a social

aspect of language. Pragmatic is about applying language so that others understand what
are you trying to convey.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 1

Theories of Language Development

The following theories explain how children learn their language:

A. The Nativist Perspective : Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky ( 1965 ) termed this capacity the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), and
this particular way of posin the question still tends to be made explicit only by those taking a
generative grammar approach to the study of language acquisition. However, this
conceptualization makes clear two criteria that must apply to all candidate explanation of how
children learn to talk. To wit, any proposed account of the language acquisition process must be
consistent with two sets of facts: (a) the input that children receive and (b) the competence that
they acquire.

Noam Chomsky’s theory on language development explain that the nativist perspective
believes that nature is most crucial in the process of language development.

B. The Cognitive Development Theory Perspective: Jean Piaget

Similar to the nativist theory, in accordance with Jean Piaget’s theory on cognitive
development, the cognitive developmental perspective believes that nature is most crucial in the
process of language development (Lerner, Easterbrooks, and Mistry, 2005). Rather , language
development occurs according to stages of cognitive development. According to Piaget, language
appears when one has the ability to represent symbols in the mind. This leads to the creation of
words, which leads to language acquisition.

C. The Behaviorist Perspective: BF Skinner

In contrast to the nativist and cognitive developmental perspectives, the behaviorist

perspective believes that nurture is most crucial in the process of language development.
According to B.F Skinner’s behaviorist theory, language is thought various reinforcements in the
environment (De Bot & Shrauf, 2009). Infants learn to associate certain stimuli with certain
behaviors and responses. With continued reinforcement, infants learn to appropriate responses
and behaviors, which lead towards language development. For example, through operant
conditioning, infants learn what sounds elicit certain responses. Infants repeat sounds that elicit
positive responses.

D. The Interactionist Perspective : Lev Vygotsky

Similar to the behaviorist theory, the interactionist theory believes that nurture is crucial in the
process of language development. Though, the interactionist perspective differs from the
behaviorist perspective , this perspective believes that language is acquired through social
interaction in the environment, not reinforcement. In accordance with Vygotsky’s theory, social
interaction is most important in acquiring skills. Vygotsky theorized that social interaction is
important in helping children acquire language according to societal and cultural norms of their
community. The interactionist perspective also focuses on the process of language development,
which builds on the ideas of all theoretical perspective of language development.

Stages in Speech Development

1. Primitive or Natural Stage (birth to about two years). This is characterized by three non
intellectual speech functions:

a. Emotional release
b. Social reactions
c. Substitutes for objects and desires. These are words learned by conditioning, by
parents and siblings matching the words frequently to objects.

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 2. Naïve Psychology . Children discover that words can have a symbolic function, , and they
display this discovery by frequently asking what things are called.

3. Egocentric Speech. Takes the form of a running monologue that accompanies the child’s
activities, whether the child works alone or beside others. Vygotsky studied egocentric
speech in terms of task difficulty and age trends.

4. Ingrowth Stage. Children learn to manipulate language in their heads in the form of
soundless speech, thinking by means of logical memory that employs inner signs for
solving problems.

B. Emergent Literacy

Emergent literacy is a term that is used to explain a child's knowledge of reading and

writing skills before they learn how to read and write words. It signals a belief that, in literate
society, young children—even one- and two-year-olds—are in the process of becoming literate.

Emergent Literacy refers to the behaviors of very young children which reflected and
understanding of reading and writing. Emergent literacy knowledge refers to what the children
learn about reading and writing before they are considered as readers and writers while emergent
literacy skills are the ways that children demonstrate knowledge.

Emergent literacy stage denotes the period of time during which children acquire a variety
of emergent literacy knowledge and skills (Rhyner et.al.,2009). The emergent literacy stage begins
at birth and for normal development children, it is expected to last until the age 5 before entering
the school. As children enter school, they are now subjected to the use of formal instruction in
reading and writing.

Developmental Perspective

These developmental frameworks provide a general approach to describing changes in

children’s conceptual knowledge about literacy and/or emergent literacy skills. A common
assumption of these framework is that the understanding of the relationship between print and
occurs first, followed by an understanding of print form.

The Goodman (1986) Framework

This framework describes five areas in which children’s knowledge and skills progress in
developing the roots of literacy. These areas are:

a. Print Awareness in Situational Context

Can be observed when the child begins to learn and recognize his/her environment.

b. Print Awareness Discourse

Occurs when the child is beginning to be exposed to print in books, magazines,
tabloids, and electronic sources in which the child learn that each symbol that
he/she sees in print serve a particular purpose. Child then learns to manipulate
media that they are being exposed to like turning the pages of a book from left to
right.

c. Functions and Forms of Writing

Begins when the child writes by scribbling or drawing lines that represent letters.

d. Oral Language to Talk About Written Language

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 This occurs when the child begins to understand that print has functions and he/she
may begin to talk about it. The child may sat that books convey stories through the
use of word and pictures.

e. Metacognitive and Metalinguistic Awareness about Written Language

This is when the child understands literacy terms and uses words to describe what
she/he is reading.

The McCormic and Mason (1986) Framework

The framework devised by McCormick and Mason suggests that there is hierarchy of
knowledge and skills when learning to read that children progress through.

 Functions of print
 Forms of print
 Coordination of the form of print and function of print

Strommen and Mates (2000) Framework

This framework originated from a longitudinal study which aims to determine whether
children were similar in their concepts about what readers do and demonstrated a similar
sequence in their development of these concepts. From this, emerged a set of six concepts about
reading that are observed during the emergent literacy stage. The six concepts are as follows:

1. Reading is one aspect of an interpersonal routine

2. Readers focus on the book
3. Readers construct a sequenced account
4. Readers reconstruct a specific amount
5. Readers refer to print to reconstructs texts
6. Readers reconstructs texts by using multiple strategies

The Van Kleeck Framework

In this framework, Van Kleeck identifies two stages of emergent literacy wherein children
acquire knowledge and skills.

a. First Stage (infancy: 3 to 4 years): Children learn to rhyme and name letters as well as
retell stories upon looking at pictures in books.

b. Second Stage Children learn print form and early form-meaning correspondence while
learning about print meaning. They learn how to write letters and match these according to
their sounds, create detailed stories, and be able to predict events in stories even if it is
orally read to them

COMPONENTS PERSPECTIVE

In contrast to developmental framework, the primary focus of the components perspective

is on the specific knowledge and skills that characterize the emergent literacy stage.

The Storch and Whitehurst (2002) Framework

This framework is based on the perspective that children gain literacy knowledge and skills
and is characterized into two:

1. Code related Skills Components

a. Conventions of print (directionality of reading)

b. Beginning forms of writing (e.g. writing one’s name)
c. Grapheme knowledge (e.g. identifying letters in the alphabet

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 d. Grapheme-phoneme correspondence (e.g. knowledge that the letter m makes
The /m/ sound)
e. Phonological awareness (e.g. knowledge that the word “book” begin with a /b/ sound)

2. Oral Language Skills

a. Semantic knowledge (work knowledge, expressive and receptive vocabulary)

b. Syntactic knowledge (knowledge of word order and grammatical rues)
c. Narrative discourse (telling a story)
d. Conceptual knowledge (knowledge of the world

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EXPLORE

Name : _________________________ Class Schedule/Date: _________________

Course & Year: __________________ Semester/A.Y: _______________________
Course Title: ____________________ Instructor: Dolores C. Capistrano

Directions: In this activity, you will conduct an observation to your family or family friends. Identify
the usual scripts the parent gives to the child and the scripts the child uses to respond. Fill up the
table below

Day Number Topic of the Parents/Caregiver’s Child response Language

conversation script Development
Theory
Reflected in the
Conversation

1.

2.

3.

.
4.

5..

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ASSESS

Name : _________________________ Class Schedule/Date: _________________

Course & Year: __________________ Semester/A.Y: _______________________
Course Title: ____________________ Instructor: Dolores C. Capistrano

A. Write a position paper on how, children learn their language when it comes to their
first language (example: Filipino) and the second language (example: English)

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 B. Write a reflection paper on the importance of parental involvement in literacy
development. Use the following guide questions:

1. How important is language and literacy development?

2. How do you see yourself contributing to your students’ literacy development?

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MODULE 4 SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
AND ADOLESCENTS

Lesson 8

A. Theories of Socio-Emotional Development

The area of emotions and social relations among learners is an increasing area to
explore and study. How children make friends, resolve conflicts, and ow these are evident
in their relationships adults.

Intended Learning Outcome

Analyze the importance of varying and changing social identity among learners.

Engage

WORLD VIEWS OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

The Organismic World View

The organismic world view likens humans to plants and other living organism (Haynes,
2009). In this view , human beings are organized wholes or systems; they cannot be understood
piece by piece, or behavior by behavior, because they are greater than the sum of their parts. Do
you see yourself as a plant? What aspects of your experiences do you see yourself grow from?

The mechanismic World View

The mechanismic world view likens human beings to machines (Sigelman & Rider, 2009).
More specifically, this model assumes that humans (1) are a collection of parts (2) are relatively
passive in the developmental process, changing mainly in response to outside stimulation (3)
change gradually or continuously as parts, or specific behavior patterns, are added or subtracted;
and (4) can develop along a number of different paths, depending on environmental influences.
How do you see yourself when it comes to this view?

The Contextual World View

The contextual world view offers as a metaphor for human development, an ongoing
historical event or drama, an ever-changing interplay of forces ( Haynes, 2009). The focus is on
dynamic relationship between person and environment. Human are active in the developmental
process (as in the organismic view), and the environment is active as well (as in the mechanismic
world view).

Given the worldviews, a child’s social and emotional development are explained through
various theories. A theory is a set of ideas proposed to describe and explain certain phenomena.
A good theory should help us better describe, predict, and explain human development. Each
theory makes a particular assumption or statement about the nature of socio-emotional
development.

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SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

The Psychodynamic Theories : Freud, Erikson and Object Relations Theory

Advocates of the psychodynamic perspective believe that behavior is motivated by inner

forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control. The
inner forces , which may stem from one’s childhood, continually influence behavior throughout the
lifespan.

Instincts and Motives

The term instinct was first coined by Wilhelm Wundt in 1870s to refer to any repeated
behavior. The inherent tendencies depicted by an organism to engage in certain unlearned
patterns of behavior are referred to as instincts. In simple words, instinct is the behavior shown by
an organism in response to a certain stimuli. For example, when a newborn infant’s cheek or lip is
touched, it will turn its head toward it and making sucking motion with the mouth. This is known
as rooting reflex, which assists in successful breastfeeding.

Examples

The tendency of a dog to shake his body when it gets wet.

Birds migrating south before winter.
Mother’s reflex to take care of her child regardless of her upbringing in different societies.

Central to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is the notion that human beings have basic
biological urges or drives that must be satisfied. Freud viewed the newborn with two kinds of
instincts, or inborn biological forces that motivate behavior. The life instincts (eros) aim for
survival and direct life-sustaining activities such as breathing, eating and reproducing. The death
instincts (thanatus) are destructive forces that motivate us to harm others and even ourselves.
According to Freud, these biological instincts are the source of the psychic (or mental) energy that
fuels human behavior and is channeled in new directions over the course of human development .

Freud strongly believed in unconscious motivation, in the power of instincts and other
inner forces to influence behavior even though they are not known to us .

Id, Ego, and Superego

Freud believed that each individual has a fixed amount of psychic energy that can be used
to satisfy basic urges or instincts and to grow psychologically. As the child develops, this psychic
energy is divided among three components of the personality : the Id, the ego, and the superego..

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 At birth, all the psychic energy resides in the Id. The Id is the impulsive, irrational part of the
personality whose entire mission is to satisfy the instincts. It obeys the “pleasure principle’, seeking
immediate gratification, even when biological needs cannot be realistically or appropriately met.

The earliest part of the personality to emerge is the id. The id is present at birth and runs
on pure instinct, desire, and need. It is entirely unconscious and encompasses the most primitive
part of the personality, including basic biological drives and reflexes.
The id is motivated by the pleasure principle, which wants to gratify all impulses immediately. If the
id's needs aren’t met, it creates tension. However, because all desires can’t be fulfilled right away,
those needs may be satisfied, at least temporarily, through primary process thinking in which the
individual fantasizes about what they desire.   

The second component of the personality is the ego, the rational side of the individual that
operates according to the “reality principle” and tries to find realistic ways of gratifying the instincts.
.According to Freud, the ego begins to emerge during infancy when psychic energy is derived from
the id to energize important cognitive such as perception, learning, and problem solving.

The third part of the Freudian personality is the superego, the individuals internalized and
moral standards. The superego develops from the ego and strives for perfection rather than for
pleasure or realism. It begins to develop as 3 to 6-year-old children internalize the moral standards
and values of their parents. The superego insists that we find socially acceptable or ethical outlets
for the id’s undesirable impulses.

The Psychosexual Stages of Development Theory

Freud viewed the sex instincts as the most important of the life instincts because the
psychological disturbances of his patients often revolved around childhood sexual conflicts. He
maintained that, as the child matures biologically, the sex instinct’s psychic energy, which he
called libido, shifts from one part of the body to another over the years, seeking to gratify different
biological needs. In the process, the child moves through five psychosexual stages: oral, anal,
phallic, latency and genital.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

STAGE APPROXIMATE AGE CHARACTERISTICS

Oral Birth to 12-18 months Center of pleasure: mouth (major source of
gratifications and explorations)
Primary need : security
Major conflict: weaning
Anal 12-18 months to 3 y/o Source of pleasure: anus and bladder (sensual
satisfaction and self-control)
Major conflict: toilet training
Phallic 4 to 6 years old Center of pleasure: child’s genital (masturbation)
Major conflict: Oedipus and Electra Complex
Latency 6 y/o to puberty Energy directed to physical and intellectual activities
Sexual impulses repressed
Relationship between peers of same sex
Genital Puberty onwards Energy directed towards full sexual maturity and
function and development of skills to cope with the
environment

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The Psychosocial Stages Development

Erikson believed that human beings everywhere face eight major psychosocial crises, or
conflicts, during their lives. The first conflict, trust versus mistrust, revolves around whether or
not an infant becomes able to rely on other people to be responsive to his or her needs. To
develop a sense of trust, infants must be able to count on their primary caregivers to feed them,
relieve their discomfort. A healthy balance between the terms of the conflict must be struck for
development to proceed optimally. Trust should outweigh mistrust, but an element of skepticism is
needed as well: An infant who is overindulged may become too trusting.

The Stages of Psychosocial Development

Stage Psychosocial Crisis Radius of Significant Psychosocial Modalities

Persons
1 Autonomy Crisis Maternal Person To get
To give in return
2 Autonomy vs Shame and Parental persons To hold on
Doubt To let go
3 Initiative vs. Guilt Basic family To make (gong after)
To “make like” (playing)
4 Industry vs. Inferiority Neighborhood and To make
school thing(completing)
5 Identity vs. Role confusion Peer groups and out- To be oneself (or not to
groups, models of be)
leadership
6 Intimacy vs. Isolation Partnership in friendship, To lose and find oneself in
sex, competition and another
cooperation
7 Generativity vs. Self Divided labor and shared To take care of
absorption household
8 Integrity vs. Despair “Humankind” To be, through having
been
To face not being

Toddlers learn to trust themselves enough to assert their wills. This is the psychosocial
conflict of autonomy versus shame and doubt. Toddlers are determined to do things themselves
to demonstrate their independence and their control over their parents. They say "me, me“ me,
and “ no,no,no”, loudly proclaiming that they have wills of their own.

Four or five-year old children who have a sense of autonomy enter Erikson’s stage of
initiative vs. guilt, in which they develop a sense of purpose by devising bold plans but must also
learn not to step on other people in the process. A sense of initiative Erikson believed, paves the
wat for success in elementary school, when children face the conflict of industry vs. inferiority.
To gain the sense of industry, children must master the important cognitive and social skills-
reading, writing, cooperative teamwork, etc. that are necessary to win the approval of both adults
and peers.

Erikson is best known for characterizing adolescence as a time of “identity crisis,” a critical
period in the lifelong process of forming one’s identity as a person. During this psychosocial stage,
of identity versus role confusion, adolescents attempt to define who they are where they are
heading, and where they fit into society.

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 Young adulthood, Erikson believed, is a time dealing with the psychosocial conflict of
intimacy versus isolation. In middle age, adults become concerned with the issue of
generativity versus stagnation. They struggle to gain a sense that they have produced
something that will

outlive them, whether by raising happy, healthy children or by doing something meaningful through
their work or volunteer activities.

Finally, elderly adults confront the psychosocial conflict of integrity versus despair. They
try to find a sense of meaning in their lives that will help them face the inevitability of death. If they
are successful, they are able to look back over their lives and say that there is little they would
change; if they are not, they may dwell on past injustices and paths not taken and have difficulty
preparing for death.

The Virtues in Each Psychosocial Stage

Stage Psychosocial Crisis Erikson’s Virtues or Approximate Ages

Qualities of Strength in Years
1 Trust vs. Mistrust Hope 0-1
2 Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Will 2-2
3 Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose 3-6
4 Industry vs. Inferiority Competence 7-12 or so
5 Identity vs. Confusion Fidelity 12-18 or so
6 Intimacy vs. Isolation Love The 20s
7 Generativity vs. Self-absorption Care Late 20s to 50s
8 Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom 50s and beyond

LEARNING THEORIES IN SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Watson’s Behaviorism

Behaviorism, according to Watson, was the science of observable behavior. Only

behavior that could be observed, recorded and measured was of any real value for the study of
humans or animals. Watson's thinking was significantly influenced by the earlier classical
conditioning experiments of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov and his now infamous dogs.

With his notion of behaviorism, Watson put the emphasis on external behavior of people

and their reactions on given situations, rather than the internal, mental state of those people. In his
opinion, the analysis of behaviors and reactions was the only objective method to get insight in the
human actions.

Watson's behaviorism rejected the concept of the unconscious and the internal mental
state of a person because it was not observable and was subject to the psychologist's subjective
interpretation. For example, Freud would ask his patients to tell him their dreams. He would then
interpret the dreams and analyze what these dreams were indicating in the person's life. Watson
found this emphasis on introspection and subjective interpretation to be very unscientific and
unhelpful in understanding behavior.

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Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method

of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant
conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a
consequence (Skinner, 1938)

The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in
overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual’s response to events (stimuli)
that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word,
hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is
reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond. The distinctive characteristic of
operant conditioning relative to previous forms of behaviorism (e.g., connectionism, drive
reduction) is that the organism can emit responses instead of only eliciting response due to an
external stimulus.

Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner’s S-R theory. A reinforcer is anything that
strengthens the desired response. It could be verbal praise, a good grade or a feeling of increased
accomplishment or satisfaction. The theory also covers negative reinforcers — any stimulus that
results in the increased frequency of a response when it is withdrawn (different from adversive
stimuli — punishment — which result in reduced responses). A great deal of attention was given to
schedules of reinforcement (e.g. interval versus ratio) and their effects on establishing and
maintaining behavior.
.
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and
modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura (1977) states:
“Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely

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on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is
learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new
behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for
action.” (p22). Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal
interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an environmental influences.

The component processes underlying observational learning are: (1) Attention,

including modeled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional
value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past
reinforcement), (2) Retention, including symbolic coding, cognitive organization, symbolic
rehearsal, motor rehearsal), (3) Motor Reproduction, including physical capabilities, self-
observation of reproduction, accuracy of feedback, and (4) Motivation, including external,
vicarious and self reinforcement.

CONTEXTUAL THEORIES OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Social-emotional development includes the child's experience, expression, and

management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with
others (Cohen and others 2005). ... Young children are particularly attuned to social and
emotional stimulation.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Approach to Development

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory focuses on the quality and context of the

child's environment. He states that as a child develops, the interaction within these environments
becomes more complex. This complexity can arise as the child's physical and cognitive structures
grow and mature.

Bronfenbrenner believed that a person's development was affected by everything in their surrounding
environment. He divided the person's environment into five different levels: the microsystem, the
mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. In this lesson, you will learn
about these different environmental levels by meeting five-year-old Alex and examining the influences
in his life.

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Microsystem

We will begin with the first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory: the microsystem. The
microsystem is the system closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact. Some

examples would be home, school, daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or
caregivers. Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional. In other words, your reactions to the
people in your microsystem will affect how they treat you in return. This is the most influential level of
the ecological systems theory. Let's look at the microsystem Alex lives in. The first part of his
microsystem is his home environment. This includes his interactions with his parents and little sister.
Alex's school is also part of his microsystem. His regular school interactions are with his kindergarten
teacher and the other children in his class.
Mesosystem

The next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem. The mesosystem consists of the
interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a
person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert
influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual.
One aspect of Alex's mesosystem would be the relationship between his parents and his teacher.
His parents take an active role in his school, such as attending parent/teacher conferences and
volunteering in his classroom. This has a positive impact on his development because the different
elements of his microsystem are working together. Alex's development could be affected in a
negative way if the different elements of his microsystem were working against one another.

Exosystem
The exosystem is the next level we will examine. The exosystem refers to a setting that
does not involve the person as an active participant, but still affects them. This includes decisions
that have bearing on the person, but in which they have no participation in the decision-making
process. An example would be a child being affected by a parent receiving a promotion at work or
losing their job. One part of Alex's exosystem would be his father's workplace. Alex's father is in
the Navy. This often takes him away from the family, and Alex sometimes does not see his father
for months at a time. This situation impacts Alex, and he becomes anxious when his father leaves.
Alex's anxiety has an effect on his development in other areas, even though he has no interaction
with his father's work or say in the decision-making process.
Macrosystem

This involves the interaction of children with the beliefs, values, expectations and lifestyles of their
cultural settings. There are studies which look at children’s interactions with their macrosystems in
different cultures, but there can be macrosystems within a culture also.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 20

ASSESS

Name : _________________________ Class Schedule/Date: _________________

Course & Year: __________________ Semester/A.Y: _______________________
Course Title: ____________________ Instructor: Dolores C. Capistrano

Describe briefly the concepts presented by Freud, Erikson, Watson, Skinner and
Bronfenbrenner. Do it in tabular form.

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EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 21

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Lesson 9

A. Theories of Moral Development

Morality has been seen in different perspectives, however, morality has been
generally defined as the ability (1) to distinguish right from wrong, (2) to act on this
distinction, and (3) to experience pride when one does the right thing and guilt or shame
when one does not.

Intended Learning Outcome:

Employ moral dilemmas in understanding how learners make moral decisions.

Engage

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

Moral development is the process thought which children develop proper attitudes and
behaviors toward other people in society, based on social and cultural norms, rules, and laws.

Moral development is a concern for every parent. Teaching a child to distinguish right from
wrong and to behave accordingly is a goal of parenting. It is a complex issue that—since the
beginning of human civilization—has been a topic of discussion among some of the world's most
distinguished psychologists, theologians, and culture theorists. It was not studied scientifically until
the late 1950s.

Piaget's Theory of Moral Reasoning

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, explored how children developed moral reasoning. He
rejected the idea that children learn and internalize the rules and morals of society by being given
the rules and forced to adhere to them. Through his research on how children formed their
judgments about moral behavior, he recognized that children learn morality best by having to deal
with others in groups. He reasoned that there was a process by which children conform to
society's norms of what is right and wrong, and that the process was active rather than passive.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 22

 Piaget found two main differences in how children thought about moral behavior. Very
young children's thinking is based on how actions affected them or what the results of an action
were. For example, young children will say that when trying to reach a forbidden cookie jar,
breaking 10 cups is worse than breaking one. They also recognize the sanctity of rules. For
example, they understand that they cannot make up new rules to a game; they have to play by
what the rule book says or what is commonly known to be the rules. Piaget called this "moral
realism with objective responsibility." It explains why young children are concerned with outcomes
rather than intentions.
Older children look at motives behind actions rather than consequences of actions. They are also
able to examine rules, determining whether they are fair or not, and apply these rules and their
modifications to situations requiring negotiation, assuring that everyone affected by the rules is
treated fairly. Piaget felt that the best moral learning came from these cooperative decision-making
and problem-solving events. He also believed that children developed moral reasoning quickly and
at an early age.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, extended Piaget's work in cognitive
reasoning into adolescence and adulthood. He felt that moral development was a slow process
and evolved over time. Still, his six stages of moral development, drafted in 1958, mirrors Piaget's
early model. Kohlberg believed that individuals made progress by mastering each stage, one at a
time. A person could not skip stages. He also felt that the only way to encourage growth through
these stages was by discussion of moral dilemmas and by participation in consensus democracy
within small groups. Consensus democracy was rule by agreement of the group, not majority rule.
This would stimulate and broaden the thinking of children and adults, allowing them to progress
from one stage to another.

Pre-conventional Level. The child at the first and most basic level, the pre-conventional level, is
concerned with avoiding punishment and getting needs met. This level has two stages and applies
to children up to 10 years of age.

Stage one is the Punishment-Obedience stage. Children obey rules because they are
told to do so by an authority figure (parent or teacher), and they fear punishment if they do not
follow rules. Children at this stage are not able to see someone else's side.

Stage two. Children will also make deals with each other and even adults (Mutual
Benefit). They will agree to behave in a certain way for a payoff. "I'll do this, if you will do that."
Sometimes, the payoff is in the knowledge that behaving correctly is in the child's own best
interest. They receive approval from authority figures or admiration from peers, avoid blame, or
behave in accordance with their concept of self. They are just beginning to understand that others
have their own needs and drives.

Conventional Level.  This level broadens the scope of human wants and needs. Children in this
level are concerned about being accepted by others and living up to their expectations. This stage
begins around age 10 but lasts well into adulthood, and is the stage most adults remain at
throughout their lives.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 23

 Stage three, Interpersonal Conformity(Social Approval), is often called the "good
boy/good girl" stage. Here, children do the right thing because it is good for the family , peer
group, team, school, or church. They understand the concepts of trust, loyalty, and gratitude. They
abide by the Golden Rule as it applies to people around them every day. Morality is acting in
accordance to what the social group says is right and moral.

Stage four is the Law and Order, or Social System and Conscience stage. Children
and adults at this stage abide by the rules of the society in which they live. These laws and rules
become the backbone for all right and wrong actions. Children and adults feel compelled to do
their duty and show respect for authority. This is still moral behavior based on authority, but
reflects a shift from the social group to society at large.
Post Conventional Level.  Some teenagers and adults move beyond conventional morality and
enter morality based on reason, examining the relative values and opinions of the groups with
which they interact. Few adults reach this stage.

Correct behavior is governed by the fifth stage, the Social Contract and Individual
Rights stage. Individuals in this stage understand that codes of conduct are relative to their social
group. This varies from culture to culture and subgroup to subgroup. With that in mind, the
individual enters into a contract with fellow human beings to treat them fairly and kindly and to
respect authority when it is equally moral and deserved. They also agree to obey laws and social
rules of conduct that promote respect for individuals and value the few universal moral values that
they recognize. Moral behavior and moral decisions are based on the greatest good for the
greatest number.

Stage six is the Principled Conscience or the Universal/Ethical Principles stage.

Here, individuals examine the validity of society's laws and govern themselves by what they
consider to be universal moral principles, usually involving equal rights and respect. They obey
laws and social rules that fall in line with these universal principles, but not others they deem as
aberrant. Adults here are motivated by individual conscience that transcends cultural, religious, or
social convention rules. Kohlberg recognized this last stage but found so few people who lived by
this concept of moral behavior that he could not study it in detail.

Carol Gilligan and the Morality of Care

Kohlberg's and Piaget's theories have come under fire. Kohlberg's six stages of moral
development, for example, have been criticized for elevating Western, urban, intellectual (upper
class) understandings of morality, while discrediting rural, tribal, working class, or Eastern moral
understandings. Feminists have pointed out potential sexist elements in moral development
theories devised by male researchers using male subjects only (such as Kohlberg's early work).
Because women's experiences in the world differ from men's in every culture, it would stand to
reason that women's moral development might differ from men's, perhaps in significant ways.

Carol Gilligan deemed Kohlberg's research biased because he only used male subjects to
reach his findings. Because of this, his model is based on a concept of morality based on equity
and justice, which places most men in stage five or six. Gilligan found that women, who value
social interaction more than men, base their moral decisions on a culture of caring for other human
beings. This would place them at stage three, making women appear to be inferior morally to men.
Men determine immorality based on treating others unfairly, and women base it on turning away
someone in need.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 24

ASSESS

Name : _________________________ Class Schedule/Date: _________________

Course & Year: __________________ Semester/A.Y: _______________________
Course Title: ____________________ Instructor: Dolores C. Capistrano

A. Directions: Identify the stage of moral development shown in the following:

________1. Joy allows her classmates to copy her homework so that they will think she is kind
and will like her to be their friend.

________2. Ricky does everything to get passing grades because his Mom will take his play
station away if he gets low grades.

________3. A civic action group protests the use of pills for family planning, saying that although
the government allows this, it is actually murder because the pills are abortifacient (causes
abortion)

________4. Jinky lets Hannah copy during their Math test because Hannah agreed to let her copy
during their Science test.

________5. Karen decides to return the wallet she found in the canteen because he believes it’s
the right thing to do.

________6. Lyka wears her ID inside the Campus because she likes to follow the school rules and
regulations.

________7. A Jeepney driver looks if there’s a policeman around before he u-turns in a no u-turn
spot.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 25

________8. Mikah decides to return the bag with money she found in the comfort room so that the
people will praise her honesty and think she’s such a nice girl.

________9. Liza volunteers to tutor children-at-risk in her community for free so they will learn to
love school and stay in school.

________10. Little Riel behaves so well to get a star stamp from her teacher.

B. Answer briefly.

 Differentiate Moral Issues from Values Education and cite their significance in the teaching-
learning process.

EDUC 1- CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES 26