PHYSIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

The onset of adolescence is marked by two significant changes in physical development — the
adolescent or pubertal growth spurt and puberty.

Growth spurt refers to the rapid acceleration in height and weight that signals the beginning of
adolescence. The typical pattern is for a girl to start her period of rapid growth at age 10 to
reach a peak growth at age 12 years and return to a slower rate of growth spurt by age 13-15.
For males, the typical pattern is to begin their growth spurt at age 13 to a peak growth at 14 and
return to a more gradual rate at age 15 or 16. Aside from growing taller and heavier, the body
assumes an adult like appearance during the adolescent period.

Puberty is the period in the development of man at which the individual is physically capable of
sexual reproduction. It extends to the time when the primary and secondary sex characteristics
(e.g. enlargement of the breasts, development of pubic hair and facial hair, deepening of the
voice, etc.) of the body emerge. Sexual maturation follows a predictable sequence for members
of both sexes. It begins with the production of sex hormones by the ovaries in females and
testes in males.

The role of significant others like parents and teachers can help a lot to cushion the impact of
the teen’s “growing up pains”. It is of paramount importance to prepare them adequately for the
expected physical changes by explaining to the teenagers the meaning of all these changes.
Maintaining open communication between parents and children give the young adolescent the
opportunity to ask questions about their own experiences. Parents who are sensitive to the
adolescents’ anxieties can help by giving adequate and meaningful information and lots of support
and encouragement. Parents’ sharing of their own experiences during this stage may give a better
feeling and relief to the children. Parents who make adjustments in their parenting styles
promote mature and responsible behavior on the adolescents.

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PSYCHO-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Psychologist Erik Erikson was chiefly concerned with psychosocial development. For him, a crisis
is not “a threat of a catastrophe but a turning point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability
and heightened potential”. According to Erikson (1980), individuals develop a “healthy personality”
by mastering “life’s outer and inner dangers”. Development follows the epigenetic principle, which
holds that “anything that grows has a ground plan, and out of this ground plan the parts arise,
each having its time of special ascendancy, until all parts have risen to form a functioning whole”.
Hence, according to Erikson, each part of the personality has a particular time in the life-span
when it must develop, if it is going to develop at all.

One of the most obvious changes in adolescence is that the hub around which the adolescent’s
world revolves shifts from the family to the peer group. It is important to note that this
decreased frequency of contact with family does not mean that family closeness has assumed
less importance for the adolescent (O’Koon, 1997). In fact, family closeness and attachment has
recently been confirmed as the most important factor associated with not smoking, less use of
alcohol and other drugs, later initiation of sexual intercourse, and fewer suicide attempts among
adolescents (Resnick, Bearman, & Blum et al., 1997). In order to establish greater independence
from their parents, adolescents must orient themselves toward their peers to a greater extent
than they did in earlier stages of development. Those professionals whose role is to advise
parents can help reassure them that increased peer contact among adolescents does not mean
that parents are less important to them, but that the new focus on peers is an important and
healthy new stage in their child’s development. Professionals can also educate parents about the
importance of positive peer relationships during adolescence.

As children enter adolescence, they experience a “psychological revolution”, and at the same time,
they must answer the question “Who am I?” They try on many new roles as they grope with
romantic involvement, vocational choice, and adult statuses. In the process, teenagers must
develop an integrated and coherent sense of self. If they experience continuity in their
perception of self, identity develops. When the adolescent fails to develop a “centered” identity,
he or she becomes trapped in either role confusion or “a negative identity”. The identities and
roles of “delinquent” and “hoodlum” are examples.

Also, during adolescence, individuals learn to achieve new and mature roles with age mates of
both sexes. They also usually strive to attain social roles. Another skill expected from them is to
desire, to accept, and to achieve socially responsible attitudes.

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BRAIN DEVELOPMENT & COGNITIVE CHANGES

To have a basic foundation of knowing the learners on what to present, and how to present was
formulated by psychologist Jean Piaget in his Cognitive Development Theory.

During ages eleven and above, termed as the Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development
by Piaget, individuals are characterized by hypothesis testing. Before making conclusions, things
must be tested with logical pieces of evidence. Possibilities are considered to proceed
systematically in search of truth. Usually, they are already able to see relationships between
different things and they are adept in abstract reasoning. This also entails becoming more
scientific in their thinking and capable of systematic, deductive reasoning.

Being teenagers at this stage, “they have their own mind and thoughts of others”. This is called
“metacognition”. This is self-reflection wherein ideas and imaginations are tried out to be aware
of existing realities (internal dialogue). “Experience is the best teacher”. In this manner, self-
correction in solving problem becomes practical.

In formal operations, “perspective thought” or relativism is formed. It is a new perspective of

other people possessing varied thinking on the same stimulus or situation. There is awareness on
different views rather than on one single thought. It understands and recognizes individuals
having their own and different interests, knowledge, and ways of thinking. “No two individuals are
alike”. Even identical twins are different in their personality and lifestyles.

Another intellectual skill expected from individuals during this stage is the appropriate
equipment and utilization of knowledge gained from academic exposure towards their journey for
an economic career.

The changes in how adolescents think, reason, and understand can be even more dramatic than
their obvious physical changes. From the concrete, black-and-white thinkers they appear to be
one day, rather suddenly it seems, adolescents become able to think abstractly and in shades of
gray. They are now able to analyze situations logically in terms of cause and effect and to
entertain hypothetical situations and use symbols, such as in metaphors, imaginatively (Piaget,
1950). This higher-level thinking allows them to think about the future, evaluate alternatives, and
set personal goals (Keating, 1990). Although there are marked individual differences in cognitive
development among youth, these new capacities allow adolescents to engage in the kind of
introspection and mature decision making that was previously beyond their cognitive capacity.
Cognitive competence includes such things as the ability to reason effectively, problem solve,
think abstractly and reflect, and plan for the future.

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EMOTIONAL-SOCIAL DEVELOPEMNT
DEVELOPMENT
Emotionally and socially, the adolescents usually want independence; yet they have a strong desire
for security. They want to feel secure in the affection and regard of persons of their own age
and of adults. This is a period of strong personal attachment which starts with sudden
infatuation and goes to controlled attachment to members of the opposite sex.

More so, adolescents during this phase are expected to acquire a set of values and an ethical
system as a guide to behavior — depending on ideology. All adolescents must begin to master the
emotional skills necessary to manage stress and be sensitive and effective in relating to other
people. These skills have been called “emotional intelligence” (Goleman, 1994). Emotional
intelligence involves self-awareness, but above all, relationship skills—the ability to get along well
with other people and to make friends. Professionals who can help adolescents develop emotional
intelligence provide them with resources that will help them succeed as adults in both their
personal and professional lives. However, one does not have to look to the future for the
benefits; youth without relationship skills are at greater risk than their peers who have these
skills for a number of problems, including dropping out of school (Olweus, 1996).

Emotional development occurs uniquely for each adolescent, with different patterns emerging for
different groups of adolescents. Boys and girls can differ in the challenges they face in their
emotional development. For adolescents from minority cultures in the United States, feeling
positive about their ethnic identity, sometimes in the wake of negative stereotypes about their
culture, is an important challenge for healthy emotional development. Youth whose sexual
orientation is gay, lesbian, or bisexual and youth who have a physical disability or are chronically
ill, experience additional challenges in building a positive self-esteem in a culture where the
predominant media image of an adolescent is a White, heterosexual, thin, and able-bodied middle-
class teen. Adolescents need adults who can model positive self-esteem, teach them to be proud
of their identity, and help them cope positively with any prejudice they encounter in their lives.

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MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OFDEVELOPMENT

Lawrence Kohlberg worked on the understanding of moral development. Moral character happens
in a particular developmental sequence, and each stage is distinctly different. Moral development
differs on the orientation and innate characteristics within the individual.

Adolescents, as Kohlberg formulated, belong to the Conventional level of Moral development.

During the earlier stage of this level, individuals are others-directed. This is to please everyone
by conforming to social roles. It follows traditional norms of a particular society where one lives.
Before taking a responsibility, it takes into account others’ views or feelings. Thinking becomes
comprehensive and complicated because it has to consider social perspective. A problem can
cause conflict on what the individual believes or otherwise. Becoming indifferent on what is
believed by the self against the belief of most people causes conflict. The self is unable to
manage independently. Being good is to be a “nice guy/gal” in order to be accepted or be part of
the group. Here, one comes to learn affection as a need. In the later stage, they make decisions
according to the established rules and laws where one lives. It does not follow the self or others,
rather the comprehensive existing system of the society. This provides guidance in decision
making. The society to be stable sets standard to improve the behavior of the people. However,
laws can be conflicting. What about a student, who, due to unavoidable circumstances, fails to pay
the balance or the tuition fee so he or she is not allowed to take the final examination and is
eventually failed? What is ideal may not be practical, realistic, or moral at the present time. This
dilemma requires a more comprehensive stage of learning. In spite of this dilemma, the rule of
honor and duty is learned, which is needed to preserve the society.

Spiritually, according to James Fowler’s Stages of Faith, adolescents are said to have a
“synthetic-conventional faith”.

This stage involves adolescents questioning values and religious beliefs in an attempt to form own
identity. During this period, too, they usually identify with a larger group of believers beyond
their immediate church and accept their explanation of ultimate reality. Also, there is an
acceptance of the doctrines and teachings of the church and of people in the denomination. The
earliest this stage usually occurs is in the young adolescent years and it can continue throughout
adulthood. Most adults are in this stage and will never become more mature.

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