Human Growth and Development-Concept

Introduction:

Human beings keep changing. During their lives, they change in size, appearance and psychological makeup. The way they change differs from individual to individual. But the fundamental underlying patterns of growth and development remain more or less the same and take place in an orderly way. Each individual, with his unique heredity and the way he is nurtured, determines the way he traverses the broad highway of his life at his rate of progress. He will attain the size, shape, capacities and developmental status in a way which is peculiar to him at each stage of life. Growth is sometimes used to designate all the quantitative changes brought about in the structure and functions of the human anatomy and physiology. The term development means a progressive series of qualitative changes that occur as a result of maturity and experience. Thus at each stage certain developmental processes bring changes in the individual in different aspects of life: physical, social, psychological and emotional. The speed of change varies from one individual to another but it follows a definite and predictable pattern. Every individual has to go through the various stages of childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Both growth and development, at every stage, follow certain principles. This is the first unit of this course. In this unit we shall discuss the concept and principles of human growth and development, why their systematic study is needed and how the teacher can facilitate growth and development during adolescence. We shall also discuss, in brief, various stages of development. You will also study the role of the teacher in facilitating the growth and development of school-going children. You can observe the growth of your students over a period of a few years.