Life Span Development
Introduction
Tonight’s Agenda
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Student
Introductions
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Syllabus
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Research
project discussion
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Introduction
to psychosocial perspective
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Advantages
of this perspective
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Class
exercise
Student
introductions
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1. Have
you taken a life Span Development or Human Development course before?
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2. What
do you hope to be when you complete your education?
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3. Who
influenced your positive development?
Details of
Assignments
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Syllabus Review
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Research Paper
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Presentation
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Time Line demonstration
The Psychosocial
Stage Approach
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The
textbook identifies physical, intellectual, social, and emotional growth in each
of the 11 stages, emphasizing that development results from the interdependence
of these areas at every stage.
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See
handout
Course Goal
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You
should gain a sense of a multidimensional person, striving towards new levels of
competency and mastery, embedded in multiple contexts.
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That
person is YOU!
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Application
to future your students
Advantages of the
Psychosocial Framework
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The
psychosocial theory provides an organizing conceptual framework highlighting the
continuous interaction of individual competencies with the demands and resources
of culture.
How development is viewed
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Development
is viewed as a product of genetic, maturational, societal, and self-directed
factors.
Detailed Advantages
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1.
It helps to identify and emphasize themes and directions of growth across
the life span.
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2.
Helps students assess the influence of experiences during earlier life stages of
development.
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3.
Clarifies how your own past, present and future are systematically connected to
the lives of people who are older and younger.
More Advantages
4. Highlights issues of intergenerational transmission and the reciprocal
influences of the generations.
5. Offers hopeful outlook on the total life course
and how ones world view develops
Still More
Advantages
6. The promise of continuous growth in later adulthood validates the
struggles of childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
7. Locates development
within the framework of significant relationships.
8. Enhances self-understanding
Final Advantages
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9. Helps
you appreciate the idea that a sense of self and sense of others emerge and
mature together, fostering the stimulation of the complementary process of
autonomy and connection.
10.
A means
of comprehending the conflicts, opportunities and achievements that, are of
central importance to each individual living through the stages of their lives.
Effects of Cultural
and Historical Contexts
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The
developing person exists in a changing cultural and historical context.
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What
are some of the changes in our culture and in history within the last 5 years?
Effects of
Technology
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Expand
resources (especially in terms of information)
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Alter
patterns of communication
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Influence
the course of development
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What
effects have you observed regarding technology on human development?
Some technological
developments
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The
mapping of the human genome
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Survival
of premature babies
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Accurate
information available over internet
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E-mail,
cell phones, instant messaging, wireless internet zones
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Interactive
toys that respond to the infants and toddlers voice or touch
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Computer
programs children may use for a variety of purposes
Effects of Poverty
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The
textbook points out effects at each stage and the importance of understanding
the effects of poverty on development.
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What do
you understand about this from your own experience?
The Challenge
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As future
teachers you face the challenge of putting this information to use.
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Because you are being exposed to this knowledge, NEVER EVER get into the
rut thinking that children are “not trying hard enough” in school.
When a student
cannot perform to expectations always ask:
1.
What has
happened in their past?
2.
What is
happening in the present?
3. Whether they have hope for the future? If not, why not?
Other Questions to
Ask?
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“Why is
this student struggling to develop normally, compared to their classmates?”
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“What
might be going on at home?”
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“How
can I give this student hope for the future in terms of their abilities?”
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“In
what stage of development was their psychosocial crisis not resolved?”
Class Exercise
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Think of
an experience, which you have observed another student struggling to succeed in
school, socially or life in general.
Discussion -
How might this experience
have impacted normal development from the psychosocial perspective?