PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

Reporter: Rodrigo Jr., A. Rodriguez

CHILDHOOD
EARLY CHILDHOOD
-

extends from 2 to 6 years of the child. Early childhood marks the end of the babyhood the
age when dependency is practically a thing of the past and is being replaced by growing
independence- and ends at about the time the child enters first grade in school.

This stage is also referred as:

Problem or Troublesome age (Parents) the child is developing a distinctive personality and
is demanding and independence. A young child is often an obstinate, stubborn, disobedient,
pessimistic, and antagonist individual.
Pre-school age (Educators) includes the time of the child even though he is in pre-school or
kindergarten because the pressures and expectations he is subjected to now are different from
those he will experience when he enters first grade.
Pre-gang stage (Psychologists) the child is learning the foundations of social behavior
which will prepare him for more highly organized social life.
Exploratory Age or Questioning Age (Psychologist) the child wants to know what his
environment is, how it works, how it feels, and how he can be a part of it.
Imitative Age (Psychologists) this is the time where the child imitates the speech and action
of others. They also show more creativity in their play than any other time in their lives (Creative
Age).
Developmental Tasks: According to Hurlock (1975), the child must lay the foundations for a
conscience as a guide to right and wrong behavior. One of the most difficult tasks of early
childhood is to relate emotionally to parents, siblings and other people. The emotional
relationships that existed during babyhood must be replaced by more mature ones. The child
must learn to give as well as to receive affection. He must learn to outer-bound instead of selfbound.
LATE CHILDHOOD
-

extends from the age of six to the time he gets sexually mature. Although it is possible to
mark off the beginning of the late childhood fairly accurately, one cannot be sure when this
period ends because sexually maturity, the criterion used to divide childhood from
adolescence, comes at varying ages.

This stage is also referred as:

Elementary School Age (Educators) the child is expected to acquire the rudiments of
knowledge that are considered essential for successful adjustment to adult life.
Gang Age (Psychologists) the childs concern is acceptance by his age-mates and
membership in a gang.

Play Age (Psychologists) there is an overlapping of play activities characteristic of the

younger years and those characteristic of adolescence.
Development Tasks: Learning physical skills, organizing ones knowledge, learning to work
well in a group, becoming an independent person, learning an appropriate sex role, developing
conscience, morality and a scale of values.

PUBERTY
-

occurs when individual changes from an asexual to sexual being. It is the time when
individual becomes sexually mature and capable of producing offspring.

3 STAGES OF PUBERTY
1. Pre-pubescent Stage (Immature) Secondary sex characteristics begin to appear though
reproductive organs are not yet developed.
2. Pubescent Stage (Mature) Secondary sex characteristics continue to develop and sex cells
are produced in the sex organ.
3. Post Pubescent Stage Secondary sex characteristics becomes fully developed and sex
organs function in a mature manner.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBERTY
a. Puberty is and overlapping period encompasses approximately one-third of the closing
years of childhood and one-half of the beginning of adolescence.
b. Puberty is a short period lasts from 2 to 4 years.
c. Puberty is a time of rapid change characterized by rapid growth and marked changes in
body proportions.
d. Puberty is a negative phase a short duration of period where individual takes an anti
attitude toward life.
e. Puberty is a variable phase occurs between 3 to 19 years old however it depends on the
gender.
ADOLESCENSE
-

Includes mental, emotional, social and physical maturity. Researches on changes in behavior,
attitude and values throughout adolescence show marked difference during the last part of
the period.

Early adolescence - from 13 to 16 or 17 years old. They are also referred as teens or
terrible teens.
Late Adolescence from 16 to 18 or up to 21 for those who depend for financial support until
they are through the college course. They are also referred as young men and women.
Certain attitudes and behavior patterns are characteristic of adolescence. These characteristics
are as follows:
a. Adolescence is a transitional period neither a child nor adult. This ambiguous status
presents a dilemma for the teenager that contributes greatly to the adolescent identity
crisis or the problem of the ego-identity.
b. Adolescence is a period of change the rate of change in attitudes and behavior
during adolescence parallels to the rate of physical change.
c. Adolescence is a dreaded age acceptance of cultural stereotype of the teenager as a
sloppy, unreliable and irresponsible individual and anti-social behavior leads adults who
must guide them to dread this responsibility and to be unsympathetic in their attitudes
toward, and the treatment of, normal adolescent behavior.
d. Adolescence is a time of unrealism The unrealistically high aspirations the young
adolescent has for himself, for his family, and for his friends are in part of the heightened
emotionality of early adolescence.
e. Adolescence is the threshold of adulthood as the individual approaches maturity,
he is anxious to create the impression that he is no longer a teenager, but rather, he is on
the threshold of adulthood.

Developmental Tasks: All the developmental tasks of the adolescence are focused on
overcoming childish attitudes and behavior patterns and preparing for adulthood. Some of these
are: accepting ones physique and accepting a masculine and feminine role; establishing new
relations with age-mates of both sexes and gaining emotional independence from parents and
other adults.
Resource:
Aquino, G.V and Miranda, C. N. Introduction to Psychology. 24K Printing Co., Inc. Valenzuela, Metro Manila, 1991
Kapunan, R. R. The Psychology of Adolescence. Rex Printing Co. Inc. Quezon City, 1998