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NOTES ON TEACHING
Before we discuss difficult theoretical points in my classes, I often
try to give students a general sense of the issues and concepts by means
of various exercises and activities. This section of the manual includes
some of the exercises and activities I have used.
Introduction, and Ch. 1: Preformationism, Locke, and Rousseau
The Forces Underlying Developmental Change
Locke and Rousseau anticipated the major positions in
contemporary developmental theory, particularly with respect to the
forces underlying developmental change. Prior to specific coursework,
students, too, have developed some sense of these forces, and it can be
helpful to discuss their knowledge. They gain confidence from the
discovery of how much they already know. To draw out this
knowledge, I ask three questions.
1. A 2-year-old girl displays a strong need for order. If, for
example, she sees a shoe out of place, she puts it back where it belongs.
Why do you think she shows this strong desire for order?
Students typically suggest she is imitating; her behavior reflects that
of the models around her. Many other students suggest her parents
have directly taught her to be neat and orderly, perhaps through
rewards and punishments. Occasionally, students suggest that the girl
has an inner, spontaneous need for order; she is beginning to see that
the world is ordered and she wants the stability that order provides (see
Montessori’s view, p. 73 in the text). I put the students’ responses into
categories on the blackboard.
2. A 12-month-old girl tries to walk. At first she falls, but gets up
again and keeps trying. Why does she do this?
Again, students usually suggest imitation and direct teaching. Now
more students speculate on an inner force, something akin to biological
maturation. They note that the girl’s body and nervous system are
maturing and she feels an inner urge to exercise her emerging
capacities.
3. An 8-month-old boy says, “Ba ba ba ba.” Why is he doing this?
Students see that they are offering the same hypotheses—imitation,
direct teaching, and an inner, natural force. By this time, they usually
want to debate the explanations, and I ask about the evidence that might
support or disconfirm a particular hypothesis. But the point I stress is
that they already know something about the explanations for
developmental change—the environmental causes outlined by Locke
and the inner cause, nature’s plan, advanced by Rousseau. I say we
will discuss more precise ways of conceptualizing the various forces as
the course proceeds.
Classroom Exercises with respect to Rousseau’s Theory

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Rousseau prized independence. He wanted children to learn on their
own and make their own discoveries. I have used the following
exercise to help students see what Rousseau was concerned about.
Two volunteers wait outside the classroom while I set up an obstacle
course. The goal will be to reach an eraser by circumventing chairs in
the path to it. I then ask one volunteer to come into the room, give her
a brief look at the situation, blindfold her, and help her find the eraser
with detailed, authoritarian directions. I tell her, “take one step forward,
now take two steps to the left,” and so on. Then, she waits outside the
room while the other volunteer tries the task. I prepare her in the same
way, but let her find the eraser completely on her own. Finally, the
class and I interview both volunteers, exploring their general reactions,
and the class discusses its own thoughts and experiences with respect to
independent mastery.
Rousseau said he would rather the child know nothing than have
learned to rely on the ideas of others. Because of such radical
statements, people often think Rousseau wanted us to simply ignore the
child—to abandon the child to her own devices. Actually, Rousseau
suggested ways in which adults can stimulate learning while allowing
the child to figure out problems on her own. For example, an adult
might ask a child which ladder is tall enough to just reach the top of a
tree, and then let the child make the choice and determine for herself if
she was correct (p. 18 in the textbook). In the text, I also indicate how
Montessori (p. 76-77) and Kamii (pp. 145-147) have employed the
same general method.
It is possible to demonstrate this kind of education through role-
playing. For example, I have asked students to enact scenes in which a
parent teaches a 6-year-old to bat a ball. (The props are a waffle ball
bat and a wadded piece of paper that serves as a ball.) In one scene, a
parent directs the child’s every move (e.g., “Now hold the bat like this.
No, with the right hand on top; watch me…”). In the second scene, the
parent patiently enjoys playing with the child, simply tossing the ball
over and over, giving the child the chance to perfect her swing on her
own. Then the class discusses the methods.
Alternatively, I sometimes ask students to imagine learning to walk
with a good deal of adult guidance. Then I ask how this is different
from the situation in which the adult simply stands by, for the sake of
safety, and allows the child to master the art of walking on her own. I
have called this attitude our unobtrusive presence and described its
uses in my book, Reclaiming Childhood (Holt, 2003).
Ch. 3. Ethology
I make sure students know about the film, Fly Away Home (1996,
Sony Pictures); it’s a family movie about goslings who have imprinted
on a girl. Many students are moved by the film.
You Tube has videos on Ainsworth’s strange situation. Try “Strange
Situation,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GI_1PBQpM The
video is uploaded by SocioPsychMorgannwg. You might want to

3
engage the class in a discussion of the ethics of this procedure, which
upsets the child.
Ch. 4. Montessori
I have found that the following exercise helps undergraduates
understand part of the rationale behind Montessori’s method.
I first ask the students, “In general, how much do you like
studying?” An open discussion usually reveals that most students don’t
like it much at all. I find it helpful to ask the students to compare the
enjoyment they get from studying to that they derive from a hobby or
other activities.
I next ask, “Why are you going to college?” Most students say that
they want to earn a degree and get a good job or get into graduate
school. Some acknowledge the need to meet their parents’ expectations
or achieve a certain status in society. Only a few students say they
attend college solely to learn, for its own sake. (I write their various
reasons for attending college on the blackboard).
I then briefly discuss the concepts of extrinsic and intrinsic motives
for learning. Earning good grades, getting a good job, pleasing parents,
and achieving social success are extrinsic motives. And when extrinsic
motivation is too strong—when one’s entire future depends on college
success—learning becomes a frightening experience. Students hate it.
I suggest that only when learning is intrinsically motivated (as in the
case of a hobby) is it deeply pleasurable.
The classroom discussion helps students get an experiential sense of
why Montessori wanted to create schools in which the motivation to
learn is entirely intrinsic. She believed that at certain points of
development, children have an inner need to work on certain kinds of
tasks, and when the environment provides such tasks, children work on
them with incredible effort and concentration. This, she thought, is
learning at its best. In such instances, the typical extrinsic incentives of
schools—gold stars, grades, approval, and criticism—become
superfluous. Worse, they distract children from their deep
concentration (as well as making them dependent on the approval of
others).
During our discussion, I refer to John Holt’s How Children Fail
(Dell, 1964; rev. ed., Delacorte/Lawrence, 1982). Holt poignantly
described the negative consequences of extrinsic motivation. Children,
Holt argued, begin life full of curiosity and enthusiasm for learning.
But before long, we get children to learn for extrinsic reasons, to win
our praise and to avoid our criticism. As a result, children begin to
worry they might not earn our approval and become afraid of looking
stupid in the eyes of others. Most children are so worried about making
mistakes, failing, and looking dumb in school that they cannot think
fully or deeply. They simply want to get the “right answers” as quickly
as possible. Given a choice, they would avoid school like the plague.
(See especially pp. 59-127 and 271-276 in Holt’s revised edition).

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Ch. 5. Werner
Werner’s theory is difficult, but it addresses important theoretical
matters such as the definition of development and the question of
discontinuity. These require discussion. Still, I ease students into
Werner’s theory with a discussion of physiognomic perception.
--I place a cup on its side and ask what a physiognomic response
might be (the cup is tired).
--I draw the number 5 on the blackboard and ask whether the
number is happy or angry.
--I draw the lines in Figure 5.4 in the textbook on the blackboard
and ask which line is happy and which is sad.
Such questions usually strike us as silly; in Western, technological
cultures we are taught to see the world less in physiognomic terms (as
expressive, emotional, and dynamic) and more in geometric-technical
terms (which emphasizes the objective, measurable qualities of
objects). If, on a math test, we were to write that the number 5 is
angry, we wouldn’t receive much credit. But Werner said that even
among us, Western adults, physiognomic perception doesn’t just die
out. Indeed, it develops as we grow—albeit much more slowly than
geometric-technical perception. To further illustrate that we can, when
playful, engage in physiognomic perception, I give more examples.
--I break a piece of chalk in two and ask for the physiognomic
response (“ouch”).
--The gestalt psychologist W. Kohler (in Gestalt Psychology,
Liverpool Press, 1947, pp. 133-134) provided another illustration of
physiognomic perception by showing the drawings below and asking,
“Which is Takete and which is Maluma?” Most people see the figure
on the left as Maluma, and begin to realize that physiognomic
perception is inter-sensory. That is, expressive qualities such as rolling
gentleness and sharpness cross the senses (in this case, the qualities
appear in both sight and sound).

Lecture Notes for Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications, 6th Edition

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