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

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1NOTES ON TEACHINGBefore we discuss difficult theoretical points in my classes, I oftentry to give students a general sense of the issues and concepts by meansof various exercises and activities. This section of the manual includessome of the exercises and activities I have used.Introduction, and Ch. 1: Preformationism, Locke, and RousseauThe Forces Underlying Developmental ChangeLocke and Rousseau anticipated the major positions incontemporary developmental theory, particularly with respect to theforces underlying developmental change. Prior to specific coursework,students, too, have developed some sense of these forces, and it can behelpful to discuss their knowledge. They gain confidence from thediscovery of how much they already know. To draw out thisknowledge, I ask three questions.1. A 2-year-old girl displays a strong need for order. If, forexample, 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 thatof the models around her. Many other students suggest her parentshave directly taught her to be neat and orderly, perhaps throughrewards and punishments. Occasionally, students suggest that the girlhas an inner, spontaneous need for order; she is beginning to see thatthe world is ordered and she wants the stability that order provides (seeMontessori’s view, p.73in the text). I put the students’ responses intocategories on the blackboard.2. A 12-month-old girl tries to walk. At first she falls, but gets upagain and keeps trying. Why does she do this?Again, students usually suggest imitation and direct teaching. Nowmore students speculate on an inner force, something akin to biologicalmaturation. They note that the girl’s body and nervous system arematuring and she feels an inner urge to exercise her emergingcapacities.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 usuallywant to debate the explanations, and I ask about the evidence that mightsupport or disconfirm a particular hypothesis. But the point I stress isthat they already know something about the explanations fordevelopmental change—the environmental causes outlined by Lockeand the inner cause, nature’s plan, advanced by Rousseau. I say wewill discuss more precise ways of conceptualizing the various forces asthe course proceeds.Classroom Exercises with respect to Rousseau’s Theory

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2Rousseau prized independence. He wanted children to learn on theirown and make their own discoveries. I have used the followingexercise to help students see what Rousseau was concerned about.Two volunteers wait outside the classroom while I set up an obstaclecourse. The goal will be to reach an eraser by circumventing chairs inthe path to it. I then ask one volunteer to come into the room, give hera brief look at the situation, blindfold her, and help her find the eraserwith detailed, authoritarian directions. I tell her, “take one step forward,now take two steps to the left,” and so on. Then, she waits outside theroom while the other volunteer tries the task. I prepare her in the sameway, but let her find the eraser completely on her own. Finally, theclass and I interview both volunteers, exploring their general reactions,and the class discusses its own thoughts and experiences with respect toindependent mastery.Rousseau said he would rather the child know nothing than havelearned to rely on the ideas of others. Because of such radicalstatements, people often think Rousseau wanted us to simply ignore thechild—to abandon the child to her own devices. Actually, Rousseausuggested ways in which adults can stimulate learning while allowingthe child to figure out problems on her own. For example, an adultmight ask a child which ladder is tall enough to just reach the top of atree, and then let the child make the choice and determine for herself ifshe was correct (p. 18in the textbook). In the text, I also indicate howMontessori (p. 76-77) and Kamii (pp.145-147) have employed thesame 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 aparent teaches a 6-year-old to bat a ball. (The props are a waffle ballbat and a wadded piece of paper that serves as a ball.)In one scene, aparent 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, theparent patiently enjoys playing with the child, simply tossing the ballover and over, giving the child the chance to perfect her swing on herown. Then the class discusses the methods.Alternatively, I sometimes ask students to imagine learning to walkwith a good deal of adult guidance. Then I ask how this is differentfrom the situation in which the adult simply stands by, for the sake ofsafety, and allows the child to master the art of walking on her own. Ihave called this attitudeour unobtrusive presenceand described itsuses in my book,Reclaiming Childhood(Holt, 2003).Ch. 3. EthologyI make surestudents know about thefilm,Fly Away Home(1996,Sony Pictures); it’s a family movieabout goslings who have imprintedon a girl. Many students are moved by the film.You Tube has videos on Ainsworth’s strange situation. Try “StrangeSituation,”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GI_1PBQpMThevideo is uploaded by SocioPsychMorgannwg.You might want to

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3engage the class ina discussion of the ethics of this procedure,whichupsets the child.Ch. 4. MontessoriI have found that the following exercise helps undergraduatesunderstand part of the rationale behind Montessori’s method.I first ask the students, “In general, how much do you likestudying?” An open discussion usually reveals that most students don’tlike it much at all. I find it helpful to ask the students to compare theenjoyment they get from studying to that they derive from a hobby orother activities.I next ask, “Why are you going to college?” Most students say thatthey want to earn a degree and get a good job or get into graduateschool. Some acknowledge the need to meet their parents’ expectationsor achieve a certain status in society. Only a few students say theyattend college solely to learn, for its own sake. (I write their variousreasons for attending college on the blackboard).I then briefly discuss the concepts of extrinsic and intrinsic motivesfor learning. Earning good grades, getting a good job, pleasing parents,and achieving social success are extrinsic motives. And when extrinsicmotivation is too strong—when one’s entire future depends on collegesuccess—learning becomes a frightening experience. Students hate it.I suggest that only when learning is intrinsically motivated (as in thecase of a hobby) is it deeply pleasurable.The classroom discussion helps students get an experiential sense ofwhy Montessori wanted to create schools in which the motivation tolearn is entirely intrinsic. She believed that at certain points ofdevelopment, children have an inner need to work on certain kinds oftasks, and when the environment provides such tasks, children work onthem with incredible effort and concentration. This, she thought, islearning at its best. In such instances, the typical extrinsic incentives ofschools—gold stars, grades, approval, and criticism—becomesuperfluous. Worse, they distract children from their deepconcentration (as well as making them dependent on the approval ofothers).During our discussion, I refer to John Holt’sHow Children Fail(Dell, 1964; rev. ed., Delacorte/Lawrence, 1982). Holt poignantlydescribed 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 winour praise and to avoid our criticism. As a result, children begin toworry they might not earn our approval and become afraid of lookingstupid in the eyes of others. Most children are so worried about makingmistakes, failing, and looking dumb in school that they cannot thinkfully or deeply. They simply want to get the “right answers” as quicklyas possible. Given a choice, they would avoid school like the plague.(See especially pp. 59-127 and271-276 in Holt’s revised edition).

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4Ch. 5. WernerWerner’s theory is difficult, but it addresses important theoreticalmatters such as the definition of development and the question ofdiscontinuity. These require discussion. Still, I ease students intoWerner’s theory with a discussion ofphysiognomic perception.--I place a cup on its side and ask what a physiognomic responsemight be (the cup is tired).--I draw the number 5 on the blackboard and ask whether thenumber is happy or angry.--I draw the lines in Figure 5.4 in the textbook on the blackboardand ask which line is happy and which is sad.Such questions usually strike us as silly; in Western, technologicalcultures we are taught to see the world less in physiognomic terms (asexpressive, emotional, and dynamic) and more ingeometric-technicalterms (which emphasizes the objective, measurable qualities ofobjects). If, on a math test, we were to write that the number 5 isangry, we wouldn’t receive much credit. But Werner said that evenamong us, Western adults, physiognomic perception doesn’t just dieout. Indeed, it develops as we grow—albeit much more slowly thangeometric-technical perception. To further illustrate that we can, whenplayful, engage in physiognomic perception, I give more examples.--I break a piece of chalk in two and ask for the physiognomicresponse (“ouch”).--The gestalt psychologist W. Kohler (inGestalt Psychology,Liverpool Press, 1947, pp. 133-134) provided another illustration ofphysiognomic perception by showing the drawings below and asking,“Which is Takete and which is Maluma?” Most people see the figureon the left as Maluma, and begin to realize that physiognomicperception is inter-sensory. That is, expressive qualities such as rollinggentleness and sharpness cross the senses (in this case, the qualitiesappear in both sight and sound).

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