GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Growth and development are the result of the interaction of the influences of heredity,
environment, maturation and learning. They proceed together and are intimately related, they are
used interchangeably by most psychologists. However, for clarity, there is a need to distinguish
between them to enhance our understanding of the process of development.

Growth

Growth is the incremental change of an organism in size. It involves the increase of bodily
tissues, organs and structures. The increase is quantified and can be measured in centimeters for
height and grammes for weight.

Growth can also be seen as a physical increase in size across many body dimensions
simultaneously, increase can be observed among dimensions such as height, physique, weight
etc. Internal body organs such as bones and glands also increase in size. In general, growth is a
quantitative phenomenon.

Growth also refers to the physical changes in the body which includes:

 Increase in the size of the various parts of the body

 Changes in size and functional capacity of internal organs of human beings
 Increase in height and weight
 The stabilization of skeleton
 The structural and physical changes within the body of the individual right from the
moment of conception to the adult period.

Development: This can be described as a progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly
predictable pattern as a result of maturation and experience. It includes acquisition of various
skills (abilities) such as head support, speaking, learning, expressing feelings and relating with
other people.

Development can be explained as qualitative increase in an individual’s potentialities

cognitively, physically, socially, emotionally, and morally in functional terms. In order words, it
is an increase in a child’s trait in functional terms.

Maturation

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Maturation is the gradual unfolding of biological potentialities every individual is born with. It is
a process through which inherited potentials manifest different aspects of behaviours. From the
definitions, it can be observed that maturation is a biological phenomenon which is dependent on
chronological age and the inherited potentials must manifest so and to be observed.

Differences between Growth and Development

Growth Development

Growth refers to physiological changes Development refers to overall changes in the

individual

Growth is quantitative in nature Growth is both quantitative and qualitative

Growth does not continue throughout life, it Development continues throughout life
stops after maturation

Growth occurs due to the multiplication of cell Development occurs due to both maturation
and interaction with the environment

Growth may or may not bring development Development is possible without growth

Factors that Affect Growth and Development

Hereditary Factors: Heredity exerts an influence on human development. The child carries
genetic endowment from his/her parents. It is genetically transmitted characteristics from one
generation to the next. The physical characteristics like height, weight, eye colour and
psychological characteristics such as intelligence, language, personality, creativity and so on are
determined by heredity.

Environmental Factors: Another important factor of human development is the environment

where the individual lives. The child lives and grows in his environment, enrichment or
impoverishment of the environment would produce differences in his abilities. For example, a
child may have inherited music talent from his parents through transmission of genes but he may

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not excel in the music field if he does not get proper environment and support to develop his
innate ability. The home environment of the child can be supportive or stressful, if it as a warm
and harmonious environment, the child develops normally, if it is unsupportive and stressful with
broken families and uncaring parents, children may develop as maladjusted individuals.

Socio-Economic Status of the Family: The economic status of the family in the home
environment where a child grows up can drastically influence his personality and behaviour. For
example, if a family lives in abject poverty, it can prevent a child from being able to access good
formal education. Children from poor economic strata of the society most often live in over-
populated and over-crowded environment where crimes and other juvenile delinquent activities
are usually common. In the same vein, the children of the very rich and affluent whose parents
fails to give them proper discipline, more often than not, miss out of the excitement of
achievement through self- effort. Some children also suffer neglect because their parents are too
busy with the pursuits of their businesses, they over pamper their children with good things
money can buy and such children often take up abnormal behaviours. However, when a child
from a rich home is given good education and necessary attention is paid to him, he is likely to
attain high academic excellence with good behaviours.

Physical Factors: The health condition of the mother during pregnancy, the safety of the child at
birth, the feeding habit and the environment of living constitute the physical factors that affect
the development of a child. If the environment is conducive in terms of neatness, being spacious,
well aerated as well as availability of necessary amenities and avoidance of humid or mosquito
invested area, the health of the child is protected

Socio-Cultural Factors: The home environment, the school, the peer group and the community
of the child also determines the development of the child. The home provides the child with the
environment for social relationships and his or her daily experiences with the parents and other
care givers affect his/her personality. Children are more comfortable in homes where they
receive love, joy, attention, help, build confidence in themselves and participate in enjoyable
activities with their family members. The type of school the child attend, the curriculum of the
school and the influence of his or her classmates and teachers on him or her can have significant
effect on his or growth and development.

Basic Principles of Growth and Development

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Although all individuals grow and develop in their own unique way and in their own contexts,
yet there are some basic biological principles are discussed below:

1. Principle of Directional Pattern

In human beings, development follows a specific or definite pattern. There are two principles
that define the predictable pattern of human development. These are the Cephalocaudal and the
Proximodistal Principles.

Cephalocaudal Principle:

This principle affirms that development begins in the head region and progresses downwards, in
a head-to-foot direction. Hence, the head and its movement develop and function earlier that the
shoulders, the arms and hands, followed by the lower trunk and legs, feet and toes. This means
that development in physical body structure and it functions begin in the head region, then in the
trunk region and last in the leg region. For example, infants see first before they can control their
torso, and they can use their hands long before they can crawl or walk. Also, the eyes see before
the mouth is able to pronounce. The educational implication of this principle is that when
teaching the teacher should introduce first the activities requiring the abilities to see like the use
of picture and other concrete object before emphasizing the ability to pronounce correctly. The
teacher can later proceed to other activities like writing which requires the use of hand.

b. The Proximodistal Principle

This principle states that the physical and motor development starts from the center of the
organism (that is, central axis) or the innermost part of the body, and progresses towards the
extremities, that is, the upper arms and to the fingers. For example, infants are able to control
shoulder movements before they learn to use the arms, hands and fingers. Also, they can
conveniently swing their hands, hold and throw objects before they are able to write. We can
infer from thus principle that teachers should engage preschoolers in learning activities that
involve the use of the hands and arms: such as arranging and grouping learning objects before
compelling them to write. In teaching subjects like mathematics the ability to count numbers
with concrete objects should precede the ability to write.

2. Principle of Differentiation

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The principle of differentiation is a developmental trend characterized by a progression from
general to the specific. In all forms of development, the responses of a child are the first of a
general type before they become specific. For example, the new born baby first moves the whole
body at a time before learning to move the specific part of the body. In speech, the child babbles
first before saying words. Also, infants will likely use the whole hand as a unit before they can
control the fingers. They will also learn to catch a ball with the two hands, holding it to the chest,
whereas, a preschooler can catch it with the two hands.

Generally, children do simpler things first and the more complex ones later. The educational
implication of this principle emphasizes the need for learning to proceed from simple to
complex.

3. Principle of Successive Stage

This principle affirms that development follows a sequence and the stages are hierarchical in
nature. For example, motor development activities (sitting, crawling, standing, walking) in all
children seem to follow a definite sequence. Some children may skip a particular stage but the
order remains the same. The mastery of the functions of an earlier stage is a pre-requite to the
understanding of the later stage. The strength or maturity acquired in the earlier stage helps the
child to fulfill the tasks of the next stage. For example if the feet of a child are not child are not
strong for him to stand, forcing him to walk might be difficult. As such, adequate development at
the early stage tends to prepare the child for the next stage.

4. Development is a Gradual Process

Growth starts from conception and takes place gradually till maturity. Changes that are brought
about by development do not appear overnight, abilities take time to develop. Teachers and
parents should allow every child to acquire learning at his or her own pace. A pupil who properly
because of his inability to manipulate a pencil or one who cannot pronounce words for lack of
recognition of letters will definitely develop the abilities later. But the changes are likely to take
tie as the child has to acquire it through constant practice. Rather than being anxious about the
speed of acquiring learning, parents and teachers should endeavor to satisfy the pupil’s
biological, emotional and social needs because lack of proper nutrition as well as learning in an

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unfriendly environment can result in physiological and psychological damage which can retard
or hinder development in later years.

5. Principle of Individual Differences

Although human development follows a definite pattern, yet the pace at which it takes place may
vary from one person to another. Differences in development can be seen in many areas such as
the acquisition of teeth, the age at which the child speaks or reaches puberty. For example, in a
class of students within the same age range, some students may have big stature, better
coordinated or more mature in their thinking and social relationships which are evidences of
early maturation. Others might manifest these functions much lately. In order to establish this
fact, a range has been introduces in stating each period of development. For instance, puberty
characteristics begin at age 10 to 12 and adolescence ends at age 18 to 22. Children who fall
within this limit are treated as normal. While teaching, teachers should take note of the
differences in the characteristics and abilities of individual child. Every child is unique and his
specific learning needs should be recognized and met and care should be taken in judging him by
the performance of his mates.

6. Principles of Integration

Integration is the developmental process in which separate abilities, experiences, values and
personality characteristics are gradually brought together into an organized whole. This principle
states that as development continues, the child learns to integrate together the specific responses
that he has learnt to form a whole response. For example, a child initially learns to speak single
discrete words but later he can put the specific words together in order to form sentences and will
gradually learn to put the sentences together to become a language that is spoken fluently.

Teacher should always indicate relationships between different topics or subjects. At the
introduction of a lesson, the previous lesson can be reviewed to renew pupils’ knowledge and
stimulate his ability to link the previous lesson with the present one. The application of
knowledge becomes easy when the different aspects of learning are connected together.
Teaching should be organized and presented in an orderly manner so that learners can understand
each subject or topic and group the related ones together and thereby perceive learning as a
whole.