Unit 1: Self-Development

MODULE 1: Knowing and Understanding Oneself during Middle and Late

Adolescence
SELF-CONCEPT
Imagine yourself looking into a mirror.
What do you see?
Do you see your ideal self or your actual self?
Ideal self
 is the self that you aspire to be. It is the one that you hope will possess characteristics similar to that of
a mentor or some other worldly figure.
 ideal self, on the other hand, is how we want to be. It is an idealized image that we have developed
over time, based on what we have learned and experienced. The ideal self could include components
of what our parents have taught us, what we admire in others, what our society promotes, and what
we think is in our best interest.
Actual self
 is the one that you actually see. It is the self that has characteristics that you were nurtured or, in
some cases, born to have.
 The actual self and the ideal self are two broad categories of self-concept.
 Self-concept refers to your awareness of yourself. It is the construct that negotiates these two selves.
In other words, it connotes first the identification of the ideal self as separate from others, and second,
it encompasses all the behaviors evaluated in the actual self that you engage in to reach the ideal self.
 actual self is built on self-knowledge
Self-knowledge is derived from social interactions that provide insight into how others react to you.
The actual self is who we actually are. It is how we think, how we feel, look, and act. The actual self can be
seen by others, but because we have no way of truly knowing how others view us, the actual self is our self-
image.
Negotiation that exists between the two selves which is complex because there are numerous exchanges
between the ideal and actual self.
 These exchanges are exemplified in social roles that are adjusted and re-adjusted, and are derived
from outcomes of social interactions from infant to adult development.
 Alignment is important. If the way that I am (the actual self) is aligned with the way that I want to be
(the ideal self), then I will feel a sense of mental well-being or peace of mind. If the way that I am is
not aligned with how I want to be, the incongruence, or lack of alignment, will result in mental distress
or anxiety. The greater the level of incongruence between the ideal self and real self, the greater the
level of resulting distress.
PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
 Personal effectiveness means making use of all the personal resources – talents, skills, energy and
time, to enable you to achieve life goals. Your knowledge of yourself and how you manage yourself
impacts directly on your personal effectiveness.
 Being self-aware, making the most of your strengths, learning new skills and techniques and
behavioral flexibility are all keys to improving your personal performance.
 Our personal effectiveness depends on our innate characteristics – talent and experience accumulated
in the process of personal development.
 Talents first are needed to be identified and then developed to be used in a particular subject area
(science, literature, sports, politics, etc.).
 Experience includes knowledge and skills that we acquire in the process of cognitive and practical
activities.

Knowledge is required for setting goals, defining an action plan to achieve them and risk assessment.
Skills also determine whether real actions are performed in accordance with the plan. If the same ability is
used many times in the same situation, then it becomes a habit that runs automatically, subconsciously

Here are some skills that will greatly increase the efficiency of any person who owns them:
1. Determination. It allows you to focus only on achieving a specific goal without being distracted by less
important things or spontaneous desires. It may be developed with the help of self-discipline exercise.
2. Self-confidence. It appears in the process of personal development, as a result of getting aware of yourself,
your actions and their consequences. Self confidence is manifested in speech, appearance, dressing, gait, and
physical condition. To develop it, you need to learn yourself and your capabilities, gain positive attitude and
believe that by performing right actions and achieving right goals you will certainly reach success.
3. Persistence. It makes you keep moving forward regardless of emerging obstacles – problems, laziness, bad
emotional state, etc. It reduces the costs of overcoming obstacles. It can also be developed with the help of
self discipline exercise.
4. Managing stress. It helps combat stress that arises in daily life from the environment and other people.
Stress arises from the uncertainty in an unknown situation when a lack of information creates the risk of
negative consequences of your actions. It increases efficiency in the actively changing environment.
Problem-solving skills. They help cope with the problems encountered with a lack of experience. It increases
efficiency by adopting new ways of achieving goals when obtaining a new experience.
6. Creativity. It allows you to find extraordinary ways to carry out a specific action that no one has tried to
use. It can lead to a decrease or an increase of costs, but usually the speed of action is greatly increased when
using creative tools.
7. Generating ideas. It helps you achieve goals using new, original, unconventional ideas. Idea is a mental
image of an object formed by the human mind, which can be changed before being implemented in the real
world. For generating ideas you can use a method of mental maps, which allows you to materialize, visualize
and scrutinize all your ideas, which in turn contributes to the emergence of new ideas.
 Developing the Whole Person
The different aspects of yourself as follows:
1. Physical Self. Describe yourself. Try not to censor any thoughts which come to your mind. Include
descriptions of your height, weight, facial appearance, and quality of skin, hair and descriptions of
body areas such as your neck, chest, waist, legs.
2. Intellectual Self. Include here an assessment of how well you reason and solve problems, your capacity
to learn and create, your general amount of knowledge, your specific areas of knowledge, wisdom you
have acquired, and insights you have.
3. Emotional Self. Write as many words or phrase about typical feelings you have, feelings you seldom
have, feelings you try to avoid, feelings you especially enjoy, feelings from your past and present, and
feelings which are associated with each other.
4. . Sensual Self. Write how you feel as a sensual person. What sense do you use most – sight, hearing,
speaking, smelling, touching? How do you feel about the different ways you take in information -
through the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, pores, and skin. In what ways do you let information in and out
of your body?
5. Interactional Self. Include descriptions of your strengths and weaknesses in intimate relationships and
relationships to friends, family, co-students and strangers in social settings. Describe the strengths and
weaknesses which your friends and family have noticed. Describe what kind of son or daughter,
brother or sister you are.
6. Nutritional Self. How do you nourish yourself? What foods do you like and dislike? What do you like
and dislike about these?
7. Contextual Self. Descriptors could be in the areas of maintenance of your living environment: reaction
to light, temperature, space, weather, colors, sound and seasons and your impact on the environment.
8. Spiritual Self or Life Force. Write words or phrases which tell about how you feel in this area. This
could include your feelings about yourself and organized religion, reactions about your spiritual
connections to others, feelings about your spiritual development and history, and thought about your
metaphysical self. Think about your inner peace and joy. Think about your spiritual regimen or routine.

Developmental Stages in Middle and Late Adolescence

Developmental Stage
1. Pre-natal Characteristics (Conception to birth) Age when hereditary endowments and sex are fixed and
all body features, both external and internal are developed.
2. Infancy (Birth to 2 years) Foundation age when basic behavior are organized and many ontogenetic
maturation skills are developed.
3. Early Childhood (2 to 6 years) Pre-gang age, exploratory, and questioning. Language and Elementary
reasoning are acquired and initial socialization is experienced.
4. Late Childhood (6 to 12 years) Gang and creativity age when self-help skills, social skills, school skills,
and play are developed.
5. . Adolescence (puberty to 18 years) Transition age from childhood to adulthood when sex maturation
and rapid physical development occur resulting to changes in ways of feeling, thinking and acting.
 6. Early Adulthood (18 to 40 years) Age of adjustment to new patterns of life and roles such as spouse,
parent and bread winner.
7. Middle Age (40 years to retirement) Transition age when adjustments to initial physical and mental
decline are experienced.
8. Old Age (Retirement to death) Retirement age when increasingly rapid physical and mental decline are
experienced.
HAVIGHURST`S DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS DURING THE LIFE SPAN Robert J. Havighurst elaborated on the
Developmental Tasks Theory in the most systematic and extensive manner. His main assertion is that
development is continuous throughout the entire lifespan, occurring in stages, where the individual
moves from one stage to the next by means of successful resolution of problems or performance of
developmental tasks. These tasks are those that are typically encountered by most people in the culture
where the individual belongs. If the person successfully accomplishes and masters the developmental
task, he feels pride and satisfaction, and consequently earns his community or society’s approval. This
success provides a sound foundation which allows the individual to accomplish tasks to be encountered at
later stages. Conversely, if the individual is not successful at accomplishing a task, he is unhappy and is not
accorded the desired approval by society, resulting in the subsequent experience of difficulty when faced
with succeeding developmental tasks. This theory presents the individual as an active learner who
continually interacts with a similarly active social environment. Havighurst proposed a bio psychosocial
model of development, wherein the developmental tasks at each stage are influenced by the individual’s
biology (physiological maturation and genetic makeup), his psychology (personal values and goals) and
sociology (specific culture to which the individual belongs).

THE DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS SUMMARY TABLE

Infancy and Early Childhood (0-5)
 Learning to walk
 Learning to take solid foods
 Learning to talk
 Learning to control the elimination of body wastes
 Learning sex differences and sexual modesty
 Acquiring concepts and language to describe social and physical reality
 Readiness for reading · Learning to distinguish right from wrong and developing a conscience
Middle Childhood (6-12)
 Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games
 Building a wholesome attitude toward oneself
 Learning to get along with age-mates · Learning an appropriate sex role
 Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and calculating
 Developing concepts necessary for everyday living
 Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values
Adolescence (13-18)
  Achieving mature relations with both sexes
 Achieving a masculine or feminine social role · Accepting one’s physique
 Achieving emotional independence of adults
 Preparing for marriage and family life
 Preparing for an economic career
 Acquiring values and an ethical system to guide behavior
 Desiring and achieving socially responsibility behavior
Early Adulthood (19-30)
 Selecting a mate
 Learning to live with a partner
 Starting a family
 Rearing children
 Managing a home
 Starting an occupation
 Assuming civic responsibility
Middle Adulthood (30-60)
 Helping teenage children to become happy and responsible adults
 Achieving adult social and civic responsibility
 Satisfactory career achievement
 Developing adult leisure time activities
 Relating to one’s spouse as a person
 Accepting the physiological changes of middle age
 Adjusting to aging parent
Later Maturity (61-)
 Adjusting to decreasing strength and health
 Adjusting to retirement and reduced income
 Adjusting to death of spouse
 Establishing relations with one’s own age group
 Meeting social and civic obligations
 Establishing satisfactory living quarters
LIVING MINDFULLY
Living mindfully is like being an artist: you need the right tools to practice your craft, and you need to
constantly refine your technique to achieve your creative potential. In the same way, using the present
moment tools below will help you to hone a consistent mindfulness practice that will in time lead to a more
aware, compassionate and fulfilling way of life.
 Tool 1: Breathe Mindfully. Use your breath as an anchor to still your mind and bring your focus back
to the present moment.
 Tool 2: Listen Deeply. Listen with intention; let others fully express themselves and focus on
understanding how they think and feel.
 Tool 3: Cultivate Insight. See life as it is, allowing each experience to be an opportunity for learning.
 Tool 4: Practice Compassion. Consider the thoughts and feelings of others and let tenderness,
kindness and empathy be your guides.
 Tool 5: Limit Reactivity. Observe rather than be controlled by your emotions. Pause, breathe, and
choose a skillful response based on thoughtful speech and non violence under every condition.
 Tool 6: Express Gratitude. Practice gratitude daily and expand it outward, appreciating everyone and
everything you encounter.
 Tool 7: Nurture Mutual Respect. Appreciate our common humanity and value different perspectives as
well as your own.
 Tool 8: Build Integrity. Cultivate constructive values and consistently act from respect, honesty and
kindness.
 Tool 9: Foster Leadership. Engage fully in life and in community. Share your unique talents and
generosity so that others can also be inspired.
 Tool 10: Be Peace. Cultivate your own inner peace, becoming an agent for compassionate action and
social good.

MODULE 4:
The Challenges of Middle and Late Adolescence
Physical Development
 Most girls have completed the physical changes related to puberty by age 15.
Boys are still maturing and gaining strength, muscle mass, and height and are
completing the development of sexual traits.
Emotional Development
• May stress over school and test scores.
• Is self-involved (may have high expectations and low self-concept). · Seeks privacy
and time alone.
 • Is concerned about physical and sexual attractiveness.
• May complain that parents prevent him or her from doing things independently.
• Starts to want both physical and emotional intimacy in relationships.
• The experience of intimate partnerships
Social Development
• shifts in relationship with parents from dependency and subordination to one that
reflects the adolescent’s increasing maturity and responsibilities in the family and
the community,
• Is more and more aware of social behaviors of friends.
• Seeks friends that share the same beliefs, values, and interests.
• Friends become more important.
• Starts to have more intellectual interests.
• Explores romantic and sexual behaviors with others.
• May be influenced by peers to try risky behaviors (alcohol, tobacco, sex).
Mental Development
• Becomes better able to set goals and think in terms of the future.
• Has a better understanding of complex problems and issues.
Starts to develop moral ideals and to select role models
The Courage to Be Imperfect by Timothy D. Evans, Ph.D.
Encouragement is the key ingredient for improving your relationships with others. It is
the single most important skill necessary for getting along with others – so important
that the lack of it could be considered the primary cause of conflict and misbehavior.
The Courage to Be Imperfect by Timothy D. Evans, Ph.D.
Encouragement is the key ingredient for improving your relationships with others. It is
the single most important skill necessary for getting along with others – so important
that the lack of it could be considered the primary cause of conflict and misbehavior.
Self-esteem is all about how much you feel you are worth — and how much
you feel other people value you. Self-esteem is important because feeling good
about yourself can affect your mental health and how you behave.
Holistic Development -It is the development of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and
all other aspects. And all these aspects must be given equal attention to be holistically
develop
Body image is how you view your physical self — including whether you feel
you are attractive and whether others like your looks
Mind mapping is a powerful thinking tool. It is a graphical technique that mirrors the way
the brain works, and was invented by Tony Buzan. Mind mapping helps to make thinking
visible
Common Eating Disorders
 1. Anorexia People with anorexia have a real fear of weight gain and a distorted
view of their body size and shape. As a result, they eat very little and can become
dangerously underweight. Many teens with anorexia restrict their food intake by
dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise. They hardly eat at all — and the small
amount of food they do eat becomes an obsession in terms of calorie counting or
trying to eat as little as possible
2. Bulimia
Bulimia is similar to anorexia. With bulimia, people might binge eat (eat to excess) and
then try to compensate in extreme ways, such as making themselves throw up or
exercising all the time, to prevent weight gain. Over time, these steps can be dangerous
— both physically and emotionally. They can also lead to compulsive behaviors (ones
that are hard to stop).
Although anorexia and bulimia are very similar, people with anorexia are usually very
thin and underweight, but those with bulimia may be an average weight or can be
overweight.

Commitment - A person obliged him/herself to dedicate his/her time to someone or in

doing something
Partnership - It is the feeling or state of liking or falling for someone or something that
provided pleasure on your part
Attractions - the act of being very familiar or a special kind of attachment with the
company of someone
Love - It is a sort of arrangement between two people sharing the same feelings and
responsibility
Intimacy - It is an abstract thing that is meant to be shown through different means and
is one of the key elements in any kind of relationship.
Reliability & Security - Each one of us dearly loves to have somebody whom we can
depend on and who will guarantee to protect us from any harm or trouble at any
circumstance
Trust - The heart of all relationships, and because of its presence, other things follow
like confidence, loyalty, and most of all honesty.
Autism is known as a “spectrum disorder” because it has a wide variation and severity of
symptoms.
Asperger syndrome -types of autism is sometimes called “high- functioning autism”
 Symptoms of ASD pertains to speech and language is Taking what is said too literally.
 panic attacks and anxiety sign is increased heart rate .