Session No.

1: Human
Development and the New Normal
Reality

“ All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely
players;
They have their exits and entrances,
And one person in one’s time plays many
parts…” ( Adapted from William Shakespeare
 Introduction:

Let us take a moment and think about our life

especially at this time of the new normal reality. Did
you ever think about how you changed from being a
young child to the present person you are? Or what
you might experience over the next few years or
decades? In this session we will be asking some of
most basic questions about life .How our life began?
How we have developed into the person we are
now? What has shape our development? These are
some examples we ask in this session on human
development. We are interested to know how you
and others change and how they remain the same
over time amidst this covid19 pandemic now.
Learning Objectives:

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

Describe human development in your own words.

Distinguish between the traditional and life-span
approach of development in this new normal
reality
Write a reflection paper of your approach in your
own human development in
this new normal reality.
 Materials
1. A colored piece of paper to write/draw
one’s fondest memories from
childhood/events or people who have
influenced you.

2. Another colored paper to write/draw an

experience you might think you will meet
in your life in this new normal reality?
 Activity:/ Procedure:

Recall and make a note of your fondest memories

from childhood or the events or people who have
most influenced you. Also make a note about
you think you might experience the rest of your
life starting now in this new normal reality due to
the covid 19 pandemic?
 Processing:
After recalling and writing notes about the
questions asked, the students are invited
to share with her/his seat mate.
After sharing , the following questions are
answered:
 When you share your story about your fondest
memories of who you were once and
prediction of your experience the rest of your
life, you were referring to human
development. What then is development?.
What is new normal reality? How is it affecting
development?

Will there be anything common in the pattern of

development listening to the story of your
seatmate? If yes, what? Are there differences in
each other’s development?
 Will the process of development take
place very fast or gradually? Explain your
answer

Do you believe that each one will continue

to develop even in adulthood?
Or will you stop developing in adulthood?
Synthesis:
After summarizing the answers of the
students the following points are added:

Development seeks to understand how fully

the people of all ages, of genders
male/female and circumstances change or
remain the same overtime. It specifies
maturation of functions and indicates the
acquisition of a variety of skills for optimal
functioning of the individual. It
encompasses the physical, cognitive and
psychological social changes that occur
throughout life time.
 Like in this circumstance of the new normal reality brought
by the covid 19pandemic. our mode of teaching learning
has changed from face to face to on-line mode; we follow
strictly social distancing, stay safe at home, washing our
hands, we are confronted with scarcity of economic
resources and going to church for worship and many more
other social gatherings are controlled and very limited. We
experience no or very limited travelling, lockdowns,
quarantine and many more outdoor activities. How are we
affected in our development? Yes you have narrated them
in your shared experiences (may point out some
examples).

 Understanding of development as growth and change that

occur during life is understanding it according to a life-span
perspective
 KEY IDEAS

If we believe that extensive change happen from

birth to adolescence, little or no change in
adulthood and decline in late old age, the
approach to development is traditional. In
contrast if we believe that even in adulthood
development change takes place as it does
during childhood, your approach is called life-
span.
Characteristics of human development from
a life-time perspective (Santrock Paul Baltes,
2002)

1.)Development is lifelong. It does end in adulthood.

It will continue developing even in adulthood.
2.)Development is plastic. Plasticity refers to the
potential for change. Development is possible
throughout the life-span. No one is too old to learn.
There is no such thing as “I am too old for
that…”Aging is associated with declines in certain
intellectual abilities. These declines can be prevented
or reduced.
3.)Development is multidimensional. It consists of
biological, cognitive and socio-emotional
dimensions. As a process it is complex because it
is the product of biological, cognitive and socio-
emotional processes. (Santrock,2002). Biological
processes involve changes in the individuals
physical nature like the brain develop, weight
and height are gained, hormonal changes
happen at puberty and cardiovascular decline as
late adulthood comes. All these show the
common biological processes in development.
Development is relatively orderly like
learning to sit, crawl, walk, run. These
development pattern is common, it is called
proximodistal pattern.

From infancy the growth occurs at the top-

the head with physical growth in size,
weight going way down to neck, shoulder,
middle trunk and so on. This is the cephalo
caudal pattern.
Development takes place gradually like it
takes years before we become what we are
now. Just like the way of nature. The bud
does not blossom suddenly or the seed
germinate overnight. Cognitive processes,
socio-emotional processes undergo lot of
changes. Maybe from an aggressive children
where may develop into a fine lady and
gentleman or otherwise depending on the
many various factors.

Cognitive,biological and socio-emotional

processes are inextricably intertwined.
 Development is contextual. Individuals are
changing beings in a changing world. Individual’s
response to and act on contexts. These contexts
include the individual’s biological make up, physical
environment, cognitive processes, and historical,
social and cultural context. These contexts vary
and make development different from each other.
Just like now in our new normal reality due to covid
19 pandemic. (spend some time to share how they
feel, what are their fears and outlook of the
future.) How is your development affected?
Development involves growth, maintenance
and regulation. Growth, maintenance and
regulation are three goals of human
development. Goals vary among
developmental stages like for example
when individuals reach middle and late
adulthood concern with growth gets into
the back stage while maintenance and
regulation take the center stage.
Enrichment:
Principles of Human Development (NAEC,2009)

 Allthe domains of development and learning-

physical, social and emotional, spiritual and
cognitive are important and they are closely
interrelated.

 Growth is an evidence of life or development is

an evidence of life.
 Development and learning result from a dynamic
and continuous interaction of biological
maturation and experience.

 Development process is toward greater

complexity, self-regulation and symbolic or
representational capacities.
 Development and learning occur in and are
influenced by multiple social and cultural
contexts

 Always mentally active in seeking to understand

the world around persons learn in variety of
ways; wide range of teaching strategies and
interactions are effective in supporting all these
kinds of learning.
 Genuine Positivity
 Like during this new normal reality positive outlook needs
 Groundedness
 Cares
 Recognizes, accepts, validate negative emotions
 Being grateful of what we have instead of feeling bad of what we
do not have
 Acknowledgement what is being felt
 Look for the good
 Think positive thoughts
 You’re so negative-it will make worst– be happy
 Normal to feel negative now- we are in new normal
 Characteristics of positivity
Resilience
Hope
Optimism
Positivity Ratio
- positive emotions more than negative- special growth

Ways to Positive Emotion

-more gratitude and focus on strength, etc.
-less negative attitude
complaints vs. gratitude

-Outside of my Control- openness, acceptance

I can control- Excuse
Write Down
Learning Optimism
- I am mentally well
- I am beautiful/ Confident
- I feel at ease with others
- Human & Laughter
- Taking care of your Physical Health
- Relationships
- Find meaning
- Positive attitude causes a chain of reaction of positive thought,
events and outcome. It is a catalyst and it gives extraordinary
results.
Follow up Activity
Write a page of reflection on how you approach your own
development in this new normal reality today.

For more readings about keeping safe from corona-virus

Please see attached copy

 References:
.Robert V. Kail/JohnC.Cavanaugh- Essentials of Human
Development A Life-Span View
.Brenda B. Corpuz, phd- Module 1- Human Development:
Meaning, Concepts and Approaches
 Co-existing with corona virus and live with it!
 Japan has decided to coexist with the new coronavirus! Announced the "new life
model" calling the people to be prepared to follow this model for an extended period
of time and learn to live and work with the virus lurking around the corner.
 Looking closely at these new life models, it can be seen that the Japanese government
established these very practical set of SOPs using principles of rationality, science, and
risk assessment.
 Maybe it is related to the Japanese understanding that "bad" things can't be forsaken
for all times. Using risk assessment models in principle, humans can continue to live
well. Read them one by one. There are three basic points:
 1. Keep a distance between people.
 2. Wear a mask.
 3.Wash hands frequently
 Specific requirements
 1. People keep a distance of 2 meters.
 2. Play as much as possible outdoors
 3. Try to avoid being face to face direct facing when speaking to other people
 4. Go home and wash your face and clothes immediately
 5. Wash as soon as you touch someone's hand
 6. Try online shopping and electronic settlement
 7. Supermarket shopping is best for 1 person, to choose time there are less people
 8. Try not to touch commodity samples
 9. Don't talk on public transportation
 10. Go to work by bike or on foot
 11. It is best to use electronic business cards
 12. Try to use video conference when meeting
 13. To control the number of people in meetings, wear masks and open windows for ventilation.
 14. Work at home or commute at off peak time
 15. Do not go to countries or places where the virus is endemic
 16. Try not to return home to visit relatives and travel, and control business trips.
 17. When you have symptoms, remember where you went and who you met.
 18. Eat meals with others not face to face, preferably side by side
 19. Do not use large bowls and large pots to share food, implement a divided individual portion
system
 20. Chat less at meal, eat more vegetables
 21. Try not to have too many people gathering at meal together as possible
 22. Avoid "closed spaces, dense crowd flow, intimate contact"
 23. Self-test body temperature every morning to strengthen health management
 24. Cover the lid when flushing the toilet
 25. Don't stay too long in a narrow space
 26. When walking and running, the number of people should be small, when meet each other
stagger the distance.
 Shigeru Oo, chairman of the Japanese government committee, said that it takes at least one
and a half years for the vaccine to be fully developed and officially put into use.
 Since the enemy cannot be completely eliminated, it is necessary to learn to coexist with the
virus.
 Only by following the new rules of life can we live in peace with the corona virus for a long time.
 In fact, most of the above methods have been implemented in China.
 Everyone understands that it is a long-term war, but each item is not listed in detail.
 The Japanese are genetically a very disciplined nation and they do things and follow instructions
scrupulously.
 It is worth learning