Living and Learning Develop Children (Combined).pdf

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extracted text: Living and Learning Develop Children By Miguela Solis UNIFYING DEVELOPMENT Right Living in a Democracy: kaEMOCRACY is life — a way of living that is moral, useful, happy, socio-economically contributive, and spiritual. It is living that is both individually and socially more effective, more satisfying and more re sponsible. It gives tremendous reverence for life and respect for the dignity and worth of all human beings. It operates in a framework of unity through the fully shared reflective and cooperative action to achieve common goals to better living in a community that develops in an expanding and concentric movement from the smallest community unit (barrio) to the world community. It aims to achieve and maintain the greatest good for the greatest number. This is RIGHT Living in a Democracy. This is the essence or undulying principle of human behavior and rela tionship in democracies. Chief Concerns of Educators in Child Development : With the above operational concept of democracy in view, it becomes the chief concern of educators to determine the basic considerations in the development of democratic behavior in the children, youth and adults under their charge. The big question that con fronts the educators and those involved in the desir able development of children and youth is: What are the basic considerations in helping children and youth develop democratic behavior? This question points to the governing principles and stimuli of behavior, the working knowledge of which is the basic founda tion in the preparation of teachers. To gain compe tence in helping children and youth attain all-round development in democratic behavior within their lim itations and cultural setup, the teachers should con sider the following: 1. Majoi\ principles underlying individual devel opment. 2. Motivations of behavior or causes of behavior. The three major underlying principles of human development that are commonly accepted 'by educa tors, theologists, psychologists, sociologists,^ physiolo gists, pediatrists, anthropologists, and all other scien tists picture the human organism as: 1. Unifying — develops as a whole. 2. Interacting — interacts continuously with its environment. 3. Individualizing—develops uniqueness or “self”. These three major principles governing individual dePAGE 6 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR velopment are interrelated, interdependent and com plementary. They are equally important. For this issue the first principle: The organism as a unifying whole will be discussed briefly and ex emplified. WHY of Unifying Development: In common parlance, unifying means being one or acting as a whole or as a unit. In term of the organ ism, it means that the organism acts as a whole; so it should be conceived as a whole. We notice that when one prays; when one writes; when one talks; when one sings; when one gets ready to swim; when one fits a dress; that one acts as a whole. All parts of the organism are participating in accordance with their respective roles in the execution of a particular behavior or a purposeful action. The glandular, the respiratory, the circulatory, and the visceral systems, and the automic and central nervous systems are in readiness to cooperate and contribute, each in its nat ural way, in the functional operation of the organism. Physiologists reveal that a change in one part of the organism is accompanied by a compensatory change in all of the others. Likewise, psychologists reveal that thinking, feeling and acting are interrelated, in separable parts of every conscious action or behavior. It. is universally accepted that any explanation of be havior today must be consistent with the principle of unifying action of the organism. This is the pic ture of the basis of the child's need for wholeness and integrity, in the all-round development of the organ ism in the various phases of growth — physical, men tal, emotional, creativeness, aesthetic and spiritual within her biological and psychogenic endowments and limitations which have to be correctly conceived and accepted by the child. These conception and accept ance of the child are fundamental in helping him achieve wholeness and integrity. In short, wholeness of the child is seeing him and helping him develop not in piecemeal but as a whole — spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. For instance, when we try to understand why a certain child does not pay attention in the class, we have to perceive simultaneously her physical, mental, emotion al, creative, aesthetic and spiritual endowment and limitations in the light of her cultural and environ mental setup. Child wholeness needs to be achieved. It is one of the major objectives of child development in which education plays a significant role. The development of wholeness, like education, is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It is reflected by the manifesta tion of a well-oriented wholesome personality which is achieved in a life-long process. It is never com pleted in a particular age level. It should be inte grating so that it can make adjustments to the dy namics of society; for change is the dynamic of so ciety. ‘ HOW of Developing Wholeness: In helping the child develop wholeness and integri ty, first he should accept his physical endowment and limitations. These include his physical strengths and disabilities and his appearance. Moving, perspiring, deficating, breathing, digesting, assimilating, feeling, and countless other body processes enable the organ ism to restore balance, to grow and to maintain its organization and integrity. If a child does not accept his attributes and limita tions, he not only creates adjustment problems but also blocks his achievement of unifying development. For example, Jose may insist to be a basketball play er because he has the desired height yet he limps because of a left leg; and Anita isolates herself be cause of her homely looks. On the other hand, a child who accepts his “self” facilitates the development of wholeness more readily. For instance, Anita’s home ly appearance may be compensated by good posture, good taste in dresses and friendliness. Jose’s leg dis ability may be overcome by his ability in music, fine arts, and/or craftwork and other areas of develop ment. The child has to conceive and accept that de ficiency in one or more aspects of life is compensable by excellencies in other aspects. This attitude is an asset to desirable development. Second, adequate opportunities should be provided for meeting needs and solving problems by socially approved patterns. The child is part and parcel of the community. As such, he has to learn the social ly approved patterns of behavior in order to attain appropriate adjustment to himself and with his fel lows. The socially approved patterns of behavior are the desirable cultural patterns that are vital parts of the basic universal needs of the child. For example, through appropriate and cooperatively evolved teach ing-learning experiences and situation, the desirable cultural patterns in: the quality and quantity of food, the preparation of the dishes, the way of dressing, the relationship between parents and child, the rela tionship to our Almighty God, etc., should be under stood and appreciated by the child so that he will ac cept them as satisfactory ways of life in meeting his needs accordingly. This is the process of attaining wholeness through the child’s cultural setup. When the child is adequate ly founded in the desirable cultural patterns, the “self” or “ego” as Freud calls it, emerges readily to mediate FEBRUARY, 1958 PAGE 7 between the innate drives and cultural pressures. When the mediation is successful, the child achieves unifying development—a feeling of increased whole ness of himself and with his environment. In short, he achieves personal and societal integration or ad justment; the personal gives him uniqueness and the societal gives him wholesome group relations. It has to be considered that cultwre, like any as pect of the universe, is subject to change. It is dy namic. The desirable new behavior patterns should be provided in the teaching-learning experiences de signed to meet the child’s needs satisfactorily. Children should not be made to follow blindly or to conform too strictly to cultural demands, but should be stimulated to reflect on them in order to effect intelligent adoption. Blind adherence to social demands, more often than not, blocks unifying de velopment on integrity of self. Either of the ex tremes, a child that is too sociable or one who is too in dependent makes the child lose his attractiveness to group acceptance. Wholeness demands for a balance of sociability and independence.. Third, wholeness in the education of the child should constitute all the aspects of growth — physi cal, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, aesthetic, cre ativeness, etc. Learning-teaching experiences and sit uations designed to achieve all these aspects of growth according to the child’s natural endowments and lim itations, needs, experiences and capacities should re sult into four major outcomes: (1) knowledges and ideas, (2) attitudes, appreciations, aspirations and ambitions, (3) skills and habits, (4) wholesome hu man relationships, such as courtesy, truthfulness, kindness, acceptance and execution of responsibility, cooperation, industry, and all other desirable behavior patterns. All learning experiences and situations in all units of work should purposely and meaningfully achieve all these major outcomes for all of them are equally important to the attainment and insurance of wholeness and integrity. For example, teaching thrift, demands for the basic knowledge and ideas on the why, what and how of living thrift which will serve as the basis of appreciation of thrift practices. The appreciation of thrift will stimulate the prac tice of thrift in school, at home and in the community. This work experience in thrift will be the working ground of skills and habits in thrift. Living thrift results from thrift habits and this becomes a sound ground for wholesome human relation. Helping the child achieve wholesome human rela tion becomes the^most fundamental responsibility of the school system, for the ultimate goal of education is the achievement of a unifying self or wholesome living. The community schools are, to my mind, best fitted of the social agencies to provide the integrating or unifying experiences that are essential for the de velopment of wholeness in children. An interested, alert, and prepared teacher in the development of child wholeness, accepts that child integrity and whole ness are reflected in his learning and behavior, in the way he perceives and meets living-learning situa tions, in his aspirations and hopes, and his associa tions with his peers and adults in making his “self”. Fourth, the child’s unifying development is the privilege and responsibility of all — the home, the school and the community. All agencies in active co operation with the home and the school pool their re sources in providing the desired environment condu cive to the growth of child wholeness. The child should be given every chance to grow up in socio economic security in the care of his parents when ever possible in an affectionate and understanding atmosphere in order to foster the full and harmonious development of his personality. Fifth, basic to the attainment of wholeness in chil dren is the whole teacher. Wholesome teacher-pupil relationship is of singular importance. Certainly, teachers lacking in wholeness will produce children of the same sort. The teacher is a key factor to the edu cation of the child. We need WHOLE teacher to help the child develop wholeness. The wholeness of the teacher is translated into the living-learning situations knowingly and unknowingly by the teacher. The chil dren are the keenest and most alert individuals that readily catch the teacher’s revealing behavior pat terns. What the teacher plans and does so do the children become. These teachers and all those help ing in the development of the wholesome man in the child should remember what Earl Kelly said: “If we want to produce whole man, we will have to abandon our efforts to train or educate them in parts.” Resume: The development of child wholeness is the essence of the total goal of community education. Ln the at tainment of this goal, the following may be ysed for our guide: 1. The child is an integrating unit. He possesses functions, power, and controls which tend to operate to continue the desired wholeness of the child unless interfered with. To insure the unifying development, integrating living-learning experiences and situations evolved from the personal and societal needs, experi ences, capacities, and goals of the child should be adePAGE 8 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR ! FEVERISH?! • • I r cfl I For that headachy,feverish feel- ( I ing that usually accompanies a 1 j cold,take fast-acting CORTAL! I ■ CORTAL brings you dependa- I ’ ble relief with amazing speed... | I peps you up too! I [ WHENEVER PAIN STRIKES 1 ■ Call for— ! quately provided. When the child comes to school, he comes as a whole child; he learns and lives as a whole child. When learning, he interacts in a unifying man ner with the whole unifying teaching-learning situa tions. 2. The child possesses purposes and interests. He is an active organism. When his activity fills a need, interest is present. He naturally reacts with interest in four major fields: the first is physical activity wherein he uses the body as a whole with the hands most particularly prominently acting. The second is the use of fools in connection with some need of his own which may perhaps be only that of manipulating the tools. The third is mental reaction dominating the situation in thinking about things and solving problems that arc meaningful to him are outstanding. The fourth is the associative activities of people around him — of his peers and the adults. Through his gradually and broadening contacts with people, he becomes concerned and enthused in all the vital aspects of human life and the total environment. 3. The individual is indivisible. In all his tasks at home, in school or iw the community, all his facets of growth play a part, for all of them are interrelated and interdependent, — one facet or aspect influencing the other. 4. Adequate opportunities should be provided for meeting needs and solving problems by socially ap proved behavior patterns in order to achieve the ex pected adjustment and social security. 5. All learning-living experiences and situations should be meaningfully and purposefully designed to achieve the four basic outcomes — knowledges, atti tudes-aspirations, skill-habits, and human relations which are fundamental in the achievement of all the areas of living constituting wholeness. 6. Child unifying development is the responsibility and privilege of all individuals and institutions. They should pool all their resources in systematic, contin uous and cooperative processes to help the child achieve his need for wholeness. 7. Basic to the attainment of wholeness in chil dren is the whole teacher. The teacher as a person and as a teacher should be competently prepared to help the child develop wholesome personality. The emphasis in child wholeness can never be over done if we recall what Rizal said, “The fu ture of the nation depends immeasurably on the uprightness and whole development of its youth and children.” On top of what is said, God reminds us— “These children deserve all our love and attention for they are created in the image of our FATHER. Cortal ■ FAST*SAFE*SURE ! ® io. tablât Contain,: Acrtyl,ol<<yli< Acid O.JS i<n . ■ ! PERIODIC ; ! pain? : I I I Here’s Fast ! .'RELIEF!,! I To relieve the discomfort of • periodic pain the quick, de pendable way-take fast acting CORTAL! CORTAL chases your pe. riodic “blues”away the safe, sure way. WHENEVER PAIN STRIKES Call for — I I I I I I Cortal ! FAST*SAFE»SURE I I I I
Date: 1958
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