Your Learning Overview

After exploring the school environment, your next journey to Episode 2

provides you an opportunity to observe learners of different ages and grade
levels. This episode will highlight the differences in their characteristics and
needs. As a future teacher, it is important for you to determine your learners’
characteristics and needs so that you will be able to plan and implement learning
activities and assessment that are all developmentally appropriate.

At the end of th
is episode, you must be able todifferentiate the needs,
characteristics, and behavior of learners from different development levels.

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) for

principles of child development and learning that inform developmentally appropriate
practice:

1. Domains of children’s development--physical, social, emotional, and

cognitive-are closely related.

2. Development occurs in a relatively orderly sequence, with later abilities, skills,

and knowledge building on those already acquired.

3. Development proceeds at varying rates from child to child as well as unevenly

within different areas of each child’s functioning.

4. Early experiences have both cumulative and delayed effects on individual

children’s development; optimal periods exist for certain types of development
and learning.

5. Development proceeds in predictable directions toward greater complexity,

organization, and internalization.

6. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and
cultural contexts.

7. Children are active learners, drawing on direct physical and social experience
as well as culturally transmitted knowledge to construct their own
understandings of the world around them.
 8. Development and learning result from interaction of biological maturation and
the environment, which includes both the physical and social worlds that
children live in.

9. Play is an important vehicle for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive

development, as well as a reflection of their development.

10. Development advances when children have opportunities to practice newly

acquired skills as well as when they experience a challenge just beyond the
level of their present mastery.

11. Children demonstrate different modes of knowing and learning and different
ways of representing what they know.

12. Children develop and learn best in the context of a community where they are
safe and valued, their physical needs are met, and they feel psychologically
secure.

Read: https://www.virtualeduc.com/v7/resources/data/TAD.3/TwelvePrinciples.htm

Now, are you ready for your first learning activity? I bet you are, so let’s
begin.

YourActivity2.1
ObservingCharacteristics of Learners at Different Stages

To achieve your learning objective, you will need to pass the following
steps:
1. Observe different learners from different levels (kinder,
elementary, high school, and college).
2. Based on your observations, describe each learner.
3. Interview them to verify your observations and descriptions.
Make sure that health protocol is widely observed.
4. Compare the learners in terms of their characteristics, needs
and learners.

Now, use the observation guides and matrices below for you to
document your observations.
LEARNER’S CHARACTERISTICS OBSERVATION GUIDE
Read the following statements carefully. Then write your observation report on the provided
space. Your teacher may also recommend another observation checklist if a more detailed
observation is preferred.
 PHYSICAL
1. Observe their gross motor skills on how they carry themselves, how they move,
walk, run, go up the stairs, etc.
2. Are gross movements clumsy or deliberate/smo oth?
3. How about their fine motor skills? Writing, drawing, etc.
SOCIAL
1. Describe how they interact with teachers and adults.
2. Note also how they interact with peers. What do they talk about? What are their
concerns?

EMOTIONAL
1. Describe the emotional disposition or temperament of the learners (happy, sad,
easily cries, mood-shifts).
2. How do they express their wants/needs? Can they wait?
3. How do they handle frustrations?
4. Describe their level of confidence as shown in their behavior. Are they self-
conscious?

COGNITIVE
1. Describe their ability to use words to communicate their ideas. Note their language
proficiency.
2. Describe how they figure out things. Do they comprehend easily? Look for evidence
of their thinking skills.
3. Were there opportunities for problem solving? Describe how the showed problem-
solving abilities.

LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT MATRIX

Now, record the data you gathered about the learner’s characteristics
and needs in this matrix. This will allow you to compare the characteristics
and needs of learners of different levels. The items under each domain are by
no means exhaustive. These are just simple indicators. You may add other
aspects which you may have observed.

Development Preschooler Elementary High School College

Domain
Physical • Depende • Spend • Can do • Independe
• Gross Motor nt to both s most tasked on nt in doing
skills
• Fine Motor
teacher and time in their own. things by
skills parent playing. • Knows themselves.
• Self-help skills • Very • Starts how to sing
active and to draw and dance. • Enhance
loves to • Learni • Plays the acquire
roam ng and sport skills.
around. improving • Gain
• Don’t writing and hobbies
know how to reading • Has
 write. skills. better
• Clumsy • Can proficiency in
and needs already do using fine
help and things on motor skills
supervision their own such as
without holding,
parents grasping and
and picking skills
teachers’
supervisio
n.

Social • They’re • Loves • Very • Small yet

• Interactions very direct to play competitive dependable
with Teachers
about things with • Got a lot circle of
• Interactions
with they like friends. of friends. friends.
classmates and don’t • • Can now
and friends like. interact
• Interests • Can maturely.
interact to
almost
everyone
• Eagerly
ask
questions to
teachers
•
Emotional • Gives • Already • Matured
• Moods and honest • Got know how to enough to
Temperament,
expressions of
critics. into fights manage handle their
feelings • Not self- because emotional emotions.
• Emotional conscious, of simple feelings.
interdependen they laugh if arguments • Independe
ce they’re , but they • Curious nt and can
happy and also about stand on their
cry if they’re reconcile relationship. own.
sad. easily.
• Can
• Can’t already
control handle their
their emotions
emotions. depending
on the
situation.
Cognitive • Curious • Can • Already • Good
• Communicatio about speak developed communicatio
n Skills
• Thinking Skills
everything properly, thinking and n and
• Problem • Some but sill has communicati thinking skills.
Solving words are low on skills.
still unclear. vocabulary • Can
• Cannot words. • Can problems on
solve express their own.
 problems on ideas clearly
their own.
• • Matured
enough to
understand
and solve
problems.

Write the most salient development characteristics of the learners

(from kinder to high school) you observed. Based on these characteristics,
think of implications for the teacher. Present your data through graphical or
tabular presentations. Use the space provided.

LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT
Salient Characteristics Implications to the
School Level Observed Learning and Teaching
Process
Preschool  Dependent, active,  Teachers needs to
and very curious be really patient in
about everything. teaching them.
 Short attention  Getting their full
span attention is very
hard.
Elementary  Love to play  They’re very
around and curious, so
discover new patience is really
things. needed,
 Can slowly do  Has a lot of
things on their questions.
own.
High School  Already  Teachers can now
independent, they give them task
can do things and activities.
without guidance  Student centered
and supervision.
 Slowly discovering
themselves.
College  Matured and  Teacher is now,
independent just the facilitator.
 Has a developed  Instruction are all
thinking and they need.
communication
skills.
1. What comes to mind while you were observing the learners? Have
you recalled your experiences when you were at their age? What
similarities or differences do you have with the learners you
observed? Use Venn Diagram to illustrate your idea.

2. Do you have teachers that you will never forget for positive or
negative reasons? How did they help or not help with your needs
(physical, emotional, social, and cognitive)? How did it affect you?
Ans:
My grade 4-6 adviser, Ma'am Nora Lacaden, was my
first mentor who truly believes in me. I was quite silent back
then since I was frequently bullied. I don't have many
friends and I'm frightened to talk to people because I don't
want to make a mistake, therefore reading was my refuge at
the time. Ma'am Nora encourages me to get outside of my
comfort zone and try new things. She recognized my
passion for poetry and personally mentored me. She taught
me how to crochet and connect with others. Ma'am Nora
was one of the reasons why I wanted to be a teacher.

3. Share here your other thoughts and insights.

Ans:
 A learner’s characteristics, needs, and interest
changes over time. As the student grow, they also develop
their thinking and communication skills. From being naïve
and dependent to the people that surrounds them, they
slowly become independent and make decisions on their
own. As a teacher, guiding the students at a young age will
help them to become a better person in the future.

Which is your favorite theory of development. How this theory guides

you as a future teacher? Clip some readings about this theory and paste them
here.

Ans:

Among the different development theories, the Behaviorism

Theory of John B. Watson and B.F Skinner is my favorite. Behavioral
theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction
influences behavior and is based on the theories of theorists such as
John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. These theories deal only
with observable behaviors. Development is considered a reaction to
rewards, punishments, stimuli, and reinforcement.

What I like about this theory is that the idea differs significantly
from other child development theories in that it takes no account of
interior thoughts or feelings. Instead, it focuses solely on how our
experiences shape who we are.

As an aspiring educator, I wanted to hone my students to become

the best version of themselves, because as their teacher I want the best
for them. Based on my students’ action I can assess whether they are
learning as effectively as possible, I’ll also provide reinforcement and
constant feedback that tells them whether what they are doing is right or
wrong.
 Wow! Congratulations. You are done with the observation activity for
Learning Episode 2. To successfully end your Learning Episode 2, go to your
LMS and answer the Learning Episode 2 Quiz.