Importance of Physical development and cognitive development

 

Physical development: In early adolescence, the body undergoes more developmental change than at any other time, apart from birth to two years old.

Cognitive development: Cognition is the process involving thought, rationale and perception. The physical changes of the brain that occur during adolescence follow typical patterns of cognitive development. They are characterized by the development of higher-level cognitive functioning that aligns with the changes in brain structure and function, particularly in the prefrontal cortex region.

 

Importance of Physical development and cognitive development

The various mental abilities are inter-connected and finally develop as a whole. Furthermore, mental development is a continuous process. There are various factors that may affect mental development e.g. maturation, learning and education. Mental development is a function of nervous system, particularly of brain.

 

 Mental or intellectual development takes in to considerations, the development of various mental abilities and capacities. It is interesting as well as useful to the process of growth and development of such abilities as it continues from birth onwards. The various aspects of cognitive development are as follow:

Sensation and perception are considered as important aspects of mental development of an individual. Sensations are basic impressions assembled by sense organs. These impressions after following the process of interpretation and attachment of some definite meaning, take the form of perception

Concept Formation Acquisition of concept is another important aspect of child’s mental development. A concept is a generalized meaning that is attached to an object or idea. It is result of 51 perceptual experiences of an individual and is combination of both generalization and discrimination. Discrimination starts early in life. Sometimes after, the child tries to generalize the perceptual experiences and thus starts to acquire concepts. Experience is an important factor in concept formation. During early childhood, the concrete experiences in the form of actual objects support the child in the formation of concepts

Development of language enhanced the mental growth and development of an individual. The important aspects of language development include, speech, vocabulary, length of response etc. At birth the child can utter some crying sounds. By the age of one and little later he may understand to speak a few words.

Development of Memory is also an important aspect of mental development. At birth, there is little memory but it gradually increases due to maturation and experiences. During the first year memory is only produced through sensory stimuli. With the learning of speech, the child is able to remember ideationally by the end of second year. At the age of two years, the memory is stronger for persons and objects than for situations.

Development of Problem-Solving Ability Problem-solving is an important component of mental development. It is useful for the individuals for discovering the solutions of the problems faced by him. Both thinking and reasoning power are at the heart of the problem-solving. Therefore, problem-solving ability depends largely on the development thinking and reasoning.

Role of Teacher in Developmental stages

Teachers are vital in students’ transition through adolescence, succeed academically, developing and learning.

Teachers should be supportive to their students:

·         Teachers should always provide accurate information about bad behaviors such as smoking, drug abuse, sexual activities and others.

·         Teachers should emphasis proper hygiene among their students especially at this stage adolescence especially through monitoring them their dormitories to ensure that they bath, shave and other hygienic practices.

·         Teachers should be effective at classroom management: they should apply reasonable and consistent disciplinary policies that are agreed on by parents and students and enforce them fairly and also communicate clear expectations for behavior among their students.

·         Create caring, supportive environments that promote learning and wellbeing. Model sensitive and respectful behaviour toward diverse cultures and people.

·         Encourage inclusion and acceptance of diversity, not only in cultural background or religion, but also in appearance, abilities and interests.

·         Provide opportunities to participate in classroom, school or community activities or events to encourage a sense of connection and belonging.

·         Provide a secure environment where children and young people feel physically safe. Respond quickly and effectively to stop bullying, racism, stigma or harassment.

·         Help children and young people to develop social skills and learn to manage their emotions.

·         Develop strong relationships with children by learning about their strengths, interests and what is happening in their lives.

·         Help children to develop pro-social values and behaviours, such as empathy, sharing, cooperation and helping other people.

Factors Which Affect the Physical and Cognitive Development

FACTORS AFFECTING COGNITIVE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

1 Hereditary and Environment Since individual, mental abilities, at any age of his life, are the products of hereditary and environment. So, both hereditary and environmental factors contribute towards the mental growth and development. For the child what he gets from his ancestral stock through his immediate parents at the time of conception in term of traits and characteristics is in fact a valuable asset to his future mental growth and development

2 Maturation and Learning Both maturation and learning are responsible for controlling the process of mental growth and development. Maturation helps in fulfilling physical growth and development which in turn affect the process of cognitive growth and development. In this manner, the role of brain and nervous system is of utmost important.