Hal 118 and stereotyping hamper the development of girls mathematical abilities.

SOCIAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES A number of theories have been originated that focus on global aspects of human growth and development. Because they emphasize the study of behavior as a totality, starting with infancy, in a sense they combine Gestalt psychology with socialization. Developmental theories address the cumulative effects of change that occur as a consequence of learning or failing to learn appropriate tasks during the critical stages of life. Failure to learn an appropriate task at a given stage of development tends to have detrimental effects on the developmental sequence that follows. Development proceeds through a rather fixed sequence of relatively continuous stages, and it is assumed that maturation as well as appropriate societal experiences are necessary to move the individual from stage to stage. Shifts from one stage to the next are based not only on age but also on variations in the amount and the quality of social experiences an individual accumulates over long spans of time. Human Tasks/Needs Robert Havighurst has identified six periods in human development: (1) infancy and early childhood; (2) middle childhood; (3) adolescence; (4) early adulthood; (5) middle age; and (6) late maturity. Developmental tasks are defined as the tasks the individual must learn for purposes of healthy and satisfactory growth in our society. They are what a person must learn if he or she is to be judget and to judget him-or self to be a reasonably happy and successful person. A developmental task is a task that occurs at a certain stage or period in the life of that individual. Successful achievement. . .leads to happiness and success with later tasks, while failure leads to unhappiness, disapproval by the society, and difficulty with later tasks. An individuals schooling is concerned with the developmental tasks of the second part of the first period and the next two periods of life. The tasks are : Early Childhood a. Forming concepts and learning language to describe the social and physical reality. b. Getting ready to read. c. Learning to distinguish right from wrong and beginning to develop a conscience. Middle Childhood a. Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games. b. Building wholesome attitudes toward oneself. c. Learning to get along with age-mates. d. Learning appropriate male and female roles. e. Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. f. Developing concepsts for everyday living. g. Geveloping morality and a set of values.

h. Archieving personal independence. i. Developing (democratic) attitudes toward social groups and institutions. Adolescence a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes. Achieving a masculine or feminine social role. Aceepting ones physique and using the body effectively. Achieving emotional independence of parents and other adults. Preparing for marriage and family life. Preparing for an economic career. Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system to guide behavior. Achieving socially responsible behavior.

Although the Havighurst model is the best known, other models have been proposed to deal with student or adolescent needs. Havighurst uses the term human in Hal 119 stead of adolescent to connote a wider range of ages, and the term tasks instead of needs to suggest a solution, but the other models are just as comprehensive and balanced as Havighursts. Foe example, Harry Giles et al. outlined four basic needs-personal, social, civie, and economic-eatch of which has three to four subdivisional. Florence Stratemeyer and her colleaguest classified twenty-nine adolescent needs into six major social-personal classification, and Henry Harap outline thirty life activities needed for successful human development. Different as these classification schemes are, they clearly show that many common topics of concern tend to be social in nature and to include environmental, moral, civic, psychological, physical, and productive (oreconomic) dimensions of learning. Actually, it may well be that, in principle, this degree of broad agreement is the best we can aim for in the interest of developing a student needs approach. All the models consider the whole child as opposed to only cognitive learning, tend to strees archievement categories that is, tasks or needs-recognize the concept of readliness, and focus on the individual even though they do refer to social circumstances in which the person finds him-or herself.Whereas the Havighurst model professes to be developmental, and consists of a hierarchy of human needs called tasks, with no one curriculum emphasis, the other models rend to be organized around equally important students or adolescent needs and developed in context with acore curriculum and a social-issues curriculum. This does not mean that these models cannot be used for all curricula. Interestingly, all of the a needs-assessment plan, discussed in greater detail in Chapter 7. Note that the needs-assessment plan is basically rooted in the student-needs or adolescentneeds approach of the 1940s and 1950s. Yhe needs-assessment plan evolved during the mid -1970s, when the federal government insisted that such a plan was required for federal funding. This requirement has filtered down to state and local guidelines and curriculum workers have adopted the idea. Whereas the student-needs approach focuses on the learner, a needs assessment may not always focus on the professional staff, school, parents, and the community. The intent is to clarify; the assessment itself is conducted because school officials believe there is room for improvement.

Moral Development. Any society depends on the presence of people who share its culture, who take active roles, who are tied together by a set of codes and laws that are in part determined by tradition, and who have a sense of morality and conscience. Morality, in a practical sense, involves a strong social component, for what is considered morally right or wrong reflects the nature of societyits customs, mores, and laws. How a person develops morally is partially, if not predominantly, based on the way he or she interacts with society more precisely, on the social environment as well as the roles and responsibilities he or she learns and/or deems important via contact with people who are considered important. Although conscience in most children is confined less to specific behaviors; it begins to incorporate more generalized abstract standards, and it becomes determined less by external rewards or punishments and more by internal sanctions. Jean Piagets theories of moral development were based on investigations that included Piagess questioning Swiss children about moral dilemmas and events in stories. For example, Piagest might have asked, Why shouldnt you cheat in a game? Piagests observations suggested that from Hal 120 Ages 5 to 12 the childs concept of justice passes from a rigid and inflexible notion of right and wrong, learned from his or her parents, to a sense of quity in moral judgments. Eventually, the concept takes into account the specific situation or circumstances in which behavior has occurred. As the child becomes more flexible and realizes that there are exceptions to the rule that is, there are some circumstances under which lying may be justifiable. On the basis of numerous studies of these types, Piaget concluded: there are three great periods in the development of the sense of justice in the child. One period, lasting up to age 7-8 during eith justice is subordinated to adult authority: a period contained approximately betwnne 8-11, and which is that of progressive equalitarianism justice is tempered by consideration of equality. More recently, Lawrence Kohlberg studied the development of childrens moral standards and conlude that the way we hink about moral issues is not simply a reflection of our society but is also hased om stages of growth or age. Kohlberg outlined six developmental types of moral levels or stages, corresponding to Piagets cognitive stages of development: 1. Preconventional Level. Children this level have not yet developed a sense of right or wrong. The level is comprised of two types of children: (1) children who do as they are told because they fear punishment: and (2) children who realize that certain actions bring rewards. 2. Conventional Level. At this level, children are concerned about what other people think of them. As a result, their behavior becomes largely other-directed. There are two types in this level: (3) children who seek their parents approval by being nice: and (4) children who begin thinking in terms of rules. 3. Postconvencional Level. Childrens morality is bassed on what other people feel or on their precepts of authority. This level also in cludes two types : (5) children who

able are to view morality interms of contractual obligations and democratically accepted laws: and (6) children who view morality in terms of individual principles of conscience. Kohlberg and Piaget support the cognitive developmental view of morality-that is, There is a considerable amount of reasoning in moral judgments and behavior-although they differ on specifics. Whereas Piaget stresses that there are very real differences in the way children think about morality at different ages, Kohlberg found considerable overlap at the various ages. Both also believe that social arrangements and society play a major role: however,Piaget gives maturation more emphasis Kohlberg says: As opposed to Piagets view, the data suggest that the natural aspects of moral development are continuous and aeration to the whole social world rather than a product of a certain stage, a certain conceptor a certain type social relations. Existentialist educators, such as Maxine Greene and Van Cleve Morris, view morality as something beyond cognitive processes, akin to such social-pshychological processes as personal sensitivity., feelings and opnness to others, and aesthetic awareness. One is free, but ones freedom is essentially an inner matter involvingawesome responsibility of choice operating within the medium of humankind and human awareness. Freedom, responsibility, choice, and awareness all involve moral judgments, and are related to social standards and personal beliefs. Philip Phenix, astrict cognitive curricularist, also maintains that moral development combines social standrats or norms with personal choices. Moral action presupposes an obligation of what is to be done . . . self determination.. . and freedom Although we can discern personal knowledge whether we can identify a subject matter or teach it. By far the most significant sources of such influence are the laws and