CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

Generally, life between the birth and 18 years of age of an individual is

considered childhood. With the physical growth of the child, mental growth
happens. Physical needs of a child change with physical growth. Similarly,
mental growth calls for different needs as physical growth does. The study
of mental growth and related fields pertaining to children is called child
psychology. As teachers have to work with children throughout their entire
childhood it is imperative that teachers should have good knowledge of child
psychology.

Three stages can be identified in the mental growth of school going children.
Generally, the school going age is considered to be five years. The stages
are:

a. Primary childhood (5 – 10 years)

b. Secondary childhood (11 - 14 years)
c. Adolescence (15 to 18 years)

In the case of girls, secondary childhood and adolescence begin earlier.

a. Primary Childhood
The following characteristics can be observed in children of this age
group. They expect to be loved all the time by everybody at the
school. The teacher must be aware that the child had been plucked
from the family where there had been a lot of love.
• The children in this age group need a lot of physical activity.
By nature they are playful. Playing is a psychological need as
well as a physical one.
• It is observed that children who belong to primary childhood
are not much conscious about the sex they belong, therefore,
they feel at ease with the opposite sex.
• At later stages, they begin to have a repulsive attitude towards
the opposite sex.
• The children of this age group are very observant and tend to
follow or imitate adults.

DR. BELAL AHMAD (EMOTIONAL INTELEGANCE RESEARCHER)

 b. Secondary Childhood
Children who belong to this age group show clear signs of
inquisitiveness towards the opposite sex. It really is a manifestation
of the beliefs and cultural procedures they have begun to observe in
the society. They begin to realize that they belong to a group based
on sex. The repulsive nature gradually fades away when they reach
the end of second childhood or approach adolescence.
• They are very susceptible to embarrassment in front of the
opposite sex.
• Competition between the sex is also visible which the teacher
may use for her own benefit while teaching.
• Children in secondary childhood do have problems on their
own based on the physical changes that occur in their body.
This happens mostly at the latter part of this age group and is
confused as to how they should react.
• They need a lot of affection and guidance from teachers as well
as from parents to overcome such problems. These problems
may seem to be minor ones in the eyes of the adult but they are
considered as very big by the affected individuals.
• They begin to understand the basic concepts of society and try
to adjust their life accordingly. What is good or what is bad,
right or wrong are some concepts they would develop.
Generally, these concepts are based on cultural and religious
observations. School rules and procedures to fall into this
category.

C. Adolescence
This is a difficult time the children pass through. A lot of physical
changes occur in the body which is visible by others and the children
become very conscious of them. They become very inquisitive about
the other sex too.
• Girls experience the above changes earlier than boys. The boys
get these feeling at the age of 16, 17 and 18 while girls develop
them during 13, 14 and 15 of age.
• There is a lot of attraction towards the opposite sex during the
ages given above and love affairs are common among them.
However, these feelings fade away when they step into
adulthood. Teachers must be aware of this feature and provide

DR. BELAL AHMAD (EMOTIONAL INTELEGANCE RESEARCHER)

 help to the children to get over the difficulties. Right advice
would help immensely.
• Children in this age group are aware that they are stepping into
adulthood shortly and try to behave like adults.
• They tend to challenge practices, procedures, and customs that
the adults try to impose on them. They look at them through a
critical angle. This behavior may be misunderstood as a breach
of discipline.
• This age is highly creative and tends to break through age-old
methods and try to create new systems.
• Children of this age group wish to be seen as capable of looking
after themselves. This is the stage at which they find
themselves in conflict with adults, especially with father,
mother or relatives.
• They have a sense of responsibility and tend to take good
decisions. This is true, especially at late adolescence. Their
responsibility toward the country, the society, the school and
themselves is well understood. Therefore, leadership and other
responsibilities at the school level can be given without
hesitation. They really expect that such responsibilities be
given to them. Friction arises when this requirement is ignored.
• They think about love in a more realistic way. They will fall in
love after considering many aspects of the person and judging
how much benefit it would bring etc. if ever someone wants to
fall in love. Generally falling in love is rare in the latter part of
adolescence.

Common Psychological needs

Apart from the psychological needs given above, there are some needs
common to everybody – young and old.

i. Need to be loved
Every person needs love and affection irrespective of his or her age.
From birth to death, love is the most sort after thing in life. People
forgo many things for love. They even risk their lives to get love, and
to prevent losing one’s love. Teachers should understand this fact
well and try to making use of it at teaching, maintaining discipline and
encouraging students to do better.

DR. BELAL AHMAD (EMOTIONAL INTELEGANCE RESEARCHER)

ii. Need to Love
Need to love someone is as important as the need to be loved. It is a
natural urge that everybody has. Children find this as a problem when
they understand that there is no one who would accept his or her love.
Teacher should understand that he or she cannot only be one who
gives love but also one how accepts love. This fact holds good for all
ages.
iii. Need to be Recognized
Everyone has his or her own pride for being a member of the society
or for being a human being. Children have a very high degree of
pride in themselves. An un-experienced teacher might kill this pride
by ignoring a child, which would give immense pain to the child, and
it may lead to the destruction of the child’s personality. Each and
every child should be considered an important person in the school
society or in the class.
iv. Need to be Appreciated
Recognizing someone means that the existence of that person is being
accepted. It may be as a full-fledged member of the class, school or
society. In addition to the above, everybody expects that his or her
capabilities are appreciated by someone. This factor holds good for
all age groups – young and old.

Every time one does something well, one thinks that he or she also
should verify that by way of appreciation by another person. This
natural need can be made use of by teachers to encourage students to
do more and more good work.

The teacher should learn the psychological needs of their students before
deciding on any matter pertaining to the student as the teachers are such
close to the students and that their influence will be felt for a long time in a
student’s life.

DR. BELAL AHMAD (EMOTIONAL INTELEGANCE RESEARCHER)