Development in Context

People do not grow in isolation

from their surroundings. Rather,
we constantly interact with our
environment: our family, peers,
schools, neighborhood and
society.
Our social class, historical
context, and culture also play a
role in shaping who we are.
There is wide diversity in
development because of
differences in the which
people grow
 Bioecological Systems Perspective
• Proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner
• Exemplifies development as
contextual
• According to this perspective,
a child develops within a
complex dynamic system
of relationships and is
affected by multiple levels of the surrounding
environment
• Moreover, children are active producers in their own
development, influencing their environments
• Inasmuch they are also influenced
 What are these systems?
Microsystem, it consists of the primary
relationships, interactions, activities, and
roles experienced by a person in his/her
immediate, or proximal, surroundings.

Examples: child’s relationship with parents

in the home setting.
child’s interaction with teachers
in the school setting
Mesosystem, refers to connections, or
interrelationships, among the
microsystems in which the person is
involved

Example: the interaction between the

home and school settings, as
when parents involve
themselves their child’s school
activities
Exosystem, which refers to settings that do
not directly involve the person
himself/herself, but in which events occur
that affect his/her development
nonetheless

Example: Parent’s work environment may

affect a child’s development
even though the child is not part
of that setting
Macrosystem, comprises the larger
variables of culture, historical context,
social class, religion, government policies,
and the like

These contexts shape an individual’s values,

belief systems, sociocultural practices, and
life opportunities
Chronosystem, reflects the influence of
historical time in shaping the person’s
environmental and life experiences

Example: Overseas work and migration is

a modern-day phenomenon
that significant implications for
Filipino society, family
relationships, and youth
aspirations
Bioecological Systems Perspective
 Rubic’s Cube Approach
• This is a landmark article written by Ma.
Lourdes Arellano-Carandang, a Filipino
Clinical Psychologist
• Rubic’s Cube approach offers a local
approach to working with children
• Likening the framework to popular toy
consisting of different colored cubes
• Carandang emphasized the importance
of integrating four dimensions to gain
understanding of children
 Four Dimensions
• 1st - views the child as a total person with
physical, intellectual, socio-emotional, and
moral/spiritual facets
• 2nd - grounds these characteristics on the
child’s developmental level
• 3rd - looks at the child’s behavior within the
context of the family and community
• 4th - looks at the child’s inner world, how the
child makes sense of all that happens within
and around him/her
 Developmental Theories
Lawrence Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development

Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual

Development

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development

 Lawrence Kohlberg’s Moral
Development
• What is the nature of morality?
• Is there an absolute, universal
definition of “good” and bad”?
• Or is morality determine by the individual, the
situation or the sociocultural context?
• How do people evaluate whether a certain
behavior is “good” or “bad”?
• These are the questions spurred Kohlberg’s
interest in morality, specifically in moral
judgment or reasoning
 Moral Development
• Kohlberg’s theory was influenced by
Jean Piaget and Immanuel Kant
• Particularly on Kant’s practical
imperative philosophy: “Treat each
person as an end, not as a means”
• This forms the basis of Kohlberg’s
notion of a universal morality
characterized by justice and equality—
highest stage of moral development
 Preconventional Level
Stage 1- Punishment and Obedience
Orientation
-One must obey rules in order to
avoid punishment

Stage 2- Reward Orientation

-One conforms in order to obtain
rewards, to have favors returned
 Conventional Level
Stage 3- Good boy/Good girl Orientation
-approval seeking orientation
-trying to meet the significant other’s
expectations

Stage 4- Social System /Authority Orientation

-justice orientation
-strong emphasis on law and order,
duty, and legitimate authority
 Postconventional Morality
Stage 5- Morality of social contract and
democracy
- relies on fundamental principles
such as individual rights, equality, human
dignity, contractual agreement,
and mutual obligation

Stage 6- Morality of individual principles of

conscience
- willing to break social rules and the law,
and accept the consequence if such law
went against the highest principles of
human life, such as equality and dignity