Lesson Three
Human Development
Prof. Dr. Colella
Curriculum Design & Engineering
ELMP 7776NA
By: Jose Aviles
Spring 2006

Human development and the many concepts and stages involved with it, is a complex and controversial topic. In a statement made by by Dr. Colella “Nothing is more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals.” I believe he captures the essence of education within the United States.
“Several theorists’ and researchers’ theories in the area of human development have had a significant influence on curriculum planning. They include Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Erick Erickson’s developmental outline for stages of “growth toward a mature personality,” and Lawrence Kohlberg’s cognitive-developmental view of moral development. These three human development theorists maintain that the developmental stages they describe have a fixed order, and that each person passes through these stages in this order. Sufficient resolution of challenges and developmental tasks associated with each stage is necessary for the individual to proceed with vigor and confidence to the next stage, and there is a “teachable moment” or opportune time for this development to occur.” (Parkay, Anctil & Hass, 2006, p. 2)
A “teachable moment” an opportunity to learn something new, our life is full of teachable moments, but one’s ability to absorb this information when presented to us has created a shift, a debate as to how and when people should learn this information and at what rate.
Ultimately, we are simply a collection of all our experiences and how we chose to live our lives based on these experiences varies from person to person. The speed as to how we develop is influenced by a multitude of variables ranging from biological and psychological ability to our social and economic environment. The known variables are vast, but there are even more unknown variables we have yet to account for, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“The cognitive-developmental approach was first stated for the first time by John Dewey. The approach is called cognitive