Physical Development
A Brief Introduction to Physical Growth and
Development
Physical development can be described in a variety of
ways. In fact, no single description can accurately depict all the
various events and stages that take place in a person's lifelong
physical development. It is, however, apparent to most teachers that
many students follow a similar growth pattern. That is, from the time
they start kindergarten to the time they complete their final year of
high school, they undergo a similar maturation process; their moods are
constantly changing and their physical appearance gradually transforms
to one that resembles an adult. As a result, modeling a child's physical
growth pattern in chronological order can sometimes be a straightforward
process, but not all students will follow a linear growth pattern. Some
students may develop all the necessary gross motor skills to be able to
run a marathon, but may experience trouble forming simple bodily
movements, like moving their lips to talk or using the muscles in their
hands to a write. These situations are evident in all classrooms and it
is important to note their net effect, not only on the individual
student, but the class as well. For instance, elementary school students
who experience their growth spurts earlier on in life usually have a
greater advantage when it comes to physical activities than students
whose growth spurts are evenly spaced out or slow to arrive.
Understanding the developmental growth patterns of children takes
teachers to an entirely different level of professionalism. To truly
meet students needs, teachers must not only be knowledgeable about the
curriculum, but also the student themselves.
Hereditary Influence on Physical Development
In order to effectively discuss why physical
development is an important aspect in an educator's knowledge
repertoire, it is appropriate to note some of the main factors which
influence or impact the physical development in children. Genetics and
hereditary are the primary determinants of physical development. Genes
code for all the functional proteins the human body needs to grow and
mature, and every person (except for identical twins) is born with a
unique genetic map. Most children have similar dominant traits in their
DNA that determine when certain stages of their physical growth will
occur. For instance, major growth spurts take place within a particular
timeframe, vision fully develops by the intermediate and senior years of
elementary school (Auger and Rich, 2007), and most students begin
puberty between the ages of 9 and 14 - all of which occur naturally and
without human intervention.
Genes can have many direct influences on a persons
lifestyle. Some genes, if expressed, can amplify a certain physical
trait or prevent a certain stage in development from occurring, while
the expression of others may result to serious medical conditions that
can demobilize a person very early in life. Duchenne muscular dystrophy
(DMD) is one of many debilitating hereditary diseases that leads to
early death (Gelbart et al., 2002) (Figure 1). Unlike most
children who begin to develop quicker reaction times, hand-eye
coordination, and fine and gross motor skills by their primary and
junior years in elementary school, children affected with DMD (usually
boys) lack all these physical traits and show progressive wasting of
certain sets of muscles, including the heart (Auger & Rich, 2007;
Gelbart et al., 2002). By the time they are 12 years old, they
are confined to a wheel chair, and then generally die before age 17,
whereas most normal teenagers are able to move faster and show faster
processing speeds (Gelbart et al., 2002). Moreover, another
physical factor governed typically by genetics is height, or how tall a
person grows. This factor can sometimes heavily effect a student
self-esteem, whether it is because they are exceptionally taller or
shorter than the majority of their classmates. For instance, shorter
students may feel inferior to their taller peers and turndown certain
roles or opportunities, such as playing on a basketball team.
Figure
1. Nineteenth-century etching of a young boy with Duchenne
muscular dystrophy, showing enlarged calf muscles and curvature of the
spine (Left). The border shows cellular structures connected to the
disease symptoms (Gelbert et al., 2002).
A teacher who acknowledges hereditary and its affect
on a person's physical capabilities will be better suited to alleviate
some of the difficulties a student may be silently experiencing. If a
student with a short stature wishes to join the basketball team, the
school coach should never be stereotypic towards their capabilities.
Rather, they should try to empathize with the student and encourage
their participation, so that they may feel welcomed and accepted. Some
students may have a genetic disorder that constrains their ability to
develop any fine motor control. Lateness in muscle development,
especially in the fingers, may prevent a child from handwriting quickly
and accurately. In high school, exams and tests are usually written
within a certain time limit. If teachers choose to ignore this issue and
have their students write the test within a certain time limit anyway, a
student inflicted with such physical difficulty may not be able to
perform as effectively as they would if they were offered extra time.
This is also evident when high school teachers ask their students to
copy down too many notes off the board or assign too much homework for
one night, further exhausting their capabilities. When teachers ask
their students to write a report using a computer, students who are
physically unable to use a keyboard should be provided with voice
recognition software. This will allow a student to verbally dictate
their ideas without having to struggle using a keyboard. If a child is
born with weak eyesight and fails to develops binocular vision (the
ability of the eyes to work together), it is appropriate for a teacher
to have the child sit closer to the board or write in larger print when
using the board and in handouts (Auger and Rich, 2007). While perceptual
abilities are generally well developed for most primary-level student's,
if they are unable to interpret and communicate incoming information due
to weak vision, information processing will not steadily improve as they
grow older (Auger and Rich, 2007). Overall, this knowledge can help
teachers understand the physical difficulties students have no control
over, and in turn, change the matter to something that is more suitable
for their learning needs.
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