eJournal Post #2

eJournal Post #2

My answers for my EDS 100 class:

1. Is education only about cognition?

Human development studies encompass changes in the cognitive, physical, and psychosocial domains. A popular view is that cognitive development is the principal (sole?) interest of education; must educators also be concerned about the physical and psychosocial domains of development as well?

Here is my reply to the first question:

Answer 1: According to this website https://www.cambridgecognition.com/blog/entry/what-is-cognition, 

"Cognition refers to a range of mental processes relating to the acquisition, storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information."

I understand that this means only mental processes, meaning other "biological and psychosocial processes" in the human body are left out. Only your mental faculties are deemed important when it comes to your development into a "complete" human being.

So, as a future educator, I do not believe that we must only consider the cognitive aspect when it comes to the development of future learners. Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. was a brilliant lawyer and politician but his psychosocial development was that of a criminal. Just think, if he had managed to harness his cognitive talents for the greater good of the Philippines and of the world, wow, what he would have accomplished for the Philippines and other countries! But since he only used his cognitive development for the enrichment of his family and his cronies he became the "greatest plunderer" the world has ever known.

The physical aspect of human development is relatively easier to manage and hone. If  you're hungry, you eat. If you're thirsty, you drink. If you're tired, you rest. And it goes on and on like that. There is always a relatively simple and straightforward answer to physical problems. If there is not a cure then at least there is a rational explanation behind it.

With psychosocial development, it gets more difficult. You would have to factor in the "nature versus nurture" explanation in the field of Psychology which is that "Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception." (https://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html)

Using Ferdinand Marcos Sr. as the same example, I wonder what happened to him from infancy onwards to make him become such a cunning monster in adulthood. I tend to think that perhaps his family (parents, siblings, and other relatives) contributed to his development that way. I don't know if he was genetically predestined for that since not much is known of that aspect.

There is no doubt that he was a genius, but he channeled his cognitive talents towards criminality instead. If he had been inclined towards the sciences, perhaps we would know him more as that "mad scientist". But since he was leaning more towards politics, he became a dictator instead. And the Philippines became the sick man of Asia due to his self-serving and cruel ways as the President of the Philippines as a result.

2. Characteristics of MY PERSONAL development

Reflecting on your personal growth and development, elaborate on Baltes' characterization of development--i.e., that it is lifelong, multi-dimensional, multi-directional, plastic, multi-disciplinary, and contextual. What is your personal take on his assertion that development is a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual factors?

Here is my answer to the second question:

Using the information about Baltes' characterization of human development 

(https://medium.com/psych-pstuff/the-lifespan-approach-to-human-development-seven-basic-contentions-ada1bfed554e)

I believe that he is correct and that his theory builds on the "nature versus nurture" foundation in Psychology. Personally, I am a product of this kind of development that he described, as follows:

Lifelong - I am definitely not the same person that I was 40 years ago. (I am turning 48 in January 2022.) The reason I described it this way is that my friend in kindergarten Mia found me this year through Facebook. The last time we talked to each other was in Grade 1 then I shifted to another school and we completely lost touch. So meeting her again this 2021 was like getting introduced to a brand new person. We are not the same people we were 40 years ago and it showed in our awkward attempts at communicating. We are still getting to know each other better these days and I hope she isn't disappointed at who I have become over the decades.

Multi-dimensional - My development over the past 40 years has ebbed and flowed at different stages. For example, when I was in grade school I loved to draw. But over the years I have lost that love for sketching and painting. I think part of it was due to my father's disapproval of my artistic inclination. Part of it was due also to my growing obsession with reading and writing in English. So, when forced to choose between sketching and painting, and reading and writing in English, I chose the latter pair. So my development as a sketch artist and painter may be said to have been derailed while my talent as a writer in English has been honed through constant practice.

Multi-directional - This part is closely related to the multi-dimensional aspect in the sense that my answer deals with my talents in the arts and in the writing world. When I was in grade school, it seemed very important to know how to sketch and paint amongst me and my peers. For some reason, we were very attracted to the arts. I remember one time I was immersed for hours by a watercolor painting I was working on. The painting didn't turn out well but it consumed me. At that time, it helped me because we had just moved to our first family house. So at that time, it was important to stabilize my emotions. But then I started moving up in school to each successive grade level and it seemed more important to know my academics such as Engish, math and science instead. So my development inclined to the arts when it was necessary to help me express my emotions while I focused on academics when I needed to prove my intellectual mettle to my teachers and my peers.

Plastic - As quoted in my source: "Plasticity, in the psychological sense refers to, “flexibility, modifiability, malleability, adaptability, teachability” 

(https://medium.com/psych-pstuff/the-lifespan-approach-to-human-development-seven-basic-contentions-ada1bfed554e)

I use the example of my inclinations towards the arts and my academics. Apparently, development is plastic in my experience because there was no single defining moment when I decided to abandon my artistic inclinations. No one barged into my room with a gun and demanded that I stop drawing or painting. I just slowly, over time, chose to read more books and write more essays and poems. At times, I would indulge myself with cut-outs of old glossy calendars and magazine pictures for collages or to decorate my notebooks for school. But I just outgrew the arts as I learned to find my "voice" in writing in English.

Multi-disciplinary - This is one of the more obvious aspects of my personal development because I see myself as more of a writer now than an artist. I like to read and write in English so my core discipline is that of writing. That is why I am a freelance writer online who creates English content for websites. But I also have artistic inclinations since I like to watch interesting and well-rendered music videos. Yes, music seems to be a growing inclination of mine lately. But I don't play any musical instruments or even sing. So although I am very skilled as a freelance writer, I lack skills in the realm of music which is sad because it would be nice to know at least how to sing or how to play the piano or guitar if only to express myself.

Contextual - I believe that the context or environment that I grew up in was a strong influence on me, particularly in the realm of politics. My homeroom adviser in grade school once talked to my class to explain to us that we are the "Martial Law babies" generation since we were born at the time that Marcos was very much in power. So I grew up listening to the adults arguing about politics. I don't know if they realized that I was listening while they argued and debated key points. But the confusing environment at that time was that I was in a convent school that was clearly pro-Aquino yet the government was under Marcos control. Being exposed to the speeches of Ninoy Aquino on TV, later on, made me want to be a better writer because Ninoy was a brilliant writer. I also wanted to be a great orator but that has not been my fate. So these days I write for a living because of that time growing up that shaped my perception of politics and the world as we live it.

All in all, I think that I turned out pretty well as an adult although there are episodes in my life that I would like to go back over and change if I could. We do not live within a vacuum after all. But life only progresses in one direction - forward - and we can only hope to have the foresight to avoid similar mistakes in the future. On the other hand, I believe that I still have much to contribute to the world so I hope my life continues for at least another ten years, if permitted.