Personal development is a long and complex process. Firstly, what makes adults care for many years not only about the physical he alth of the child, but also about his moral, mental, spiritual growth? Secondly, what motivates a grown-up person to personal self-improvement and how to do it?
What does "development" mean
The word "development" denotes a rather voluminous concept. This is:
- movement from lowest to highest;
- transition from one qualitative state to a more perfect one;
- forward movement from old to new.
That is, development is a natural, inevitable process, it means progressive changes in something. Science believes that development occurs on the basis of emerging contradictions between new and obsolete forms, ways of existence of something.
Synonymous with the word "development" is the word "progress". Both of these words denote success in something compared to the past.
The word "regression" has the opposite meaning - it is a movement back, a return from the achieved high level to the previous, lower one, that is, this is a decline in development.
Types of human development
After birth, a person goes through the following types of development:
- physical - increases height, weight, physical strength, body proportions;
- physiological - the functions of all body systems are improved - digestive, cardiovascular, etc.;
- psychic - the sense organs are improving, the experience of using them is growing in order to receive and analyze information from the outside world, memory, thinking, speech are developing; values, self-esteem, interests, needs, motives for actions change;
- spiritual - the moral side of the personality is enriched: needs are formed to comprehend one's place in the world, the significance of one's activity for its improvement, responsibility for its results grows;
- social - the range of relations with society is expanding (economic relations, moral, political, industrial, etc.).
Sources, driving forces of human development depend on factors such as living conditions, social circle, as well as on its internal attitudes and needs.
Identity concept
The words "person" and "personality" are not synonymous. Let's compare their values.
Man is a biological being with innate physical characteristics. The conditions for its development are favorable external factors: warmth, food, protection.
Personality is a result, a phenomenonsocial development, in which consciousness and self-consciousness are formed. It has certain psychological and physiological properties acquired as a result of development and upbringing. Psychologists believe that personal qualities appear only as a result of social relationships.
Each person is unique, possessing only her inherent positive and negative qualities. Each person has his own life goals and aspirations, intentions, reasons and motives for actions. In choosing means, he is guided by his own circumstances and views on morality. An anti-social personality, for example, does not know or does not recognize generally accepted norms of morality and is guided in his actions by selfish goals. Irresponsibility, conflict, a tendency to blame others for their own failures, the inability to learn from their own mistakes are the characteristic features of such a person.
External forces of personal development
A driving force is what pushes an object forward, a kind of spring, a lever. A person also needs incentives for personal improvement. Such incentives are both external driving forces, development factors, and internal ones.
External influences include influences from others - relatives, acquaintances who pass on their own life experience to him.
They convince a person to take (or not to take) some actions, change something in life, offer options and means of development, help him inthis.
The driving force behind the development of an individual can be government policy, for example, in the field of education, employment. A person chooses from the available options the speci alty or place of work that is most promising for him. As a result, he acquires new knowledge for him and labor skills and abilities - he develops as a person.
development.
Internal stimuli for personal development
An indispensable condition and driving forces for the development of an individual is the growth of his mental capabilities and needs, their contradictions with the old ones. The insufficiency of internal and external means pushes a person to search for new, adequate ways to meet the increased demands - there is a forced or conscious assimilation of new knowledge, skills and abilities, a sensual, emotional perception of the world develops.
Then the process is repeated: the acquired experience becomes obsolete and there is a need to resolve requests of a new, higher level. As a result, connections with others become more conscious and selective, diverse.
Personal Development Goals
As we can see, the driving forces of development are the needs of society in educating a person who meets vital socialcriteria, and the need of the person himself for self-development.
The image of a full-fledged and self-sufficient member of society should look like this. The social and personal goals of the development of the individual coincide. He will be useful to society and fulfill his own growth program, if his abilities are realized, he will be spiritually and physically he althy, educated, efficient, purposeful, creative.
In addition, his interests should be socially oriented and implemented in social activities.
Stages of development
The driving forces of development are, as we see, a whole complex of influences on a person throughout his life. But this impact should be dosed, and the goals, forms, means, methods of education should correspond to the age stages of a person and the level of his individual development. Otherwise, the formation of personality is slowed down, distorted or even stopped.
Stages of personality formation according to D. B. Elkonin and the leading type of activity in each of them:
- Infancy - direct contact with adults.
- Earlier childhood is an object-manipulative activity. The child learns to handle simple objects.
- Preschool age - role-playing game. The child tries on adult social roles in a playful way.
- Primary school age is a learning activity.
- Adolescence - intimate communication with peers.
Given this periodization, you should know that the driving forcesdevelopment is both special knowledge in the field of pedagogy and psychology, and a reasonable approach to choosing the means of education at each age stage of the child.
Conditions for personal growth
He althy heredity, psychophysiological he alth and a normal social environment, proper upbringing, development of natural inclinations and abilities are indispensable conditions for human development. Their absence or the presence of adverse developmental factors lead to the formation of a flawed personality.
There are numerous examples of how negative external influences or internal motives hindered or even stopped the formation of a full-fledged member of society. For example, an unhe althy family climate, erroneous life principles and attitudes create in the child wrong ideas about his place in this world and the ways to achieve it. As a result - the denial of social and moral values, the lack of desire for self-development, spirituality, education, work. A dependent psychology, asocial morality, following the lower urges are being formed.
The ability to develop, inherent in nature itself, the internal driving forces of personality development are completely or partially absent in people with hereditary or acquired malformations of the central nervous system. Their existence is reduced to the satisfaction of physiological needs.
