After selecting the four elements described above, write describe how knowledge of lifespan development will inform your work as a professional in the chosen career. Explain how you would apply your knowledge of human development to meet the needs of an individual in one specific period of development. The needs of the individual will be determined not only by the period of development but also by the topic/issue you selected. Include the application of at least one major theory of development in working with the individual. Explain how you will use theory to guide your work with the person in the specific period of development. Do not assume the reader has prior knowledge about the career, theory or topic.
CHOOSE At least 4 topics
• Prenatal care • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) • Preschool/ early childhood education • Autism • Child Maltreatment • Childhood Obesity • Special Education • Learning Disabilities • ADHD • Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (identify one specific disorder) • Intellectual Disabilities • Giftedness • Childhood stress and trauma • Peer status • Bullying • Baumrind’s Parenting Styles • Gender issues • Adolescent sexual behavior • Teen pregnancy • Sex education • Substance abuse • Juvenile delinquency • Adolescent substance abuse • Adolescent depression • Sexual harassment • Sexual assault • Topics related to health in early adulthood • Topics related to sexuality in adulthood
The first paragraph should briefly introduce and end with a thesis statement. • After the introductory paragraph, the first main section should describe the career and include why a knowledge of human development is necessary for the profession. The section should begin with a heading that identifies the career. The education/training requirements for the career should also be described. The professional association applicable to the chosen career must be used as a main source of information in this section. You should find the required information on the website of the relevant professional association. See the handout on professional associations for examples. In addition, you must include information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/home.htm) for information about the career. Both of these sources must be cited using APA format. • In the second section, describe one period of development (e.g., infancy, early childhood, middle/late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, or late adulthood). The section should begin with a heading that identifies the developmental period. Explain why knowledge of that specific developmental period is important for one to be effective in the career/profession. Include examples of how such knowledge would be applied to an individual in that period of development. This may include knowledge of cognitive, socioemotional, or biological development. At least one of the three developmental processes must be addressed, more than one if possible, based on the knowledge required for the profession. Your textbook should be the main source for this information. Any additional sources must be “scholarly”, as defined later in this document under Additional Sources. • In the third section, describe a topic or issue that would likely present itself during the developmental period described. The section should begin with a heading that identifies the topic. You will explain how your knowledge about the issue might affect the way you provide service to the individual as a professional in the career. Based upon information 3 learned about the topic and the period of development, describe at least one thing you will do to be most effective in working with the individual (client/patient, student, etc.) because of information learned in this course. Your understanding of the topic and related research on the topic should be clearly demonstrated. Your textbook should be the main source for this information. Any additional sources must be “scholarly”, as defined later in this document under Additional Sources. • In the fourth section, apply one of the major theories of development (Piaget, Erickson, Bronfenbrenner). For late adulthood, you may instead choose to use Activity Theory, Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, or Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory. For early adulthood, you may choose to extend Piaget’s theory to include thought. Again, your textbook should be the main source for this information. The section should begin with a heading that identifies the theory. Explain how knowledge of the theory would be applied by the professional in their work with an individual (patient, client, student, etc.) who is in the same period of development and who is experiencing the issue/topic previously described. If you applied one of these theories in the second section (period of development), you will apply a different theory
Example: A student might select occupational therapist as a career and early childhood as the developmental period. She might select autism as a specific topic. She could explain how Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological theory might be applied to address a child’s needs in multiple settings using this theory. Another student might select child welfare worker as a career and child maltreatment as a topic. He would select any one of the developmental periods in which child maltreatment could be experienced. If Erickson’s theory were selected as the theory and applied to the child in middle/late childhood, the student would explain how his knowledge about the Industry vs. Inferiority stage could help to inform how he works with the child, the factors he might pay attention to, or ways he might choose to intervene to help the child be most successful.
