Essay: Different Perspectives on Human Development and Learning This assessment requires you to: Compare and contrast one Māori and one Western view of human development and learning. Make connections...

Running Head: Human Development and Learning     1
Human Development and Learning         
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Comparison and Contrast between Māori and Western View of Human Development and Learning    3
Te Whāriki: The Early Childhood Curriculum    5
Connections to Tātaiako    7
Influence on Practice as a Teacher    9
Conclusion    10
References    11
Introduction
    Human development and learning is aimed at advancing human well being. It is all about improving the richness of the lives that human beings live. Human development and learning focuses on processes that are capable enough to enlarge the freedom of people and thrives to grab the opportunities for the well being of the people. In the opinion of Kail & Cavanaugh (2018) several human development and learning theories have evolved over time that helps to understand human development and human learning based on lifespan of human beings including physical, emotional, social and cognitive development.
The learning abilities and behaviours of human beings are closely coupled with each other. As suggested by Domjan (2018) development and learning of human beings is interrelated as humans learn and process the information to improve their living standard. The essay compares and contrasts between one Māori and one western view of human development and learning. The essay will also shed some light on the connections of different perspectives and their reflection in Te Whariki: The Early Childhood Curriculum. Connections with Tataiako will also be highlighted in the essay.
Comparison and Contrast between Māori and Western View of Human Development and Learning
    The people in the society we live in are becoming more and more curious to gather facts about human psychology. A Māori view of human development explores different concepts associated with Māori human development and learning. This theory considers a pathway to the staircase of learning. The theory considers learning to be a journey up the staircase of knowledge (Fickel, Abbiss, Brown & Astall, 2018). Each stage of learning and development is represented by each step up the staircase. The theory also symbolises that staircase never end and so is the process of learning and therefore coming to a conclusion that process of learning is a continuous process. Whare tapu wha is a well known Māori model of education. This model is based on four cornerstones that are compared to the four walls of the house mandatory for symmetry and strength (Veer, Golf Papez & Zahrai, 2019). These four sides are identified as whānau (family health) tinana (physical health) hinengaro (mental health) and wairua (spiritual health). Another well known theory of western development id given by Jean Piaget and is popularly known as the theory of cognitive development. It is a comprehensive theory given by a Swiss developmental psychologist and is all about the nature and development of human intelligence. When this theory is to be compared with Jean Piaget’s theory of western development, which highlights the nature and development of human intelligence it can be inferred that Whare tapu wha view is dependent on acquiring the knowledge from a holistic perspective of development whereas the western view focuses on both acquiring knowledge and understanding the development of human intelligence. While the Whare tapu wha view considers education to be based on four sides, Piaget’s theory focuses on the nature of knowledge itself and how humans grab and use this knowledge over a span of life (Meadows, 2017).
Particularly talking about New Zealand there are Māori views of childhood and, family life and the changes a human encounters during the course of his life (Manning, 2019). Whare tapu wha highlights that people work together by supporting each other and relying on each other as they move up the staircase of learning. The theory focuses on the physical, spiritual, social and mental well being of the learners. It’s based on the fact that it is important to think about the learners from a more holistic point of view. The theory believes that learners are like Whare and therefore should be strong in each of the four dimensions. On the contrary, the Jean Piaget’s western theory of human development and learning is based on the progress of human beings through four developmental stages (Lefrancois, 2019). These four periods have been identified as sensorimotor stage extending from birth to acquisition of language, pre-operational stage extending from two years to seven years, the concrete operational stage also known as the middle childhood or the preadolescence stage and the final stage, the formal operational stage extending from adolescence to adulthood.
Fig 1: Whare tapu wha Theory
Te Whāriki: The Early Childhood Curriculum
    This curriculum is a national curriculum document dedicated for early childhood education. The curriculum is made mandatory by the government of New...