Introduction

Each individual will experience growth and development of the physical, social ,
cognitive, and emotional since birth to childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age
(Santrock, 2014). Human physical development is often determined by genes and
environmental factors. Each individual is also experiencing growth and development
that involves the changes in the shape, mental abilities and personality.
Growth intends the aspects of changes in the body weight that a person can be
measured quantitatively. Rahil (2008) said that quantitative changes are the changes
that we may consider it as easily measurable and predictable. Height and weight are
an example for quantitative changes. Changes in persons weight and height should be
measured so that it can be predicted with high accuracy through several series of
systematic observation and measurement. Woodfolk and Margetts (2007) also
characterizes growth as the changes in size and maturity.
The development can be defined as a change in behavior that is structured
and organized. All changes in this development will help the individual in the process of
reaching maturity. The development is a qualitative change that cannot be measured
quantitatively. The development also is a change in structure, opinion and behavior of
individuals. It is formed from the result of biological function, nutritional factors and
environmental influences. The development is also a qualitative change but it can be
seen by comparing the previous and the formed behaviour.
The process of growth and development occurs in a situation of
interdependence and it include changes in physical, cognitive, emotional, and social .
Physical development refers to the growth of the size of the body and organs which are
function of the physical system and fine motor coordination skills and complex. An
individual from an infant to adult size before shrinking back when the body begins to go
through the process of aging.
In conclusion, human formation is the result of a parent cell fertilization that
will grow into a fetus in the womb for nine months before he was born. Next, the baby
will change gradually into a kid who then grew into adulthood. This is called the
process of growth and development.

Self-biography about my development from birth to early adolescence related

with the appropriate theory of development.
My name is Vikneswaran A/L Adaikan and I am the eldest son of the couples
who are Adaikan A/L Suppiah and Savithiri A/P Mohamed. I was born on 22 September
1997 in General Hospital which is located in Malacca. I grew up in Jasin which is also
located in Malacca. I was cared and raised by my parents very well. Like others, I also
have gone through the process of growth and development in physical, social,
cognitive and emotional aspect.
According to Robert Havighurst theory, child development are very much
influenced by the environment. For example, my weight is 2.5 kg at birth then has been
increased to 13 kg when I was 3 years old, 30 kg when I was 12 years old and 70 kg
when I was 15 years old. My height has also been amended. When I was born my
height is 48.50 cm, then 97 cm when I was 3 years old, 145 when I was 12 years old
and 167 cm when I was 15 years old. This is because my body has grown at a rate that
varies according to factors such as environment and diet factors.
In addition, he also said in his theory that the tasks of the development of
children in middle and late childhood (7-11 years) are the physical form of the game.
Currently, children are more likely to play or engage in an activity that is more energetic
because children are very active at this point. For example, I love cycling and I will be
cycling in the afternoon every day. I also play badminton everyday with my neighbours.
Subsequently, cognitive development. Cognitive development refers to the
development of mental maturity that involves mental activity such as intellectual ability
and information processing and the development of speech and language acquisition
(Martorell et al . , 2014 ; Morrison , 2012). By holistic, cognitive development can also
be defined as the process of improving the ability of the mind, knowledge and intellect
of a child.
Moreover, at age of 2 to 7 years old, I like to watch some cartoons like
Doraemon, Digimon, Power Rangers, Pokemon and so on. I thought that my parents
also like the series of cartoons. It is said that at this stage, children will indicate the
nature of egocentric as they see and understand the environment through their own
perspective. Children think that everyone has their own interests, perspectives, feelings
and reactions.
In the behaviorist theory of language acquisition, B.F.Skinner stated that
mastery of the language is the result of individual interactions with their environment.
Skinner (1957) and Owen (2008), consider learning the language as verbal behavior.
For example, I can speak English fluently and confidently when I communicate with

English teachers and friends who are from different nations. So, it is clear that the
dominance of my English was influenced by the environment.
In the nativist theory of language acquisition, since the birth, children have no
desire to understand the world. Chomsky (1957) pointed out that every individual has
genetically programmed to acquire language. For example, I have mastered the Tamil
language proficiently as it is my mother tongue and many people in my surroundings
use Tamil language as a spoken language and communication.
Apart from that, emotional development. Emotion is a psychological element
that is experienced by all individuals of all ages. Martorell et al. (2014) and Bee & Boyd
(2010) said that emotions refers to the ability of children to show certain reactions to
things, people or situations and emotional response which reflects one's feelings at the
time. For example, the emotion that evolved in myself is empathy. I always helped my
friends who are in trouble as it helps them in their studies and to buy or share a meal
with them. According to Eisenberg & Fabes (1998), the development of empathy
depends on the intellectual and language development. This development is also
supported by the personality and the social experience of children. Children in
preschool who prefer socializing and proficient in controlling emotions tend to be more
empathetic.
Fourthly, social development. Social development is the ability of the child to
interact with others (Suppiah et al., 2008). Social development in the world of children
is more focused on the relationship of friendship and get a friend to play either in
school or outside the school environment. In Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial
development, he describes human social development as a feature of which consists of
eight levels and each level contains conflicting tendencies or desires.
One of them is the effort versus inferiority. At this stage, children will be at risk
of low self-esteem if unsuccessful or incompetent on something. For example, I used to
have an inferiority complex when I'm not proficient in mathematics when I was in
primary school. This has made me feel low self-esteem and lack of confidence in
myself because all my friends are very well-skilled in mathematics. But, I've tried to
fight the feeling of inferiority by seeking guidance from my math teacher until I got an A
in the subject.
In a nutshell, every human being will experience the changes in development
and growth in the aspects of physical, cognitive, emotional and social. I have also been
through all these aspects according to each stage. In this case, parents, teachers,
siblings have helped me directly and indirectly in the process of development and
growth of me so far. Furthermore, genetic factors and environments interplay helped
my growth and development too.

Factors that influence the development of myself

A childs development comprises two aspects or main factors which are gene
factor (nurture) and environmental factors. The gene factor is a genetic element that
affects the family and relatives which is inherited from parents to a child who has
specific characteristics and benefits. The rate of change and psychomotor abilities in
myself are influenced by genetics. My mom and dad have started running at the age of
8 months, so that is the reason I also started walking at 8 months. My height also
influenced by the genetics factor where I am tall like my father since I was studying in
primary school. Another example that I inherited from my mother is my cheeks that
looks chubby. Besides that, based on biological factors, I inherited my parents attitude
which are being gentle and patient. In my opinion for physical development of myself,
the genetics factors is more dominant compared to environmental factors. This is due
to genetics plays a very important role in determining the physical characteristics of a
child. For example I inherit the hair color, eye color, height and appearance of my
parents.
Furthermore, environmental factor is an aspect which will be a lesson or an
example about things that are new to the child. Environmental factors also play a
crucial role in developing my gross motor skills. The curiosity and the sense of want to
try in myself helped me to develop the gross motor skills from the environment .For
instance, when I was a child, I begin to imitate my cousins who are older than me to
walk and run. Moreover, the positive school environment also helped in the
development of socio-emotional inside me. It influenced me a lot in achieving the goal
of human being as a visionary person who wants to help and contribute back to the
community. When I was in secondary school, I was always humility and give up but
now I can handle it and become strong and positive thinker. This is due to the influence
of my peers who are Pramila, Selvalazi and Tharani. Then, I also a very lazy person
when I was studying in primary school. Because of this attitude, I always get the lowest
marks in certain exams. So, one of my best friend named Chatiya Banu helped me to
get rid of my laziness and she thought me how to study smart for the exams. After that,
my results were flying colours. On the other hand, I learnt to play badminton from my
cousins. Now, I can play very well like them. All said and done, the development of
cognitive, language, socio-emotional are influenced by the environmental factors which
are more dominant in shaping myself.

The importance of good child development with students aspiration as in

Malaysia Education Blueprint (PPPM) in order to compete globally.
A good child development should be seen from various aspects such as
physical, cognitive, emotional and social. This is because the development of many
children can contribute to the advancement of the education system that can compete
globally. In the Malaysia Education Blueprint, there are six major aspirations to be
possessed by a pupil at the present time. Therefore, I also tried to have some of these
aspirations in my life.
The first aspiration is knowledge. According to the blueprint, every child needs
to master the skills of literacy and numeracy. They are also encouraged to increase
their knowledge and skills in other areas such as art, music and sports. In line with
these aspirations, I have extended my skills in the art of drawing. I have participated in
drawing and colouring competitions which were organised in both primary and
secondary schools. I proudly agree that I became the winner of the competitions. I can
draw and colour very well. Besides that, I also have some knowledge in baking cakes. I
love to bake cakes and I learn this knowledge from my mother. Then, I improved it by
baking cakes by myself without expecting others.
Apart from that, thinking skills are the second aspiration. I have improved my
thinking skills since I was studying in kindergarten. The syllabus in primary and
secondary schools improve my thinking skills a lot in terms of cognitive, evaluating, and
reasoning. I improve my thinking skills via reading a lot of general knowledge books in
home. I also participated in robotics competition to improve my innovative thinking
skills. According to the blueprint, every child will learn how to continue acquiring
knowledge throughout their lives, to be able to connect different pieces of knowledge.
Every child will master a range of crucial cognitive skills, including problem-solving,
reasoning, innovation and creative thinking.
The third aspiration is leadership skills. In primary school, I was the Vice
President of Resource Centre for two years and school prefect for one year. Besides
that, I also became the President of English Club and Vice President of the Chess Club
when I was studying standard six. In secondary school, I hold the position of class
monitor for one year when I was in Form four. I also have been appointed as Chairman
of the Tamil language Club because of my dedication and leadership. Furthermore, I
served as the secretary of PBSM in my school for a year. These positions have
improved leadership skills and sense of responsibility in me. According to the blueprint,
the education system will help each student reach their full potential by creating
opportunities for formal and informal, work in teams and practice leadership skills. In
accordance with the blueprint, I have reached my potential with these leadership skills.
I still have to improve these skills so that I can reach the full potential.
6

The fourth aspiration is bilingual skill. Frankly speaking, I am very interested

in studying a language. I've got the best students in the subjects of English and Malay
as I was in year 4 at elementary school. I also took part in the "story telling competition"
in English which was organised in my primary school. I also participated in choral
speaking competition in English. In secondary school, I have been participated in public
speaking competition in Malay. Although I am not very expert in these competitions, I
still participated just to improve my bilingual skills and not expecting the prizes. By
doing so, I able to master Malay and English language and it is very useful for me in
the future. According to the blueprint, each student must master the Malay language
which is the national language and English as a language of international language. I
need to improve my bilingual skills by practice reading and continue to engage in
competitions organized in that language. By this, I able to speak Bahasa Malaysia and
English fluently and confidently with other people.
Conclusion
All said and done, each individuals physical development depends on each
other, in terms of development and growth of the body with the cognitive, social and
emotional of an individual. There are some certain level in the development of children,
which are the development of the prenatal, infant, children up to adolescence. Based
on the physical, cognitive and social and emotional aspect among children, generally
we can know the processes of development and growth as well as the behaviour of
children by increasing the level of their age. Furthermore, environmental factors and
genetic factors or family pedigree is also an important issue in the development of
children. Every child in our country should follow the students aspiration so that they
can feel the good development in themselves in order to compete globally.