Unit 301 Diploma

1.2 These are the ways in which I think best explain the differences in the sequence of development and the rate of development.  Sequence of development refers to order, and is a process where an event is followed one after the other and achieves a level of succession. Do things develop in an order and what is it?  Do they develop one after another and/or is there a pattern to this?  Rate of development refers to speed.  How quickly does something change or grow and can the speed differentiate in different people? Both the sequence and the rate play an important part in the overall development. 
Cognitive development serves as a great example. Cognitive development is a theory made by Jean Piaget about the origins and development of human intelligence. From the birth of a child to the moment the child starts to talk, the child will go through different stages of development and at different rates. At first a baby will start to learn simple reflexes by exploring new objects through the means of touching and seeing, over an average period of six weeks. At the end of the six weeks, or sooner or later depending on the baby (this is an example of rate of development), the baby's hands will automatically grab whatever it is place in its hand. Once the simple reflexes have been developed the baby will go into another stage of development where it develops primary reactions, and after once it has accomplished it over a certain period, it will move on to yet another stage of development and so on. This is an example of sequence of development as most babies will follow a similar pattern of development, and these stages are known as sequences. 
The importance of the rate and sequence is in knowing how each has its own part to play in identifying the accomplishments of a child, what milestones have been reached and when, they enable charting of a child or young person's development to happen and provide a structure or picture that can measure where a child might be in...