Determinants of Development in Childhood from an Integral Education Perspective

Introduction: The childhood period is characterised not only by robust quantitative and qualitative developmental dynamics, but also by significant vulnerability to disintegrating factors. Research Aim: The aim of this paper was to present an “intellectual tool” for an integral understanding of development (the cognitive aspect) and its stimulation (the practical aspect) during childhood, while identifying opportunities and risks associated with this stage of life. Evidence-based Facts: The text presents an intellectual tool – Ken Wilber’s 4 quadrants model. It can be used to recognise the area of disintegration in the upbringing process (the cognitive aspect), but also to design integrative activities (the practical aspect). The authors discuss the problems of coherence between interior-oriented and exterior-oriented, as well as between individual-oriented and community-oriented approaches to an individual. Furthermore, they present the problematic of integrating civilisation and nature, culturalism and naturalism, direct and mediated experience, and inner and outer consciousness. Summary: The presented article analyses issues related to one of the strategies included in the integral approach: the strategy of coherence. More broadly, it should be supported by a strategy of accessibility based on knowledge of theories of human development. These theories distinguish stages of development characterised by different increasingly complex competencies in terms of grasping reality.