Paper on the Movie: The Little Rascals

1.  Choose one of the characters from the movie and complete the matrix below:

I chose the character of: ALFA-ALFA

Name of Character: / Mental Development / Personal and Social Development / Moral Development
Personality Traits: / ·  Concrete Operational Stage / ·  Initiative vs. guilt / ·  Pre-conventional Morality
Actions/ behavior seen in the movie that reflected traits of a specific developmental stage / ·  He was adult like but he has a little realization of consequences of his actions. In his actions and in his courtship with Darla he was trying to be adult-like such as the date that he has planned at their bunkhouse.
·  Despite the He-Man woman Haters Club’s creed, he recognized his own thoughts and feelings and pursued Darla.
·  During the program for the fund raising, Alfa-alfa was searching for himself on how he can win back Darla, as Darla was singing the song they are suppose to be singing together, with Waldo. / ·  Alfa-alfa was trying to assert control and power over his friends even if the later are not agreeing to his plan to continue the relationship with Darla.
·  His goal to win Darla was very evident. Even he knows that his friends will not agree with him as he violates the code of their “gang” and even if he will be disliked by friends we still pursued his objective. In this case he shows the sense of purpose. / ·  He made a decision based on what is best for himself. By pursuing Darla, he had little regards to the feelings of his friends.
·  He disobeyed the rules of their group and even took Darla at their bunkhouse for a date. Although he was facing a predicament on hi feelings for Darla he still pursued it.

2.  If you will be the teacher of this child:

a.  What should you do to address the needs, strengths, and weaknesses of this child? (address the three domains of development)

The movie, Little Rascals, gave us a sneak preview of the different characteristics and traits of children. I personally find the movie interesting as it reflected reality of the development of a child. The different characters showcased different scenarios and although physically almost all of the characters are developing based on what is expected to develop at their age, their emotional as well as social developments vary. I chose Alfa-alfa as I find his character interesting. I believe he is between 9-12 years old and his character is colorful as he projected to be torn between being a grown up and being a child at the same time.

The movie gave me an idea that raising a child is difficult and the same dilemma will be faced by any teacher. I personally believe that there is no definitive approach for a child, thus, in dealing with a child we have to understand holistically his being a child and a student in class. In the case of Alfa-alfa, to address his Physical development, I will allow him to have playtime to develop his psychomotor skills. In the movie it was implied that he was good with cars, I think to give him exercises or activities related to it will also develop his cognitive capacity. His waterloo is on the emotional aspect of his development, although he had friends, rational decision was lacking from his end. He violated their code among friends and he even lied to his friends just to pursue his desire to establish a relationship with Darla. If I will be his teacher, I will ask him to put himself to the shoes of his friends whom he lied too and in one way was cheated by him. I will show to him the consequences of ruined friendships brought about by lies and wrong decisions.

b.  What learning environment will you prepare for this child?

A good learning environment for Alfa-alfa will be in a group similar to his age and with diverse members (some his friends and others are strangers to him and both male and female). Being with same age bracket will encourage him to run around, explore and have fun just like how they did in the movie. This will allow the child to develop physically and encourage curiosity. A combination of sex (male and female) in class will also be healthy for them to eliminate stigma and stereotypes that was the cause of misunderstanding and rift in the movie. I believe proper exposure coupled with explanation will help him develop to become a better person socially and morally.

Submitted by:

Mildred Megarbio-Estanda

Student