Month: February 2017

As teachers, understanding how the children we teach develop is paramount.  If we don’t know what stage a child is at, we cannot appropriately mold a curriculum around that child.  Depending upon where the child is developmentally, they may not understand what we’re talking about or think we’re talking down to them.  There may also be some factors outside of school that contributes to a child’s development that could affect their behavior or learning capacity in the classroom.  Understanding some of these factors can help teachers maximize the amount of learning each child achieves.

There are four main theories on childhood development.

The first was developed by Jean Piaget.  He stated that children go through four main stages of development: the Sensorimotor stage, the Pre-Operational stage, the Concrete Operational stage, and the Formal-Operational stage.  The Sensorimotor stage occurs as infants when we learn best through our senses, usually by sticking things in our mouth, yummy!  The Pre-Operational stage comes next as toddlers when we’re more used to walking and start talking.  Next is the Concrete Operational stage, usually in elementary school, where we start thinking with a little logic.  Finally the Formal-Operational stage occurs during middle school and beyond and sees us using sound logical reasoning.  Piaget’s model very consistent and coherent but lacks other factors like culture and social groups (Woolfolk, 2014, p. 51).

The second theory of development was developed by Lev Vygotsky.  Vygotsky came up with a socio-cultural theory and believed in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).  The ZPD can best be described as the set of tasks a child can perform with help from others but cannot do independently.  By working with others, the child can learn how to do these things independently.  Vygotsky’s model relies on whatever type of social context the child is in but is ultimately a little vague due to Vygotsky passing away before he could further develop his theory (Woolfolk, 2014, p. 67).

Thirdly, Erik Erikson developed the stages of Psycho-social Development.  Each stage, there are eight, relies on a child making a decision between two clashing ideas (Woolfolk, 2014, p. 102).  For instance, teenagers often wrestle with identity or role confusion.  You often see teenagers go through this stage when the clothes they wear changes, maybe they get tattoos or a piercing, they join a team or organization, they openly admit to being gay or get their first boyfriend/girlfriend.  Erikson’s model goes further in depth than any of the developmental theories that came before it.

Finally, the last developmental theory came from the mind of Urie Bronfrenbrenner.  He set up an ecological model of development (Woolfolk, 2014, p. 87).  Each child is affected by systems of the world around them.  Microsystems are everyday interactions like home life and school.  Mesosystems are the interactions between those microsystems, for instance a PTA meeting to determine the direction of a school.  Exosystems are indirect interactions for the child; this is best shown as how a child is affected when a parent is away from home on business.  Lastly, macrosystems are interactions that are out of the child’s control.  For instance, the government passing an education bill that determines what is taught in the child’s school.

The role of teachers is just one of the big contributors to a child’s development.  Parents also play a huge role in what and how their kid learns.  Parents may have a particular subject they enjoy and try to pass that enjoyment onto their children.  I know that my father really enjoys studying history.  As a result, a lot of our family vacations were to historically significant places (Gettysburg, Breed’s Hill, Fort Sumter).  Parents are also there to help and act as a stand in for the teacher during non-school hours.  I often went to my parents when I had a questions on homework.  The only caveat to parental help is for parents to use a light touch.  If you help your kid too much they may become reliant on you for answers and may not learn anything at all.

Parental styles also play a big role in development.  Depending upon how strict or lenient a parent is could have drastic affects on the type of structure the child receives.  If the parent is too authoritarian, the kid may act out against their parent and any authoritative figures as an act of rebellion.  On the other hand, if the parent is too lax, the kid may becomes lazy or not develop properly.  This dichotomy of parenting is best seen in the American Dad episode Son of Stan.  In the episode, Stan (who is authoritative) has Steve cloned for the purposes of proving his parenting style is better than Francine’s (who is permissive).  Both styles on their own fail because Francine’s Steve (who is the actual Steve not the clone) becomes lazy, unmotivated, and abusive towards his mother.  Stan’s Steve (the clone) has a psychotic break and starts killing cats and carrying them around.  Whoa that got dark fast!  Now I’m not saying that if you’re strict with your kids that they’ll become psychopaths but it takes a light touch and combination of parenting styles to properly develop a child.

References:

• Woolfolk, Anita. (2014). Educational Psychology: Active Learning Edition, 12th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education Inc.

Teaching a wide variety of students is a difficult task for a teacher.  The teacher may not realize or understand the different ways in which children learn, and that could cost the child’s ability to keep up in class.  To help counteract this, teachers can integrate research about students and teaching techniques so that they give each student the ability to learn to his or her maximum potential.

On the most basic level, teachers can use tests scores to figure out which children are excelling in a particular subject and which need more of the teacher’s attention to catch up.  Teachers could also look at research about teaching techniques to try and figure out which would work best in their classroom.  Perhaps the research says that children need social interaction to help foster learning, that might mean that teachers should focus on group work for students.  The research might also say that students learn better when technology is introduced.  That might trigger a shift towards incorporating videos and educational games into the classroom.  The research that teachers use is very helpful but whether or not the teacher uses it will ultimately depend on the “feel” the teacher gets from each particular class.

On the other hand, teachers can work with researchers to further advance research on education.  A teacher has their own mini test field in front of them each day.  The teacher could use their students as subjects for research and collaborate with researchers on their findings.

The ties between research and teaching are becoming more and more intertwined.  When I eventually start teaching, I’ll have to spend a large chunk of my time reading research and figuring out ways to incorporate it into my classroom.  The amount of research I integrate into my classroom will also depend upon each class.  Each class is different and the research may apply to one class better than another.

Research can also show which techniques may be outdated or wasteful within a classroom.  One recent trend in educational research is debating the validity of homework.  Some research says that homework doesn’t do much with regards to student learning while more traditional teachers still feel that it’s an important part of the schooling experience.  I feel that homework should be utilized like many other things in life, with moderation.

The homework that we assign as teachers needs to be meaningful.  If we assign worksheets, problems, and other homework children would consider “busy work”, children may miss the point of the homework and complete it just to get it over with (Farrow, Tymms, & Henderson, 1999, pg. 323).  On the other hand, if we assign too much homework, children may feel overloaded and either partially complete assignments or not attempt to do them.  Studies have shown that the longer children spend on homework, the worse they do in overall academic achievement (Maltese, Tai, & Xitao, 2012, pg. 68).  As teachers, we need to find an equilibrium between too much and too little homework while keeping the content meaningful for children.

Teachers can also utilize parents when it comes to homework.  Teachers are the ultimate tool for learning inside of the classroom, but parents can also be a useful resource outside of the classroom.  The children who’s parents are active in their education often times do better in school than those who don’t (Rudman, 2014, pg. 19).  The parents may show kids material from a different perspective, explain it in a simpler language, or give their child confidence they need to accomplish the assignment.  Some also argue against homework, saying that it’s actually an intrusion upon family life (Kralovec, 2007, pg. 5).  I disagree, homework could be a tool that could help families come together under a common goal.  The parents could use it to catch up with their kids and see what’s going on in their children’s lives.  The children could use it not only to get their homework done but to connect with their parents and realize that asking for help is not a bad thing.

If we figure out a way to use homework in moderation, we could use it as an important tool in children’s education that could positively affect a child’s life both inside and outside the classroom.

References:

• Farrow, S., Tymms, P., & Henderson, B. (1999). Homework and attainment in primary schools. British Educational Research Journal, 25(3), 323.
• Kralovec, E. (2007). A brief history of homework. Encounter, 20(4), 4-5.
• Maltese, A. V., Tai, R. H., & Xitao, F. (2012). When is homework worth the time? Evaluating the association between homework and achievement in high school science and math. High School Journal, 96(1), 52-72.
• Rudman, N. C. (2014). A review of homework literature as a precursor to practitioner-led doctoral research in a primary school. Research In Education, 91(1), 12-29.