Reflective Journal #1
Description:
The focus of the readings this week was on the cognitive, language and literacy development of children. As teachers, it is important to understand how our students develop so that we may tailor our instruction accordingly. Intentional teachers must use what they know about development to make decisions about their instruction that allow their students to be successful.
Analysis:
It is no secret that during the time students spend in the childhood, preteen and teenage years lots of changes take place. These changes can be seen in a physical form most obviously, but many changes also occur in the way in which the brain is developing as well. Two leading theorists ,Piaget and Vygotsky, charted this idea of human development many years ago and their theories still remain prevalent to this day.
The first theorist, Jean Piaget, “the most influential developmental psychologist in the history of psychology” believed that “cognitive development’ occurred over time (Slavin, 2015, p. 30). He “believed that all children are born with an innate tendency to interact with and make sense of their environment” and called this, “pattern of thinking a scheme” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 31). As children and adults, we use our schemes to help us understand something new that we may have never done or seen before. We learn to “assimilate” and “accommodate” to new things by relying on previous ideas or interactions that we have had (Slavin, 2015, pg. 31).
Piaget further divided the process of development into four clear stages that can be grouped by a child’s age. He clarified that all children must go through each stage but they may pass through them at different rates. The first stage is seen between birth and two years of age and is called the sensorimotor stage (Slavin, 2015, pg. 32). In this stage, children, “explore the world using their senses and motor skills” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 32). As a child progresses towards the end of this stage they advance to a “more planned approach to problem solving” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 33). The second stage that is seen in Piaget’s theory of development is the preoperational stage which takes children from age two-seven (Slavin, 2015, pg. 33). During this stage, children understand more and are able to think more for themselves but still focus their thoughts very narrowly. Children in this stage have a very “egocentric” view of the world in that they believe everyone “sees the world exactly as they do” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 33). Piaget’s third stage is the concrete operational stage from ages seven to eleven. In this stage, children are able to take on a broader approach to their thinking. They can, “form concepts, see relationships and solve problems” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 34).
The final of Piaget’s stages is the formal operational stage from years eleven into adulthood (Slavin, 2015, pg. 35). In this stage, children are “able to deal with potential or hypothetical situations” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 35). This is important because teens and adults will encounter situations in which they need this level of reasoning to make decisions for themselves. Though Piaget’s four stages of development are quite influential there have been some criticism to his ideas. The main criticism stems from the fact some children can learn the concepts of the stages earlier than the ages represented in each stage.
In addition to Piaget, the other leading theorist to provide significant contributions to developmental psychology is Lee Semionovich Vygotsky. Vygotsky developed his theories around “two key ideas” which included that “intellectual development can be understood only in terms of the historical and cultural contexts children experience” and that, “development depends on the sign systems or symbols that come from an individual’s culture that they grow up in” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 39) . Vygotsky did not divide his ideas of development around a certain age or stage like Piaget but rather believed that “development precedes learning” or that you must reach a certain developmental milestone before you can learn (Slavin, 2015, pg. 39). Vygotsky believed that children can only learn once they have observed or been taught information from others. Some of the leading ideas he proposed surrounded the idea of “private speech” when “children incorporate the speech of others and then use that speech for themselves” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 39). He also believed that, “children learn most effectively when they are in their zone of proximal development” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 39). He also put forth the thought that children develop, “complex skills such as reasoning and problem solving via mediation with adults and higher-performing peers” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 39). Probably the biggest contribution to education psychology that Vygotsky made is the concept of “scaffolding” and “cooperative learning” which allow for learning to take place with the help of teachers and peers in a more step by step process (Slavin, 2015, pg. 40). Both of these concepts are highly used today in the education world.
In addition to cognitive development, language and literacy are are also important development concepts that take time and practice. Children begin learning to speak by listening to their parents. During their first year of life they may say, “one-word utterances such as “bye-bye” and “Mommy”” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 41). When it comes to reading, development occurs in much the same way as language. Children learn through exposure and practice. Children who are exposed to reading at an early age, begin reading independently earlier than those who are not. During the secondary years, “language and literacy develop at a rapid rate” with students, “adding over 3,000 words each year to his or her vocabulary” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 45). Students must be exposed to new word each year so that their vocabulary and reading skills can develop. The intentional teacher “is aware of what the children they teach are able to do now and the next steps in their development, gives students opportunities to work with peers and solve complex, practical problems and modify their instruction if they find that it is not challenging their students to make conceptual growth” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 46).
Reflection:
When it comes to cognitive development, I can see how both Piaget and Vygotsky's theories have merit and practical application when working with students. Piaget’s age grouping does hold true when looking at the different stages children go through. However, when looking at my high school students there are many developmental differences in cognition and maturity from grade 9 to 12. I therefore understand the criticisms of Piaget's theory in saying that student's do not all move through the same stages at the exact same time. Also, motivation and experience play a large role into how student's will perform in your classroom.
Vygotsky’s theories seem to be more practical to apply when it comes to cognitive development. Personally, I use mediation, scaffolding, and cooperative learning everyday in my classroom. I believe students learn best when you model for them what you would like for them to do and break it down in steps. They also seem to enjoy and learn from working in cooperative groups where students with higher abilities can help to reteach concepts they may have not obtained from me as the teacher.
As an English teacher, language and literacy are my primary focus daily. When I first get my rosters for a new year, I look at my student's current Lexile level. Based on the number, I know where my students are currently in regards to literacy. I then adapt and differentiate the content to fit the needs of each learner in my room. One of the techniques that I use to do this is a site called Newsela which presents reading content to your students at their Lexile level. This makes differentiation easy and personalized.
In regards to language development, at our school, we use Sadlier-Oxford vocabulary books and expose students to 20 new words each week in each grade level. We found that when we did not any form of vocabulary practice beyond the typical literary elements found in ELA, students were not scoring well on their SAT/ACT exams because they did not receive the exposure to new words that they needed. If a student is truly supposed to learn 3,000 new words each year then we as teachers need to do our part to help expose them to these words.
Overall, my role as an intentional teacher means that I need to make sure I'm giving students opportunities to develop cognitively. I must recognize where they are when they enter my classroom and where they need to be when they leave. I must also give them opportunities to learn from their peers who may understand concepts better than they do and can help them understand the content. In addition, I must modify or differentiate the content to meet the differing cognitive, language and literacy levels of each of my students. Meeting the needs of all of my students is a tall order but through intentional teaching and practice it can be accomplished.
Reference
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