Description:
The focus of reading and discussion in EDAT 6115 this week was on cognitive development. Each student develops differently and at different rates. In order to be an effective teacher, we must be able to recognize how students think and develop and understand how they view the world around them.
Analyze:
Development can be defined as how people grow and change throughout their life based on experiences. Each student a teacher interacts with thinks differently and develops at different rates. Slavin (2018) argues, “One of the first requirements of effective teaching is that you understand how students think and how they view the world” (Slavin, p.23). Through our discussion post this week, my classmates reflected on what they believe makes them an effective teacher. A few answers that seemed to be repeated over and over were effective teachers have strong classroom management skills, utilize self-assessment for their students and themselves, wants to see students grow, builds rapport and relationships, and creates a positive learning environment for their students.
Based on the readings from Slavin and from the class discussion, it is clear that in order to become an effective teacher, educators must take into account their students’ development (Slavin, 2018, p.23). Within the topic of development, there are two issues that arise: nature-nurture and continuous theories. Nature-nurture is the idea that development is predetermined at birth and are linked to a child’s genetics. So how can we, as educators, change the development if it is viewed in this way? Slavin (2018) comes to the conclusion, “For educators, the key point is that while nothing can be done about a child’s genes, a great deal can be done about his or her environment to build skill, motivation, and self-confidence” (Slavin, p.24). The second issue is based on the continuous theories of development, which is where children develop based on experiences.
How do educators know how to view development? Is there theory and research to help us draw our own conclusions? There are two theorists, Piaget and Vygotsky, that have strong views and beliefs regarding cognitive development. Piaget strongly believes that development depends on what is going on in the child’s environment. In addition, children progress through four stages of development: sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7), concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11), and formal operational stage (age 11 to adulthood) (Slavin, 2018, pp. 26-29). Based on Piaget’s theory, development is fixed, and concepts must be learned within the stages that were predetermined by Piaget. In contrast, Vygotsky believed that development was determined by experiences and input from others (Slavin, 2018, p. 33). Slavin (2018) stated, “Development occurs as the child internalizes these signs so as to be able to think and solve problems without the help of others, and ability called self-regulation” (Slavin, p.33). Vygotsky utilized several strategies in order to produce development within children, such as private speech, the zone of proximal development, mediation, scaffolding, and cooperative learning (Slavin, 2018, p.34).
Once teachers know how students develop and make a decision on how their students are going to develop and grow, they can lead their students in the right direction. Slavin suggests that teachers need to be intentional in order to make instructional decisions for their students (Slavin, 2018, p. 41). Teachers can be intentional by being aware of what their students know and can do, assess their students thinking processes, modify their instruction, give opportunities to practice problem-solving, know about their students’ backgrounds and cultures, and get families involved.
Reflection:
As a second-year teacher, I am still learning about development and how it affects my students. In college, I recall reading about Piaget and Vygotsky and I remember them being “buzz words” I utilized in my interview process because I thought they sounded like I knew what I was talking about! Currently, the concept of cognitive development means that students are growing through real-world experiences inside and outside of the classroom setting. In my opinion, my views on the concept are more aligned with Vygotsky.
My school currently focuses on student growth and development through teaching questioning skills. Through reading about Vygotsky, there are several strategies I would like to implement in my classroom in order to become a better teacher. One concept I learned more about was scaffolding. I think that if I utilized scaffolding within my teaching of questioning skills, I would reach more students, especially my students that struggle with broad concepts such as questioning.
Our class discussion this week was on our views of effective teachers. As I read through the posts and comments, I was able to self-reflect on my past two years of teaching. I reflected on the number of real-world experiences I gave my students last year (which wasn’t many), to this year, where I am currently conducting my third PBL project this school year! The discussion post causes me to analyze my current teaching methods, strategies, and general things I find important to me, as a teacher. The discussion post also confirmed my beliefs about effective teachers and my views that an effective teacher is someone who is able to help students grow. Lastly, I think that in order for our students to develop, we must leave room in our content heavy classrooms for teachable moments and life skills.
Reference
Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational
psychology: Theory and practice (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education.
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