Module 1 Chapters 1-3

For week 1, we were assigned to read three chapters from Educational Psychology. Chapter 1 covered Learning, Teaching, and Educational Psychology, Chapter 2 covered Cognitive Development, and Chapter 3 covered the self, Social, and Moral Development. Each chapter focused on the critical thinking about the essential features of effective teaching and what makes a good teacher (pg. 7), the implications of Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories for teaching (pg. 63), and the development through childhood and adolescences (pg. 74).

In chapter 1, it was important to note how classrooms look like today. I found these statistics remarkable because it is completely different from when I was in elementary school. I found interested where it states “By 2044, there will be no majority race or ethnic group in the United States; every American will be a member of a minority group” (Colby & Ortman, 2015, pg4.) That statistics stood out for me because I am part of a minority group and to know that in the next 24 years it will be a difference, it makes me hopefull to see how it will all evolve. It is also important to note how the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) dominated education (pg. 6). This was important as I attended a school that was penalized for not performing as it should be. Many teachers were worried about their jobs because it was part of their evaluations if their students performed well on a standardized test or not.

Currently, I work in my school districts Early Childhood Center where we serve students from my town from age 3-6 years old. Our building is dedicated to those students who qualify for free services such as speech, OT, PT, and social work by our district. One thing I saw from chapter 1 that I did not know was how Every Student Succeeds Act (Essa) also emphasized increased access to preschool by including new funding for early childhood education (pg. 7). January of this year, our blended classrooms (we have 4 currently in our building) who are government funded for our district were each given $10,000 to spend on anything they may need for their classrooms. This could include new chairs, carpets, educational toys, technology, playground equipment, etc.

I find that teacher-student relationships are one of the most important relationships to have and to build (pg. 8). This reminded me of a lot of teachers who had an interest in me and not just looking at me for my academics. With my current students, I try to found out as much information I can about them. Majority of my students require speech therapy and a few of them have behavioral issues, so for them to communicate with me is very limited. I try to find other ways around to understand them and I’m also sensitive to their needs, so I try my best for them to show that I do care and want to want out what their interests are. That is important for me to have that teacher-student relationship because students have a good sense of who cares for them.

Chapter 2 covered cognitive development and how the physical development of the brain has possible implications for teaching and Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories are on teaching. As I mentioned before, I work in with pre-k and kindergarten students. Most of the time, I am in a self-contained classroom and the word that gets thrown around a lot is the students’ cognitive development. Our diagnostic team in the building screen children and one of the elements that are part of the screening process is the students’ cognitive development. “There

One thing that I could not agree more with from this chapter was on timing, critical versus sensitive periods (pg. 33). “There are windows of opportunity- times when a person is especially ready for or responsive to certain experiences” (Scalise & Felds, 2017). I agree with this quote because of the students that I work with now and those I have had in the past. I believe that students develop at their own rate regardless of when things are supposed to be done such as walking, potty training, talking, etc. I believe this because I have had a student who is five years old and could not walk. He was wheelchair bound for his entire life, up until my teacher decided that he may be ready to start walking because he was showing signs of trying to walk (holding on to a table by the edges and moving along) and it may be that time that he is ready. Though most children start walking by 12 months, he took longer. Currently, students are walking with the help of an adult holding his hand. This is where I believe in a sensitive period because when a person is ready to learn a certain thing then that person will be ready (pg. 33). People develop at certain rates and that is something we will see as future educators in our classrooms.

We can learn much from Piaget’s work. He believed that “the main goal of education should be to help children learn how to learn, and that education should form not furnish the minds of students (pg. 63). This is true because of the matter of working with the youngest children in the school. We pay close attention to what they are telling us and how in their mind they see how to solve certain problems. With our students, we have to understand the way they think and why a student may do something a certain way. That helps the teachers figure out how to create their instructions for their students and classroom. From Vygotsky, we can take away that “the main goal of education was the development of higher mental functions, not simply filling students’ memories with facts (pg. 64). When I was in school, I felt like this is how I was learning. Teachers would fill my brain up with facts, but I would just remember them because I need to know that for a test then once that test was over, I would have no idea what I just learned so it never stuck around in my brain.

In chapter 3, it covered the development of self, social and moral through childhood and adolescence. The first paragraph in the chapter had me thinking a lot about my students and my daughter who is at the stage where she’s learning and growing so much just by her environment around her. I can see changes with my students from their first year at school (age 3) to the next year when they are a year older. We do not see these changes instantly, but we do notice when we did something new that they have just discovered on their own that they can do. Though I do see how my students’ family affect them when it comes to school. We always say parents are the first teachers in a child’s life. So, it is important to note how parenting styles affect children (pg. 82). What I liked that this chapter covered was the eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial development. The emphasis on the relationship between society and the individual is a psychosocial theory of development a theory that connects personal development (psycho) to the social environment (social) pg. 96. In our early childhood building, we see how students avoid a feeling of guilt (third stage).