Week 7

It All Comes To an End

                Educational Psychology allows educators to think outside of the box. It allows us to be creative and more hands on in our approach to create a curriculum that will not only motivate our students but prepare them for society. It discusses how humans learn and develop in educational settings, interventions used, and social issues that could effect learning. This field of study also describes the intrinsic workings of the fundamentals of education as it pertains to theories, frameworks, and approaches to education. During this class, we have had the opportunity to study, research, and hopefully implement our findings and new found knowledge into our classrooms.

                I remember taking educational psychology in undergrad and I don’t remember enjoying it as much as I do now. I found that I can relate to the information more now, now that I am a teacher and see firsthand how theories are implemented in the classroom setting. When thinking of a theorist that I most agree with, I choose Jean Piaget. Piaget was a Swiss psychologist whose research proved that children’s cognitive development occurs primarily in actions with physical objects. He also developed the stages of development which are sensorimotor (Birth through ages 18-24 months), preoperational (Toddlerhood 18-24 months through early childhood (age 7), concrete operational (ages 7 to 12), and formal operational (adolescence through adulthood). Through these stages humans cognitive developments progresses greatly overtime. In the sensorimotor stage, it focuses upon how babies see and experiment with their environment developing their language and physical development causing their cognitive development to increase. During this time, babies are given visual and physical cues that will allow them to develop gripping, grasping, cuing, kicking, crawling, and sitting to name a few. In the preoperational stage, it describes children use their intuition and symbols to develop memory and imagination. This is shown through visuals such pictures or textured materials. We see signs of this prominently in the dramatic play area and social interactions with one another. During the concrete stage, humans begin to use reversible mental actions and are aware of external events. In the formal stage, the final stage adolescents are able to use symbols to make connections and understand concepts within their environment. I have taught prekindergarten for nearly five years and was a kindergarten teacher last year. I have substituted in classes ranging from infancy to fifth grade. All children are different and learn differently. With the guidance of Piaget’s stages, I am more aware of what to look for cognitively and socially within my students. Hands on approaches, rather than pencil and paper, in my opinion helps establish a more cognitive strengthening curriculum. My students are engaged in their learning process and I am able to assess them as well as myself on how to improve information being delivered and how it is used.

                As a preschool teacher, I found that the most learning in my opinion takes place during the ages of two to four years old. Children are learning social and emotional skills, mathematic basics, science, social studies, language and literacy, and so forth. They are using their memory and new information to form decisions and actions that show cognitive development. My favorite learning centers are math/manipulative and dramatic play. Their imaginations run wild and their potential is limitless.

                During the course of this class, we used Annual Editions Educational Psychology 12/13. This collection of articles have broaden my knowledge about factors that could positively, as well as negatively affect our classroom and school districts. Over the course of the class we discussed topics: approached to learning, social development, the differences in learners with disabilities, gender and cultural diversity, cognition development, technology, classroom management, student motivation, and classroom and school assessments. This week, we discussed assessments and multiple measures and how they may hinder our students’ and school’s overall progress. Through nonroutine uses of the content in these databases, the brain creates the richer, deeper, and more complex connections necessary for understanding. Without these connections, isolated bits of information may not get incorporated into the larger schema and thus may not be retained. (Conley, D., 2013, p. 244) If students are not mastering and fully have a grasp on the material being taught and cannot apply it, then students will not be able to move forward and testing will not fully assess their knowledge and capabilities within the content. We are then setting them up to fail.

                This class had broaden my spectrum and understanding on the inner workings of student learning process and the policy and social stigma that may delay adequate progress within schools. I hope that I can apply this knowledge effectively within my classroom and community. Thank you, Dr. Reed.

References:

Conley, D. (2013) Building on the Common Core. Annual Editions Educational Psychology 12/13. 244-246.