My Philosophy of Education - Teaching Survival Skills
I fundamentally believe that genetics plays more of a role in the classroom than most are willing to admit. Ever wonder why some people are better at certain things than other people. Why can some people do math in their heads and others need paper and pencil to add? I think it has more to do with genetics and instinctual factors. Think of it in terms of survival skills. We will be more likely to survive if we stick with the cognitive abilities that we are good at.
So what does survival skills have to do with teaching children? The younger a child is the more in tune they are with the basic human instincts. Now granted a five year old in not going to have to run away from a lion, but he will instinctually want to be successful. Success is based on survival. Success at one point meant hunting for food to feed oneself. Being able to survive enables the person to pass on genetic material to offspring. Today, we still supply food to our family but in a different way. Over time humans instinctually develop, realizing that by taking good care of ones offspring could insure that the offspring will then themselves produce offspring. Now apply the argument of survival to the classroom. What do children do that makes us realize that they still using instinctual methods?
My philosophy is a work in progress but I believe that learning itself is based on survival. Why do parents and teachers reward student? Parents realize that with good grades comes better paying jobs. With better paying jobs comes a better lifestyle and better health. Hence, healthier children and strong, healthy offspring.
Another point on survival has to do with the special education student. The human race has genetic mutated over time. Mutation is a change in the DNA bases and sequences. Take dyslexia for example, over time for what ever reason, the genetic make up of society has mutated and dyslexia is still around. It must have contributed to survival of the human race. I think this true for all learning disabilities. Did the learning disabilities help us survive? Did human DNA mutate to better our survival skills?
I have many questions that are still unanswered.
Over the years education has been one of the challenges in the African American Community, in the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines time period focused on education; which was very involved in work and labor instead of education. Learning in the south due to segregation became terrible for African Americans to afford education however the north in urban communities also experience the lack of education. Why does the south have little to no education more than the north in black communities? Education in the south has been inferior to the north due to the lack of funds, discrimination and social differences which is shown in graduation rates.
...slation, such as the Boat People. The Immigration Act of 1978 has impacted Canada greatly in a positive manner.
More immigration lead to racism and fear among both English Canadians who believed immigrants were taking away their jobs and French Canadians who feared that immigrants may potentially dominate their culture. These misconceptions and fears lead the Canadian government to declare new regulations that restricted the immigration of Asian and eastern, and southern European descents as well as Jewish immigrants. Canada gave more preference to descendants of both Britain and Western Europe. Policies were then developed to grant access to the best immigrants (as it was called) who were mainly whites that possessed a wealth of skills and benefits but to exclude the non whites who we...
The Progressive Era was a time period between the years 1900-1920 and it marked a time in American history in which society was bursting with enthusiasm to improve life in the industrial age by making political and social changes through government action that ultimately led to a higher quality of life for American citizens. Progressives were known for their beliefs in limiting the power of big business, strengthening the power of the states, and were advocators against corruption and social injustice. These progressive reformers as well as the Federal Government successfully managed to improve the quality of life and establish a precedent for a move active government, although neither was completely successful in solving significant issues the nation faced.
When reading the article “The Perils and Promises of Praise”, I was taken aback by the fact that there was a thing as negative praise. The studies show that just telling someone that they are intelligent is detrimental to future success in challenging situations because of the fear of failure. Encouragement of hard work and effort works more effectively than praising intelligence. I still feel that there is a missing element that was not mentioned in the article. It is secret number three in motivation for success in school. That motivation is the parents of the students. I was told that if I failed my classes, I could expect severe punishment and retribution for my failure, unless I prove I tried my best. Motivation is not just praise; it is the support of those adults in a student’s life that gives reinforcement of positive ideas
To simplify, in conclusion, although heredity and environment both play a role in influencing IQ, genetics role is much greater. Genetics dictates what we are going to choose as our environment. The skills we inherit are usually the ones we pursue. The same way that an inheritably athletically skilled person chooses to practice more and become even more athletically skilled as a result of their environment, a person inheritably blessed with intelligence will study more and acquire more knowledge thus raising IQ. Heredity creates environment and niche, which in turn, fosters our genetic skill.
The impact of genes and environment on human development has been a controversial debate for a long time. On one hand, some people claim that nature is the sole determiner of human development; on the other hand, others assert that nurture is the only determiner of human development. In this paper, possible roles of both biology and environment on cognitive abilities will be discussed through providing a balanced interpretation based on the text and relevant readings from the class.
Declining intellect is a problem that has been of interest for over a century. Sir Francis Galton, English scientist, published works on the matter as early as 1869 with Hereditary Genius and followed by Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development in 1883. His two major works lay out the groundwork for future study of eugenics, dysgenics, and genetics. When it comes to the genetics of intelligence there are now two recognized types of intelligence, phenotypic and genotypic. Richard Lynn and John Harvey, geneticists, define these types as “phenotypic intelligence is measured intelligence,” and “genotypic intelligence is the genetic component of intelligence” (113). It is the genotypic intelligence that has been declining through dysgenics. James Flynn, emeritus professor at the University of Otago, was credited with the “Flynn Effect”. The “Flynn Effect” describes IQ changes in population over time (Graham). Flynn is commonly cited for the decline in the idea of dysgenics, which is a decline in IQ in a genetic pool over time by dysgenetic fertilization. Though Fly...
There is a great deal of information that dictates the way we learn and how our intelligence plays a big role in the process. From all of the studies that been conducted over the years we can definitely improve our way of learning and therefore dictate the outcome of our future.
As a mother, I am shocked and dismayed by the general acceptance of the myth of genetic determinism. One's environment, including people one interacts with, has an undeniable influence on how one develops. Nonetheless, many scientists disregard the impact of environment on one's intelligence. I do not deny that one's biology is a crucial part of one's identity. Inheritance of physical traits is obvious. Children often look "just like" their father or mother, or another relative. One's genes determine eye and hair color, height and body build. I believe, however, that what makes us human is not something that can be found in...
One of the most interesting and controversial areas in behavioral genetics, human intelligence is currently assumed to be subject to both genetic and environmental influences.
Intelligence is a function of how well the brain works, and it's well established that our brains are designed by genes so it's not entirely surprising that some deem this as proof that our genes play a part in deciding a person’s intelligence. However, this is not a widely accepted fact and many scholars would argue intelligence is indeed not fixed by ones genes but instead manipulated by other factors.
The ongoing debate on whether nature or nurture is responsible for intelligence seems to be a never-ending argument. There will probably be no definite answer to this argument any time soon, but answers such as Dr. Bigot's prove how intolerant of other opinions people can be. To say intelligence is entirely based on genetics, or one's environment, for that matter, is utterly extremist. An interaction of both nature and nurture is responsible for intelligence.
Genes are complex by themselves, so their association to an attire brain’s development is not enough to be the only reason, but an environment cannot affect any different individual’s genes in the same way. I agree that the environment can affect an individual’s genes, but these genes also react in their own way. Personally, I believe that I was born with a certain way thinking, and the thinking has been adjusted in its own way based on my environment and experiences. For instance, as a child I always had a passion for working with babies and young children, at 8 years old I was blessed with a little sister, my experiences with her encouraged my natural passion and now I’m going to college to either be an early elementary school teacher, or a child psycologist. I feel like I genetically had this passion, and my experiences took it into the direction I’m heading now. If I had not originally had that passion, the experiences with my little sister probably would have not lead me to want to be a teacher, but also, if I did not have those experiences and I had the passion, I may have decided on another career path with that passion. Overall, I am extremely fascinated by how complex and amazing our brains are. Although I do not feel that we do now, or will ever, fully understand how the brain functions, I believe these theories are a great
Teaching is a daunting task that I do not intend to take lightly. Becoming a teacher has been a dream of mine for several years. I always knew that teaching would be the career for me, especially when I began working in the school system as a substitute secretary. I loved working in the school environment; coming in contact with children everyday made me realize how much I would enjoy teaching a classroom full of students.