Introduction Throughout the course child and youth studies, I have developed my teaching and learning through the different course themes and ideas. My teaching approach has developed and I now have a stronger understanding of educational theorists such as Vygotsky (Kozulin, A., Gindis, B., Brown, J., Seely Pea, R., Miller, S., Ageyev, V., Heath, C. 2003), Bronfenbrenner (Duchesne & McMaugh. 2016) and Montessori (Isaacs, B. 2010). This essay reflects my choices for activities and relation to the course themes we have discussed over the past semester. The activities discuss relation to cultural diversity and how everyone is different and individuals and how they relate to an educational theory. I will also discuss how my learning and teaching …show more content…
2003) because he puts a lot of emphasis on how a student’s culture may influence a child’s cognitive development. He discusses that learning begins in the social context as children learn the ways of thinking from others. The students special someone could be their mother, where they were born in Germany but now live in Australia, the ways in which this student may learn could be due to their mother’s development and it has been passed down to the child. Vygotsky (Kozulin, A et al. 2003) also investigates scaffolding as a way for controlling the success for a task. As a teacher I would follow these steps for this activity to help my students achieve the end …show more content…
Even though I had prior knowledge on many of the theorists we had discussed in the lectures, I developed a better understanding of their practice. One new theory I didn’t know much about was Maria Montessori (Isaacs, B. 2010) and her ways in teaching. I enjoyed learning about her approach to teaching and how she integrates different ages in the classroom most commonly ages 3 to 6, how students are given a choice on what activities they may do and how the students work in large uninterrupted blocks of time. I also didn’t know much about Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of development (Duchesne & McMaugh. 2016) but after participating in this course I have learnt that children develop and are influenced by the interaction of different characteristics such as; child-parent interaction, home-school relationship and child-teacher interaction plus much
A contemporary of Piaget from the 1930’s, Lev Vygotsky ( a Russian psychologist and philosopher) was generally connected with the social constructivist theory. He underscores the impact of cultural and social settings in learning and supports a discovery model of learning. This kind of model places the educator in a dynamic role while the students' mental capacities naturally develop through multiple paths of discovery (Lev Vytgosky, n.d.).
Jean Piaget, is known as the father of theory. All child development theories are based off
Any developmental theory is based on the idea that a child has to reach a certain level of cognitive development before they can understand certain ideas or conceptions. What it means to be a girl or a boy and the full implications that follows. Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory of Gender proposed that all children experience three stage during the process of gender development and identity. These three stage occur at different ages such at the age of two which is the “Gender Identity” stage Kohlberg states that children can correctly label themselves as a boy or girl but may still think it is possible to change gender. The second stage occurs at the age of four and is known as the “Gender Stability” stage. In this stage children become
Piaget’s Developmental Theory, better known as his Stage Theory, he describes how a person develops from birth and how each level effects a person. (Described in more detail on page six) This is an example of discontinuity. His stages only approach up to, and end with, approximately age fifteen. This theory does not seem to have any major factors after approximately age fifteen.
John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural Approaches to Learning and Development: A Vygotskian Framework. Educational Psychologist, 191-206.
Furthermore, Vygotsky declares that knowledge is constructed by social interactions with people who surround the child. The author also presents the concept of “zone of proximal development” as the distance between what children do without any supervision and what they are not able to achieve unless a more knowledgeable person guides them through it. In other words, the zone of proximal development refers to activities children cannot do, though they manage to fulfill with certain level of difficulty by following their better skilled fellows' suitable guidance. In the educational field, teachers play an essential role on their learners’ developmental process. Educators serve as models and provide a vast range of learning opportunities that enable their students reach their next level of development and become more autonomous each
Lev Semenovich Vygotsky is a sociocultural theorist that believed cognitive development occurs within ones environment and social interactions. People are a product of their environment and will likely retain information and acquire similar ideas to those that are around them. Vygotsky had multiple ideas supporting his theory, such as cultural tools, psychological tools, language, scaffolding, and the zone of proximal development.
When children reach a certain age in their life, their mental thought process shifts into a more logical or adult form. "Beginning with the adolescent period, however, children become increasingly less dependent upon the availability of concrete-empirical experience in meaningfully relating complex abstract propositions to cognitive structure." (Ausebel, 1966) The way in which they learn is shifted also.
With the philosophy of freedom within structure, it has allowed children to develop in a holistic way (Lillard, 2013). By harnessing the child’s eagerness for knowledge and understanding the child’s capability, the Montessori approach values the child (American Montessori Society, 2016). The environment in which children develop has also been highlighted and is found to have an impact on the child’s identity and development (Lillard, 2013). In the Montessori classroom, the children were found to be more likely engaged in positive, shared peer play that promoted respectful relationships whilst still growing their intelligence and meeting outcomes (Lillard & Else-Quest, 2006). The environment was favourable to the child, presenting them as an active agent with the educator being merely a facilitator to
A quote from Mary Pipher (Mooney, 2013) is one which I believe each and every one of us must attempt to read at least once in our lifetime:
n the world of Vygotsky, a child was not a product of the environment, instead the child interacts with the environment by making choices, which moderates or influences the effect of the environment on the child. Lev Vygotsky stages of development were not defined by age or biology, the basis behind his theory was unerstanding social and cultural experiences of a child, and how they affect the the child's development. A philosophy of Vygotsky’s theory was the zone of proximal development (ZPD), this is the difference between what a child is able to solve on its own based on the stage of cognitive development, and what a child can learn with the help or experience of another person. Vygotsky believes the skill of knowledge comes from mastering new social situations where learning is shared with others. He also believed that experiences should be shared in social settings, and placed a large emphasis on the quality of group work within the cognitive development process. Within group work, children's language is encouraged to develop, through conversation, questioning and sharing cognitive content with their peers. Vygotsky believed that "social interaction enables the child to develop the intellectual skills needed for logical reasoning and thought." (Grossman, S. 2008) Through language and communication, children learn to evaluate the world and change their actions accordingly.
There are five ways in which Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development. The very first way that teachers can use these theories to teach constructively is by providing scaffolded instruction within the ZPD for their students (292). In other words, a teacher must be able to assist children in achieving a goal that may be slightly too difficult for them to reach alone. An example of this would be if a teacher had decided that her class should do an experiment on how well plants grow based on the amount of water they receive, she could challenge her students to make a hypothesis about what they think will happen. This teacher could allow her students to individually plant their seeds and then guiding her students to predict or hypothesize what they believe will happen if one plant gets more water than another. This example directly correlates with Vygotsky’s idea of ZPD because
Scaffolding is metaphorical term which refers to the process through which teachers facilitate children’s learning by enabling them achieve a level of ability beyond the child’s current capacity. Through scaffolding, teachers play an active role by interacting with children to support their development by providing structures that support them to stretch their understanding or me...
In today’s politically correct world, gender identity plays a very controversial role. There are instances where people are criticized for saying or doing certain things that may offend the other gender. These gender sensitive events can be rooted from childhood development. There are several theories that have been supported throughout the years, which aims to explain how gender roles are developed. I personally believe out of all the theories that the Cognitive-Development Theory is the philosophy that accurately explains how gender is developed during childhood.
“Scaffolding refers to providing contextual supports for meaning through the use of simplified language, teacher modelling, visuals and graphics, cooperative learning and hands-on learning” (Ovando, Collier, & Combs, 2003, p. 345). Scaffolding argues that while students are assessed some interventions should be embedded in order to interpret individuals’ abilities and lead them to higher levels of functioning. Vygotsky (1984) in a research into the development of cognitive functions revealed that cognitive abilities are not innate. He considered this process as the new ways of thinking, and acting that an individual is supported by interactions with others. In an approach named Sociocultural Theory of Mind developed by Vygotsky in 1984,