I believe that knowledge of the brain is extremely important for educators, and that without it, the field of Education will never be able to see the advances that we find in the fields of medicine, media, etc. As we’ve discussed in class, value and respect for professional research is key to the field of education if we expect to improvingly teach our students. It’s astonishing that it’s possible for an individual to get a degree in Education while never being taught the development of the human brain and how to use that knowledge to teach when it’s completely necessary. For example, I know of a teacher who cannot even acknowledge the potential benefit in the knowledge of the human brain and how it works, and she insists that teaching comes natural by experience only. Even though I agree that with experience educators will improve, I also think that many of the struggles and barriers that educators experience in the profession is a result of ignorance of the brain. I believe there are more educators who read “teacher blogs” than those who read new research on learning and the brain. To know how to teach, we need to learn why kids behave the way that they do. Why is it that some students enter the classroom eager to learn while others dread the next 90 minutes? Why is it that students are distracted easily, and why must they move around so much? These questions, I believe, can be answered by the study of evolutional psychology.
We’ve had a couple of articles to read on evolutionary psychology, and I think these do a great job of explaining why this type of psychology is so important to educators. De Waal (2002) defines evolutionary psychology as “to provide an evolutionary account of human behavior” (pg. 187), and he goes on to e...
... middle of paper ...
...h-less claims that will be implemented in the classrooms. Even though this gradual acceptance of educational research will damage egos and probably shift the education standards and our way of teaching those standards, it must happen for the benefit of our students and, in effect, the future of our country.
Works Cited
Buller, David. (2005). Evolutionary Psychology: the Emperor’s New Paradigm. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 9(6), 277-282
De Waal, Frans. (2002). Evolutionary Psychology: The Wheat and the Chaff. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2(6), 187-191
Geake, John. (2009). Neuromythologies in Education. Educational Research. 50(2), 123-133.
Hinton, Christina; Miyamto, Koji; and Bruno Della-Chiesa. (2008). Brain Research, Learning, and Emotions: Implications for Education Research, Policy and Practice. European Journal of Education. 43(1), 87-100.
First, in the magazine article “Brainology,” Carol S. Dweck asserted that the way that students learn and how well they do in school
Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p188.
B.M.de Waal, Tree of Origin: What Primate Behavior Can Tell Us about Human Social Evolution. Havard University Press: Massachusets, 2001.
This chapter discusses The Evolutionary Perspective, Genetic Foundations, reproductive Challenges, and Heredity-Environment Interactions. Natural selection is the process by which those individuals of a species that are best adapted survive and reproduce. Darwin proposed that natural selection fuels evolution. In evolutionary theory, adaptive behavior is behavior that promotes the organism’s survival in a natural habitat. Evolutionary psychology holds that adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” are important in shaping behavior. Ideas proposed by evolutionary developmental psychology include the view that an extended childhood period is needed to develop a large brain and learn the complexity of human social communities. According to Baltes, the benefits resulting from evolutionary selection decrease with age mainly because of a decline in reproductive fitness. At the same time, cultural needs increase. Like other theoretical approaches to development, evolutionary psychology has limitations. Bandura rejects “one-sided evolutionism” and argues for a bidirectional lin...
Evolutionary theory is developed from Darwin’s argument that “suggests that a process of natural selection leads to the survival of the fittest and the development of traits that enable a species to adept to its environment. “ Many have taken this a step further by saying that our genetic inheritance determines not only our physical traits but also certain personality traits and social behaviors. There is such a controversy over significant behaviors that unfold because many believe that we are already pre-programmed human species. It has also been argued that evolution is reflected in functioning and structure of the nervous system and that is has evolutionary factors that have a significant influence on everyday behavior. With what is being said means that if we follow the evolutionary theory, then it would be said that we are already pre-programmed from before birth to follow certain protocols in life. Whether it is from finding a mate or by getting a job. It also believed that this theory gives use cues from our own system to follow, providing us with certain aspects of life from our ancestors. By believing in this theory we can determine that the importance of heredity when influencing human behavior. Behavioral geneticists and evolutionary psychologists have both agreed that not only do genetic factors provide specific behaviors or traits but it also shows the limitations on the emergence of such traits or behaviors. What this means is that our genetics will determine how tall we will be to how ...
A classroom of thirty is filled with a diverse group of students that think in all different ways. Each child’s brain processes informat...
The purpose of this academic piece is to critically discuss The Darwinist implication of the evolutionary psychological conception of human nature. Charles Darwin’s “natural selection” will be the main factor discussed as the theory of evolution was developed by him. Evolutionary psychology is the approach on human nature on the basis that human behavior is derived from biological factors and there are psychologists who claim that human behavior is not something one is born with but rather it is learned. According to Downes, S. M. (2010 fall edition) “Evolutionary psychology is one of the many biologically informed approaches to the study of human behavior”. This goes further to implicate that evolutionary psychology is virtually based on the claims of the human being a machine that can be programmed to do certain things and because it can be programmed it has systems in the body that allow such to happen for instance the nervous system which is the connection of the spinal cord and the brain and assists in voluntary and involuntary motor movements.
Smith, S. & Stevens, R. (2002) Evolutionary Psychology, in Miell, D., Pheonix, A. and Thomas, K. (eds) Mapping Psychology 1, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Synopsis of Article: This article explains the relationship between Education and Psychology and how Psychology plays a dominant role in understanding ideas and the material in Education. It delineates the contribution of psychology to education from the view of society and then from the work of a psychologist. It focuses on natural tendencies in human nature that influence the learning process and also the affect our surroundings have on learning. The article shows how Psychology contributes to methods of teaching and also methods of learning tremendously. It explains the importance of psychologists in making new discoveries and progression in all aspects of psychology and the role these discoveries play in Education. The article also informs us how intelligence stems from our offspr...
...criterion that true science is progressive. It has proven able to successfully account for apparent anomalies and generate novel predictions and explanations and therefore has the hallmarks of a currently progressive research program capable of providing us with new knowledge of how the mind works (Ketellar and Ellis 2000). A glance at the Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (2005), edited by David Buss, shows just how vigorous and productive the field is. Important challenges remain in the discipline, however. The most important are determining the role of domain-specific versus domain-general processes and integrating evolutionary psychology with other behavioral sciences like genetics, neuroscience, and psychometrics (Buss 2004; Rice 2011). Even though critics will remain, Evolutionary Psychology will remain as a scientific discipline for the foreseeable future.
LeDoux, J. (1998). The emotional brain. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. (Chapter 4 will go on LN).
Grysman, A. (2012). Evolutionary Psychology [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences Online Course site: rutgersonline.net.
In fact, it is important to understand that: "The brain continues to be a new frontier. Our old way of schooling is fading fast as our understanding of the brain increases. Everything you do uses your brain, and everything at school involves students' brains.
Science “… assumes that the universe is, as its name implies, a vast single system in which the basic rules are everywhere the same” (Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990). This quote implies that for a subject to be considered a science, all of its concepts must be of similar origin. For the case of Psychology, this is not true; however, Psychology is, in fact, a mature paradigmatic science which consists of one paradigm and resulted in a revolutionary change. Psychology consists of many different schools of thought which supports the notion, previously mentioned, that reinforces that it is not a very mature science. Behaviorism, Gestalt, Psychoanalysis and Functionalism are the schools of thought of Psychology. Each of these schools of thought demonstrates multidimensional perceptions by which displays the emergent and transformed way of thinking over the years. The schools of thought not only governs the belief of Psychologists but it also exhibits the lack of one absolute way of looking or solving something. Psychology consists of several branches of theories and concepts which leads to complexities, unlike Biology and Chemistry which have one consistent solution. Psychology, nevertheless, has a paradigm: Behaviorism. Cognitive Psychology stems from Behaviorism, which lead to a revolutionary change. The evidence displayed throughout this paper will support this proposition.
Emotion has a major role that it plays in the learning environment (Cleveland-Innes & Campbell, 2012). Educational psychologists believe the motivation, achievements, and the overall educational performance has a direct correlation to the human emotion (Cleveland-Innes & Campbell, 2012). That statement alone reflects the significant role that emotion plays in education. There is a major need for human emotion to be displayed in the educational environment and it really does not matter whether it is a brick and mortar class or an online learning environment; emotion must and in fact does play a role.