Making a Difference in the Lives of Children and Adolescents Chapter One Overview The Field of <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> Basic Issues in Development Theories of <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> Developmental Periods From Theory to Practice The Field of <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> orderly, durable changes. identify and explain the persistent, cumulative, and progressive changes in the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development of children and adolescents Three factors guide a child s developmental journey Nature - genetics Nurture the environment The child s own activity choices and efforts What is Educational Psychology? Educational Psychology: a discipline encompassing psychological principles and theories related to learning, motivation, child and adolescent development, individual and group differences, and psychological assessment, especially as these topics relate to classroom practice. Huh????? Why do you need this class? Is the class a waste of your time? What will you learn from this class that will aid in your success as a teacher? Oops Test quiz 1. Most children five years of age and older are natural learners; they know the best way to learn something without having to be taught how to learn it. 2. Scores on intelligence (IQ) tests usually give us some idea about how well students are likely to achieve academically. 3. When we compare boys and girls, we find that both groups are, on the average, very similar in their mathematical and verbal aptitudes. 4. The best way to learn and remember a new fact is to repeat it over and over again. 5. When a student makes comments that contain erroneous beliefs about classroom subject matter, it is best for a teacher to ignore those comments and call on someone else. 6. Such activities as memorizing poems and solving logic problems are helpful because they provide general exercise for students minds and help students learn better over the long run. 7. Taking notes during a lecture usually interferes with students learning more that it helps. TF TF TF TF TF TF TF quiz (cont.) 8. Teachers can reduce the inappropriate student behaviors without necessarily having to deal with the underlying causes of those behaviors. 9. When teachers reward an individual student for appropriate behavior, the behavior of other students may also improve. 10. Even small amounts of anxiety interfere with students ability to learn and perform effectively in the classroom. 11. A well-designed lecture can be an effective way to promote student learning. 12. A disadvantage of even the best cooperative learning activity is that only a few students do most or all of the work. 13. The nature of the tests that teachers give affects the ways in which students study and learn classroom material. TF TF TF TF TF TF Three Developmental Domains Physical Cognitive Social/ Emotional Effects of Context on Development Context includes all broad social environments that influence a child s development Your role in a child s context will have a vital impact on children s growth With someone next to you How much do you think you can accelerate cognitive development? Could my sister-in-law teach Abby to do algebra by the time she is six years old? Give rationale for your answer Basic Issues in Development Principles of Nature and Nurture The relative effects of heredity and environment vary for different areas of development Nature (genetic hardwiring) Inherited tendencies make children more or less responsive to particular environmental influences Children s natural tendencies affect their environment Environment may play a greater role in development when environmental conditions are extreme rather than moderate Timing of environmental exposure matters Sensitive period - developmental period when particular environmental experiences have a more severe or pronounced influence than compared at other times Nurture (environmental influences) Universality and Diversity Universality the commonalities seen in the way all individuals progress Diversity various ways different individuals progress in different ways Qualitative and Quantitative Change Qualitative - relatively dramatic developmental change that reflects considerable reorganization or modification of functioning, i.e., learning to run, children learn to propel forward, sudden change in function Stage theory is based on qualitative changes Stage: a developmental period characterized by a qualitatively distinct way of thinking or behaving Quantitative Developmental change that involves a series or minor, trend-like modifications, i.e., growing taller, gradual change Stage Theory Stage theorists emphasize qualitative, universal change children act and reason in one stage at a time children in transition waiver back and forth between two stages until they are solid in the next stage i.e., Jean Piaget &amp; Erik Erikson Stages are hierarchical each stage provides the foundation for the next, Variations in stage progressions are not always universal across cultures and educational contexts Applying Basic Lessons From <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> Practical implications Remember the influences of both nature and nurture, genetics and environment Familiarize yourself with common variations of developmental trends, particularly at the age level of your interest Support children by maintaining an awareness of both qualitative and quantitative change Early Psychology (the use of nonobjective methods such as Introspection) Learning =change in mental structures focus on mental phenomena e.g. child s reasoning Learning=behavior change movement toward objective methods biological Behaviorism Pavlov, Skinner (Focus on S R) Early Cognitive Perspectives (e.g., Piaget, Vygotsky) (Focus on internal mental events) Social Learning Theory Bandura (focus on learning by observation) Cognitive Psychology (focus on information processing and knowledge construction) Theories of <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> Biological Emphasis on genetic &amp; physiological contributions to structures of the body, neurological pathways in the brain, and motor abilities Early experiences play critical role in development. Focus is on social &amp; personality development Emphasis on thinking processes and how they change, qualitative, over time. Children play a critical role in own development. Psychodynamic Cognitive Developmental Theories of <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> Behaviorism &amp; Social Learning Developmental changes are credited to environmental influences (nurture). Behaviors can be modified through appropriate environmental stimuli. Focus on the nature of human cognitive processes. Dominates much of the research in cognitive development. Focus on the social &amp; cultural systems in which children &amp; adolescents develop. Cognitive Process Sociocultural Theories of <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> Developmental Systems Focus on multiple factors in development. Emphasis on organizational structures of genetics &amp; the settings in which children live. Developmental Periods From Theory to Practice Developmentally Appropriate Practice Refers to both instruction and any other services adapted to age, characteristics, and developmental progress of individual children You will have the most influence on a child s development as you keep in mind the general progressions of each individual child as you: Enable children to be active learners Recognize that adult-level functioning is not always realistic or valuable for children to model Encourage children to work together with ethics and democracy Developmentally Appropriate Practices Weaknesses may serve purpose Environment makes a difference Use norms to predict development but expect differences Realize children face different issues today than in the past Children are different than adults Preparing for Developmentally Appropriate Practices Work with children s strengths Encourage higher level thinking Summary <a href="/keyword/child-development/" >child development</a> examines change from infancy, through childhood, into adolescence Three domains: Physical, Cognitive, Social-emotional Developmental Periods Infancy (birth - 2 yrs) Emotional bonds, language, motor mobility Early childhood (2 -6) Imaginative play, increased language skills, gross and fine motor skills, basic social skills Basic Issues Nature and nurture Universality and diversity Qualitative and quantitative Middle childhood (6 -10) Friendships, rules and prohibitions Early adolescence (10 -14) Puberty, appearance, logical and abstract reasoning Context Theoretical frameworks Biological, behaviorist, social learning, psychodynamic, cognitive-developmental, cognitive process, sociocultural, and developmental systems perspective Late adolescence (14 -18) Independence, identity formation, abstract thinking Commit to Developmentally Appropriate Practices