Chapter 2/3 Blog- ED PSYCH 401
Chapter 2
1. (Knowing,
Understanding) What is the Zone of Proximal Development?
2. (Creating,
Analyzing) How can you use scaffolding in your current or future classroom in
regards to instruction and assessment?
Chapter 3
CSEL Elementary Case
Many developmental factors could be influencing Lisa’s
disruptive behaviors. The first of which that could be a factor in her
classroom behaviors could be that of social and emotional development. Lisa
could be a victim of child maltreatment and may not know how to express or
regulate her emotions or how to socialize properly. There also could be a lack
or mismatch of “goodness of fit” in the classroom and, therefore, may feel
uncomfortable in the classroom. Peers around Lisa could also be a major reason
for her disruptive behaviors. Peer pressure may make Lisa feel that she has to
act a certain way during class time to be “cool”. As far as moral development,
Lisa may have troubles perspective taking because she has never participated in
an activity. She may not be aware that her behaviors are causing others to feel
hostility towards her. Here, perspective taking could benefit her as well as
others in the classroom. Lisa also may have a weak theory of mind due to her
environment at home. Language may also be a barrier because she may not be
proficient in the English language and, thus, may need extra help (writing
worksheets in her language, promoting her language in the classroom, etc.) to
succeed academically in the classroom. Lastly, cognitive issues may play a role
in Lisa’s disruptive behaviors in the classroom. Lisa’s thinking and reasoning
may not be at the same levels as others in the classroom, and she might feel
frustrated. This frustration may compel her to act out during class. Overall,
many factors may contribute to her negative behaviors. However, through the use
of strategies such as elaboration during instruction and discussion,
scaffolding, creating a productive and comfortable classroom environment,
providing numerous ways and opportunities to learn, teaching self-control,
increasing opportunities for social interaction and classroom management, Lisa’s
behaviors and classroom engagement will improve.
1) Zone of proximal development refers to the student's ability to perform tasks with support and guidance from others, but which they are unable to perform completely alone.
ReplyDelete2) With regards to both instruction and assessment, scaffolding is a beneficial strategy to use. Students are able to successfully complete various tasks without the assistance of others and it is important to begin lesson and assessment with these pieces so that a student builds confidence in him or herself and tasks they know they can complete. Gradually, again both with differentiated instruction for various learners and differentiated assessment, we need to challenge students to accomplish things, perhaps with some assistance or with instructor questioning so that students come to an answer on their own. Eventually, when success has been achieved at these moderately challenging tasks with which they needed some assistance, they can be pushed a little further to complete a task without any assistance or guidance. We, as instructors, have to monitor each student along the way, assuring that tasks and activities are within a student's zone of proximal development. In this way, we prevent failure and loss of confidence and grow our student's at the pace and level at which they learn. It becomes a difficult task when there are 30 students to a classroom, but varying lessons, activities and assessments for different learners makes it easier to manage.
Looking at the question from a different case's perspective was interesting. Because I work with high schoolers, I have a drastically different lens and way of interpreting students than would someone working with elementary and/or special needs students. I know that similar issues exist for students of all ages, but the approach we take with them will certainly be different, to some degree. Though I work with young adults, I constantly have to keep in mind that there is a great variety of ways in which they are struggling emotionally, socially, morally, etc... and this has a great impact on how and even IF they do their work in my class or others. We have to keep in mind that they may not have the correct tools to interact with peers, let alone successfully complete a group assignment.
ReplyDelete1) ZPD is the range of tasks that a learner can perform with the help and guidance of others but cannot yet perform alone.
ReplyDelete2) Since Agriculture is a subject that teaches many physical skills scaffolding can be provided by the teacher as the steps of the skill are learned. Past knowledge can also be used by the student as more complex skills are presented. An example might be the knowledge gained by repairing parts of a small engine to help in completely dimantaling and finding the reason the engine will not run.
It appears that you have thought through almost all of the possiblities for Lisa's actions. It may take some help from the school psychologist or one of Lisa's previous teachers to identify exactly what causes Lisa's behavior.
ReplyDelete