Temporary Closing

I am going to stop blogging/reading Educational Psychology by Ormrod. I want to use this time to study Spanish.  Que tenga un buen día!

Ch. 1 - Ch. 3 Summary

I have finished Ch.4 but let's recap all the 16 blogs that I have written from Chapter 1 to Chapter 3.  We will see but I think the main idea of this book is that students do not absorb information but take it and mold it in their own way. At the beginning we learned about how some stereotypes are not true.  It is not true that males excel in math and science more than females.  Also people are not just "right brain" and others "left brain" learners.  Following this we learned about generalizations about learning that normally hold true.  One is that people learn in spurts and plateaus.  Learning is not a linear process.  Piaget also had generalizations about stages that children go through.  I agree with theorist that his stages are trends not concrete stages. At the beginning children focus on what is visible and in the fourth stage abstract thinking occurs for adolescents and adults where they can understand concepts such as pi and infinity. Vygotsky's theory emphasized social interaction, culture and play as ways to learn. A good example for play as a way to learn is by creating a fake restaurant situation. Children could take on adult roles such as cooking, being a restaurant manager and waiter. 

                                                  
                                               (The man behind the theory, Piaget.) 

Scaffolding is a great way for a child to learn because they have to challenge themselves. Remember during scaffolding a child does a task that involves a more advanced person to help them. Another great way to learn is reading, reading, reading. Where is the time to read? There is so much going on it's tough to make time fore reading. Try to read at least a small part of the day.  Listening is also important but it is different for Asians and Mexicans. They believe they should simply listen and not ask a question.  Bilingualism should be promoted heavily! They have the advantage of having a higher metalinguistic development.  This means they are able to think about language better.  There is also a difference between parenting styles.  I believe that an authoritative parenting style is best in a safe neighborhood.  This is where the caregiver provides a loving and supportive home, have high expectations and let the child in the decision making process.  Infants who are attached to these type of parents have a higher chance to be "amiable, independent, and self-confident children".

People are socialized differently depending on their culture. Socialization is the behaviors and beliefs that are taught in a culture.  As stated before, Mexican and Asians are passive listeners to authority figures while in Western society we question them with respect. Also Western society we follow instructions and work independently.  Mexican students have a tendency to want to do activities in groups.  Young children put a high emphasis on physical appearance.  Teachers should do academic, social, and physical tasks that utilize the diversity in the classroom.  At first a child will have a concrete sense of self such as believing they are athletic because they are able to play sports.  Adolescents can have confusion with their sense of self when it becomes abstract because as one student said, he doesn't understand how he can be cheerful with his friends, then come home and feel anxious, and then getting frustrated and sarcastic with his parents.  He wonders "Who am I?"

 

 (The question "Who am I?" is one question that

adolescents want to know and ask.)

Unfortunately at the end of high school students have a little knowledge of their position they want to play in society.  Back up to the primary school (around grades 6 and 8) and the students have already an interest in the opposite sex.  Some girls think that they needed to have a boyfriend to make the transition to middle school.  Students also need to be taught good social skills so there will be less bullies.  These include taking turns, praising and sharing materials.  What do you do if the moral law contradicts the legal law? (This cognitive step is reached around age 12 to adulthood according to Piaget.) There is more to law than just the just what the government has made.  We have morals that are not taken into account.  Martin Luther King jr. and Gandhi are good examples of those who follow the moral law. They used civil disobedience that provided a better change for people.

Dilemmas

A teacher must be aware the students are very critical of how other people see them.  Teaching them public speaking skills and having them do things in a group helps get rid of the magnify glass they put on themselves. One student talks about how to act "cool" by having a bad attitude.  Even in primary school interest in the opposite exists.  Girls sometimes feel they need a boyfriend since they're going to junior high.  A future to be junior high student named Sandy gives an account
           

In about  5th and 6th grade ... [we] was like "OK," you know, "we're getting ready for junior  high” you know, “it's time we all have to get a boyfriend...” So I remember, it was funny, Carol, like, there were two guys who were just the heartthrobs of our class, you know... so, um, I guess it was Carol and Cindy really, they were like just the leaders, and they got Tim and Joe, each of those you know. Carol had Tim and Cindy had Joe. And then, you know, everyone else, then it kind of went down the line, everyone had found someone...”

 

“The age of first sexual intercourse has decreased steadily over the last few decades and the average age now is around 16 and a majority of adolescents are sexually active by age 18.” I do no like this fact. They are so many other ways to find pleasure. “It is important to note here that many children and adolescents who are routinely exposed to violence at home or elsewhere are not especially aggressive." I wonder what the NRA thinks about that because they blame violence exposure as a reason behind gun attacks.

Some bullies attack because they have poor perspective-taking abilities, prevalence of self-serving goals, and belief in appropriateness and effectiveness of aggression. One good way to foster social skills they and others need is “Teach specific social skills, provide opportunities for students to practice them, and give feedback” I think this is a great idea. Not only do we need to teach social skills such as not dominating group work we should have group work to see how it goes and tell a student that they need to be less aggressive in the group if needed.


                         

                               (Here are some good ways to foster social skills.)

To promote social interaction among diverse groups the simple tasks of mixing up the seat schedule throughout the school year is effective. I wouldn't like that but it is a good idea. This may sound good but may not be. Some teachers learn people's names by where they sit and then it may confuse the teacher's ability to remember names. Teachers need to sensitize students' opinion of disabled students by getting them to think about the difficulties they face.

To end, consider this situation

In Europe, a woman was near death from a rare form of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her, a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The druggist was charging $2,000, ten times what the drug cost to make. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about half of what the drug cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay him later. But the [cold] druggist said no. So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

A person is asked to make a decision between the legal law and the moral law. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talks about this and the moral law is above the legal law.  Remember how blacks would get on different places on the bus and eat at restaurants where whites sit?  I believe that Heinz did the right thing. He probably loved his wife dearly and was ready to do whatever it took to make her better. What would you do? 

                                
                               (MLK Jr. states the moral law is above the legal law.)

Developmental Changes in Sense of Self

Hello and hope you are doing well.  In the preschool and primary grades, most children have a positive view of themselves and believe they can achieve tasks that are too difficult for them. They also make generalizations about people such as dumb, smart, friendly, good looking etc. In the early adolescence children show increased abstract descriptions of people such as cool, nerd, beautiful etc. When students enter the middle school, the positive view lowers probably due to puberty or factors of having to change schools.



                             
                                                   
                               
                             (Younger children struggle to have complex thinking of who someone is.)


Two dilemmas occur during the early adolescence that should be noted. Students believe that they are the center of attention and are being watched by an imaginary audience. I sometime think that this is true no matter what age as sometimes we worry too much over what people think and think we are being very focused on. The other dilemma is that students believe that they are totally unique called a personal fable. During this stage students may think they are above reality and take foolish risks such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Late adolescence is a brighter picture as they have overcame the double whammy (good phrase by Dr. Ormrod) of puberty and a new school setting. They tend to have more positive self-concepts and better mental health.


With their abstract thinking they notice that their feelings are different so much they may wonder who they are. A student writes that he doesn't understand how he can be cheerful with his friends, then come home and feel anxious, and then getting frustrated and sarcastic with his parents. The student wonders who he really is. Eventually around 11^th grade students integrate the multifaceted qualities they have and realize their sense of self. This process of putting together all their qualities forms their identity, a self-constructed view of who they are, what things they find important and what goals they want to accomplish in life. Groups can play a role such as a team or an informal group at school. To find their identity they will experiment with different groups of people. An early developmentalist named Erik Erikson proposed that people find an overall sense of identity be the end of adolescence. However, many current developmental theorists disagree and suggest that identity may continue to work for a long time after.

                                   

                                         
                                     (The question "Who am I?" is one faced by adolescence

        and may take considerable time to see.)

Even by the end of high school students have a little idea of what role they will play in society.  Sometimes social skills are more important for students than the academic side.  Those who have good social skills have a tendency to excel in school work.  Peers often provide necessary social and emotional support.  During the preschool years they are merely a source of recreation.  They can provide comfort and safety from bullies.  When students have to adjust to puberty they rely more on their friends than parents in times of confusion and trouble. This could be important because a child may have an unstable home and need their advice. Girls will share their innermost feelings (the preoccupation of physical appearance and concern about the opposite sex for example) and realize that their problems are similar, hopefully eliminating the personal fable they go through. Peers are socialization agents. They determine what options are good for recreation and what is cool. As you'd imagine, these could be negative such as smoking cigarettes on the corner.


A false impression is that peer pressure is bad but to use a nice word from the author, it's a mixed bag. Some peers promote abstinence, being trustworthy and fairness. As you'd imagine, the other contents could be promoting criminal activity, drugs, and aggression. A problem is that there could be an inconsistency between influences from peers, family and school which could exacerbate social skills and grades. The influence of peer pressure is underrated despite what is commonly believed. According to the textbook, most children stick to their beliefs and values that their parents have instilled in them and don't let peer pressure deter them. They tend to stick with those who have the same standards they have. Maybe this is a generalization. We've read in the last paragraph that when children in puberty rely more on peers rather than parents so it's not exactly true that children stick with the values and beliefs that parents gave them. 

Development of a Sense of Self

Sense of self is your perceptions, beliefs, judgements, and feelings about who you are as a person. Students tend to have a self-worth where they believe that they are capable or inept. Children in the primary grades make a distinction between two aspects of themselves, how competent they are at day-to-day activities and acceptance by friends and family. As you'd imagine, the concrete becomes abstract so eventually their sense of self becomes more complex. Here I am pretty much copying the book word for word since they're facts so good job Dr. Ormrod. In the upper elementary grades they realize that they may be more or less competent or "good" in their academic work, athletic activities, classroom activities, acceptance by peers etc. By adolescence they make general self-assessments about their ability to make friends, their competence at adult work, and romantic appeal.

                                                    

                                             

                                      

                                                          (Are sports your forte?)

There are different ways to judge such as by how popular you are around people but many young people around the world commonly judge themselves by their physical attractiveness. Students that have a positive sense of self are more likely to excel academically, socially, and physically. They are more apt to to pay attention, follow directions, work independently and persistently etc. Students' beliefs about themselves are self-constructed just like their view of the world. For example, a student may be bright but a topic being covered is a weak spot and they view themselves as dumb even though they excel in other areas well. A slightly inflated sense of self may be productive as they will have more of a tendency to take on challenging tasks as long as it doesn't enter the arrogance territory.

                                          

(Do you have stunning looks like Tony Parker's wife Eva Longoria?)

There are three factors influencing sense of self. This is something that we may know and not think about. They are Previous Performance, Behaviors of Others and Group Membership and Achievements. Previous performance is complex because we view ourselves by our previous performance and construct who we are and who we are affects how we perform. A bad experience can occur if a person has a bad belief in one's ability to do a task and that negativity causes them to do bad and their confidence shrinks even more. To avoid this vicious cycle teachers need to have different ways to test students so they will have a chance to excel in academic, social, and physical tasks. Teachers need to make sure they have done work that has lead up the current task at hand. I have highlighted "In fact, the occassional failure that such challenges bring - provided that students eventually will succeed - will ultimately lead to a more realistic and resilient sense of self.

                                    (Do you excel and become excited from learning?)

Cultural Expectations and Socialization

Parenting styles reflects students' behavior as we have discussed. Each give them a different type of socialization which is a set of beliefs and behaviors that are appropriate in a culture. When children are young parents or other family members will influence their behavior but when it's time for them to go to school the teachers become the socialization agent (good phrase from Ormrod). In mainstream Western Society we promote respect to authority figures, following instructions, working independently, asking for help when it's needed.  Those outside encourage most of these behaviors but there are nuances.  A Mexican child probably has been socialized to observe events and stay quiet instead of asking questions when needed.  Also the child may go off and work with a group of people because they feel more comfortable due to Mexican socialization.  "On average, children of Mexican heritage feel more comfortable working cooperatively with peers than independently." 

Other cultural influences are European American families often encourage assertiveness and independence, but families from other countries such as Mexico, China, Japan, India etc. encourage restraint, obedience, and deferment to elders.  Many children are reared to be shy in China, but many in Zambia are encouraged to be outgoing and smile in Zambia.  Where in the world is Zambia?  Don't make fun of me if I should know it easily lol.  This is Africa and it's in the red spot.

 

Keep in mind that there are cultures within cultures "with different parents, teachers, and adults encouraging other behaviors" Teachers need to be aware of cultural shock that foreign students may experience during school.  They will exhibit confusion and frustration at times dealing with the new circumstance.  Teachers need to be understanding and have patience towards the foreign students.  I think they should ease them into the new culture if possible. 

Parents' Influence

The book goes on to describe what attachment is and I think that is obvious. Infants who become close to parents or other caregivers have a higher tendency to be amiable, independent, self-confident children. Those who are not attached to their parents or caregiver may lead them to become immature, unpopular and prone to disruptive behavior. The attachment is important in adolescence too.

Researches have found common categories of ways to parent. The ideal way is authoritative parenting. This is when the caregiver provides a loving and supportive home, have high expectations, and let children in the decision making. These children normally turn out to be happy, energetic, confident and self-reliant. As a result they make friends easily with their good social skills and are sympathetic. Another result is that the children do better in academics. This is the way teachers should treat their students in the classroom. However in some situations authoritative parenting may not be best.

       

(A loving, inspiring, high standard family that everyone deserves.)

Caregivers who are Asian American may exercise authoritarian parenting where they are controlling.

Usually the students do well in school. With Asian American students they put high expectations on obedience and those who follow the principles of Confucianism do not question a parent. The book does not have studies about how the last two styles do. In low-income neighborhoods an authoritarian parenting style may be best because with danger lurking around the corner (good phrase from Ormrod) they may need to be strict. Trying to communicate high standards may not be able to be done because of the stressful situation. A caregiver may work a lot and be too exhausted to explain why a certain behavior is wrong.

Teachers should not point fingers but do the best they can on treating students no matter what the parenting style. Not just parenting problems provide a challenge but also mental illness, marital conflict, etc. can be a challenge to deal with. Parenting styles seem only to have a moderate effect on students' personalities. Many children thrive despite inadequate parenting styles unless they have a situation dominated by abuse and neglect. A teacher needs to be on the lookout for child maltreatment. Bruises, lack of warm clothes when it's cold, chronic hunger are some signs. Obviously mistreatment will hamper their experience in school. A teacher has an obligation to report to the proper authorities when they suspect abuse.