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Fhs 1500 - Observation 2
Fhs 1500 - Observation 2
what Vygotsky believed, it was very clear to me to see what he was meaning. Vygotsky believed
that all individuals learn within their zone of proximal development, which is an intellectual
arena where new ideas and skills can be mastered (Berger, 2010, p. 185). The dance atmosphere
supplies plenty of areas for growth in all of the major developmental areas, and is a great way for
children to learn skills in a healthy way. By knowing the term scaffolding, a temporary sensitive
support, to help the child within their developmental zone, it is a lot more clear to me that by
observing this dance class, the children are able to learn more and more new things each week.
Social/Emotional Development
One thing that I observed while watching this class was the range of emotions from every
child. From seeing the happiest of little girls who love dance class and wanted to be there, to the
child who hadnt stopped bawling since the second she left her mothers arms before class had
started. There were also the kids that would almost have mood swings, and be happy one second,
then kicking and screaming on the floor because she wanted her toys. The teacher had to go up to
the child and bribe her with candy to make her stop crying. This for example is called emotional
regulation, the ability to control when and how emotions are expressed (Berger, 2010, p. 206).
With Kayla, she was very happy most of the time and enjoyed her time being there until she had
a little incident. When the girls were sitting on the floor watching a demonstration, Kayla started
to cry because she had just wetted herself. At first the teacher was upset that she didnt tell her
that she needed to go to the bathroom, but then the teacher soon got her to laugh because she had
told her a joke. Her emotions had changed drastically within seconds.
There was about ten minutes left at the end of class, so the teachers took the children into
the tumbling room so that they could jump off of the tramp, and play in the foam pit. Play is
important for children, and many developmentalists believe that play is the most productive as
well as the most enjoyable activity that children undertake (Berger, 2010, p. 212). I noticed
Kayla loving this part of class, and she kept socializing with all of the other kids in her class at
this time.
Reference List
Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Life Span. New York: Worth, 2010. Print.