EDLA167- DRAFT COPY

Week 1
Vygotsky’s theory played a major part on socio culture 80 years ago and is still being
applied and questioned throughout education today. Vygotsky's theory of Cognitive
development suggests children construct knowledge collaboratively through informal
and formal education by adults conveying to children the ways their culture interprets
the world. Students become able to perform more challenging tasks when assisted
by more advanced people, which promote construction of knowledge. Within
connected classrooms, establishing a relationship and having open communication
with advanced people such as experts in particular fields allow students to
collaboratively construct knowledge and engage directly with direct KLA’s. According
to Vygotsky all educational tasks should be within the zone of Proximal development
(ZPD). The ZPD is the difference between what children can achieve independently
and what she or he can achieve with assistance. Vygotsky's theory also states
scaffolding can be provided as steps taken by the adults to reduce the complexity of
the task to assist the child in learning. Scaffolding may involve modeling and
providing guidance to the students for difficult tasks that are outside their ZPD. 
Tailored scaffolding to the needs of your students can be applied by
providing , sentence starters, coaching and feedback but also by giving students the
choice about level of difficulty. Thus the teacher can model how connective
classroom technology can be used positivity to benefit the students. On the other
hand connective classroom ideas such as videoconferences can be used as a form
of scaffolding to explain a concept or task to the students. It is vital that students
have access to powerful tools that support learning. This can be done by teaching
students to use learning and organisational strategies, language tools (dictionaries or
internet searches), spreadsheets, and or word-processing programs. Another way of
applying the theory is focusing on dialogue and group learning through experiments
with grouping and peer tutoring. Thus far I strongly believe Vygotsky's theory of
development will play a large part in my teachings and also future learnings as it can
be incorporated, interpreted and applied in many ways. 

McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2013). Child development and education. Boston:

Pearson.

Woolfolk A, Margetts K, 2016, Educational Psychology, 4 Edition, Ch 3: Physical

th

and Cognitive Development

 
 Week 2
 
When working closely with children, it is vital that an educator understands the
importance of diversity and that each child or person is not like another. As an
educator you will come across a range of several types of learning rhythms and
patterns. According to Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, he depicts eight
different ways in which a learner learns and understands; linguistic, logical
mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily – kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and
naturalist (Woolfolk, & Margetts, 2016). However it also illustrates that an individual
will have “strengths and weaknesses in one or several of the areas,” (Woolfolk, &
Margetts, 2016).  This can be evident in this classroom when one or more students
are academically ahead of the rest of the class. “An advantage of the multiple
intelligences perspective is that it expands our thinking about abilities and avenues
for teaching” (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016, pg.173). In order to tackle these
intelligences, a teaching strategy I believe is effective is creating student profiles to
determine different ways each student likes to learn but also what they are interested
in learning. This is beneficial as it allows you as an educator to tailored your
classroom activities to the needs of your students and ensuring we are allowing the
students to work to their full potential.
Along with determining ways students learn and develop, an educator may
come across several types of learner differences such as “learning disabilities;
communication, emotional, or behavioral disorders; intellectual disabilities; physical
disabilities; impaired vision or hearing; autism; traumatic brain injury; or special
abilities and talents” (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016, pg.168) . Although it may be ideal
to focus more of your time and effort onto these students who may require additional
help, it is also important to ensure they feel included in the classroom. In the
classroom I believe it's important to outlines these differences but also work together
with the students to cater for their needs. For example, allowing students to create
student profiles of each other and outlining not only their differences but similarities
and addressing the links in their learning. However along with this sense of inclusion,
it is also important to ensure all students are accepting and aware of classroom
diversity in order to prevent negative actions and behaviours.
References:
Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2016). Educational psychology. (4th ed.). NSW     
Australia: Pearson Australia.

Week 3 
Social development refers to how someone develops socially through
communication, interaction and understanding. A child who is competent of
communicating, interacting and understanding of others behaviours and emotions is
referred to being socially competent (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). In the early years
of development, a child is surrounded by people of all other ages who interact
socially around them. However it is important to ensure that in the early learning
years, children of young ages are capable of understanding themselves as an
individual but also understanding the importance of social interactions within the
classroom and environment around them. It is through this social interaction that
children develop social and also emotion skills and attributes. However tying in with
social development comes the emotional development of a child as well. They are
able to sense and feel different emotions and tend to react when they emotions are
triggers or changed. This can also be linked to social cognition as “most children and
adolescents spend much of their mental energy engaged in social cognition,
speculating about what other people are thinking and feeling and then choosing their
behaviours towards other accordingly” (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2013, p.523). 
As an educator it is important to understand the different social skills and levels of
each student within the classroom. Many children surrounded by a larger and more
interactive group of people may be at a different stage of their social and emotional
development to others.”There is strong evidence that adults who had close friends
as children have higher self esteem and are more capable of maintaining intimate
relationships than adults who had lonely childhoods”.(Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). 
As a future educator, I believe building strong and positive educator, student
relationships allows the educator to understand the needs of the child and ensure
they are allowing that child to develop and grow not only physically by socially as
well. Young children develop the social sensitivity that enables warm person
relationships, including close friendships. Some of the associated social skills will
also be advantageous for interaction in the classroom. This can play a major part in
shaping a child’s mental mind frame and ensuring they are developing into confident
and engaged learners. This tool allows us to create positive social skills which
enable us to interact effectively with others and to form close supportive
relationships. (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). 

References 

McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2013). Child development and education. Boston:

Pearson. 

Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2016). Educational psychology. (4th ed.). NSW     
Australia: Pearson Australia.

Moral development
Moral development refers to “advancements in reasoning and behaving in
accordance with culturally prescribed or self-constructed standards of right and
wrong”(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2013, p.590). It “involves acquiring standards about right
and wrong, analysing moral issues thoughtfully, and increasingly engaging helpful
behaviours that reflect concern for other people’s rights and needs”(McDevitt &
Ormrod, 2013, p.590). Crucial in the younger years, moral development plays an
important part in the way which children treat, respect and interact with their peers
and others around them. It assists in shaping the person they become towards
others and the way they make their decisions. During early stages of childhood,
children are taught the basics or sharing, and treating others the way they want to be
treated. They work with fairness and equality and incompass these values in the
playground. “In the moral domain – ideas about justice, fairness and basic human
rights- development moved through stages from a belief that justice means equal
treatment for all, towards a sense that morality involves beneficence and fairness,
and that moral principles are independent of the norms of any particular group.”
(Woolfolk, 2016). 

As Kohlberg argued that children construct their own standards about what is morally
right and wrong, and they revisit and revise these standards over time; believing that
moral development is a constructive process. As a future educator i believe that
Kohlberg's theory of moral development being a constructive process is evident in
the classroom as children's morals and behaviours change as they grow. It is
important in the younger years to clarify which behaviours are acceptable and which
are not to ensure the children understand why things are set a certain way or why
there may be differences. Calling out bad behaviour is a must, however also
rewarding good behavior goes a long way. I believe positive reinforcement allows a
child to morally develop in a positive way and sets an example for those children
who may not behave in the same way. Another strategy i will incorporate into the
classroom is encouraging children to participate in discussions about moral issues
they may have come across or conflicts in the classroom to ensure all negative
perceptions and issues are eliminated. 

References 

McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2013). Child development and education. Boston:

Pearson. 

Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2016). Educational psychology. (4th ed.). NSW     
Australia: Pearson Australia.