UNDERSTANDING A “PROBLEM OF PRACTICE” 1

Understanding a “Problem of Practice”

A Child with Disabilities in Behavioral and Moral Development

Jie Xu

Michigan State University

CEP 891: Special Topics in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology

Author Note

Jie Xu, Chinese Language Teacher Certification Program (CLTCP), College of

Education, Michigan State University.

Jie Xu is now at Post Oak Academy, Lansing School District for internship,

2320 Post Oak Ln Lansing, MI 48912.

This writing was supported in part by Michigan State University.

Contact: xujie9@msu.edu
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Abstract

This paper explores the teaching experience from the author’s first year

teaching, focusing on students with behavioral issues and learning disabilities(ADHD).

However, learning disorders and misbehavior overlap. The paper also illustrates

student’s performance in the classroom to explore causes of inattention and

impulsiveness from the perspective of children’s physical and moral development in

middle childhood and adolescence, and discusses possible solutions.

Key Words: middle childhood, misbehavior, learning disorders, moral

development.

Understanding a “Problem of Practice”: A Child with Disabilities in Behavioral and

Moral Development

Numerous studies have been conducted on the diagnose and treatment of

attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder(ADHD). This paper is intended to discuss a

case when the author was practicing the first year of teaching and find out possible

solutions. The child in this case had learning disorders and moral developmental

issues.

Literature Review

Children in middle childhood(age 6 to 12) spend most of their days at school,

their physical and cognitive developments can be observed by school teachers.

Certain disorders are most apt to be noticed in the middle childhood years, when the

child enters school(Spencer A. Rathus, 2014). In attention-deficit/hyper-activity

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disorder(ADHD), the child shows developmentally inappropriate or excessive

inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity(Bruchmuller et al., 2012). Children

diagnosed with ADHD are quite commonly present in classrooms. The disorder is

likely to frequently lead to problems in attention, conduct and learning in adolescence

or even adulthood.

Piaget(1932) concluded that children’s moral judgments develop in two major

overlapping stages: moral realism and autonomous morality. For children who are at

moral realism stage, rules reflect permanent reality and are not flexible, however, for

children at autonomous morality stage, moral judgments become more

self-governed(Spencer A. Rathus, 2014). The existence of social rules is a key factor

in children’s moral development.

A Case Study

YW was a 12-year-old boy in Grade Seven of the middle school I worked in

China. On the first day of school, I had a fight with him about his behavior in my

classroom. He walked around the classroom and talked with other students loudly five

minutes after our first class began. I asked him to come back to his seat, he went back

but left again in less than two minutes. I asked him again but he ignored my words. I

had to stop my teaching and tried to urge him back by walking closer to him, but he

ran out of my classroom and shouted “I won’t go back! You don’t have the right to

order me!” It was our headmaster who stopped him and dragged him back. In the

following two weeks, I found that, unlike other children, YW would never listen to

any teacher and he often did things as he liked.

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It was about nine years ago and I was working for a middle school in Wuhan,

China. I was assigned as the classroom teacher of a class in Grade Seven. Nearly 80%

of students’ parents in my class were migrant workers from other cities and towns in

Hubei Province. They were occupied with their work to make their ends meet, so they

do not have time to support their children at home and do not know how to educate

them properly. Thus it could be challenging for teachers to work with their families to

educate children. YW was one of them.

I talked with her mother several times since his father worked in southern

China and only came back in the New Year Holiday. YW was diagnosed with ADHD

when he was in Second Grade. However, his family cannot afford the treatment, and

his father felt ashamed to send him for special education. He spent his elementary

school years in a regular class. He was defined as a “problematic” student by teachers

and his mother received complaints from the school and his classmates’ parents

constantly. She cried out of pressure because she did not know the solution. “I tried to

treat him well, but he just shouted at me for money. I can only rely on teachers to help

me.” I told me in tears. She was also concerned about the fact that YW like to

socialize with adults in the community nearby. They hung out frequently, and would

spend their whole days at net cafes. YW started to drink alcohol in order to be like his

friends, even though he did not reach 18, the legal age for drinking in China.

YW took her mother’s love and care for granted. He was mad at his parents

for not being well-off to offer him more money. Besides behavioral issues, he cannot

understand why his classmates felt sad or even cried when being hurt. He even
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attacked other students with a small knife he brought to school. When being asked

about his feeling, he would shrug, “He said something rude to me. He deserves some

punishment.”He could not understand why his classmates cried when watching

movies. He also think their reactions are “stupid” and “ridiculous”

YW was considering dropping out for a while. He talked to teachers and the

principle about it several times. He was disappointed to find that he could not left

school before he reached 16, but he was seeking the possibilities to leave school early.

He felt bored and hopeless when he was at home and school. He told the principle that

his parents were planning to have another kid in the future because he was “hopeless”.

They wanted to nurture another kid, and they believed their younger child would be

better.

Discussion

There may be several explanations for YW’s behavioral issues:

Learning Disabilities: He had ADHD and his inattention and hyperactivity

made him difficult to sit still in the classroom. His academic performance was

severely affected by his learning disorders.

Improper nurturing mode: The lack of father’s support in family reduced his

time to be with family in his early childhood. His mother’s permissive nurturing mode

had negative effects on his moral development.

Children like YW need classroom teachers more attention, and his family may

apply for subsides for children suffering from disorders. Proper system and

medication need to set up for help.

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Discussion Questions

1.Using evidence from the case, discuss YW’s social cognition. What were

effects of parenting on his cognitive development?

According to Bandura’s social cognitive theory(SCT), learning occurs in a

social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment,

and behavior. YW’s social cognition mainly came from his interaction with persons

and the environment. His cognitive development can be discussed from different

perspectives.

Reciprocal Determinism: His external environment(parents, schools and peers)

did not help form his social cognition, so he did not develop emotionally(lack of

empathy); He lacked learned experience from parents and teachers.

Behavioral Capability: He did not know what to do and how to do in order to

successfully perform a behavior.

Observational Learning: His observational learning mainly came from adult

friends, who frequently went to net cafes and drunk heavily. He learned their habits. It

is also a part of external influence.

Reinforcements: The lack of internal and external responses(or negative

responses) to his behavior affected his behavior formation.

Expectations: Low external expectations led to low internal expectations

Self-efficacy: His confidence in successfully performing a behavior was not

consolidate.

2.What do you think is responsible for YW’s lack of interest in school life?
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His parents’ nurturing style is responsible for it. His mother had adopted a

permissive nurturing style and his father had a ignorant one, so he could not obtain

supports from his family. He did not consider parents as trust-worthy.

The schools, including his elementary school and middle school, did not

provide prompt and proper aids when his learning disabilities were diagnosed, and his

special needs were ignored by teachers and administrators. Negative

feedback(complaints) received reinforced his misbehavior, thus worsening his

performance at school.

Peer relationship led to the lack of his sense of belonging. Being disconnected

with classmates deprived him of peer supports and mutual learning. He turned to

adults for social needs, which led to a mismatch between his cognitive development

stage and the instructions he received from his friends outside of school.

These factors contributed to his negative attitudes towards school life.

3.How do you describe his self-regulate? If you are the teacher, what would

you do to improve his self-control and academic performance?

He has poor control over himself because of his ADHD symptoms. His

inattention could have been curbed through therapies from specialists. However, his

family could not support the treatment, while schools did not give priority to his

condition. His lack of self-control aggravated under his mother’s permissive

parenting.

As his teacher, I would give suggestions like applying for subsides and asking

for donations for his treatment. His learning disorders should be thoroughly diagnosed
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and given proper treatment. I would also request a special education plan for him.

Although educating kids with learning disorders in regular schools can be difficult in

China, I would give him differentiated tasks and s special plan of the instruction.

These measures come from my reflection on my teaching career.

4.According to Erikson, what developmental challenge or crisis does YW

currently face? Based on the case, analyze the potential risks YW faces in overcoming

this challenge, and suggest ways that YW’s teacher and family might assist YW to

meet this challenge.

In Erikson’s theory, YW was between the stage 4 and stage 5 of developmental

challenge or crisis.

In stage 4(Industry vs. Inferiority), Children are at the stage where they will be

learning to read and write, to do sums, to do things on their own. Teachers begin to

take an important role in the child’s life as they teach the child specific skills. If

children cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding, then they

may develop a sense of Inferiority. YW did not have a sense of “being needed”, and

his athletic ability was not appreciated at school, which led to his sense of inferiority.

In stage 5(Identity vs. Role Confusion), adolescents will re-examine his

identity and try to find out exactly who they are. Erikson suggests that two identities

are involved: the sexual and the occupational. YW could not get supports from his

family and school, so he seeks help from other adults. Their social and cognitional

influences contributed to his consideration of dropping out. According to Gardner’s

multiple intelligence theory, YW’s interpersonal and intra-personal intelligence did

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not fully developed. He could not set life goals well and had trouble building up close

relationships with his peers.

His family should ask experts’ help instead of complaining to teachers.

Teachers should design special lesson plans for him. He should be given more time to

walk and play. Teachers can teach him to play educational games to help him relax.

References

Bruchmuller,K., Margraf, J.,& Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord

with diagnose criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on

diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128-138.

Spencer A. Rathus. (2014). Childhood and Adolescence: Voyages in Development 6th

Edition. CENGAGE Learning. 978-1305504592

Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Kegan Paul.