Childhood development and the best way to educate students are issues that have been theorized from multiple perspectives. The common elements within these theories are, children need structure, a learning environment that is safe, purposeful curricula, and a teacher that genuinely cares. In the case study of Alicia, a teenage adolescent who appears to have behavior issues and struggle academically, the theories of Lev Vygotsky and the American Physiological Association journal on adolescent cognitive development will be utilized to analyze her behavior and the best strategies for instructions.
Behavior Analysis Alicia, a tenth grader, is going through a tumultuous time in her life. Adolescent, teenagers face multiple challenges in addition
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However, Alicia could possibly have an undiagnosed learning disability where her cognitive competences and the ability to reason effectively, problem solve, and think abstractly on a higher-level are underdeveloped. Students that are lacking these competencies perform below grade average in reading, writing, mathematics, memorization, or reasoning skills which could explain her below average academic performance. If Alicia has not been assessed for a learning disability, her behavioral issues may be viewed as a typical adolescent behavior and not the untrained cognitive issues that may have been overlooked (APA 2011). Adolescent girls with learning disabilities experience higher levels of emotional stress than boys which could explain Alicia becoming tearful when encouraged to read the short passage. Emotions and learning are tied together, if the student is stressed, their perception of the learning environment becomes negative; this negativity leads to added cortisol in the blood and raises anxiety. The signals in the brain revert to the fight or flight mode, which demonstrates Alicia refusal to read and shutting down (APA …show more content…
Executive function regulates the self control, social skills, self-disciple, and mental flexibility (Mooney 2000). Alicia lacks the ability of this self-regulation that would enable her to maintain emotional and behavioral control when faced with social and environmental challenges. Children that do not develop this control, lack the mental tools and the ability to focus their minds on purpose and consequently their learning is less effective (Mooney 2000). Some children from natural growth backgrounds tend to exhibit these characteristics and are unable to negotiate with adults in an academic setting to have their needs met by using the language recognized by these institutions. The result of the inability to transfer high levels of content to long-term memory is attributed to prolonged periods of high stress, which in turn creates high levels of cortisol in the bloodstream and manifests itself in behavior issues, like inattentiveness and low memory retention (Lareau
At sixteen, she has entered the adolescence stage and entered puberty. She demonstrated normal physical movement and had no signs of any disability that pertained her from adequate physical activity. Both her gross and motor skills were visible in the observation. Her cognitive development is visible, when she is able to think and make fast decisions to problems as they arise. Her cognitive development has reached a point where she no longer views problems in a concrete way but rather think abstractly about them in solutions. The ability to solve problems the last minute and look for solutions make her cognitive development ready for early adulthood. While she was not given a grade right away for her presentation, it was clear in the observation that her overall school performance is at or above normal level. It is inferred though this observation that the child has good communication skills which is something most peers her age can be lacking
Instructional Consultation is a consultee-centered, school based consultation process developed by Sylvia Rosenfield. IC addresses academic and behavioral problems of students by specifically targeting the teacher’s instruction; maximizing the academic fit or “match” between the student, task, and the instruction. The most prominent influence in IC’s theoretical background is Len Vygotsky’s notion that it is “impossible to evaluate the individual without also considering other significant people and institutions in the community” (Bjorklund, 2012, 77). This sociocultural theory emphasizes the role that adult (or more knowledgeable peer) interaction plays in a child’s development. In particular, Vygotsky posits that adult instruction is most effective when it comports with the child’s zone of proximal development (ZPD), the “potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more co...
No single development theory satisfactorily explains behavior; however, a more comprehensive picture of child development emerges when Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development is integrated with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development identifies four stages of development associated with age (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs “posited a hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings: deficiency needs and growth needs” (Huitt, 2007). Comparatively, both theories argue that humans need a series of environmental and psychological support to meet our needs. Integrated, these two theories together enable teachers to understand which stage of development students are at and to create teaching
The chart above summarizes Mrs. Hippchen’s (teacher) and Mrs. Lagace’s (parent) ratings on the BASC-2. In the school setting, Mrs. Hippchen’s ratings place Alina in the positive range for Attention Problems, Adaptability, and Social Skills. This indicates that Alina’s behaviors in the area of Attention Problems are considered lower for a female her age and she exhibits strong interpersonal and adaptive skills. Alina is described as a student who is attentive during class lessons, friendly, and interacts appropriately with peers and adults. In the classroom, she puts forth her best effort.
Lynn has been through the special education system and was diagnosed with dyslexia in her twenties. During her elementary years, Lynn could not quite put her finger on it but she was different from the other children. She had difficulty reading and writing and could not keep up academically with her peers. Around this period of time, Lynn began taking special education classes where she would receive instruction, which would help her get on task. As she moved through junior high to high school, her LD became more apparent. Lynn felt alone and different from the other children, which was shown through her voice as she felt ashamed for having to go to summer school.
Similarly, children with executive function deficits need external cues, prompts and reinformcements to supplant the self-regulatory functions they are lacking internally (Barkley, 2010).
As educators, we need to be aware of all current issues in society so our students succeed. By having a better understanding of lower socioeconomic students and current issues is necessary to help students succeed. In this paper, I will be discussing how lower-SES psychological development is compromised starting in the home with high levels of stress. By exposing young children to high levels of stress early on this compromises their brain development and creates undesired outcomes expressed through negative behavior and a lack of educational growth in the classroom.
Rosa Thomas wrote an article on Stress and Children Development. In Rosa’s article, she focused on how children early development determined how the child’s neurological and biological system for their well-being or not. Rosa wrote this type of stress was regularly found among particular people or in a certain area, such as, poverty and abusive homes that resulted in the children’s neurobiology being altered in their lives, school, and social competence.
Ilah was served as a student with a Developmental Delay. She receives EC services for Speech and Language, reading, writing and math support. Her goals were directed towards her weaknesses with expressive language, written language and mechanics, reading skills to include {word attack, reading vocabulary and comprehension} and mathematics to include calculations. Parent reported that Ilah has been recently diagnosed with ADHD and takes 20mg of medication in the morning and a supplement after school to help with her completing her homework assignments. Mrs. Pena also reported that Ilah does experience meltdown and tummy aches which she believes is relate to Ilah avoidance of a given task.
Alison’s story is the perfect example of what many families must go through when faced with the possibility of having a child diagnosed with a learning disability. Alison was not diagnosed with visual and auditory dyslexia until the summer before entering college. However, while still a toddler, her symptoms had been brought to her mother’s attention by her sister’s teacher. Alison’s mother then noticed her habits in repeating words incorrectly and how Alison would need tactile clues to follow directions. At the recommendation of her kindergarten teacher, Alison was tested for learning disabilities and the results from the school psychologists were that she was acting stubborn or disobedient. Her family did not stop with the school’s diagnosis. They had private testing completed that confirmed Alison did not have a specific learning disability. The final word came from a relative that happened to be a psychologist. He insisted Alison would grow out of her difficulties. So Alison continued on with her entire elementary, middle and high school journey as a student and daughter with an undiagnosed learning disability.
As a result of the myelination of the limbic system, growth of the prefrontal cortex and a longer attention span, emotional regulation and cognitive maturation develop together, enabling one another to advance (Berger,2014, p.213). This type of development and level of maturation is most noticeable in children ages four and five because uncontrollable outburst of emotion, such as tantrums and phobias begin to disappear; however, I believe it’s possible for children younger than four to achieve this level of maturation and cognitive development much sooner based on external influences such as parents, friends and their environment. For example, not long after my daughter turned she began to speak in small but full sentences to express her needs and emotions. I’ll never forget the first time I told her no when she made a request. Her facial expression immediately changed and she burst into tears. I was completely at a loss for words, being a first time mother, because I could not understand why she had such a dramatic reaction to being told no. Finally, I realized that even though it was very apparent to myself my reason for saying no, she was not able to comprehend the why at this stage in her life. From that day forward I have made it a conscious effort to explain and demonstrate my actions and the reasons for them;
Differences in how a student’s brain works, receives and processes information, is the cause a learning disabilities in students. Students with learning disabilities are frequently misdiagnosed as being lazy, troublesome, non-caring, or unintelligent. Students with learning disabilities, however, typically have average intelligence. The only difference is that the students with learning disabilities brains gain and process information differently, than their non disabled peers. Students diagnosed with learning disabilities can be high achieving students, and taught strategies to overcome the learning disability. With effective ...
There are several major obstacles that hinder a person’s ability to learn such as a learning disability, a disturbance in his/her learning environment, the type of learning environment that an individual is placed in or the student’s learning needs simply are not being met. Children who possess learning disabilities could face obstacles such as they cannot read the text provided by their teacher alone, they cannot keep up with the notes at the speed or pace the remainder of the class is working at, or even they might not be able to complete their test in the same time frame as other students in the class does. Behavior problems are another factor that could hinder a person’s ability to learn. If Sarah always talks, rattles paper, or is up out of her seat during
Cognitive Development and Language Skills Development “Cognitive development underpins all the other aspects of development as children start to explore and make sense of the world around them. It is closely linked to the development of language and communication skills as children interact with the people around them.” There are many theories written on the subjects of cognitive development and language and communication. These theories vary in several ways, but they all seem to make the link between the too subjects. Childcare settings put these theories into practise in a lot of ways, sometimes without even realising it, just through conversation.
During infancy and childhood years, the brain's development has the most rapid growth and is affected by the treatment that the child receives through abuse or nurture treatment. The distinction between what is right and what is wrong is learned during these early years; as well as the rewards and punishments that follow behavior. During the adolescence years, independence and the influence of peers increase. Juveniles try to have their freedom, but at the same time they try to be like an adult. This causes psychological stress and can be understood through the development of social cognition.