My personal ideas are similar to Piaget’s because I believe that learning is active. Students should be inclusive in their learning process by giving input on ways that are best for them to learn. This can include the different learning styles such as auditory, visual or kinesthetic. I also believe that although students should be included in their learning experience, the teacher should be the one to facilitate the actual learning activities by providing the students with engaging and encouraging activities. I believe that teachers should keep their students engaged by providing them with different activities such as hands on lessons and learning centers to include interactive learning.
I would draw my practices from progressivism, essentialism, existentialism and realism. I also understand that some things will work with one class but may not work well with another. I know that I will need to be flexible when working with a diverse number of individuals. With progressivism, I believe that there should be instruction where students participate in critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making. These exercises help children to survive in the real world.
For example, educators favoring Vygotsky’s theory may incorporate group work and offer scaffolding to aid students in reaching the zone of proximal development, while educators favoring Piaget’s theory may focus more on individual work, while providing rich and stimulating activities based on developmental stages. Through analysis of both theories, not only do educators gain a more in-depth understanding of the cognitive and social implications in the classroom, but also better understand the usefulness and uniqueness of each theory. However, educators should consider each theory with caution and maintain a
Teachers must be dedicated to curriculum planning and instructional decision-making, and encourage students to be responsible for their learning and take an active role in the learning process. Individualized instruction is not just a philosophy, but rather is comprised of a specific plan for meeting every student’s educational needs. Individualized instruction begins with a system to diagnose student strengths and weaknesses. Teachers use this pre-assessment to define goals for the student and understand their academic interests. The next step is to determine the best possible arrangement to group students for instruction, whether it is by needs, interests, or developmental levels.
Progressivism is a student-centered philosophy. The progressivists recognize each student as unique, and they create interesting curriculum to capture student’s curiosity. They also think interacting with others helps developing social skills. For this philosophy, education is preparing for children’s future lives with an emphasis
Vygotsky’s theories are more focusing on indirect instructions and child’s independent learning. Vygotsky promotes the idea of scaffolding where clarifying, modelling behaviours, and providing feedback for students can influence the student’s performance. Expert, self, and peer are identified as the agents of
Therefore, by supporting collaborative activities in my classroom, I will enhance the learning environment by having planned group activities with children at different levels who can help and learn from each other. As I teach through cooperative learning, I will be touching upon Vygotsky’s concept of the ZPD. The ZPD is the point where a child alone may find a task impossible, but with the support of someone more skilled, the task becomes achievable (Fellowes & Oakley, 2010, p. 235). ZPD can guide my teaching of the curriculum and lesson planning in that a child’s knowledge is not black or white, it is not that they simply know it or they do not. There are many grey areas in a child’s knowledge because they experience different things which give them a foundation of knowledge, leaving them ready to accomplish the task with the help of suitable support (Daniels, 2012, pp.
Next, assignments must match the student’s learning and instructional level. In addition, incorporating flexible grouping by learning styles, interests, and intelligences affords the learner a better chance of success. Finally, differentiated instruction is slowly leaning towards personal learning where students choose their own paths through the curriculum reported Richardson (2012b). In my opinion, this will be the future of education, as classrooms of this nature will cultivate self-paced, self-interested, and self-motivated students who fully take on the responsibility of their education, while doing so alongside the teacher.
Early childhood education types of educational approaches to teaching children. These approaches have been based on a teachers own beliefs and values. Also, the theories and philosophies of many theorists who have based their research on early childhood education. This essay will focus on the three aspects that I find important from my own early childhood education philosophy statement. These aspects are, inclusion in the early childhood education service, the impact of social interactions on a child’s learning, and the importance of providing a safe and stimulating environment for children.
Children may be inclined to learn for extrinsic factors as opposed to intrinsically which may affect how they engage in completing assignments, their eagerness to learn and self-determination. Teachers can remark on the controllable factors for their successes to reassure children that they are capable at succeeding. Children should be encouraged to aim for specific goals because the goal becomes attainable. Other challenges teacher may have to overcome are the various ways children’s social skills develop. Teachers have to equip