How People Learn
Seth Martin
Rowan Cabarrus Community College
June 29, 2015
ENG 111
How People Learn
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the beliefs of how people learn. The questions to be address are as follows: Are humans born good, bad or neutral? What is the impact of heredity and the environment on human development and learning? How does a society decide what children should learn through the different periods of development? Who should be responsible during these different periods? What is learning? Understanding the way children learn can assist educators and other professionals in helping the children reach their full potential in life.
Humans born good, bad or neutral The question are humans born good,
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When a child is born with the genetics to be successful but is never taught, then the child will not be grow to his or her potential.
The environment in which a child lives will affect his or her learning. If a healthy child lives in a poor socioeconomic status not conducive to learning, then generally the child will not become educated unless someone helps the child. The child can learn, but the environment is not allowing the learning to take place. If the child receives the necessary tutoring then the child will be successful. Some cultures place more importance on education and this will enable a child to be more successful than he or she normally would have been because the extra assistance is available. Children who have access to technology will be able to succeed in a larger variety of jobs because of this exposure. The world is changing rapidly and this produces environmental changes (Greenfield, 2009). The heredity and environmental influences together must create synergy in order for the child to develop
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Infants want to know more and show that they are social creatures. When a child shows that learning is taking place, then parents must encourage, and teach the child.
Early Childhood The early childhood stage is an enjoyable learning experience when children begin attending preschool and show that they can communicate more effectively with adults and other children.
Middle Childhood Children are attending school during this stage and they are learning concepts at school that are age-appropriate. The children also learn behavior from other students whose behavior is not appropriate. The child must decide which path to take in life when children not following the rules in class. The children are at the age of moral reasoning and must make decisions based on what he or she learns in life up to this point. Adolescence During this period in a child’s life changes are taking place mentally and physically. The adolescent child begins to understand more abstract concepts in school. He or she faces more moral dilemmas and must decide for him or herself what is best. Early
We are introduced to adolescence in the 5th stage of development. Adolescence begins for boys around the age of 14 and continues up until the age of 21 years of age. At this stage of development, there are many changes that occur emotionally, physically, sexually and spiritually (McGoldrick, Carter, & Garcia Preto, 2011). At this time, adolescent kids are going through changes in their body. They are dealing with coming into their own sexuality. Skills pertaining to social skills and social relationships are being developed through experience. Adolescents are also increasing their skills of physical and mental coordination, such as learning about the world and working on their own coordination. Adolescence is also characterized by learning their own identity and where they fit in the world, as well as learning their relationship with peers and those around them. Spiritual identity is also developed along with a deeper understanding of life. Independence is something that is also weighing on the mind of an adolescent. Overall changes in the family structure can also occur when a child of this age reaches this
What makes us who we are? Does the answer lie in our genes, our environment, or in the way we are raised? For years, there has been an on-going debate between nature and nurture. T.H. White, author of The Once and Future King, explores the debate through many of the book’s characters. The issue clearly appears in the relationship of Queen Morgause and her sons, the Orkney brothers. The debate caused people to pick a side, to pick nature over nurture, or nurture over nature. However, it does not have to be one or the other. Nature and nurture work together to determine who we are.
The issue of whether or not criminal or aggressive behavior and violence is caused by biological or environmental factors has proven to be one that has caused a dispute for many years now. The biological or genetic factor of violent/criminal or aggressive behavior is certainly a much talked about topic. The idea that certain individuals could be predisposed to violence is something definitely deserving of doing research about. The nature vs. nurture topic has been a continuing debate for many aspects of human behavior, including aggression/violent behavior and criminal behavior. There have been many studies indicating that chemical relationships between hormones and the frontal lobe of the brain may play a key role in determining aggressive behavior as well as genetics, while other studies have explored environmental and social factors that have been said to control patterns in human aggression. Aggressive/violent behavior can’t be answered directly if it is caused by either nature or nurture; instead it is believed that both cause it.
According to Steinberg (2014) adolescents is a time of growing up, of moving from the immaturity of childhood into the maturity of adulthood, of preparation for the future. It is a period of transitions: biological, psychological, and social. Adolescence can begin as early as ten years of age and not end until the adolescent is in their early twenties. It is important to note that adolescent development occurs at different times for each individual. Therefore, students in the same grade that are around the same age may be going through different developmental stages of adolescents. The purpose of this analysis paper is to discuss the different stages of adolescent development, how they affect the maturity of the students and to determine
The United States generally looks at education as a path to success but the people with the longest road towards success are not getting enough education. In the years before kindergarten, children form their basic thinking skills and children who don't learn these at home fall behind everyone else. In most cases children in poverty do not achieve these skills to the extent of middle-class children from their environment at home. When poor children enter school they are generally a year and a half behind the language abilities of their middle-class peers. Already children of poverty are behind in their ...
In stage four, formal operational stage, the adolescent reasons in conceptual, idealistic and rational ways. They can imagine and reason about hypothetical
Russell baker In the short story “School vs. Education” argues children go to school only to pass exam and go to higher grade without temptation and motivation. Also he presents teachers who are dissatisfied about their job; and the recognized education system is based on test and grading. “They have been happy testers what they want to hear for twelve years”(Baker72). On that other hand, he mentions learning from media and peers has negative effect on children because they get families with unnecessary skills that are not suitable for children in early learning “From watching his parents, the child, in many cases, will already know how to smoke, how much soda mix whisky’’(Baker72).
Over time, there has been an expansion in our knowledge of the ways in which humans develop and learn. It is now known that babies are beginning to learn even before they are born. I often find myself wishing I had known these things when my children were developing. We all want our children to be the best that they can be; with some knowledge of how children learn and the sequential steps they must go through in many areas of development, we can provide many experiences at home to help them reach their potential. When educators discuss children 's development, they usually talk about physical, mental, social, and emotional development.
Forman, G., & Hall, E. (2001). Wondering With Children: The Importance of Observation in Early Education: Five Reasons to Observe Children. ECRP: Early Childhood Research & Practice. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v7n2/forman.html
Socioeconomic status can be defined in terms of family wealth and assets as well as educational background. For this reason, many comparisons can be made between socioeconomic status and education. Furthermore, academic achievement and the level of education reached by an individual, is determined by socioeconomic status. Research has shown that environmental circumstances and family issues greatly influence a child's future because the impact of the socioeconomic status depends on the level to which an individual becomes successful in life. Research also shows that family conditions can impact a child’s education and their quality of life. For example, being raised in a high-economic culture increases the chances that a child will attend
The distinction between nature versus nurture or even environment versus heredity leads to the question of: does the direct environment or the nature surrounding an adolescent directly influence acts of delinquency, later progressing further into more radical crimes such as murder or psychotic manifestation, or is it directly linked to the hereditary traits and genes passed down from that individual adolescent’s biological parents? To answer this question one must first understand the difference between nature, nurture, environment, and heredity. Nurture, broken down further into environment, is defined as various external or environmental factors one is exposed to which can be more specifically broken down into social and physical aspects. Nature, itself broken down into heredity, is defined as the genetics and the individual characteristics in one’s personality or even human nature.
Initiative vs. Guilt that happens between 3 and 5 years is the stage that follows. During this stage, children take more initiative to engage with peers. Erikson explains that during this stage, if children are given the opportunity to take initiative, they will develop a sense of security in their ability to lead. The basic virtue at this stage is purpose. Industry vs. Inferiority, which happens between 5 and 12 years, emphasizes school and friendships.
A well-educated parent can have a better understanding of raising children and molding them for their adult life. For instance, an educated parent will probably make higher wages, therefore are able to invest more money in their child’s welfare. (Kaushal, 2014). Parents that raise their children in an impoverished environment most likely won’t have the money, which could decrease their chances of procuring the resources needed for their child’s education. Kaushal, (2014) stated, “Children learn from the attitudes and behaviors of their parents, which are often informed by knowledge, acquired through education” (Introduction, para. 6). For that reason, learning patterns of the poor social class could be passed down from one generation to the next which may make it more difficult for kids to gain a proper knowledge. Since culture is passed down from generation to generation, a parent’s actions may always affect the decisions their children make in life. This could make it extremely challenging for children to achieve a better lifestyle for their future families as
During this stage adolescents develop a better understanding of self and belonging or they face identity crisis and role confusion. During this stage in my life I felt that I was rebelling and doing things that were not age appropriate. I did not respect authority and thought it was ok to do what I wanted to do. Even though I was a young teenager I did not think of myself that way. I thought of myself more like an adult. Through my negative experiences in this stage I suffered identity crisis and role
Based on the explanation above, the writer concludes that adolescents are young people who are develope into adult. In this period they need opportunities for self-expression, do what they want to do, loyal in friendship, not too serious in paying attention for the lesson, and sometimes need the teacher’s attention.