Adolescent Development

Assignment 1 for Understanding and Engaging Adolescent Learners

This assessment looks at some development theories in action; drawing on research to explain and understand the specific actions of an adolescent from a case study i wrote.

The audio for the case study can be found here:

Socio-cultural theory draws upon Vygotskys Zones of Proximal Development. These zones are separated into a) what a child can do on their own, b) what they can comprehend with assistance and c) that which is outside of their abilities (Gibbons, 2002, p.8; Swan, 2006, p.67).

For Sarah, reading an unseen text on her own in front of a group of people is beyond her capabilities as she still requires assistance from a skilled expert to help her make sense of the words. If students are constantly being forced to engage with content that is in their ‘Zone C’, they will become increasingly disengaged and frustrated (Garigiulo & Metcalf, 2013, p.35), as was the case with Sarah.

To prevent this from happening, educators need to provide a level of support that is individualised and based on a students prior understandings (Nolan & Raban, 2015, p.7). This process of tailoring instructions to the needs of specific students is called scaffolding, and is a key element in socio-cultural theory. Effective scaffolding provides the individual student with the opportunity to practice and work through content at their own pace (Ontario, 2013, p.18). Miss Tracey effectively offered this personalised assistance whilst drawing on Sarah’s interests to make content that would normally be too challenging, engaging and meaningful to her.

Classical conditioning theory concentrates on observable behaviour and the relationship between stimuli and individual responses (Bentham, 2002, p.21).

Learned emotion reactions operate within this framework and are central to the educational process (Bentham, 2002, p.22). For Sarah, she has developed a learned emotional reaction to reading out loud in class. This can be seen as she becomes nervous and irate just at the thought of having to read. When presented with the possibility of having to read out loud, Sarah has become conditioned to believe that she will always fail and thus has a negative emotional reaction to the process.

References

Bentham, S. (2002) ‘Perspectives on Learning: The Behaviourist and Humanistic Approach’. Psychology and Education. Cornwall: TJ International. pp.21-45

Gargiulo, R. & Metcalf, D. (2013) Teaching in today’s inclusive classrooms: a universal design for learning approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. New Hampshire, Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Nolan, A & Raban, B. (2015) ‘Theories and Perspectives’. Theories into Practice: Understanding and Rethinking Our Work With Young Children. Australia: Teaching Solutions. pp. 5-16

Ontario. Ministry of Education. (2013) Learning for All: A guide to effective assessment and instruction for all students. Toronto: Author. Available at www.ontario.ca/education.

Swan, M. (2006) ‘Theories/metaphors for learning mathematics’. Collaborative learning in Mathematics: A challenge to our beliefs and practices. London: NRDC. pp.53-79