Chapter 3: Madelyne Huff- QTC (3.1 & 3.2)

(3.1) Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual student learning and the learning environment as a whole. Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines that would like to address in your paper. Then, examine the possible developmental factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study. Consider all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social, emotional, and moral development. CSEL guidelines can be found under CSEL Artifact. Cases are included at the end of the document. Choose the case that best suits your desired grade level.

Elementary Education Case Study

You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations.

     As far as the cognitive dimension goes, Lisa seems to be stuck in the concrete operational phase (Piaget’s theory). For example, she gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants. While most children grow out of this type of immaturity, it suggests that she does not understand people have different opinions about the world around them. She obviously has her own way of doing things, and if she believes her way of thinking and is the only and right way to approach school assignments, it might explain why she is acting out during cooperative group activities. As far as language goes, Lisa might want one job because she does not feel comfortable doing any other job. This relates to her self-efficacy. If she does not feel comfortable in her abilities to succeed in another job, she will try her hardest to avoid that particular role. This could easily explain why Lisa gets angry when she doesn’t get the job she wants. Or, she might not have the vocabulary to suggest her insecurities with various roles.

     In terms of the social and emotional dimensions, it seems to me like Lisa’s temperament is not as “easy going” or as open-minded as the rest of her peers. For example, if the other group members are more than willingly to try new information, but she likes to stick to a particular plan, their personalities might clash. This could be why she refuses to pay attention when her group prepares for class presentation or acts out during class. Or, Lisa might be trying to get attention. This could be because she doesn’t get enough attention at home, or it could be because that is how her parents/community/culture behaviors. Either way, I would need to see how she behaves outside the classroom environment.

     Finally, one’s moral development is commonly defined as the principles for how individuals ought to treat other individuals. In terms of this particular dimension, I would want to look into Lisa’s cultural expectations and socialization. For example, some cultures find it disrespectful for children to address authority figures. This means they would be more passive compared to their peers. On the other hand, some cultures are more aggressive and teach different morals. If her culture is more aggressive, it might be encouraged to openly argue during collaborative activities. Therefore, as you can see there are multiple factors that go into this case study. While I am not sure what is causing Lisa to act out during class, I am almost one-hundred percent positive analyzing these factors will give me an idea as to how to go about helping the situation.

(3.2) Check out tables 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 with particular attention to the age ranges you are interested in teaching. Identify your personal favorite ways that an educator can promote a child’s sense of self, perspective taking, and moral reasoning skills.

     One great way to a child’s sense of self is to be extremely supportive and optimistic about their potential for success. They need to know people believe in them, and it is extremely important for teachers to instill confidence in their students. Another way to do this is to give students safe outlets for risk-taking behaviors. For example, I will have no tolerance for bullying because I want all of my students to feel safe about voicing their opinions. If they feel safe, they will be more likely to take risks, which could potentially improve their self-efficacy.

     To promote perspective taking, I think it is important for teachers to give students strategies for presenting themselves well. A big part of discussion is being able to express your opinion in ways other people will understand; therefore, providing students with tools that will help them with this skill is crucial. This will also help them in the long run! Another strategy is to encourage students to look at historical events and figures from their points of view. Not only is role-playing fun and entertaining, it allows students to see things other people’s perspectives! I think this is extremely important since they will have to work with other people for the rest of their lives.

     One way to promote moral-development is to make prosaically behavior a high priority in the classroom. For example, making caring and sharing one of your number one rules. Next, group projects and multiple opportunities for them to interact with their peers will help them learn how to treat other individuals. Finally, I will use prosaically adjectives in my classroom and cognitively explain my thought process when imposing discipline for moral transgressions. For example, if a student harms another student, I will explain why their behavior was wrong and how it affected the other person. In addition, I will provide solutions for them to remediate their behavior.