The class Ecology of Human Development is one of
the best classes to take as a future educator. It helps you to become aware of
discrimination and gives you a look at how a child develops socially,
psychologically, and physically in their culture. By understanding how children
develop and how to not be discriminatory it will help you attain a classroom
where your students will feel respected, accepted, and willing to learn. The class taught me that by understanding the
different aspects of your students’ lives such as their socio-economic status
and disabilities that they may have, you can cater to their needs in a way that
will be non-discriminatory and help them to get the most out of their
education.
One important part
of the class was child development. We had to look at child development from
different viewpoints of theorists and what they thought effected the
development of children. One of the ideas that I found important was
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of
human development. “The scientific study of the progressive, mutual
accommodation throughout the life course, between an active, growing human
being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the
developing person lives, as this process is affected by relations between these
settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded.” (Gardiner
p.24) I felt that Bronfenbrenner’s model of human development really pinpointed
the importance of a child’s social and cultural setting to one’s development.
All these things will help to shape the way that the child behaves as well as
his or hers attitudes and views to the world when they get older. By
understanding a child’s ecological model you can see the different barriers
that he/she might face and you can work with that so that you can improve the
quality of their education by being able to teach them better. Another way you
understand a student’s background is to look at their developmental niche created by Harkness and Super. “At the center of the developmental niche, is
a particular child, of a certain age and sex, with certain temperamental and
psychological dispositions, by virtue of these characteristics, this child will
inhabit a different cultural world than by other members of the family, and
child’s world will change as child grows and changes.” (Gardiner p.30) It
is another way for a teacher to understand “the world” that a child is coming
from. By understanding your students you can teach them better.
I found that in
this class I was able to compare a lot of what we read to different parts of my
own life. In the book Theories of
Childhood by Carol Garhart Mooney, I was able to relate my daycare center
that I work at to the theories of Montessori. Montessori believe in “beautiful,
orderly, child-sized environments and sensory play” were important components a
child’s development. (Mooney p.24) Montessori believes that the “environments
for children need to be beautiful and orderly so that children can learn order
from them, as well as sensory experiences.” (Mooney p.24) I was able to compare
this to my daycare center because as I stated in my reading accountability 2,
“we have rainbow colored walls and clean, child size furniture. We have shelves
that children can reach and photographs of where each toy or item goes. We
provide plenty of long periods of time for free work and play. We structure in
flexible teaching times where we have many crafts and engaging activities for
the children, such as painting,” all of which creates a child friendly
environment that will help children develop their sensory skills and education.
I also realized that my kindergarten teacher did most of the same things and
probably agreed with Montessori.
Another important
aspect in the class was looking at cross-cultural development and the issues of
discrimination. Prior to this class I always thought of myself as a
non-discriminatory person. However, I got an eye-opening realization that
although I may say that I have discriminated against someone at one point or
another without realizing it. I feel that it is innate in a person due to their
development in their particular culture. In the United States there are many
prejudices and stereotypes and I was raised with those ideas. Therefore, I am
innately discriminatory whether I want to be or not. That is why I found this class
a very important class for future educators because it makes you aware of
discrimination and helps you to see it and make changes so that you do not
offend your students or someone else. The books Middle Schools for a Diverse Society by Kathleen Chamberlain and Adolescents at School by Michael
Sadowksi were both great resources to providing insight on the issues of
discrimination based on socio-economic status, gender, race, etc. One of the
most insightful things that I read in Adolescents
at School was the chapter “Understanding “Acting White”: What Educators
Need to Know” found on page 35. I found this chapter very interesting because I
have never heard of such a thing but had a similar idea in my head. In this
chapter it states “students of color reject academic achievement because they
perceive it as “acting white.” (Sadowki p.36) It absolutely appalled me because
I find it absolutely ridiculous that due to our societies discriminatory view
on African Americans that they feel that they are less intelligent then
Caucasians. As I stated in my reading accountability 11, “I believe that it
doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are you can do great things.” Overall I felt
that this class really brought forth a lot of different views on discrimination
and opened my eyes to things that I didn’t even think of as being
discriminatory, such as the other day in class when we had a discussion about
the distractions of Scholastic book orders and the problems they arise, I
stated that to solve the problem I would allow a 15 minute circle, share time
to get let some of the excitement out. However, my teacher asked “what would I
do with the kids that didn’t receive books?” It really made me think because
although I was trying to solve the distraction problem there would still be an
issue with the ones that didn’t have a book.
Not only did I
find the material and homework assignment very useful and helpful in my
learning, but I found the class discussions to be a great way to gain insight
and viewpoints on the various issues brought forth in the class. Although, I
did not participate much in the discussions I learned a lot from my peers and
gained a lot of interesting information that I either didn’t think of or was
biased against. For example, when we were discussing earlier in the course of
the theorists a lot of people compared their schools and whether or not their
teachers adhered to the theories of Montessori, Piaget, Erickson, or Vygotsky.
It was interesting to see what different people’s schools were like and how
their teachers acted. I found the reading accountabilities to be a wonderful
way to connect my life and things to the readings. It helped me to better
understand what I read and I got a lot more out it than if I was told to just
read the book. Therefore, I found the assignments a great asset to the class.
My favorite
assignment in the class was the developmental memoire. I created a scrapbook
that related my life to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the developmental
niche, and Montessori. I loved the fact that we were able to be creative and
make something, such as a scrapbook rather than writing a ten page paper. I
found this class to be fun and interesting and made me want to get involved in
learning. It is quite ironic that it is a class to better me as a teacher,
while giving me a class that the teacher does just that. She did a beautiful
job at it and the class was fun and educational.
Therefore, I will
leave this class with the knowledge of cross-cultural development and child
development so that I can apply it to my teaching technique and better teach my
students. I found the course very educational and I learned a lot about
different aspects of development and how a child’s background effects their
development. The class leaves me with many questions, such as, what do I do
when everyone in the class get a Scholastic book order except for two? How than
do I handle that? I will take my knowledge and apply it to my classroom in
hopes that I can be a teacher that makes a difference in my student’s lives.
References
1. Chamberlain,
Kathleen. Middle Schools for a Diverse Society. New York: Peter Lang
Publishing, 2003. Print
2. Gardiner,
Harry W, and Corinne Kosmitzki. Lives across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Human
Development. Massachusetts: Pearson Education Inc, 2011, 2008, 2005. Print
3. Mooney,
Carol. Theories of Childhood. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc, 2006. Print
4. Sadowski,
Michael. Adolescents at School. Massachusetts: President and Fellows of Harvard
College, 2008. Print
