Learners in Context: Reflection 1

My knowledge of child development feels sparse.  I have a B.S. in Psychology and have read about Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories amongst others, though if pressed on specifics I would draw blanks.  This concerns me as I take the steps to become an educator of children, especially since I plan on teaching early elementary, yet it also excites me.  I crave acquiring knowledge just as much as want to help others acquire knowledge.  It is important to recognize and work on my gaps, yet with child development theories there is so much debate that I also have to take what works for me and my students as I see fit.

That being said I am a strong believer that environment plays the largest role in determining child development.  I understand that an individual’s biology plays a huge role, but I think family life, culture, and classroom environment all play a much larger role in determining an individual’s development.  A child may have a greater potential intelligence concerning literacy due to their genetic make-up, but unless given a literacy rich environment and encouragement to take advantage of these opportunities the child won’t be able to reach the same comprehension level as a child with less of a biological tendency towards intelligence who is armed with these tools. 

This doesn’t mean you can just create said environment and call it a day, because children are raised in many different manners and family households, and the individual complexities that exist among your students is so vast that lessons need to be tailored in such a way that all children are given the best chance of success.  Development theories provide a great framework, but they can’t account for all these variations – that is why it is our job to get to know them as individuals. 

Lastly, after reading about Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory in Child and Adolescent Development for Educators I strongly agree that the child affects the environment just as much as the environment affects the child. (Pressley & McCormick, p. 14, 2007).  This is why I find it vitally important that my role as a teacher is to help guide students to make the kind of decisions that will impact their environment in a positive way.  Reading, writing and arithmetic are all well and good, but we as educators have a greater responsibility to give children decision making tools to assist them the rest of their lives.  I want to adopt this broader approach to education, not just the fact memorization of the past.

I won’t lie, the more I learn about what it takes to become a successful educator the more intimidated I become.  I am worried I won’t be ready when I get my first classroom and I don’t want to fail my students.  I take this even further and worry that just having these thoughts means I am having second thoughts about being a teacher.  However, I come to the conclusion that the fact that I stress about the success of my future students means that I genuinely care and want to improve upon our current educational system and this concern will push me to become an even better educator.