Some of your students may hate writing assignments, whereas others may enjoy them very much. Writing is an extremely important skill for students to have. Studies show that poor writing skills are detrimental to business success. More importantly, without writing, students may not be able to express themselves adequately. Since the art of writing is both creative and practical, here are 5 Ways to Inspire Your Students to Write:

1. Individual journals- One great way to inspire your students to write daily includes passing out a notebook or composition book to each child. This way, they will have a place to record their thoughts or answer prompted questions. To read more about the effectiveness of this exercise, read this paper from Indiana University. After every student has a “special” notebook (you can even have them decorate the cover or choose the color of the book), make classroom time to ask a question that they can write the answer to in their books. Possible questions include: “What is your favorite food?” or “Does your family have any holiday traditions?” After giving your students time to process the question and write about it, you can ask if any students would like to volunteer to read from their notebook.
2. Letter writing- Sign up with a pen pal program that matches your students to other students. This could be international or domestic. Typically, school groups sign up, each student writes a letter and sends a small token and then the two students are “pen pals,” exchanging letters for a semester or quarter. The students will have to learn to write letters to keep up with their pen pal. For more ideas on letter writing, visit the suggestions from the Pearson Longman resources website.
3. Introduce blogging - Likely, your students will already know what a “blog” is, depending on their age level. A safe way to start a blog project is to make a class blog. There are many resources for planning and setting up a blog.  This means you have one blog and each student is responsible for making a post. You can let your students’ parents know about the blog, so they can follow it from their home computers.
4. Make it fun with poetry - You can start a lesson plan by talking about famous poets and reading some of their work to your students. You can also incorporate ideas about haikus and other forms of writing into this lesson. Poetryteachers.com has detailed plans and ideas on how to teach poetry and incorporate related activities into your writing lesson plans.
5. Encourage your students to submit their writing to area contests - Another way to get students inspired to write includes giving them support and the resources they need to enter local writing contests. Some schools have writing and art contests each year, whereas other students may have to look to their cities or states for such opportunities. A popular national contest is the Scholastic Art & Writing Contest.

Whether you decide to inspire your students through poetry or competition, keep in mind that writing skills, just like reading, are essential to everyday life. When a student can write well, he or she will have an open opportunity at future jobs and success. Read more here about how crucial writing skills can be in the business world.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

A reader recently commented in response to this post about learning styles that he’d like to know more about learning styles such as what is a learning style, what is the definition of this term, what are the different types, what is the method to determine your learning style, and what tools can be used.  This article was written in response to his questions.

Each person is different and special in his or her own way. Part of what makes an individual unique is how she learns and discovers new things. We use our senses to understand the world around us, and each of us finds one sense to be stronger in that assessment than another. Different learning styles are all about the way learning is approached and optimized individually.

Learning styles can be defined as an individual’s unique approach to learning based on strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Once a person connects with a certain style of learning, it provides the opportunity to tap into the brain and learning. There are three styles of learning – auditory, visual, and kinetic.

Auditory Learning Style

Auditory learners connect with listening and hearing when learning. Lectures provide a wealth of information, and auditory learners enjoy listening and paying attention. According to FamilyEducation.com, auditory learners benefit from traditional teaching techniques in the classroom. Teachers can aide in learning by adding extra auditory interest by using voice fluctuations during lectures, reading directions, and using verbal clues often.

Visual Learning Style

Visual learners find seeing information demonstrated, observing charts and visual aides, or watching a movie or video to be beneficial to learning. Learning often takes place in large visual chunks for visual learners. Within the classroom, educators can include charts, diagrams, and other visual aides to help the visual learner see the big-picture and understand new concepts.

Kinetic Learning Style

Kinetic learners are doers and learning takes place through movement and action. Touching, feeling, exploring and experimenting through the sense of touch is essential for the kinetic learner. Kinetic learners are active, which is sometimes misunderstood within the classroom. Offer hands-on activities within the educational environment to provide the kinetic learner the opportunity to learn while doing.

How to Determine Your Learning Style

There are several simple questionnaire tests you can take to help determine your learning style. Some can figure it out by paying attention to how they learn, but for others, it can be a bit more challenging. Once a learning style is identified as dominant, it can help the individual excel in learning and understanding of the surrounding world. And, some individuals have two learning styles that may benefit knowledge.

Consider how you enjoy learning. Visualize yourself in an educational situation. Which do you prefer – lectures, visuals, or activities? If you prefer listening to a lecture on a topic you are interested in, you are probably an auditory learner. Those that enjoy watching a demonstrative video can be considered visual learners. And, if you’d rather be doing a hands-on activity, like a dissection, you probably connect best with kinetic learning style.

Many have a gut feeling which style fits their personality and abilities. Along with learning what learning style fits you, you can find out more about how your brain works and utilize that information to encourage better educational experiences in the future. This is a great opportunity to explore learning activities with children to enhance learning style abilities, encouraging whole-brain learning.

Understanding Your Learning Style

Now that you have an idea what style of learning best fits you, you can begin using it to your advantage. While learning, tap into your knowledge and use what you have learned to advance how you gain knowledge. If you are a visual learner, observe, look at pictures about a new subject matter, and create charts and graphs. Auditory learners can search out lectures and discussions about topics they find interesting. And, kinetic learners can engage in activities and hands-on projects.

Within the classroom, when an educator understands the different learning styles of students, learning can be created to accommodate students with some simple adjustments, which is called the meshing hypothesis. When individual learning style preferences are accommodated through instructional teaching, academic achievement and individual attitudes towards learning improve.

Auditory, visual, and kinetic learning styles are essential concepts to aide in the educational process, although some studies disagree. Understanding that the concept of learning styles is a theory that assists with the learning process is key, and that tapping into that knowledge is beneficial to the individual as well as the educator.

By Sarah Lipoff. Sarah is an art educator and parent. Visit Sarah’s website here.

Instructional technology in the classroom is an innovative way to use the computer to motivate your students to learn. Using electronic means, you can teach your students how to search and interpret information and how to use computers for various projects. This article outlines the basics for instructional technology and offers you real solutions for creating and finding lesson plans tailored to fit your classroom.

Maintaining Online Learning – Only Classrooms: One Disadvantage

While you may be using instructional technology part-time or occasionally in your classroom, some classrooms operate by computer learning all the time. There are advantages and drawbacks to having class only online. It may help in some situations, however, when students are sick and unable to come into the regular classroom, or on vacation. Having an “online portal” for around the clock learning can also help when students are in different time zones.

One drawback of online-only learning, according to the University of Oregon’s Instructional Technology in the Classroom article, is that technology is changing rapidly, almost too quickly to keep up with. Teachers, especially fine arts instructors, who use computers and Internet learning portals as primary means of instruction in the classroom, may have to attend several workshops per year or read books on the subject, just to stay ahead of the game.

Advantages

There are many advantages to online learning, however. Foreign language instruction is one of these. Foreign language instruction online is made easier with programs and comprehensive online learning. There are also free foreign language instruction websites online that can help students learn the basics. Education-Portal.com offers a list of free language instruction websites, including those from BBC and Carnegie Mellon.

Instructional Technology Devices

The most common device that schools offer, or even require students to have is a laptop. Beyond that, schools are also starting to invest in more mobile technology, such as the iPad or the Nook. Portable technology is starting to become a standard, because it can be transported and moved easily, from school to home.

Internet Safety

Before instructing students to use the Internet for a project, educators should go over a few web safety tips. Instructors can go over the dangers of online surfing, instruct students not to click on links they are unsure of and how to make sure a site they are using as a source is credible.

The Internet Safety list has many resources, such as video episodes teaching kids about online dangers and problems.

Writing and Blogging in the Classroom

One exercise to get students writing is to introduce them to blogs. The Blogs and Blogging: A Home Run for Teaching, Learning and Technology, offers teachers possibilities for blogs. Classrooms can even run a joint blog, alternating students who post. Over the course of a month, a teacher can assign a different student to post each day, so that at the end of the month, each student recorded his or her thoughts.

Math and Science in the Classroom

Technology in the math and science classroom is imperative. The ability to show images on a screen may help students grasp concepts in a simplified manner. Computers can also help with computing and analyzing statistical data for math projects.

Resources

The Best Practices of Technology Integration in Michigan site, linked below, offers complete lesson plans for using technology in the classroom for students in elementary, middle school and high school:

Best Practices of Technology Integration in Michigan Site

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Parents often wonder why their child acts a certain way at certain times. What they don’t realize is that the answer is simpler than they think. The brain is conditioned to respond in a certain way. It is a learned behavior that repeats itself over and over. A child learns that if she cries, she will get a response. And, she might figure out that a certain specific behavior will really get a response, such as throwing a temper tantrum, which no parent enjoys and wants over as quickly as possible. So, a special something is given to the child to stop the behavior. Her brain just figured out, through conditioning, how to get a special treat.

What is Behaviorism?

Behaviorism is a learning theory that focuses on observable behaviors. It is broken into two areas of conditioning – classic and behavioral or operant. Most are familiar with operant conditioning, where one learns through reward what behavior is desired. B.F. Skinner spent lots of time exploring operant conditioning through research with animals, which proved that behavior is a learned response. Classic conditioning is a natural reflex or response to stimuli. When a child feels apprehension at the thought of taking a test, she’s exhibiting classic conditioning.

Skinner’s research determined the brain was not a part of conditioning, and learning was through environmental factors, differentiating his ideas from others such as John Watson, and coining his theories as radical behaviorism. All actions required a reaction, positive or negative, which modified behavior. With basic behaviorism theories, it is thought that the individual is passive and behavior is molded through positive and negative reinforcement. This means that a child’s behavior can be changed and modified through reinforcement, but which type of reinforcement is best? Positive or negative?

Rewarding Behavior

Yes, incentives do seem to reap positive rewards. Many of us resort to offering rewards for desired behavior. If a child performs well on her next test, she is promised a new toy. When she is loudly complaining at the supermarket, she is offered a tasty-treat to stop screaming. This means the child is rewarded for both her positive and negative behaviors sending a confusing message, which results in a child learning through her behaviors that she can receive the same outcome.

Behaviorism has even hit the mainstream with several television shows setting almost impossible examples of how children can and should behave with the proper attention. Alfie Kohn finds that behaviorism is as American as apple pie, applying techniques for a quick response without consideration for the future. According to Kohn, instead of tossing kids in time-out, spending time reasoning with children in a warm and compassionate manor offers better response resulting in future well-adjusted and loving adults.

Modifying Behavior

As adults, we can work to model positive behaviors to encourage the same behavior from our children along with not offering incentives when unnecessary or overly praising. Our gut reaction is to offer a “good job” when a child behaves in a promising way. This raises the child’s psyche, but doesn’t offer them necessary important incentive to continue the behavior. The child also does not understand specifically what behavior caused the adult to praise her, causing disregard. The blanket phrase “good job” becomes insignificant and doesn’t promote continued positive behavior.

When specific praise is provided, such as turning that “good job” into “I like the way you explained the answer to that question,” with the praise focused on growth, learning, and development, the child’s behavior is positively acknowledged and encouraged. It also gives the adult a chance to think about what actually excited them about the child’s behavior, making it a win-win on both ends. The child feels supported and motivated in a nurturing way, and the adult has identified the specific behavior they are proud of.

Along with offering specific and well-defined praise, adults can model positive behaviors to inspire the same in a child. Communication is key along with having realistic expectations. A parent can’t assume their two-year-old child will be able to sit through a family meal without some difficulty. But, when the behavior is modeled and expectations are communicated clearly to the child, the desired behavior can be achieved – potentially. And, instead of becoming frustrated when the behavior starts breaking down, redirect the child and offer assistance if necessary. Why not encourage the child to finish her meal with a puzzle at her side to help her stay motivated while at the table.

Consistent and realistic consequences are essential when dealing with behaviors. This can be a tricky area and children may manipulate the situation. Feedback, or consequences, are a large aspect of behaviorism. When feedback is given after a desired behavior, learning has been set in place. Selecting appropriate rewards is important so that they can be offered consistently. When a child works hard to perform in a positive way and then not rewarded as expected, her self-esteem drops and she is not motivated to continue the behavior. When she behaves negatively, instead of placing her in time-out, removing a reward is an option. Rewards could include items that are decided together. The child can take ownership of her behavior when she is able to take part in the decision making process.

Working with kids in a nurturing way is the best step toward positive behavior – and a healthy and happy relationship.

Sarah is an art educator and parent. Visit Sarah’s website here.

A reader posted a comment in response to a previous Funderstanding article about Behaviorism. The reader suggested we differentiate between the theories of John Watson and B.F. Skinner. Below is a more detailed summary of radical behaviorism in response to our reader’s suggestion. Thank you to our readers for your thoughtful feedback!   

How it Works and what Skinner’s Behaviorism Theories Explain

B.F. Skinner was a psychologist who founded behaviorism and also studied learning theory and behavior modification methods.

His work was controversial because it defied the conventional framework of the subject of psychology.

“Skinner’s radical behaviorism offered a unique conceptual framework for explaining human behavior that had no close brethren in psychology. Skinner used the term radical to note the stark contrast between methodological behaviorism (i.e., the behaviorisms of Watson, Hull, and Tolman) and his approach,” a Psychology Today article stated.

With his research, Skinner decided to take a new way of thinking about behavior and mannerisms.

“Rather than place causal status in hypothetical entities or constructs, Skinner’s radical behaviorism attempted to demonstrate orderly relations between behavior and environment. This approach is, at its core, a perspective of selection (Donahoe, 2003; Skinner, 1966; 1972). Radical Behaviorism views cause as a complex interaction extending across multiple temporal scales involving organisms and the environment,” the article said.

What is Basic Behaviorism?

“Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again,” an article on the Web site Learning-Theories said.

“In contrast, punishment (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behavior will happen again. Positive indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the withholding of a stimulus. Learning is therefore defined as a change in behavior in the learner. Lots of (early) behaviorist work was done with animals (e.g. Pavlov’s dogs) and generalized to humans,” the article also said.

How did Skinner View Behaviorism?

B.F. Skinner’s idea of behaviorism is different from many other behaviorism schools of thought.

“B. F. Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning: “the behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future,” a Skinner biography said.

One example the biography stated included:

“Imagine a rat in a cage. This is a special cage (called, in fact, a “Skinner box”) that has a bar or pedal on one wall that, when pressed, causes a little mechanism to release a food pellet into the cage.  The rat is bouncing around the cage, doing whatever it is rats do, when he accidentally presses the bar and — hey, presto! — a food pellet falls into the cage!”

“The operant is the behavior just prior to the reinforcer, which is the food pellet, of course.  In no time at all, the rat is furiously peddling away at the bar, hoarding his pile of pellets in the corner of the cage,” the biography said.

Modifying Behavior Quickly

Skinner viewed behavior modification in very clear terms.

“It is very straight-forward:  Extinguish an undesirable behavior (by removing the reinforcer) and replace it with a desirable behavior by reinforcement,” a Skinner biography said.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Working together in a small group to solve a problem is often one of the biggest challenges students in the classroom face. Trying to work with classmates to solve what could be a challenging question often tests the skill of the student. But this type of collaboration, or cooperative learning scenario, can actually promote growth in the cognitive function of students.

3 Ways to Bring Problem Based Learning to Your Classroom:

1. Collaboration

“According to Lev Vygotsky, collaboration promotes cognitive growth because students’ model for each other more advanced ways of thinking than any would demonstrate individually. According to Jean Piaget, collaboration among peers hastens the decline of egocentrism and allows the development of more advanced ways of understanding and dealing with the world,” a Cengage report said.

When students work in these groups to exercise problem-based learning, they are also using language and trying to connect with fellow group members. The addition of technology also tests the brainpower of the group.

• To compare and contrast problem based learning and how it applies in both large and small classrooms, one article of reference includes McMaster University’s “Problem-based learning, especially in the context of large groups.”

2. Access to the latest technology

“Lev Vygotsky forwarded the notion that higher mental functions (the way we understand things – all things) are mediated (modified, limited, or enabled) by language. Thus it behooves students to work to construct their learning in a socio-cultural environment. The authors believe that this environment needs to be infused with the use of technology as a tool to help construct that learning,” a report entitled Vygotskian Viewpoint: Technology and Constructivism said.

For detailed information about Jean Piaget’s theories of learning and how cognitive development is formed in the classroom, see this Funderstanding article.

Classrooms that may use Vygotsky inspired methods to collaborate are seemingly non-traditional, however.

• For teaching notes and the ability to connect with other educators about PBL in this area, visit The PBL Clearinghouse, through The University of Delaware Web site.

3. Students are given an active role

“Vygotsky’s theory promotes learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. Roles of the teacher and student are therefore shifted, as a teacher should collaborate with his or her students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teacher,” Learning-Theories.com said.

• Technology may change student roles and teacher roles. With more collaboration and an active role in decision making, teachers may see students acting more confident and feeling comfortable taking on larger projects. To learn about the educational changes your students may encounter, see the Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students.To learn more about Vygotsky’s theories of curriculum, instruction and assessment, check out this additional Funderstanding article.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

While Jean Piaget, the famous Swiss biologist and psychologist is revered in some social circles, he is not very popular in others. Read on to learn fact from fiction about one of psychology’s well-known pioneers.

How It All Started For Piaget

Piaget began his scientific career before he even made it to high school.

“At age 11, while he was a pupil at Neuchâtel Latin high school, he wrote a short notice on an albino sparrow. This short paper is generally considered as the start of a brilliant scientific career made of over sixty books and several hundred articles,” the biography from the Jean Piaget Society reads.

He Studied His Own Children

Piaget was married in 1923 to Valentine Châtenay. The marriage and the children that followed allowed to him to use his own family for observational purposes.

“The couple had three children, Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent whose intellectual development from infancy to language was studied by Piaget,” according to the Jean Piaget Society.

But because he studied his own children, he may not have been able to report accurate findings in some of his work.

“The biggest complaint about Piaget’s methods is that he studied his three children (hardly a representative sample). In “Origins of Intelligence” every observation he reported to build his sub-stages of infancy was with his children. Our methodology standards (e.g., selecting samples) keep getting more rigorous; look at most classic studies and I believe you will find similar ‘flaws’ (e.g., early memory studies run on one-self),” devpsy.org, a developmental psychology Web site said.

For the stages of child development and the primary influential factors, visit this Funderstanding article.

When Cognitive Processes are Divided

“Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget was the first to realize that the cognitive processes of children differ from those of adults,” Web site findingDulcinea said. “Piaget conducted most of his research in question-and-answer conversations. This allowed him to observe how his subjects’ thinking changed over time.” To see how Piaget’s theories impact learning for children, see this other Funderstanding article.

Shunning IQ Testing

Piaget worked with the authors of the Binet-Simon IQ test at the beginning of his research career. In terms of the intelligence tests, instead of focusing on the wrong answers students were getting, Piaget found it more important to look at the answers in general.

When he observed that many of the children were answering the questions with the same wrong answers, he was able to postulate that if education focused more on individual student needs, children may be able to learn better.

“Piaget felt that by looking at the answers themselves (rather than their correctness), he could see how the children were thinking. He noted that while many children were giving the same incorrect answers this important pedagogical fact was not even noticed by the Simon team because they looked only at the numbers of correct answers,” Web site Engines for Education said.

Piaget contributed directly to the development of intelligence theory testing by proposing methods that educational systems could use to encourage the intellectual development of students with different capabilities.

School Systems Remain Unchanged

Although Piaget focused on trying to encourage school systems to adapt to some of his theories, he was ignored.

“Piaget recognized that teaching needed to focus on how children were reasoning rather than focusing on how well they might recall facts for a test. Nevertheless, while his work is lauded by most researchers, it has had little effect on the school system,” Engines for Education said.

Piaget: Your View

What do you think? Do you think Jean Piaget’s theories were inaccurate because he didn’t use a representative sample? Or do you think it doesn’t matter? If you use Piaget’s theories for your classroom learning, how do you justify them?

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Albert Bandura may be most well known for his work on social cognitive theory and observational learning.  But it’s important for educators and parents to know about a buried treasure at the heart of social cognitive theory – self-efficacy beliefs.  Self-efficacy is what helps nurture effort, perseverance, resilience, serenity, and optimism in the face of adversity.

Bandura defines self-efficacy as “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.” (Bandura, 1995, p. 2). In simpler terms, it’s best captured in Henry Ford’s famous quote:  “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re usually right.”

Self-Efficacy: Pervasive in All Aspects of Life

People’s self-efficacy beliefs extend to all aspects of their lives – career choice, dating behavior, and emotional regulation. A child’s ideas about what she’s good at influences her choice of studies and ultimately career.  If a person doesn’t believe her efforts will result in the outcome she wants, she will have a lot of trouble starting, applying effort, or persevering in any activity – whether it’s studying for an exam, engaging in a sport or asking someone out on a date.

Interestingly, in the world of education, Bandura also extended the concept of self-efficacy to a teacher’s “instructional efficacy“ - her belief in her ability to teach – and “collective efficacy beliefs” – the institution’s collective attitudes towards its students’ ability to learn.  Both significantly impact their students’ educational outcomes.

Self-Efficacy : 4 Sources

Bandura posits that self-efficacy beliefs are formed by how individuals interpret the input they receive through four sources:

1. The person’s own mastery experiences.  How a person interprets the results of her previous performance is the most influential source of self-efficacy beliefs.

• Classroom Strategy: As often as possible, invite students to evaluate their own work. The best way to strengthen self-efficacy is to have students identify those things they did well on assigned tasks.

2. Vicarious experience of observing others perform tasks.  A person forms beliefs in her own efficacy when she watches someone similar model the desired behavior.  Models can also be mentors if they show a better way of doing the task.

• Classroom Strategy: Teachers frequently ask students to assess something done by their peers (reviewing an oral presentation to the class, editing a paper or report, etc). Add the following direction: “In your self-efficacy journal, write down two positive things you observed that you do on a regular basis.”

3. Social persuasions.  These are the verbal judgments made by others. Negative appraisals weaken self-efficacy beliefs more than positive appraisals strengthen them.

• Classroom Strategy: When you ask your students to review/edit/assess the work of their peers, have them identify those things that were done well rather than identifying errors or weaknesses.

4. Somatic and emotional states. A person will assess how confident she feels by interpreting her own emotional and physical state as she contemplates an action.

• Classroom Strategy: Begin by asking your students to imagine themselves doing something they do well. Help them identify their physiological and emotional states during times of success. Tell them that as they imagine taking on new challenges, they have the best chance of success if they can replicate the same positive physiological and emotional states. (Note: This requires considerable abstract thinking skills and may not be especially useful with pre-adolescent students.)

These sources of self-efficacy beliefs point to the importance of a quality that makes us uniquely human.  That is our ability to self-reflect, which is the process by which we make sense of our experience.  Knowing the life-long impact that self-efficacy beliefs have, teachers and parents can help children develop healthy self-reflection skills.  Consistent with the theory of observational learning, a great way to do this is by modeling healthy self-reflection on one’s own performance, and mentoring how a child is interpreting the results of his or her performance.  Teachers can routinely evaluate their own performance in front of the class, specifically identifying what they did well and how they plan to build on their success. By modeling self-evaluation, teachers demonstrate a process designed to promote self-efficacy.

If you want more information about self-efficacy beliefs and how to apply them, you’ll find a wealth of information here.

By Emily K. Fitton, with classroom examples provided by educational consultant and Funderstanding contributor, Bob Sullo. Bob Sullo‘s bio is available here.

Emily K. Fitton, LMSW. Emily is now a psychotherapist and freelance writer after a 25-year career in marketing communications.  She graduated with honors from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service in 2008, and is currently in a post-graduate institute for advanced training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Emily’s writing is informed by her belief that self-awareness and understanding are at the heart of happy relationships and empowered choices.

Citations:

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic Press. (Reprinted in H. Friedman [Ed.], Encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998).

Bandura, A. (1995). Self efficacy in changing societies, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Pajares, F. (2002). Overview of social cognitive theory and of self-efficacy.  Retrieved 2/23/08 from http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/eff.html

Every experience and interaction has an impact on development in early childhood. Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget recognized this when he studied and researched his own theories of cognitive development.

Some of his research led to the belief that every interaction establishes cognitive structure in children. This is especially important in the classroom environment.

Jean Piaget’s theories impact learning in many different ways, but keeping in mind the curriculum you are teaching, as well as how you are teaching it, directly applies to the essentials of child development. For the stages of child development and the primary influential factors, visit this Funderstanding article.

Observation and Education

Jean Piaget developed his methods of understanding children by directly observing them while they were working. Many of his thoughts have led to increased educational theory.

He also analyzed behavior.

“His particular insight was the role of maturation (simply growing up) in children’s increasing capacity to understand their world: they cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so,” according to Learning and Teaching Information.

Jean Piaget made note of certain stages of development that allowed children to learn better.

“He saw these transitions as taking place at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. This has been taken to mean that before these ages children are not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain ways,” Learning and Teaching Information said.

Structured Development

Jean Piaget’s theories of development centered on structure. The concept of structure introduced four stages of development, according to Teacher Education:

1. Sensorimotor stage -  0-2 years: imitation, memory and thought begin to be utilized
2. Preoperational stage- 2-7 years: language development and recognizing symbolic form
3. Concrete operational stage- 7-11 years: able to solve hands-on problems logically
4. Formal operational stage- 11-15 years : able to solve abstract problems in a logical fashion

Applying Jean Piaget in the Classroom

To apply Jean Piaget’s theories in the classroom, the University of Arkansas suggests these six steps to structure preoperational development:

1. Use concrete props and visual aids whenever possible.

2. Make instructions relatively short, using actions as well as words.

3. Do not expect the students to consistently see the world from someone else’s point of view.

4. Be sensitive to the possibility that students may have different meanings for the same word or different words for the same meaning. Students may also expect everyone to understand words they have invented.

5. Give children a great deal of hands-on practice with the skills that serve as building blocks for more complex skills like reading comprehension.

6. Provide a wide range of experiences in order to build a foundation for concept learning and language.

More on Jean Piaget

To learn more about Jean Piaget’s work, check out this Funderstanding page.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

At twenty four months, your baby can remember the faces of the people closest to him or her. Often, this is why a child will cry when separated from their primary caregivers. This visual stage is very important to future development. “The ability to see and hear forms a crucial part of brain development in children. At this stage, parents must introduce the child to various colors, shapes and sounds to stimulate this area of brain,” according to Buzzle.

There are many other ideas you can use to introduce your child to other influential factors.

Influential factors

There are a few different types of brain-related development happening during childhood.  How children learn and grow with these factors depends on a few different things.

“These important factors include genetics, food and nutrition, responsiveness of parents, daily experiences, physical activity and love. In particular, parents should be aware of the importance of furnishing a healthy and nutritious diet, giving love and nurturing, providing interesting and varied everyday experiences, and giving children positive and sensitive feedback,” the North Dakota State University Extension Office supplement on Understanding Brain Development in Young Children said.

Four types of childhood learning

Each interaction a caregiver has with a child is important for fostering childhood learning. The following are four different types of learning experienced in childhood:

Motor skills

The ability to move and walk encompasses motor skills directly. “Activities like rolling over; crawling, walking, running and jumping are gross motor skills. These skills usually involve using the entire body or several parts of the body at one time,” Esther Boylan Wolfson, Director of the Early Childhood Development Center said on Wholefamily.com.

Muscle strength and tone are also vital areas to evaluate when assessing your child’s motor skills.

Specific activities: Gymnastics and tumbling classes, drawing, learning to tie shoes and using scissors.

Visual capabilities

Visual skills are gained over time.

“Most children, when born, have limited visual development. They may be able to see shapes or contrasting colors like black and white, but most can’t see primary colors like red or blue before they are a month or two old,” according to EyeDoctorGuide.com. Therefore, it takes awhile in the development of a child for visual capabilities to begin to appear.

Specific activities: Learning colors and shapes, sorting and folding laundry and looking at pictures are main elements of visual child development.

Emotional capacity

Helping your child become a social and appropriately emotional individual is something he will carry the rest of his life. In Erikson’s Eight Stages of Development, from The Child Development Institute, there is much to be acquired. Attributes such as hope, will, competence and others make up the list, among others.

Specific activities: Learning appropriate responses like “thank you” and “please,” playing with other children and helping your child make friends at play-dates and other events.

Language

Doing sign language with your baby or child may help them develop better motor skills, a PBS report states. Another technique, fingerspelling, is also being used. “Fingerspelling is the use of hand positions to represent letters of the alphabet,” the report said.

Learning such a thing could lead to early reading skills.

“Sign language and fingerspelling deliver additional clues for learning to read. Reading is an acquired skill that requires a planned sequence of skill development. The use of sign language and fingerspelling is a strategy that can be integrated into almost any existing reading program,” PBS said.

Specific activities: Singing songs and rhymes, reading books and encouraging storytelling exercises, no matter how simple.

More on Early Child Development

Renowned Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget developed a theory based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures, or mental “maps” or schemes for understanding and responding to physical experiences within his or her environment. These schemes increase in sophistication as a child develops. Piaget’s theory identifies four developmental stages which you can read more about here on Funderstanding.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.