a I have found some similarities between you and I both being teachers
involved in the education of learners. I am truly passionate about understanding
how people learn, and enjoyed every aspect of educational psychology (the
subject of my Master of Science degree). I enjoy understanding how people
learn, and the knowledge investigated in the areas of Cognitivism, Social
Learning Theory, Sociocultural Learning Theory, Information-Processing Theory,
Behaviorism, etc., are virtually boundless. I would have loved to continue my
education in this subject, but due to limitations in Christian-based universities
online, I was guided to Liberty University's programs. I find that developmental
psychology, for me, is the next best thing as both subjects go hand-in-hand
with each other.
a a a In the area of developmental psychology we are to explore the different
ways in which humans develop; learning is an integral and inextricable part of
development itself. Development is multifaceted in its process and phenomenon,
and according to Sigelman and Rider (2015), the systematic changes and
continuities of human development can be best narrowed down to three broad
areas of development: physical, cognitive, and psychosocial. They continue to
clarify development in the cognitive to include changes and continuities in
language, learning, problem solving, and other mental processes. Learning can
also be defined as, "a relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral
potential) that results from a person’s experiences or practice" (Ormrod, 2020;
Siegelman & Rider, 2018). As one develops, learning is inevitable. Human
development cannot be examined without also examining how one learns. For
example, when we look at how infants grow cognitively from developing skills
and capabilities such as the transition into the Sensorimotor substage of
"coordination of secondary schemes" believed to be between the ages of 8-12
months (I've directly seen them sooner, although criticism for Jean Piaget
includes the appearance of skills sooner that originally noted). Here, babies
have developed enough according to the genetic coding of human beings so
that they are able to learn about cause-and-efect relationships and problem
solve. In this substage, babies may move a barrier in the way of a desired
object. This example reveals learning as a natural constituent of the
developmental process. To learn about development is to continue to learn
about and explore the foundations of all learning (i.e. the development of
problem-solving skills, memory, motivation, etc.), to at least some degree.
a a a Shannon, you mentioned your intentional practice of the Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD). Vygotsky believed that "an essential feature of
learning is that it creates the ZPD; that is, learning awakens a variety of
internal developmental processes that are able to operate only the a child is
interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers...
the developmental process lags behind the learning process; this sequence
then results in ones of proximal development" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 35). What
kinds of practices do you do in your classroom to incorporate the ZPD, and
how does it affect your learners?
References
Ormrod, J. E. (2020). Human Learning (8th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York, NY:
International Universities Press.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2015). Life-Span Human Development. (9th
Edition) U.S.: CENGAGE Learning.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher
psychological processes (Cole, M.,
a a a John-Steiner, V., Scribner, S. & Souberman, E., Eds.) Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University
a a a Press.
