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Development Statement

Standard: A teacher understands how students learn and develop and applies that knowledge in

the teacher's practice. Candidates know, understand and use the major concepts, principles,

theories and research related to development of children and young adolescents to construct

learning opportunities that support individual students' development, acquisition of knowledge

and motivation.

It is crucial that teachers understand how children grow and develop in order to provide

the best education possible. There are many theorists who have weighed in on how children go

through the process of developing. Many children develop in predictable stages such as those

suggested by Jean Piaget (1936) who believed that children progress through stages of

development while actively interacting with their environment and building new knowledge,

called schemas with each stage (Piaget, 1936). Other theorists have looked at the behavioral

motivation in students. It is important for teachers to keep these theories in mind because they

can drive instruction and help to better understand students.

In this project, I looked at the development of oral language in a first grade classroom. I

observed children who were having conversations throughout their school day. Some

conversations were social, such as during snack or break time. Another was a more academic

conversation that took place with the teacher. Vygotsky (1978) stressed the importance of social

learning theory and the Zone of Proximal Development. Essentially, we can learn through social

interaction with a more knowledgeable other. In the conversations I looked at in my project I

think that even social conversations can encourage learning and growth in some way. I think

allowing some natural social conversations to happen, especially in the younger grades is critical

to the development of the students and as Vygotsky theorized, helps children.

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Observing the students having conversations with each other, although they were not

academic in nature made me aware of how important collaboration between peers in a classroom

is. Students in the conversations I observed were engaged in a back and forth dialogue where

they were able to listen to one another, express their own views. In a younger grade classroom,

allowing for these conversations is important to the development of the students. During my

student teaching in a 1st/2nd grade classroom I chose to do many collaborative work projects with

the students because I felt that the social interaction they get helps them develop. I also felt that

working collaboratively helps support higher students by having them explain concepts to others.

It also helps lower students because they gain a support system. This collaboration between peers

in an academic situation can help students learn in their Zone of Proximal Developments as

suggested by Vygotsky (1978)

Dewey (2009) theorized that a major part of learning comes from the everyday

interactions in life and out of social necessity, such as how language develops in babies and

young children. Dewey (2009) also suggested that because students can learn so much from

actively engaging in their environments, teachers should serve as more of a guide and allow

students to discover much of the information on their own. As I continue to develop as a teacher,

this is a concept I am becoming more aware of and starting to believe more fully in. I think that

students learn and retain so much more information when they are actively engaged in the

learning process and discovering the information on their own versus merely being told the

information.

Peter Johnston states that, “Social development is the foundation for intellectual,

emotional, and physical health, even in adulthood” (Johnston, pg. 67). While the conversations

that I observed during this project did not demonstrate the students learning new earth shattering
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concepts, but I do think they reinforce the idea that simple interactions during students can turn

into big learning outcomes and the teachers should allow some of these natural conversations to

happen and work to plan more collaborative projects into the classroom so that they have the

opportunity to learn from each other and their environment.

References

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg.

Johnston, Peter. (2012) Albany, NY: Stenhouse PublishersOpening Minds: Using Language to

Change Lives Johnston, P. H.

Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Readings on the

development of children, 23(3), 34-41.