18606762- Tayla Nicholls

Presentation

Adolescence is “…characterised by the continued development of social abilities and

behaviour…” (Burnett & Blakemore, 2009, p.51). In other words, adolescence is a time of

personal social evolution, in which “Increased importance is attached to social behaviour, and

there is increased novelty seeking, reward seeking, [and] impulsivity…” (Colver & Longwell,

2013).

Peer relationships also become a dominating factor in the lives of adolescents, as there is a

focal shift from contact with family to peer and peer groups. (American Psychological

Association, 2002, p. 21). This is relevant to Dylan’s situation, in which we see that some of

his social development issues are that he has withdrawn from his pro-social peers and has

declined academically. Dylan’s situation in regards firstly to his withdrawal from peers is

definitely a cause for concern because research shows that interaction with peers plays a vital

role in the social development of adolescents as it helps with the construction of a sense of

identity, moral judgement and values, and alternative worldviews (Bishop & Inderbitzen,

1995, as cited in American Psychological Association, 2002, p.21). Peer groups are also

“sources of popularity, status, prestige, and acceptance.”, all of which are valued in

adolescence. (American Psychological Association, 2002, p.21). Because Dylan is no longer

associating with peers, his social development could be described as “being at a standstill”,

where he is not developing the sense of identity and moral judgement that teens at his age

should be. Thus, assisting Dylan can only really be done through encouraging him to interact

with peers, as we cannot force him into this. We can however, create a safe, open, and

trusting environment through which he can explore and develop peer relationships and as

teachers, we should be approachable and good listeners, should Dylan need assistance.
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The main strategy that could be used in and outside of the classroom to assist Dylan with peer

interaction could simply be implementing group work wherever possible, which may

encourage him to join into group discussions when prompted. Furthermore, by utilising group

work in teaching pedagogy, we would be opening Dylan to what Vgotsky calls “the zone of

proximal development”, a learning zone in which students can only enter when in the

presence of “a more knowledgeable other”, such as a peer (Fletcher, 2018). In this zone,

students achieve “a level of development [that is] attained when children engage in social

behaviour.” (Fani & Ghaemi, 2011, p.1550). This zone enables students to tap into new

knowledge that they couldn’t have otherwise learnt without engaging with peers or more

knowledgeable others. Opening Dylan to this zone may improve his academic performance,

which has seen a decline, by enabling him to learn from peers of mixed abilities, whilst in the

meantime, assisting him with his social development through encouraging interaction with

peers, and through creating this atmosphere where other students rely on his participation and

input to learn. However, it is fair to acknowledge that Vygotsky’s zone of proximal

development is relatively outdated, in that it does not acknowledge technology and its ability

to teach students in an individual environment and in addition, Dylan may not respond well to

group work and could continue to be withdrawn and not participate.

References

American Psychological Association. (2002). Developing adolescents: A reference for

professionals. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/develop.pdf.

Burnett, S., & Blakemore, S. (2009). The development of adolescent social cognition. Annals

of the new york academy of sciences. 11671(1), 51-56. doi:10.1111/j.1749-

6632.2009.04509.x
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Colver, A., & Longwell, S. (2013). New understanding of adolescent brain development:

Relevance to transitional healthcare for young people with long term

conditions.  Archives of disease in childhood, 98(11), 902-907. Retrieved from

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2013-303945

Fani, T, & Ghaemi, F. (2011). Implications of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development

(ZPD) in teacher education: ZPTD and self-scaffolding. Procedia - social and

behavioral sciences, 29, 1549-1554. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.396

Fletcher, J. (2018). Zone of proximal development (ZPD). Retrieved May 15, 2019 from

https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/web/iea/research/assessment-insider/articles/zpd

Reflection

I feel as though this unit has challenged my misconception that adolescents are bad behaved

and constantly engage in risk-taking behaviour simply because they are not disciplined

enough, and they do not listen to authority. When we learnt about the cognitive origins of

risk-taking behaviour during adolescence, which includes the fact that the socio-emotional

system takes over the cognitive control system’s ability to make rational decisions and think

about the consequences, as well as hot and cold cognition contexts, I feel as though this

misconception changed and I can understand that risk-taking is a natural part of adolescence

because of the brain’s development. I have also learnt that different rates of puberty can have

different behavioural and social outcomes; such as delinquency and early sexual activity. In

my classroom, I want to eliminate extraneous load. I will do this through eliminating split

attention by the integration of split learning material into a single source, eliminating

redundancy by not repeating the same information in different sources, and by removing
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advanced learner situation by setting tasks at the right level for students, as well as by not

teaching them information they already know. Furthermore, being aware of the limitations of

the working memory, such as its limit of processing 2-4 elements of information, will enable

me to teach students effectively by teaching them new things slowly and thoroughly, before

moving onto new information, and being cautious not to overload them. I will also utilise

teaching in Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, in which I will encourage group

collaboration, as well as encourage students to use scaffolding through resources such as

textbooks, and also technology such as YouTube, and other online learning platforms.

However, I think the most important thing in my teaching practice is to ensure the safety and

wellbeing of my students. I will continually take notice of students’ behaviour and as I am

now aware of the developmental cascade approach, I know that there are many times for me

to intervene if I see a student at risk. After noticing a potential risk or a troubled student, I

will use the GRIP method as well as exercise my duty of care, such as reporting to the

principal or Child Protection Helpline.