Teaching Approach Series

UNDERSTANDING OUR
STUDENTS
PART1
Diba Artsiyanti E.P Basar
 In the Series

01 02 03
UNDERSTANDING UNDERSTANDING UNDERSTANDING
OUR STUDENTS ROLES OF LEARNING
TEACHER ENVIRONMENT
AND METHOD
 Introduction
 Topic in this section
 Actors in learning
 Human Brain Development
 Human Psychosocial Development
 Barriers in Learning from Student’s Side
 Actors in Learning
 Most influential actors:
 Student
 Teacher/Lecturer
 Environment
 Supporting actors:
 Institution top management: Education Institution Policies
 Institution middle to lower management: Administrative Requirements from Institution
 STUDENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
ACTOR IN LEARNING!!
|
UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS FROM PYSHIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND
PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE LEARNING PROCESS
THE BRAIN

PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECT
 HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
 WHY??
 To understand the way our students learn in a certain age group
 To put our expectations as teacher in an appropriate perspective
 Enable teacher to select the most appropriate approach for the students’ age
 Stage 1: 0 to 10 months (in utero) 
• Neurons and connections growing.
• Pregnant woman should stay as stress-free as possible, take folic acid, B6
& B12, stimulate this young developing brain with sounds and sensations.
Mother should avoid toxins, cigarettes, heavy metals, alcohol, drugs.
 Stage 2: birth to 6 years

 Development of voluntary movement, reasoning, perception, frontal lobes

active in development of emotions, attachments, planning, working memory,
and perception. A sense of self is developing and life experiences shape the
emotional well being.
 By age six, the brain is 95% its adult weight and peak of energy consumption.
 Caregivers need to provide nurturing environment and daily individualized
communication. Negative or harsh treatment may come with emotional
consequences in the future.
 Stage 3: 7 to 22/25 years
 The neural connections or ‘grey’ matter is still pruning, wiring of brain still in
progress, the fatty tissues surrounding neurons or ‘white’ matter increase
and assist with speeding up electrical impulses and stabilize connections.
The prefrontal cortex is the last to mature and it involves the control of
impulses and decision-making.
 Therefore, teenagers need to learn to control reckless, irrational and
irritable behavior. Avoiding drugs, alcohol, smoking, unprotected sex and
substance abuse.
 Stage 4: 23/26 to 65 years
 Finally, the brain reaches its peak power around age 22 and lasts for 5
more years. Afterwards, it’s a downhill pattern. Last to mature and the first
to go are the brain functionality of executive control occurring in the
prefrontal and temporal cortices. Memory for recalling episodes start to
decline, processing speed slows and working memory is storing less
information.
 Best approach is to stay mentally active, learn new things, stay physically
active and eat a very healthy diet. Avoid toxins, cigarettes, alcohol and
mind-altering drugs.
 Stage 5: older than 65 years
 Brain cells are lost in the critical areas such as the hippocampus
responsible for processing memories.
 Learn new skills, practice meditation to promote neutral emotions, exercise
to improve abstract reasoning and concentration.
 Avoid stress or incorporate stress reducing meditation and exercises.
 Eat a healthy diet with foods to nourish one’s level of dopamine.
 THUS….
 Most neurologists agree that the rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully
developed and won’t be until age 25 or so.
 In fact, recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently.
Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s rational part. This is the
part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an
awareness of long-term consequences. Teens process information with the
amygdala. This is the emotional part.
 In teen’s brains, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and
the decision-making center are still developing— overwhelming emotional
input -- can’t explain later what they were thinking.
 The most important part of the brain for
analytical thinking (Prefrontal Cortex) will be
completely developed until near the age of 25

IT IS THE AVERAGE AGE! DIFFERENT PAGE FOR DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS

BUT AROUND THE SAME AGE GROUP EXCEPT THE PERSON EXPERIENCES
NEGATIVE STIMULUS (PARENTING STYLE, TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE, ETC)
 PREFRONTAL CORTEX
 Help people set and achieve goals – contributes to:
 Focusing one’s attention
 Predicting the consequences of one’s actions; anticipating events in the
environment
 Impulse control: managing emotional reactions
 Planning for the future
 Coordinating and adjusting complex behaviors (I can’t do A until B happens)
In addition to the physical aspect of the brain,
brain also produces chemicals that influence
behaviors and learning

DOPAMINE IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT BRAIN

CHEMICALS THAT TEACHERS NEED TO
UNDERSTAND
 Role of Dopamine in Learning
 Dopamine has the power to create motivation,
 Dopamine is very addictive
 Dopamine controls pleasure and memory in the brain, can be used to hijack motivation
and increase attention spans among learners through reward-positive feeling-motivated
behavior (can be positive/negative)
 Dopamine controls learning retention.
 Positive reinforcement in the form of words of encouragement, the feeling of
pride when getting an answer correct, and social praise are all dopamine triggers,
powerful enough to turn any person into a reward addict.
 THUS….
 Students in different age (different brain developmental stage) have different
abilities and needs to support their learning
 Different approaches are needed for each stage
 Teacher should adjust their teaching objectives and expectation to the age of their
students
 Student will be more interested in learning when they are given positive stimulus
(dopamine-activated motivation)
 Next:
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT
Personality Development

Erik Erikson
 Erik Erikson
 In each stage a person faces certain conflicts and
challenges.
 People must modify their personalities in order
to adjust successfully to their social environments
 Begin in childhood

 A child’s success in the early stages depends

largely on their parents
 An ongoing process that is never final
 Trust vs. Mistrust
 Trust  Mistrust
o        Respond quickly  Receive
o        Holding inconsistent care
o        Cuddling  Receive little love
o        Playing and attention
o        Talking to them  Fear and suspicion
o        Love them toward the world and
o        Care for them everyone in it
 Trust vs. Mistrust
TRUST!

These infants see the world as a

safe place and other people as
helpful and dependable
Autonomy vs, Shame
2 to 3 yrs old
 Autonomy
ü       Develop a sense of independence
ü       Developing minds of their owns
ü       SAYING NO!
ü       Allow children to practice new motor skills, want to
do everything themselves
ü       Let them practice life skills and make simple choices
ü       Gives a sense that they can control their own behavior
and their environment
ü       Builds confidence
They will look forward to meeting greater challenges
 Shame
 ü       Not allowing children to do things for themselves
 ü       Doubt their abilities
 ü       Always critizeing and scolding children for not being perfect
 ü       Question their worth and their abilities to control themselves
and their world.
 View themselves and the world in shame and doubt.
 Initiative vs. Guilt
Four and five year olds
 Initiative
 Often initiate activities
 Spend time imaging what they want to do, then think of ways to
do those things.
 Children need to know their ideas, questions, and concepts matter
to others
 Children need chances to create play ideas and put them into
action
 Guilt
 ü       Parents scold instead encourage
 ü       Children’s play ideas are not praised
 ü       Belittle and ridicule children
 ü       Punishing children foe acting on their ideas
 ü       No encouragement to think or be creative
 ü       Parents convey to children that their ideas are not valuable or worthwhile
 The child will feel less confident
Industry vs. Inferiority
 6 to 11
C Children capable of deductive
reasoning
ü       Learn to follow rules
ü       Become interested in how things
are made, how they work, and what
they do
ü       Parents are no longer the only
influence on stages; friends,
 Industry
 ü       Capacity to make a productive effort.
 ü       What parents can do
 o        Encourage children to do, make, or build projects
 o        Stress importance of seeing a task through to completion
 Praise and reward them for their efforts
 Inferiority
 ü       Feel incapable of succeeding in their efforts
 ü    Discouraged from doing and making things on their own
 ü       Not praised for their accomplishments, don’t feel like they can
do anything right.
 ü       May passively accept failure or misbehave to compensate
 Stage 5 – Adolescence
Identity vs. Role Confusion

 age 12 to 20 years (adolescent)

 the basic conflict is identity vs. role
confusion
 the important event is development of peer
relationships and the important
relationships are peers, groups and social
influences
 The teenager must achieve a sense of
identity in occupation, sex roles, politics
and religion. In addition, they must resolve
their identity and direction.
 Failure to make these resolutions can lead
to the repression of aspects of the individual
for the sake of others (fanaticism)
 Identity vs. Role Confusion
In adolescence, Erikson believed that a
teenager’s main social need is to discover his
or her social identity. While searching for
your identity, you may try out different roles,
like trying to fit into various social groups,
experimenting with drugs or sex, or just
changing your wardrobe. You should be trying
to find a stable sense of self now, or Erikson
believed you may have an identity crisis later.
Stage 6 – Young Adulthood
Intimacy vs. Isolation
 age 20 to 40 years
 the basic conflict in young
adulthood is intimacy vs.
isolation
 the important event is parenting
and the important relationships
are lovers, friends and work
connections
 in this stage, the individual must
develop intimate relationships
through work and social life
 failure to make such connections
can lead to promiscuity,
exclusivity and isolation
 Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young adults (early 20s into early 30s) are trying to
balance their career efforts (work, school or self-
improvement) with the need to be in an intimate
relationship with another person. How much time
should I spend looking for a relationship? What if I
don't find anybody? What if I am all alone for the rest
of my life?
 Stage 7 – Middle Adulthood
Generativity vs. Stagnation
 age 40 to 65 years
 the basic conflict is generativity
vs. stagnation
 the important event is parenting
and the important relationships
are with children and the
community
 this stage is based on the idea
that each adult must find a way
to satisfy, support and contribute
to the next generation; it is often
thought of as giving back
 failure to resolve this stage can
lead to overextension or
rejectivity
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Erikson believed that by the time we reach our mid 30s
to mid 50s we start to really examine our lives and see
if it is going the way we planned it or did it take a
drastic turn. This is where some people take drastic
steps and change their lives. You could see a lot of late
divorces or extreme changes in clothes or cars- we call
this experience a mid life crisis.
 Stage 8 – Maturity
Integrity vs. Despair
 age 65 to death
 the basic conflict is ego
integrity vs. despair
 the important event is
reflection on and
acceptance of the
individual’s life
 the individual is creating
meaning and purpose of
one’s life and reflecting on
life achievements
 failure to resolve this
conflict can create feelings
of disdain & despair.
 Integrity vs. Despair
Towards the end of our lives we look back and
evaluate ourselves. Did we live a good life?
Leave behind a legacy of friends or family? Or
did we waste our time playing Madden 2023 on
Playstation 7? If we feel like there were many
lost opportunities along the way we may fall into
despair.