As a Paraprofessional by trade I am doing my best to dive deep into understanding Educational Psychology. This class has helped me better understand multiple teaching mechanism’s and the general theories behind learning. I work at Little Friends and I have found the experience challenging but also very fulfilling. The subjects that pertain to learning disabilities has been a particular point of interest for me. I also did learn several interesting facts about the Vygotsky and Piaget theories that I had not learned before. But what I really would love to understand though is how to put some of these practices in place in a real life situations by using hands on experiences. Since hands on experiences are in short supply due to COVID I am just glad that all of us can still buckle down and learn no matter where we are.
We seem to all live in a state of limbo, our daily routines are new but seem similar and yet challenging. Our lives will probably never be the same since the lockdowns and social distancing, but what we all have become to understand is how no matter the challenges we can still spend quality time learning. I find it quite interesting reading about Vygotsky and Piaget theories and how it relates to my every day life. I work with children who might not fully grasp and understand the gravity of the situation our world now faces. They don’t understand why they are stuck at home and cannot learn with their friends at school. We spend multiple times a day through Zoom sessions trying to keep them engaged and trying our best to help them understand. There was an article that stuck with me during the start of this Crisis written by Stavros Lalos, MS5 (May 14, 2020) in which the author states “However, as cognitive conceptualization is key in navigating the rapid changes within the COVID-19 pandemic, Piaget’s concept can be utilized to our advantage.”. After doing our debate in class it brought me back to when I first read the article and how important each theory brought by Vygotsky and Piaget has shaped our teaching techniques. After the debate I found myself fully understanding that each theory in its own right has special circumstances in which one or the other is best used. Lalos (2020) stated that the Piaget theory was more inline due to its step ladder approach in tackling learning. “For younger children such as toddlers, using symbols and imagery to explain to them the current situation. It is important to use words and concepts children can understand at an age appropriate level.” It is important for all of us to understand what we must do to continue moving in a positive direction, but as educators it is up to us to navigate the theories, concepts and best practices in order to give everyone the best chance to succeed no matter what the world throws at us.
Even though Piaget theory can be used to classify people in the developmental stages for learning, it is not always cut and dry. For example when we work with with individuals with cognitive delays it is important for us to understand how these delays classify the individual into key learning categories. But to do this we need to understand the basis of how the learning disability effects the brain and the individuals development. This is why I found this subject to be very engaging for me because of its close relationship to my career. One of my goals is to spend more time learning this subject and to spend the necessary time to become an expert in this field. What I want to understand better is how do we use these tools and categorizations to our best ability to help teach these kids the right way.
It is as important to learn from history as it is to learn from our present. I feel that many of things in our Educational Psychology look back and not to the future. I want to dive deep into the understanding of how technology and AI has transformed our lives and made everything different. What do the Psychologists of today say about how AI will transform our lives tomorrow? What do people think about a completely artificial sentient teacher? Google and YouTube, Siri and Alexa are just the beginning of a trend in assisted AI learning. How do we use the knowledge of the past to propel us forward in this new age of learning? These are all questions I hope I will be able to spend time in finding an answer to, or at least to see a trend so that I can better grasp how it will effect the lives of teachers and students.
One thing that I always try to remember is that we are not all created the same. Our minds, and our experiences shape who we are. A quote I love to remember when looking for patience in teaching is that we are different in so many ways. Things that I might never be good at there will always someone that is an expert at. We are all uniquely gifted but at the same time still uniquely challenged. No matter what society today says about any individual we are all special and great at something!
(Pinterest, 2020)
References:
Lalos, S., MS5. (2020, May 16). What do children need to know about COVID-19 and how should we talk to our children about the COVID-19 pandemic? Retrieved October 16, 2020, from https://covid19metadata.com/2020/05/14/what-do-children-need-to-know-about-covid-19-and-how-should-we-talk-to-our-children-about-the-covid-19-pandemic/
S. (n.d.). Found this on Pinterest. Retrieved October 17, 2020, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/423760646194648476/sent/?invite_code=67c0b07a9fa940ec99a520404a953a10
I loved your reflection! I absolutely agree that hands-on experience would enhance our learning and understanding but I’m glad just to keep on learning. You explained Piaget and Vygotsky so well in such a short but very detailed reflection. It is also neat that you are a paraprofessional and have that experience.
One of the most thorough, academic, insightful reflections I have had the pleasure of reading. Your post is exemplary…well done!