Developmental psychology, Essay Example for Free

Developmental psychology, Essay It is important to keep evaluating learning activities as the child’s needs may change or your planning may not work and may need changing. Planning, teaching and evaluation is a cycle which gives structure to the learning process. Whilst in the planning process I need to know the learning objectives so that you are clear about that the pupils are expected to achieve. When evaluating you will need to look at whether the children were able to meet the leaning objectives in their task. If a child was to complete a task quickly this should be recorded. 1. 2 Weakness 1.   When planning a work activity I always take into account the children’s learning needs and levels, for example you could have a child in your group which lacks concentration and needs a more practical approach in order to show interest and for the task to be successful. For example: Child A – Lacks concentration Child B – Does not enjoy Literacy Child C – Find tasks difficult 1. 4 – All lesson plans should be made available to the LSA’s before the class starts, even if you do not have time to look at the plan you should discuss with the teacher what you are to do. Learning objectives – You must always be clear on the learning objectives of the lesson or what pupils are expected to be able to do. Leaning recourses required – The lesson plan should detail any materials which are different from those which are normally found in the classroom. Own role in supporting learning activities – It should be made clear what you are required to do whether it’s supporting a group or an individual. Specific information – you should have access to school reports about pupils learning and be able to refer to them if required whether its paper or electronic based. Sometimes changes need to be made to plan and this may happen last minute so you will need to be flexible. Any changes made to the children’s routine may affect their behaviour so you need to take this into consideration. 1. 5 2. 3 We should always be made aware of the health and safety issues especially when working with children; it is the main duty of all school employees to keep the children safe. Young children or children with additional needs may not be aware of certain hazards. Schools also have security measures in place such as gates and a signing in policy for all visitors. If you ever come across a unfamiliar face within the school grounds you should always approach them in a polite manor by saying. ‘Can I help you? ’ All storage areas should be kept tidy so they do not cause a hazard they should also be locked, spaces like cleaning cupboard especially as they store a lot of hazardous materials and can sometimes be left untidy as staff may not have enough time to tidy up or may not be sure where certain items should be. You must always make sure that no fire exits in the classrooms are blocked by chairs / tables, they should always be accessible. Describe the sorts of problems that might occur when supporting learning activities, and how to deal with these: Noise Sometimes during classes children can become distracted by noise from within the classroom and from outside (such as another classroom, or people on the hallway). I help to combat this problem by closing the doors and any windows open to the noise, and also by reminding children to work as quietly as possible and raise their hand to speak rather than shout out. Insufficient resources Many of the activities set by the teacher involve the use of multiple resources e. g. books, pencils crayons, scissors, glue, rulers etc. Unfortunately there are not always enough resources for every student, resulting in there being a delay in the commencement of work (due to trying to locate extra supplies). This problem is managed by preparing for the lesson before it begins, ensuring there are sufficient resources for the class, and also by encouraging children to help to and share with each other whenever possible. Having an inclusive class with a wide spectrum of abilities another problem which can occur when supporting learning activities, is ensuring that the all children are engaged, involved and fully understanding the task that has been set when there is such a wide spectrum of abilities. This can be dealt with in several ways, such as splitting the class into ability based groups, encouraging high ability children to help those who are struggling to keep pace (this also helps to keep the class working on a similar level), and also by setting achievable targets for work. Shy students Children may suffer from shyness which can affect their ability to work individually (such as being worried about being wrong), and get involved with the class as a whole or participate in group work. Weather – The weather can always be a distraction to the children, if it’s hot and sunny out the children can get hot and agitated. 5. 1 The reasons why it is important to evaluate learning activities are: †¢ To see what is working and what needs removing or changing †¢ To assess how the activities are being delivered and how they could be improved †¢ To see how the activities are being received by the participants Evaluation is important as it helps out when planning and helps you to think about the learning that has taken place. Spending time going through the learning activities and seeing how students have responded to a certain task or question, can really help re-shape it for future classes. It is also important to look back at the learning objects so you can measure what the children have learned. If you do not think carefully about learning objectives at the planning stage, it will not always be possible to evaluate whether pupils have achieved them. Learning objectives need to be clear for this to be possible. Learners must understand what the outcomes mean. †¢ They must be achievable. †¢ We must be able to assess pupils against them. Evaluating helps you to see if something is succeeding or may need changing. If students whizzed through the activity and then looked rather bored then it would be obvious that the task was a bit too easy and not really suitable or beneficial for that group. Therefore you would need to try and make it more engaging and stimulating, perhaps by making it more difficult or time-consuming so the students really have to work to complete it. If the activities are taking longer than expected and you can see that the students are really struggling, things again would need to be addressed. Students may not meet the learning objective, but they could have a real enthusiasm for the subject and have participated fully in all aspects of the lesson. You will need to record this somewhere. 5. 2 5. 2 and 5. 4 Upon completion of the task, I then provided constructive feedback to the class teacher, and feedback on her participation and progress. I explained that the child was:  · Very pleased to be given individual support and was positively responsive to the support (smiled, listened intently, and produced the work expected through understanding)  · After a couple of examples was able to achieve the objective of drawing on the hands onto the clock face on the task sheet given  · Succeeded in progressing in the learning activity  · Went back into the classroom with a big proud smile as she had enjoyed the task and benefited from the support. I informed the teacher that she responded well to reassurance and lots of positive praise and was very happy to receive a sticker after the task. I explained that she had completed the given learning activity objective. I gave constructive feedback that she 5. 3 Difficulties which I came across As I have not worked with this particular group before I found it hard to see what stage each child was at and what support each child needed and as the task was outside we faced a lot of distractions. Spring Work Aims / Objectives Children to identify features of spring Looking for signs of spring using senses I can see / smell / touch Share ideas With the whiteboards – Create senses poem I can see the blue sky Recourses White Boards White board pens Ipad – take pictures Evaluation The children found it a little hard to concentrate as they were taken outside and they were easily distracted ie. Wanted to run around and touch things.

My Philosophy of Education :: Philosophy on Teaching Teachers Essays

My Philosophy of Education My philosophy of teaching is based on theories or ideas of philosophers and psychologists such as the Sophists, Plato/Socrates, Functionalists, Rousseau, Experimentalists, and Piaget as well as others. I will discuss my views on the nature of humans, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of education, the method in which I intend to conduct my classroom, the importance of library media in schools, as well as my plans of professional development. The nature of humans is a combination of both heredity and environment. Everyone has the ability to learn to some degree (Sophists). Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are to be considered when selecting materials for students of respective age groups. However, there are exceptions to the age ranges provided in Piaget’s stages. The Functionalists’ idea of one’s own choices, efforts, and merits directly effecting one’s success is good, but I feel other factors such as economic conditions, contribute to the outcome. As for the nature of knowledge, it is both relative and absolute. Knowledge is relative because views change, for example the concept that the Earth was the center of the universe was believed as fact at a particular time, but was disproved later. Mathematics is an example of absolute knowledge, because anytime you add the same numbers the answer is the same. I feel the purpose of education is to improve society by helping every individual reach his or her potential. I believe that every child is capable of success. As a teacher it will be my responsibility to find ways to help each child in my class achieve his or her greatest potential. I want to encourage my students, and instill a feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. I hope my students will realize the untapped possibility of human potential. In my classroom, my teaching method will consist of hands-on activities, as I feel from personal experience that this is the most effective way to learn. I also know from personal experience that learning must be applicable to real life, so I intend show as much as possible the relationships between lessons and life. Some lecture will be required, but I intend to keep lecturing minimal and use the Socratic method of questioning. Discipline is essential in the classroom and in life. Discipline starts with rules, which should be reflective of the students’ input as well as any necessary regulations not covered by the students.

Popular, Fine, Folk: Making Do and Thinking Out of the Box Essay

Once upon a time, at the turn of the 20th century, Marcel Duchamp brought a urinal into the museum. As expected, it was banned from being shown in a major exhibition at that time. Today, the urinal is called a ‘found object,† a fine arts category that has become standard practice for contemporary artists, especially those who are working on media and techniques spawned by Duchamp’s rebellion: conceptual art, installations, and the readymade. One of the most famous latter day versions is that of Andy Warhol’s Campbell soup and Brillo boxes – those mass consumer items that found their way into the domain of the fine arts, and in their turn spawned another academic art historical category: Pop Art. Once upon a time, at the turn of the 19th century, the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, who has not sold a single painting during his lifetime (with the possible exception of one work bought by his brother Theo), died a pauper. In the 1980s, his Sunflower fetched millions of dollars at an auction. Today, he is not only a bestseller; he is also considered one of the best artists of all times. Once upon a time, Madonna was just any other upstart, who with her limited vocal range was singing seemingly superficial songs like â€Å"Like a Virgin† and â€Å"Material Girl. † Today, she and her ‘bad girl’ image, as well as her numerous personas, is the subject of numerous academic papers on popular culture. This and examples from Charlie Parker, as well – Shakespeare, the Shaker furniture, the quilt, Amazing Grace, photography – tell us not only that values change through time, some for the better, others for the worse, depending on one’s point of view. The more important point is that, while terms like popular, fine and folk arts are valuable as terms of convenience, they are unreliable – perhaps even superfluous or unnecessary – as terms of judgment or standards, as in say, low and high art, good and bad art, truthful and false art, among many other boundaries. On one hand, these boundaries are important because they guard against extreme relativism, an intellectual indolence that results in people thinking that anything can be art, and that art is anything and everything that you can get away with. On the other hand, boundaries prevent us from looking at art forms more productively, or think out of the box. As Parker’s essay suggests, it is more productive to suspend our received judgments or templates – if only for a while – and analyze each art form on their own terms: as part of certain domains (popular, fine, folk and their combinations) with their own specific dynamics, gatekeepers, institutions, forms and contexts of production, reception, creativity and artistry and their own specific systems of producing and making meanings. These elements – domain (popular, fine, folk), field (gatekeepers and institutions), artistry (form, content, context) – clash and intersect with each other in an uneven world, characterized by unequal power relations. In this context, extreme relativism – that anything and everything can be art – is problematic. While it is true that anything – say, the urinal – can be art, its transformation required a movement from one domain to another: from the everyday to the museum, where it was lit and put on a pedestal, was signed and given a title (The Fountain) and in the process, became a candidate for appreciation, contemplation, and later, legitimation by the gatekeepers – the people (art historians, critics) and institutions (media, museums, schools) who had the power to rethink its meaning, and bestow on the urinal the term â€Å"art,† under the rubric â€Å"found object,† â€Å"readymade,† â€Å"conceptual art. Such legitimation was later confirmed by artistic, critical and curatorial practice: today, the Fountain, which started out as a rebellion against art and its definitions, is now ironically an academic, art historical and critical orthodoxy. Boundaries between domains are therefore simultaneously porous and self-contained. Everyday objects enter the fine arts, and vice versa. What used to be â€Å"folk† and popular, as in Shakespeare and Bob Dylan are now classics. When the urinal became The Fountain, it ceased to become a mundane object and entered the domain of the museum and the academe, subject to their terms and conditions. When elements of popular culture – the Brillo box, Campbell soup – crossed the boundaries, it became an art-historical category: Pop Art. And when Madonna crossed over from the Billboard charts to academe, her feminist radical potential was recognized, but at the same time, again quite ironically, tamed because her pop rebellion is now academic. Parker mapped the domains according to class – fine arts is a product of the elite, folk, of common folk and popular, of the masses. In real life of course, soap operas (popular) are viewed by different classes and sub-classes; jazz and hip hop, which started out in the ghettos were co-opted by American Top 40s; the Mona Lisa, the epitome of the Classic Masterpiece, found and continue to find its way into t-shirts and tabletops. Thus, instead of bemoaning that standards of excellence are being eroded, it may be more productive to chart these movements of objects and images, not only in terms of content, expression or truths that they contain, as question No. 3 leads us to suspect, but also in terms of how these truths are expressed (form), and the circumstances within which these truths are produced (context). Put another way, instead of persuading the â€Å"masses† that Hamlet is as entertaining as My Fair Lady, it would probably be better to find out why and how My Fair Lady ticks today and why and how Hamlet, which caught the imagination of royalties and subjects alike, clicked during the Elizabethan period and no longer does so today. I suspect this is not because standards of excellence have waned; it is just that each epoch, age, society and culture has its own way of defining, producing, valuing, consuming and receiving art. To be an intellectual therefore does not mean, being the kind of intellectual espoused by Arendt, one who imposes a top-down approach – imposing Hamlet on the masses, for instance. Instead, we need the kind of intellectual who will sit in front of the TV set, watch almost everything – from the seemingly most idiotic sitcoms to the most enlightening art film – and analyze and read the pictures, images and mediums, according to an oppositional and critical frame that works from and within, not from without and from the top. In other words, this is the kind of intellectual that challenges what is and sets out to suggest what is possible, not by imposing so-called alternatives (Hamlet instead of My Fair Lady), but by a process called bricolage – a process of thinking out of the box by making do with, pilfering, borrowing, and reconfiguring what is available, after a sensitive, critical and thorough analysis based on the parameters of form, content, context and domain, field and artist.

Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye

Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass considers the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III, one of the final rulers of the Eighteenth Dynasty, as the greatest monarch ever reign over the Two Lands. Dubbed the Magnificent, this fourteenth-century B.C. pharaoh brought in unprecedented amounts of gold to his kingdom, built tons of epic structures, including the famed Colossi of Memnon and lots of religious buildings, and depicted his wife, Queen Tiye, in an unprecedentedly egalitarian fashion. Lets dive into the revolutionary era of Amenhotep and Tiye. Amenhotep was born to Pharaoh Thutmose IV and his wife Mutemwia. Aside from his alleged role in re-establishing the Great Sphinx as a big tourist spot, Thutmose IV wasnt that notable of a pharaoh. He did, however, do a bit of building, especially at Amuns temple in Karnak, where he explicitly identified himself with the sun god Re. More on that later!   Sadly for young Prince Amenhotep, his dad didnt live very long, dying when his kid was about twelve. Amenhotep ascended the throne as a boy king, exercising his only dated military campaign when he was about seventeen in Kush. By his mid-teens, though, Amenhotep wasnt focusing on the army, but his one true love, a woman named Tiye. Shes mentioned as the Great Royal Wife Tiye in his second regnal year - meaning they got married when he was just a kid! Tip of  the Hat to Queen Tiye Tiye was a truly remarkable woman. Her parents, Yuya and Tjuya, were non-royal officials; Daddy was a charioteer and priest called the Gods Father, while Mom was a priestess of Min. Yuya and Tjuyas fabulous tomb was uncovered in 1905, and archaeologists found lots of riches there; DNA testing performed on their mummies in recent years has proved key in identifying unidentified bodies. One of Tiyes brothers was a prominent priest named Anen, and many have suggested that the famous Eighteenth Dynasty official Ay, alleged father of Queen Nefertiti and eventual pharaoh after King Tut, was another of her siblings.   So Tiye married her husband when they were both quite young, but the most interesting item about her is the way in which she was portrayed in statuary. Amenhotep deliberately commissioned statues showing himself, the king, and Tiye as the same size, showing her importance in the royal court, which was on par with that of the   pharaoh! In a culture in which visual size was everything, bigger was better, so a big king and an equally big queen showed them as equals.   This egalitarian portrayal is pretty much unprecedented, showing Amenhoteps devotion to his wife, allowing her to wield influence comparable to his own. Tiye even takes on masculine, regal poses, showing up on her own throne as a Sphinx who crushes her enemies  and getting her own Sphinx colossus; now, shes not only equal to a king in the way shes portrayed, but shes taking on his roles! But Tiye wasnt Amenhoteps only wife - far from it! Like many pharaohs before and after him, the king took brides from foreign countries in order to form alliances. A commemorative scarab was commissioned for the marriage between the pharaoh and Kilu-Hepa, daughter of the king of Mitanni. He also wed his own daughters, as other pharaohs did, once they came of age; whether or not those marriages were consummated is up for debate. Divine Dilemmas In addition to Amenhoteps marital program, he also pursued massive construction projects throughout Egypt, which burnished his own reputation - and that of his wife! They also helped people think of him as semi-divine and created money-making opportunities for his officials. Perhaps more importantly for his son and successor, the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten, Amenhotep III followed in his fathers sandalprints and identified himself with the biggest gods of the Egyptian pantheon on the monuments he built.   In particular, Amenhotep placed great emphasis on sun gods in his construction, statuary, and portraiture, displaying what  Arielle Kozloff aptly called a solar bent in every aspect of his realm. He showed himself as the god of the sun at Karnak and contributed extensively to Amun-Res temple there; later in life, Amenhotep even went to far as to consider himself as a living manifestation of  all  deity, with an emphasis on the sun god Ra-Horakhty, according to W. Raymond Johnson. Although historians dubbed him the Magnificent, Amenhotep went by the moniker of the Dazzling Sun Disk. Given his fathers obsession with his connection to the solar gods, its not too far of a stretch to get to the aforementioned Akhenaten, his son by Tiye and successor, who declared that the sun disk, Aten, should be the sole deity worshipped in the Two Lands. And of course Akhenaten (who started his reign as Amenhotep IV, but later changed his name) stressed that  he, the king,  was the sole intermediary between the divine and the mortal realms. So it looks like Amenhoteps emphasis on the   godly powers of the king went to an extreme in his sons reign. But Tiye may have also set a precedent for her Nefertiti, her daughter-in-law (and possible niece, if the queen was the daughter of Tiyes putative brother Ay). In the reign of Akhenaten, Nefertiti was depicted as occupying roles of great prominence in her husbands court and in his new religious order. Perhaps Tiyes legacy of carving out a great role for the Great Royal Wife as partner to the pharaoh, rather than mere spouse, carried on to her successor. Interestingly, Nefertiti also assumed some kingly positions in art, as her mother-in-law did (she was shown smiting enemies in a typical pharaonic pose).