Developmental Psychology in Schools Flashcards
What term is used to refer to any theory or practice related to teaching
Pedogogy
What role did Piaget emphasise for the teacher?
Providing the best physical environment for the child to overcome their egocentrism and develop conservation
What is meant by the term discovery learning?
Encouraging children to learn by themselves
What is the most efficient way of learning?
Guided discovery, where children are the centre of their learning, but a teacher provides feedback as they develop their understanding.
How did Piaget propose children overcome egocentrism?
Interaction with peers because this shows the child different perspectives outside their own and their “all knowing” grown ups
Explain the terms sociocognitive conflict and cognitive conflict and how they arise
Sociocognitive conflict is a cognitive conflict that arises as a result of a social interaction eg a disagreement. Cognitive conflict arises when there are two or more competing solutions to a situation or problem. Peers provide the ideal amount of sociocognitive conflict when two opposing egocentric views are presented.
How does cognitive conflict help overcome egocentrism?
Through these conflicts, children question their own understanding, leading to a resolution of the conflict and cognitive advance.
What are meant by peer facilitation effects?
The pairing of two children can have a positive impact on children’s later individual performance. Peer effects are relatively long-lasting.
Give an example of peer facilitation effects
Children perform better on classic Piagetian tasks in pairs than alone. The social interaction required to reach a common understanding forces the child to examine their own understanding and compare it to that of the other child, helping the child overcome their own egocentrism.
Why might you not notice the effects of peer work immediately?
The benefits of peer interaction are sometimes only observed after a delay. This could happen because the changes in thinking promoted by sociocognitive conflicts help children benefit from subsequent learning experiences.
How well do these peer effects translate to more complex problems?
Positive peer interaction effects are not restricted to very young children on Piagetian-based tasks. It also occurs on more complex problem solving and positive peer interaction-effects are not bound to the physical environment, but can also occur while working together on a computer.
When do mixed sex pairs work well?
Mixed-sex pairings can work out well if positive collaboration is actively promoted and encouraged. Cognitive advancement is more likely to occur if the more developed peer is the girl.
What did Vygotsky believe regarding the sharing of knowledge?
knowledge exists intermentally between individuals before it can exist intramentally, within an individual.
How does this belief about knowledge explain Vygostsky’s zone of proximal development?
The child’s intermental ability becomes intramental because of appropriate interaction.
What is meant by scaffolding?
Scaffolding is the means by which adults structure and simplify the environment to facilitate children’s learning and to guide them through their zone of proximal development.
What are the five methods of scaffolding in the pyramid building task by wood?
General verbal prompts- action is suggested but not specified
Specific verbal instruction- the action is specified but only verbally
Material indications- The materials needed for the task are physically pointed out
Preparation- everything is set up for the child, they only have to complete the action
Demonstration- the adult demonstrates the action for the child
How did wood propose failure should be treated in the pyramid building task?
with increasing levels of control, if a child is successful the level of control should decrease
What are the two key principles of scaffolding?
Fading- less control with an increased understanding and transfer of responsibility from teacher to learner
When getting peers to apply scaffolding to each other what are the ideal pairs?
Of mixed ability and be able to freely share ideas with each other. The higher ability child should focus just above the lower child’s current ability.
What does STAD stand for and what is it?
The student teams achievement division is a method showing how peer learning can work. The students are divided into groups of mixed gender, race and ability and are given a topic to discuss until they have come to the conclusion that they know the topic well.
What are meant by attainment targets?
Descriptions of the knowledge children should have acquired as they work their way through the education system.
What two reference types are usually used in exams?
Most scholastic tests are norm-referenced, they provide a measure of how well children do compared to other children. There are tests that are criterion-referenced and they give a measure of a child’s performance relative to a specified criterion.
What is the advantage of criterion referencing?
The advantage of criterion-referenced tests is that teachers know where their efforts should be concentrated on, because the tests give a description of what the child knows, rather than how well he performs compared to others
What is the disadvantage of criterion referencing?
The disadvantage of criterion-referenced testing is that it puts a lot of stress on students and that children may develop at a different pace of each other and this puts pressure on them to reach the attainment targets before a certain age.
What are the potential benefits of dynamic assessment?
Dynamical assessment of a learner’s potential could be useful next to standard measurement methods, such as tests. Dynamical assessment is a good predictor of cognitive potential.
Name a key factor to social pressure in the classroom
Social comparison
What is meant by self worth protection?
Self-worth protection is the tendency of some students to reduce their levels of effort so that any subsequent poor academic performance will be attributed to low motivation rather than a lack of ability.
What is meant by indirect aggression?
Behaviour such as spreading rumours and social exclusion
What is meant by bias bullying?
When the victim is part of a particular group
What are the four roles in bullying?
bully, victim, non involved and bully-victim
What are the six participant roles in bullying
Ringleader, follower, reinforcer, defender, bystander and victim
What factors affect whether the victim will tell anyone?
Amount of people decreases with age, boys are less likely to rat
Name some potential causes of bullying
Society factors (tolerance of violence), school climate and quality of teacher and pupil relationships
Why may people bully
Popularity and establishing dominance
What is bullying an indicator of
prosocial behaviour
What can be predictors of bullying behaviour
A harsh physical discipline and an insecure attachment at home. Parental-maltreatment and abuse is a likely risk factor in the bully-victim or aggressive victim group.
What can be predictors of being a victim
Having poor social skills and little friendship support is a risk factor for being a victim.
What are meant by quality circles
Small groups of children who meet to problem solve issues such as bullying.
What are the benefits of cooperative work? What is needed for this to be successful
Cooperative group work may enhance interpersonal relationships and reduce victimisation. Careful management of these groups is necessary.
What is SEAL?
Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning is a uk based curriculum that puts emphasis on social and emotional skills
Describe two specific methods to reduce bullying
Assertiveness training can help victims or potential victims. Peer support uses the knowledge, skills and experience of children and young people themselves in a planned and structured way to tackle and reduce bullying through proactive and reactive strategies.
Is peer support effective in preventing bullying?
Peer support helps the peer supporters and the school climate, but it is uncertain whether it has specific benefits for victims of bullying.
How can bullying be reduced in school playgrounds?
Redesigning the playground and trained breaktime supervisors can decrease bullying in the playground in primary schools.
What do reactive strategies deal with, what does this usually come in the form of
bullying situations when they have arisen; sanctions
What do sanctions consist of?
Direct sanctions may vary in severity and can be used if bullying persists. It includes expelling children if bullying is very severe, or talk with the parents if it is less severe.
Explain the two forms of justice named in the book
retributive justice, justice based on retribution. Restorative justice refers to a range of practices which focus on the offender or bullying child made aware of the victim’s feelings and the harm they have caused and making some agreed reparation.
What is meant by the method of shared concern?
A counselling based approach for resolving bullying, which aims to sensitise bullying children to the harm they are doing to the victim and encourage positive behaviours to the victim.
What is the difference between truants and school refusers?
Truants have no major psychological problem with attending school, but they choose not to. School refusers can be eager to go to school but are unable to because of high levels of anxiety associated with this activity
What were school refusers first thought to have
separation anxiety because of an extremely strong bond with the parent
What is the difference between school anxiety and school phobia?
School anxiety is a genuine fear related to the school environment and school phobia is related to separation anxiety.
What three categories can school refusers be put into?
- Separations anxiety
- Specific phobias
- More General anxiety and depression
