Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities


Intellectual/Developmental disability is a disability caused by a number of different conditions or diagnoses with the common characteristic that the ability to learn and to cope within society is impaired (UNESCO, 2009). The World Health Organization (2012) aver that this is a state of arrested or incomplete develop­ment of mind, which implies that the person can have challenges in understanding, learn­ing, and remembering new things, and in applying that learning to new situations.
Persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities may experience problems in major life activities. These include language, mobility, learning, self-help and independent living (Center for Disease Control, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, 2004 as cited in Bryant, 2008). According to the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (2000), they may need ongoing support in one or more major life activities in order to participate in an integrated community and enjoy a quality of life similar to that available to all individuals.
As reported by UNESCO in 2008, persons with intellectual or developmental disability include persons with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorder, various genetic and chromosomal disorders (including Down’s syndrome), and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

It is important to note that every person with intellectual or developmental disability is unique. Thus, possible combinations of comorbid conditions are numerous. The ways in which the characteristics associated with these conditions can manifest themselves differently from one individual to another.  
image source: http://performcarenj.org/images/families/girl-blocks.jpg

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Facilitating Learning: Motivation

   
     This is the third and the last of my discussion about the series of posts on elementary school children. This time, I will be discussing about motivation. Horace Mann once said, and correct me if I'm wrong, that teaching a child without motivating them is like hammering a cold iron. With this in mind, teachers need to motivate their students first and foremost for learning to take place. It is but futile for teachers to go one with the lesson or to do any activity if the students lack interest and drive to learn because learning will never take place unless they are motivated to allow it to occur in their minds.
      
How do we motivate students?
    In general, motivation can be defined as: an internal state or condition that activates behavior and give its direction; a desire or want that energizes and direct goal-oriented behavior; an influence of need and desire on the intensity and direction of behavior; and the arousal, direction and persistence of behavior.
Motivation is classified either intrinsic or extrinsic. It is intrinsic when the source of motivation is from within the person him/herself or the activity itself. Motivation is extrinsic when that which motivates a person is someone or something outside him/her.
   There are various theories about motivation. Here are some identified theories that explain the motivation:
1. Psychoanalytic Theory-man's motivation is basically unconscious.
2. Superiority and Compensation Theory-emphasized accentuated feeling of inferiority which lead to compensatory activity and a style of life characterized by achievin a plus situation of superiority.
3. Activation Arousal Theory-highly physiological, this theory emphasized balance between level of arousal and environmental stimulation.
4. Social Learning Theory-an individual's motivation is based on his part experiences wherein a particular behavior is based on the success or failure of previous behavior.
5. Humanistic Theory-man's basic needs are physiological while his ultimate need is the development of his potential in which Maslow calls self actualization.
    Educators suggest that intrinsic motivation, or the force that people do without external rewards, yields more positive effect among the learners. It drives the learners to learn even without something material in return. Understanding the nature of intrinsic motivation will enable teachers to develop activities that will awaken this drive, thus enhances learning.

White(1959) published a paper-evidence that human beings have an intrinsic need to feel competent and that behaviors such as exploration and mastery attempts are best explained by this innate motivation force. Piaget(1952) also claimed that from the first day of life, human beings are naturally inclined to practice newly developing competencies or "schemes", and that practicing new skills is inherently satisfying. In the principle of optimal challenge, competence motivation explains children's efforts only to challenging tasks, tasks that will lead to increased competence.

According to White and Piaget, increasing competence that results from practicing newly developing skills and mastering challenging tasks engenders a feeling of efficacy, sometimes referred to as feeling of competence, similar to achievement and pride. It is in this positive emotional experience that makes mastery behavior self-reinforcing.

Other theories on intrinsic motivation portray human beings as information processors. It claims that humans are predisposed to derive pleasure from activities and events that provide some level of surprise, incongruity, complexity or discrepancy from our expectations or beliefs. Pleasure is assumed to derive from creating, investigating, or processing stimuli that as moderately discrepant. Stimulus that are not all discrepant or novel will not arouse interest, and stimuli that are too discrepant from the individual's expectation will be ignored, cause anxiety or even provoke "terror and flight".

Consistent with the principle of optimal challenge, several studies have confirmed that children's emotional response are most intense when they master moderately challenging tasks, which is most likely to lead to improved competence, results in the most positive emotional experience.

Many studies have demonstrated tilt students who believe they are competent academically are more intrinsically interested in school task than those who have a low perception of their academic ability.

Harter said that students often become less intrinsically motivated as they progress through the school years depending on their perception of their academic competence. It is also important to note that environmental factors such as the influence of parents and teachers are considered crucial in the development and maintenance of intrinsic motivation. Students who are encouraged to develop intrinsic motivation in their early years continue to be intrinsically motivated in subsequent education, thus providing basis for achievement motivation in later years. Harter also suggests that sense of self-worth, fostered by a sense of belonging and being socially supported engenders a generally positive affective and motivational state.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Classroom Posters: Quotes About Faith

        Here is the part 2 of my Classroom Posters...Hope you find these useful.






Classroom Posters: Quotes about God






Classroom Posters

      I love making classroom posters! I usually make different posters whether it is about Math, English, or just simple quotes for students to ponder upon. I would like to share some of the posters I made intended to be posted in any part of your classroom. I suggest that you may post it in front of the students like above the chalkboard so that students would be able to appreciate the message of the quotes. Please watch out because I actually made a lot...hehehe...The beautiful quotes are from different authors which hopefully would inspire not only your students but to the rest of the people who may visit your classroom.








Sunday, October 6, 2013

Facilitating Learning: Children's Behavior

     
Children's behavior varies in one setting and the other. Teaching socially appropriate behavior to them (like behaving inside the church) is quite challenging depending on the set of children a teacher has.

     Behavior refers to the action or reactions of an object or organism usually in relation to the environment. This refers to the general trait, values or character that the child manifests. These behaviors may be explained by both hereditary and environmental factors.
      Behavioral genetics view development as the process through which one’s genotype, or the set of genes one inherits, comes to be expressed as a phenotype, or one’s observable characteristics and behavior. They claim that most behavioral attributes are the end product of a long and involved interplay between hereditary predisposition and environmental influences. Family studies and other longitudinal projects reveal that many core dimensions of personality are genetically influenced. For example, introversion and extroversion or the extent to which a person is shy and uncomfortable around others versus out-going and socially oriented, shows about the same moderate level of heritability as IQ does (Martin ad Jardine, 1986). Another important attribute that may be genetically influenced is emphatic concern, or the recognition of the need of others and concern about their welfare.
      On the other hand, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory emphasizes that the developing person is embedded in a series of environmental systems that interact with one another and with the person to influence development. In addition, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory perceives development in which children acquire their attitudes, values, beliefs and problem solving strategies though collaborative dialogue with more knowledgeable members of the society. Moreover, Bandura’s social learning believed that children acquire their behavior through observation and imitation. Complex behavior is the result of exposure to component models that display appropriate behavior in solving problems and up with the world.
      During the course of development, most humans arrive at a point at which they behave responsibly and to think of themselves as moral individuals. Psychoanalysts say that children are motivated to act in accordance with their ethical principles in order to experience positive affect such as pride and to avoid negative emotions such as guilt and shame. Cognitive developmental theorists also suggest that the ways children think about right and wrong may change dramatically as they mature.
       Behavior is very critical especially with children’s relationship with others. The patterns of behavior they display predict the statuses they will achieve with their peers. Children who have difficulties appropriately regulating their emotions like anger, are often rejected by peers and are likely to develop psychological problems, drop-out of schools or become delinquent. On the other hand, children who display altruism and express positive emotions have better relationship with their peers.
      The bottomline of the above-mentioned discussion imply the need for significant people such as parents and teachers to serve as role models for the children. Parents may pass on some traits to their children, but the importance of environmental nurturing in home, in school and in the community as a whole serve as a critical component in molding good behaviors among the children.