Assessment on Theorists

Vygotsky
A socio-cultural perspective:
Descriptive: Vygotskys sociocultural perspective maintains that cognitive development is shaped by the sociocultural context in which it occurs and grows out of children's interactions with members of their culture. He says cognitive development is therefore not the same universally, it varies across social and historical contexts depending on the tools of thinking the culture makes available (http://www.kolar.org/vygotsky/).
Critical: There is no doubt that Vygotskys ideas have had a strong effect on education, serving as a basis for educational approaches in which children are tutored or coached by more knowledgeable mentors. I agree that ones culture can have a huge influence on how a child may develop hes/hers learning. A skill such as language is a key component of vygotskys theory and I agree that it would be extremely hard to learn without understanding some sort of common language. I know personally that I have learnt alot of skills by working with teachers, my parents and also my friends.
Vygotskys theory successfully shows the benefits of social interactions as a means of learning. In saying this I do not believe he gives enough credit to biological influences. For example would two friends who at the same age experience the same education system and grow up in the same family, necessarily be at the same level of knowledge. I think not as some students are more gifted than others and therefore have the capability to learn at a faster rate.
In the future I will incorporate Vygotskys methods in regard to group work and the use of social techniques, but will also keep in mind that some students are more naturally gifted than others.



Piaget
Piaget is best known for reorganising cognitive development into a series of stages. The four development stages are described in Piagets theory as
1. Sensorimotor stage: from birth to age two. (children experience the world through movement and senses and learn object permanence)
2. Preoperational stage: from ages 2 to 7 (acquisition of motor skills)
3. Concrete operational stage: from ages 7 to 11 (children begin to think logically about concrete events)
4. Formal operational stage: after age 11 (development of abstract reasoning). (Classroom Discipline and Management, 2004).

Each stage is characterised by a a general cognitive structure that affects all of the child's thinking, each stage represents the child's understanding of reality during that period. Development from one stage to the next is thus caused by the accumulation of errors in the child's understanding of the environment. This accumulation eventually causes such a degree of cognitive disequilibrium that thought structures require reorganising (Fenstermacher, Susan K.; Saudino, Kimberly J, 2006).
Critical Reflection:
I agree with Piaget that children are not simply programmed with knowledge from adults. His view that children are active creators of their own intellectual development to an extent makes sense. I believe that piaget was successful in showing that infants are active in their own development. He shows that from the start of their lives infants seek to master problems by using the process of assimilation and accommodation. Therefore Piagets stages of development from sensorimotor to preoperational to concrete operations to formal operations seems to describe the course and content of intellectual development for children and adolescents.
In saying this i also have some criticisms. I feel he gives limited attention to social influences on cognitive development. I feel he doesn't pay enough attention to how children's minds develop through integration with more competent individuals and how they develop differently in different cultures. Piaget often portrays children as lonesome scientists, but children explore the world with friends, teachers and parents.

Bruner- constuctivist theory:
A major theme in bruners findings is that learning is an active process in which the learner constructs new ideas or concepts based upon current/past knowledge. he says the learner constructs hypothesis and makes decisions relying on a cognitive structure to do so. A cognitive structure (i.e schema, mental models) provide meaning and organisation to experiences and allows the individual to synthesise the information given.
From a teachers perspective their role is so make way for the student to find things out for themselves. the teachers role is to translate information at a level that would be suitable for the student to understand. Bruner states that a theory of instruction should address four major aspects:
1) Predisposition towards learning.
2) The ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner.
3) The most effective sequences in which to present material
4) The nature and pacing of rewards and punishments (Diane D, 2001).

Critical Reflection:
Personally I can definitely relate to the theory that learning is an active process. The instructor taking a backward step clearly enables students to think for themselves and work harder. This in turn I feel will help the students remember the content more precisely as they have solved the problem or attained the answer themselves. In saying this trying to instill this type of learning in a classroom may represent a difficult task. Some students may find the idea of solving problems too challenging. Sitting in a classroom and staying awake is regarded as a huge achievement for some students. so asking them to explore and or fill in gaps may be too much of an ask.


Glasser
The basis of success in implementing the ideas of Dr Glasser is for teachers to develop effective relationships with their students. Glasser stresses the importance of trusting, respectful, effective relationships for a teacher/administrator to be truly influential in helping a student learn and use more appropriate behaviour. He says for students to stop and evaluate their behaviours that negatively impact on other students, the educators need to use verbal and non verbal behaviours that connect and value the students as people. A further belief is that all behaviour is purposeful and that a student is behaving to meet a basic genetic biological need. When students are acting out he pleads for the teacher to ask oneself 'what is the purpose of this students behaviour?' (Classroom Management Chap 6) .
Glassers Choice Theory, Reality Therapy and Lead Management are all vital in when trying to see where Glasser is coming from. Central to the philosophy of choice theory is the idea that the only persons behaviour I can control is my own. Choice theory explains explains why and how people behave. He claims all our behaviour is purposeful, and the purpose is always to attempt to satisfy the basic biological and psychological needs of survival, love, and belonging, power, freedom and fun. Glasser believes that Choice theory provides the reason why authoritarian management does not, and will not, result in long term behaviour change.
Reality Therapy is a method of interviewing based on Choice Theory. When teachers use the Reality Therapy process, they aim to help individuals gain more effective control over their lives. It is appropriate to use in situations where students need to learn to display behaviour that satisfies their needs and at the same time does not deprive others of a chance to do the same.
The ideas of Lead Management provide a framework for school wide behavioural strategies that are consistent with the strategies of choice theory and reality Therapy (http://www.wglasser.com/whoweare.htm).
Critical Reflection:
Glassers views on misbehaviour I find extremely refreshing. From my experience at school I can testify that those students who acted out certainly were missing or lacking in one or more of the biological needs. Glasser puts alot of responsibility on the teacher, he asks the teacher to ask oneself 'why the student is acting out?'. This extra responsibility will in turn lead to a more effective relationship with the students. Working out why a student is acting out and coming to a correct conclusion would be extremely rewarding. His emphasise on creating successful working relationships with the students definately appeals to me. I will definitely be keeping Glassers theory in mind when I enter a school environment.
In saying this with all theory's their are always issues to consider. Experienced teachers who have already devised successful classroom management techniques may balk at the thought of changing a successful formula. It is challenging to expect experienced teachers to change, from thinking about what teachers can do to misbehaving students, to a perspective that focuses on what teachers themselves need to do to change their thinking. Also Glasser claims that a student misbehaving is due to missing a biological need. Say for example a student is encountering abuse at home, how than can the teacher act to fulfill this child's need.

Hattie


Hattie's believes feedback is one of the most important skills a teacher a must show. Telling students what they have done well (positive reinforcement), and what they need to do to improve(corrective work, targets etc), but it also includes clarifying goals. This means that giving students assessment criteria for example would be included in ‘feedback’. This may seem odd, but high quality feedback is always given against explicit criteria, and so these would be included in ‘feedback’ experiments.As well as feedback on the task Hattie believes that students can get feedback on the processes they have used to complete the task, and on their ability to self-regulate their own learning. All these have the capacity to increase achievement. Feedback on the ‘self’ such as ‘well done you are good at this’ is not helpful. The feedback must be informative rather than evaluative (http://www.geoffpetty.com/downloads/WORD/GeoffonHattie.doc).

Critical
Hatties views are practical and easy to relate to. From a personal view I can see how positive reinforcement could be extremely motivating for a student. at school I had a teacher who gave this technique, needless to say most students felt confident and capable in his classes. This result in happier students as they were achieving and a effective relationship between the student and teacher coming about.
From a coaching perspective I quite often set targets and apply positive reinforcement in a bid to lift my team to the next level. A player performing below his best may only need some positive words of encouragement to get him back to his best. Also people in whatever walk of life perform at their best when given targets.
Praise is what humans long for and when given after good work or to keep someone striving to do better. It's without a doubt a essential tool in a teachers kit.



References

- Classroom Discipline and Management, Clifford H.Edwards & Vivienne Watts, John Wiley & sons Australia pty Ltd, Milton, QLD, 2004.

-Developing Thinking and Understanding in Young Children: An Introduction for Students . By: Robson, Sue. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 2006 224 pp. (ED494689)

-Child and Adolescent Development for Educators . By: Pressley, Michael; McCormick, Christine B.. Guilford Publications. 2006 484 pp. (ED492552)

-Understanding Individual Differences in Young Children's Imitative Behavior . By: Fenstermacher, Susan K.; Saudino, Kimberly J.. Developmental Review, v26 n3 p346-364 Sep 2006. (EJ742884)

-Put Back the Fun in Classrooms . By: Erwin, Jon. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v70 n5 p14-19 Jan 2005. (EJ741214)

-Redefining Teacher Education: The Theories of Jerome Bruner and the Practice of Training Teachers. . By: Orlofsky, Diane D 2001 138 pp. (ED471183

-http://www.geoffpetty.com/downloads/WORD/GeoffonHattie.doc

-http://www.kolar.org/vygotsky/