Context for Learning Description of School and Students

Blogs for Education Psychology

Context for Learning Description of School and Students

Summary:

Chapter 1 emphasizes the importance of learning educational psychology. Teachers are more than givers of information, but they have to support students in their; physical, emotional and academic needs. Woolfolk explains teachers need to have Efficacy which is a teachers belief they can reach their students even if they are not understanding as fast as others. Teachers grow efficiency by their student success. Woolfolk explains to her readers that there are many stats about how students learn but remembering the child is important she states “These statistics are dramatic but a bit impersonal. As a teacher, counselor, recreational worker, speech therapist, or family member, you will encounter real children” (Woolfolk 2019 page 5). There were a lot of factors listed in the book about students learning whether it is nature or nurture. The reality is everyone learns differently and teachers need to learn what way best helps their students. Woolfolk also adds the importance of caring about your students and helping them to be better students. She states “ Even when the gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings of the student were accounted for, the relationship with the teacher still predicted aspects of school success” (Woolfolk 2019 page 8). This implies that students need to have a good relationship with their teacher to learn better and feel comfortable to make mistakes. Teachers can make this possible by having a safe space for students in their classroom and giving them tools to help their learning.  

The chapter also highlighted some important educational laws.

 The first one was the No Children left Behind Law put in place under President W. Bush in 2002 and revisited in 2008 by President Obama. This law made schools collect data by giving standardized testing to grades 3rd-8th in all states. 

The second law is the Every Student Succeeds Act under President Obama in 2015. 

The law made schools teach 95% of the same subjects and curriculum (that is federally mandated which differs from state curriculum. It also has schools collect data on students' progress. As well as use chosen standards and allow them to get funding. This law also supported more Preschool opportunities for families across the country. 

Reflection: Woolfolk talks about the importance of knowing your students and understanding the many parts to them and their qualities that contribute to the data of how they learn. Working with real children helps teachers understand that everyone learns differently and at different rates. Working with a real child helps teachers put strategies into practice to help them learn as much as possible as well. Woolfolk talks about teachers having a relationship with their students that helps their learning. When giving a students assessment project report for my english education class we were asked to record stats about the students life. These were questions that were about the students personal interests and family. These questions were for data that may have contributed to the students scores but also showed the student that the tester cared about them. I know personally learned better and felt more comfortable with teachers who asked about my life or would make a point to share about themselves as well. As a teacher I hope to share information and have relationships with my students so they feel safe to ask questions and comfortable to learn and make mistakes.  

Reference: (Woolfolk, A. (2019). Educational psychology (14th ed.). : Pearson.)