Kathleen Stassen Berger Prepared by Madeleine Lacefield Tattoon, M.A. 1 Part IV Cognitive Development: The School Years Chapter Twelve Building on Theory Language Teaching and Learning

2 Cognitive Development: The School Years “School-age children are learners. as long as it is not to abstract, they can learn almost anything.” ”Time matters, but the depth and content of learning reflect motivation more than maturation—motivation guided by cultural priorities and channeled by brain networks. Thus, nurture and nature interact to allow each child’s mind to develop.”

3 Building on Theory Theories of cognition in school-age children have been used to structure education.

4 Building on Theory Piaget and School-Age Children –concrete operational though Piaget’s term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions

5 Building on Theory –An Example: Classification classification –the logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or categories or classes) according to some characteristic they have in common

6 Building on Theory –The Significance of Logic identity –the logical principle that certain characteristics of an object remain the same even if other characteristics change reversibility –the logical principle that a thing that has been changed can sometimes be returned to its original state by reversing the process by which it was changed

7 Building on Theory Vygotsky and School-Age Children –“Vygosky (1934/1999) also felt that educators should consider the thought processes of the child.”

8 Building on Theory The Role of Instruction –Vygotsky regarded instruction by others crucial teachers and peers provide the bridge between the child’s developmental potential and the necessary skill and knowledge in the zone of proximal development, other people are crucial Cultures (tools, customs, people) teach people

9 Building on Theory Cultural Variations –patterns of cognition are apparent worldwide Understanding of classification –demands of the situation –learning from other sellers –daily experience

10 Building on Theory Information processing –the view of cognition as comparable to the functioning of a computer and as best understood by analyzing each aspect of that functioning---sensory data input, connections, stored memories, and output

11 Building on Theory Memory –sensory memory the component of the information-processing system in which current conscious mental activity occurs--also called short-term memory –long-term memory the component of the information-processing system in which virtually limitless amounts of information can be stored indefinitely

12 Building on Theory Speed and knowledge –Speed: of thinking increases throughout the first two decades of life –knowledge base a body of knowledge in a particular area that makes it easier to master new information in that area

13 Building on Theory Control processes –mechanisms (including selective attention, metacogniton, and emotional regulation) that combine memory, processing speed, and knowledge to regulate the analysis and flow of information within the information-processing system –metacognition “thinking about thinking,” or the ability to evaluate a cognitive task to determine how best to accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one’s performance on that task

14 Language language advances rapidly before middle childhood by age 6 children have mastered most of the basic vocabulary and grammar of their first language

15 Language school-age children can learn up to 20 new words a day increases in logic, flexibility, memory, speed of thinking, metacognition, and connections between facts enhance the learning of first and second languages

16 Language Vocabulary and Pragmatics –vocabulary school-age children are more flexible and logical in their knowledge and use of vocabulary, understanding metaphors, prefixes, suffixes, and compound words –pragmatics advances markedly in middle childhood; the use of language, including communication with varied audiences in different contexts

17 Language Second-Language Learning –English-language learner (ELL) a child who is learning English as a second language –total immersion a strategy in which instruction in all school subjects occurs in the second (majority) language that a child is learning

18 Language Second-Language Learning –bilingual education a strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the learner’s original language and the second (majority) language –English as a second language (ESL) an approach to teaching English in which all children who do not speak English are placed together and given an intensive course in basic English so that they can be educated in the same classroom as native English speakers

19 Teaching and Learning school-age children are: –great learners –develop strategies –accumulate knowledge, –apply logic, and think quickly universally children are given responsibility and instruction at about age 7 the age when their bodies and brains are ready 95% of children are in school by age 7

20 Teaching and Learning Curriculum –everywhere children are taught to read, write, and do arithmetic –when, how, to whom, and whether second- language instruction should occur varies form nation to nation –religious instruction is another major variable—some public school teach

21 Teaching and Learning –No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 a U.S. law passed by Congress in 2001 that was intended to increase accountability in education by requiring standardized tests to measure school achievement. Many critics, especially teacher, say the law undercuts learning and fails to take local needs into consideration.

22 Teaching and Learning –National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) An ongoing and national representative measure of children’s achievement in reading, mathematics, and other subjects over time, nicknamed “the Nation’s Report Card”

23 Teaching and Learning –Reading First a federal program that was established by the No Child Left Behind Act and that provides states with funding for early reading instruction in public schools, aimed at ensuring that all children learn to read well by the end of the third grade

24 Teaching and Learning hidden curriculum –the unofficial, unstated, or implicit rules and priorities that influence the academic curriculum and ever other aspect of learning in school

25 Teaching and Learning the outcome: –most parents, teachers, and political leaders believe that children are learning what they need Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) –a planned five-year cycle of international trend studies in the reading ability of fourth grades, inaugurated in 2001

26 Teaching and Learning Iranian girls acting out a poem they have memorized from their third-grade textbook

27 Teaching and Learning Education Wars and Assumptions –adults differ in their beliefs about what children should learn, and how

28 Teaching and Learning Japanese Education

29 Teaching and Learning The Reading Wars phonics approach –teaching reading by first teaching the sounds of each letter and of various letter combinations

30 Teaching and Learning The Math Wars –mathematic instruction in the U.S. has become problematic economic development depends on science and technology many children hate math – –Google search showed 36,100 “math phobia” hits compared to 171 for “reading phobia” U.S. students are weaker in math than students in other nations how to teach math does not always benefit children

31 Teaching and Learning Other Assumptions –children learn from homework One researcher finds that homework undermines learning instead of advancing it (Kohn, 2006) –mixed evidence shows that smaller classrooms size is not necessarily better (Blatchford, 2003, Hanushek, 1999) –raising teacher salaries improving professional education –extending school hours–expanding the school– year increasing sports, music, or silent reading

32 Teaching and Learning Culture and Education –controversies regarding cognitive development related to education is political more than developmental –there are many hidden roles of culture –teaching styles and methods –the understanding of the child’s culture by a teacher of another culture