Professionals in all fields argue whether people develop though nature or through nurture. This debate is especially important for educators, who are responsible for supporting students through their learning process. This idea for me is best summed up in Pressley and McCormick's idea that each person has a natural range of potential that may or may not be reached based on the environment the person grows up in (Pressley & McCormick, 2007). This illustrates the point that our responsibility as educators is not just to teach students, but also to create an environment that allows for learning to occur.
One developmental theory that shows this is Piaget's stage theory. In this theory, a child progresses through stages, and must pass through each stage fully before moving onto the next stage. This explains how children naturally develop. Yet, the atmosphere a teacher creates can allow a child's natural ability to reach his or her full potential. If a teacher uses material that is just a little bit more challenging for students, a "zone of proximal development" is created (Pressly & McCormick, 2007). This allows the child to be challenged and understand new ideas with the support of the teacher. Many times, this new way of thinking or challenge helps the student connect ideas and creates a disequilibrium; however, as the child conquers the new subject area or content area, they create "a new equilibrium that is more powerful, because the mind has learned to do more" (Pressley & McCormick, 2007). In my own classroom, I believe this will look like creating lessons with varying levels of difficulty. Students in the same classroom are always within a broad spectrum from confused and bored. I believe this can be solved by differentiating material and creating challenges for advanced students and more learning opportunities for students who are still confused.
Just as Piaget's theory shows how educators can improve a learning environment, John Medina explains aspects of the brain that can help us understand human development and how to support student learning. One of the brain rules he discusses is memory. As humans, we are constantly bombarded with input; we hear people and noises, listen to our families and friends talk, and watch tv and media daily. How do we remember it all? Medina reassures us that we do not! He explains that students forget 90% of what they learn within 30 days of learning it. He also points out that students forget as a means of prioritizing (Medina, 2014). These facts have big implications for our teaching practices. As educators, our strategies for maximizing learning opportunities must be repetition and meaning. Medina emphasizes that students can only remember a few main ideas, so we must repeat the important parts over and over again. Second, Medina reminds us that the first few moments of learning are essential; in order to make learning more accessible, we must introduce new concepts thoughtfully and with meaning. In my own experience, high school students are used to starting class by sitting and writing an entry task. They're bored every period because every period begins the same! The repetition of using an entry task is good for students to feel comfortable; however, in order to remember information better, students must feel personally invested and reminded every day of the main ideas. In my own practice, I would introduce each topic with a fun, meaningful activity, but also end the class with the same information that is most important for students to remember. This is a practice Medina strongly suggests as well.
These ideas relate closely with three of SPU's program standards. First, this connects with SPU's desire to set high expectations for students (1.3). SPU is determined that engaging students in meaningful learning will help them remember more and therefore learn better. Also, SPU's idea of pacing lessons well connects to the idea that only so much can be remembered by students. We must chunk information and repeat the important parts so that students will not be overwhelmed but instead can engage in meaningful information (Pressley & McCormick, 2007). This is closely related to SPU's program standard 2.2 where the teacher uses instructional practices that are proven to work. Medina's idea of repetition, meaningful entry activities, and even chunking are practical ways that have been proven to work because they help the brain remember more. Medina writes that each time our brain has to retrieve information, we reconsolidate our information. This means that the brain pathways become more used and also more connected to each other, helping our brain move information from short term memory to long term memory (Medina, 2014). This means that having activities and assignments where students are cognitively engaged means that these brain pathways are being strengthened. Finally, this relates to SPU's standard 3.1 where the teacher demonstrates knowledge of student's skills and knowledge and can differentiate activities to allow each child to succeed. This is definitely not the easiest or quickest way to create a lesson plan, but it does allow for each student to be challenged at an appropriate level.
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