Reflections of Growth

Throughout this course, I have learned to understand the differences of the backgrounds of children and how important it is to accept those differences because children are special beings who can undoubtedly make a difference in this world with the right guidance and leadership skills.  This course indeed enlightened me on understanding that it is important to analyze children based on a biosocial, psychological, and cognitive perspective to truly understand who they are and recognize discrepancies when needed.  I now understand that it is possible to view all children as "Normal" even though they may have a disability or abnormality.  This is very important to me solely because professionals, teachers, and parents should not want to hurt the ego or self esteem of these innocent beings.  The quote that I choose is as follows:  "The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done."


Jean Piaget

Take a moment and think about what this quote means to you and how a person can apply it to daily life.  I can relate to this quote because I am a woman of difference.  I do not desire to do things the way it was done in the past or follow the steps of others.  It is evident that all children are capable to learn and it is an educator's responsibility to instill the skills needed to make this generation better than the last.  Important factors to me is to teach children how to be ambitious and go after what they think they deserve.  I enjoy learning about effective ways to help children and I plan to keep living the education dream.

Intelligence Check?

As we all are familiar with the way the school system works, we understand the to test a child's intelligence solely depends on the scores from standardized testing.  I am not against standardized testing, but I certainly have a problem if it really does not enhance education.  Standardized tests tend to measure the temporary acquisition of facts and skills, including the skill of test-taking itself, more than genuine understanding. To that extent, the fact that these tests are more likely to be used and emphasized in schools with higher percentages of minority students (a fact that has been empirically verified) predictably results in poorer-quality teaching in such schools.  I personally feel that standardized testing does more harm than enhancement.  These test usually point out students from low-income and minority-group backgrounds andare more likely to be retained in grade, placed in a lower track, or put in special or remedial education programs when it is not necessary. They are more likely to be given a watered-down or "dummied-down" curriculum, based heavily on test practice. This only ensures they will fall further and further behind their peers. On the other hand, children from white, middle and upper income backgrounds are more likely to be placed in "gifted and talented" or college preparatory programs where they are challenged to read, explore, investigate, think and progress rapidly.  There are better methods of evaluating student needs and progression. Good observational checklists used by trained teachers are more helpful than any screening test. Assessment based on student performance on real learning tasks is more useful and accurate for measuring achievement - and provides more information - than multiple-choice achievement tests.