Professional blog

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Developmental psychology scenario/EDEP 550/Kelly

“You visit a one-room schoolhouse in the countryside”

You visit a one-room schoolhouse at the request of the principal.

In addition to the principal is the middle-aged teacher, called Bob. Bob has been teaching here since he graduated. There are no other teachers.

During your visit, you ask Bob the age range of students. He says: “Well, some of them are as young as 4, and the oldest is probably 12. But that makes no difference to me: I always teach to “the average kid.” What else can you do, right? Teach: “right down the middle. Sounds right?”

You ask how that works in practice. He says, “Well, I probably teach mostly to the third graders. And I don’t simplify the words I use … it helps the young ones catch up. I know the older ones look bored. But like I said, what can you do, right?”

You look in one of the closets. Inside are unopened packages with multi-colored and multi-sized shapes (like circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles.

You ask why the packages are unopened.

He chuckles. “Why would you distract them with toys?”

What about the letters and numbers? There must be hundreds of them.

Bob answers: “No, they would just get lost.”

What about Playdough?

He replies, “No way. Think of the mess and the cleanup! It’s better off in the cupboard.”

You ask, What about manipulatives like Unifix cubes?

He replies, dismissively: “You and your toys! How are these kids ever going to learn anything?”

A little exasperated, you notice on a high shelf, a weighing scale.

You ask, Do you ever use the scales?

He replies. “No. Too high up. I’ve got a bad back. At least it’s not a toy, though.”

You ask, How did you hurt your back?

He replied that his brother-in-law is a handyman, Bill, and that he tripped at Bill’s worksite.

You ask, Is Bill a good handyman?

He replies, “Yeah, really smart. One day, he was climbing up a ladder. He asked me to pass him up a big coiled rope. It was heavy. I said to him, Bill, will you be able to hold that weight up on the ladder? He said, No problem: I will just uncoil it and hold it in one hand when I’m up there. Bill’s pretty smart, no?”

Not sure that Bill is that smart, you look in another cupboard. In the cupboard are plastic glasses (different sizes, but each is 20oz (591mm), a number of cylinders, and graduated pipettes.

You ask, How about these?

He answered, “Can’t see any use for the glasses. The younger kids have sippy cups, and everyone else brings water bottles. And those pipettes! No way! Take out your eye!”

Finally, very excited, you see an unopened box on the table: “Science World. One hundred science experiments for upper elementary and middle school children.”

You ask, What about this box?

Bob replies. “One of the parents gave that to the school. I’ve decided not to open it, but to use it as a raffle prize at school fundraiser. Pretty clever of me! The school can always use the money.”

. . .

You visit the classroom when the students are present. There are 4 very young children (you think one of them may be about 3), 6 first graders, 8 second graders, 8 third graders, 6 fourth graders, 4 fifth graders, and 4 sixth graders.

You are struck by the silence and lack of movement, which you comment on.

Proudly, Bob replies: “I thought you would notice that! Peace and quiet! And, I use PSYCHOLOGY to keep them quiet and in their places. I give out gold stars as rewards. The kids love them. That’s what’s called, “positive reinforcement,” in case you didn’t know. Not a sound; hardly a move.”

You ask, Do you watch them as they play outside?

Bob replies, “No. I stay in here and read the newspaper or catch up on the news on my phone. They come back in when the principal rings the bell.”

You watch Bob teach. He has a few books for reading, mathematics and science. All of them are about the city: living in the city, life in the city, the history of the city, how much it costs to live in the city, air pollution, traffic congestion… and so on.

You say, “But most of your students are from out here in farm country, right?”

Bob says, “Oh, all of them are from around here. In fact, I’m sure none of their parents have been to the city, but so what? There are no jobs here, so they will all end up in the city, some day.”

At the end of the day, parents come by to pick up their children. It’s mostly uneventful. However, you are taken aback when one of the parents slaps a child and yells harshly at him. The parent drags the child to the car and drives off.

The next day, the principal says. I know you are not a licensed child psychologist, but do you have any comments to make? The county says they want to help rural schools more and are going to send out some experts and folks. Anything I should think about?

You write the principal a two-page report of your observations and thoughts. To help her understand your points, you annotate the above conversation and attach it as an appendix.

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