Work & Academics

Lifespan Development and Learning

Individualism comes in many forms. In addition to looking different from each other, our minds and our methods of learning are also different. The education we receive in school, however, is usually quite standardized. Reflecting on my academic experience, while all my teachers had somewhat different approaches to how they presented their educational materials, many of them typically used an approach that required strong auditory learning skills. As I entered the world of education as a teacher, I became aware of different learning styles in my students—blends of kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners—and did my best to design lessons encouraging students to engage all learning styles. I did this because when talking to other teachers about their personal educational experiences, many of them raised the point that despite having had good teachers, they wished that their education had been more visual or more hands-on. Upon further reflection of my personal situation, I would say that my educational achievements were indeed partly attributed to having had good teachers, and also partly to having grown up in a very well rounded caring environment. After all, our process of learning doesn’t start and end in school, does it?

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Introduction to Action Research

Analyzing the success of educational programs is often tricky. There is often a mix of quantitative data that can be analyzed, often in the form of standardized test scores or report cards, as well as qualitative data such as feedback from parents, teachers, students or social-workers. Furthermore, especially in cases where the student or teacher population is culturally diverse, everyone has their own opinions about what is necessary for an effective classroom. Accurate analysis of why some schools appear to be more effective can be difficult due to the number of extraneous variables-including family size, income, race, or native language-which may have an impact on how well students learn.

In 2001, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was renamed No Child Left Behind (NCLB). One key component of the 1965 ESEA was the provision of quality educational assistance to low-income families to help break the cycle of poverty (Schugurensky 2002). The passing of the ESEA led to the creation of preschool programs such as Head Start to help reduce the already present achievement gap between the poor and more affluent families. NCLB, in turn, proposed several additional methods to reduce the achievement gap including increased accountability, revised standards of teacher qualifications, and higher educational standards.

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