Nature Vs Nurture Theory

Mandy Goldstein
SEED 2002 As a teacher there is a responsibility to your students to create an environment that is conducive to learning. You must be able to look at each one of your students as an individual and not lump everyone together and teach to the masses. "One of the first requirements of teaching is that you understand how students think and how they view the world." (Chapter 2 page 2) An effective teacher is one who goes out of their way to find out about their students individual situations and make a lesson plan that takes those factors into account. Being creative while using the theories and education they themselves posses should give a teacher a fair chance at reaching her students without leaving anyone behind. Following
If we were to look at her development we would see that she was a low weight baby with difficulties in her cognitive development in speech and language. Perhaps Maria did not get a good enough start in life. The nature vs. nurture theory would assume that maybe Maria didn’t get enough stimulation in her first year of life and also coming into the world as a low weight baby may have had an effect on her development. Perhaps the mother wasn’t healthy or well nourished during pregnancy effecting Maria's overall development. Starting school late also hurt Mari's chances at proper development because she was already behind her cohorts. Maria did not learn to read until the 2nd grade, perhaps her mother did not read to her as a child and it would seem that she was not surrounded by books or other printed material before the second grade, these things would have promoted literacy development. Maria comes from a low SES family with her mother working late and Maria having to take on the responsibilities of running the household and caring for her younger siblings. According to reading # 9 just being from a low SES family causes stress, which has negative consequences on brain development and cognitive performance. In school Ms. English doesn’t seem to be concerned with actually helping Maria, she seems to view her as a lost cause. Ms. Math and Ms.
I think that the chapter's theory of school involvement would benefit these three children tremendously. I would advocate the schools being open all year round to give continuous education; I think that schools need to be more involved in the everyday aspect of their student's lives. Sadly all of these students are lacking in "Parental Warmth", the family and peers of these students are the main source of socio-emotional development, (C. Chen & S. Farruggia, Culture and Adolescent Behavior.), this has a negative outcome. I think Maria especially suffers from a low self esteem because of this, Jeffrey seems to exhibit some features of depression and school misconduct. I think all three of these students would greatly benefit from personal counseling; I think they each need a safe place to speak about what they are all going through and learn coping skills. I would schedule one period each day for each student to have that opportunity with a school counselor. We should be going out of the way to find services, and to help provide daycare. Maybe we could start a volunteer type situation where the parents all get involved and help each other with their children. Marcia's theory of identity I think plays a big role in all of these children's lives. How can these students