Mr. Cooke teaches the fourth grade and expects his students to ...

[krzymel]

Mr. Cooke teaches the fourth grade and expects his students to show a high level of independence about completing assignments, following procedures, and keeping up with homework and other daily responsibilities. School started two months ago, and Mr. Cooke is becoming increasingly frustrated with Teagan and her unwillingness to stick with difficult tasks. Teagan does not take risks or accept challenges. She prefers to work on assignments that are easy, and she stops when she faces a challenge. Rather than asking for help, she either turns in an incomplete assignment or hides it in her desk. During group work, she seldom speaks up and only wants to fill roles that are easy for her. She is intellectually capable of succeeding academically, but she is not successfully resolving the developmental crisis of her current stage of psychosocial development.
 
  Using Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, describe the developmental crisis Teagan must resolve. Suggest strategies Mr.
 
  Cooke might use to help Teagan resolve the crisis productively.

Question 2

Mrs. Berry teaches fifth grade in an inner city school. The students in the district have not performed well on standardized tests and the school board is proposing changes in order to increase the amount of academic time students spend in the classroom. If the changes are approved, Mrs. Berry's fifth graders will no longer have a recess during the school day. Mrs. Berry has researched this matter and wants to address the school board.
 
  What points might she make from her research that are likely to influence the board's decision?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[srodz]

Answer to Question 1

Suggested Response: Teagan is in the fourth stage of psychosocial development, the stage in which she needs to resolve the developmental crisis of industry versus inferiority. To resolve the crisis productively, she needs to handle the academic demands of school, including perseverance with difficult tasks. She needs to understand that she will not continue to learn unless she faces challenges and takes risks. In her thinking, she is avoiding failure. She needs to recognize that her strategy actually results in failure.
According to Erikson, students at this stage must master new skills and work toward new goals. They are being compared to others and have a greater awareness of the risk of failure. Mr. Cooke might take the following steps:
 Help Teagan set realistic learning goals. Mr. Cooke might begin by dividing assignments into smaller tasks and encouraging Teagan to set goals for completing small tasks and moving on to larger tasks.
 Help Teagan experience successes. Trying new skills has intimidated Teagan. As she achieves successes with new skills, she is more likely to show willingness to take risks. As she takes risks and discovers that she has the ability to master new skills, she is more likely to persevere when tasks are difficult.
 Encourage Teagan to ask for help. If Teagan follows procedures for getting help, she is more likely to keep trying rather than giving up.
Text Reference: Identity and Self-Concept

Answer to Question 2

Suggested Response: Mrs. Berry should make the point that there are academic reasons for children to have recess and opportunities for exercise. Physical activity affects cognitive development. Research studies support the conclusion that systematic exercise programs may actually enhance the development of specific types of mental processing known to be important for meeting challenges encountered both in academics and throughout the lifespan.
Based on such studies, Mrs. Berry should point out the need for children to develop an active lifestyle while they are young and maintain it throughout life. Mrs. Berry should also point out that these inner city children typically lack opportunities to play outside and get exercise. She may further point out the growing problem of obesity among children.
Mrs. Berry should also tell the board about studies indicating that students are better behaved in the classroom if they have at least 15 minutes of recess every day.
Text Reference: Physical Development