Current Teacher Behaviors
1. What evidence do you see in your field experience of specific teacher behaviors that are related to Piaget's theory of cognitive development?
I’m happy to say that I see evidence of the teacher I’m observing using Piaget’s theories in the classroom. When the teacher introduces new information and she often does so in a way that the students can tie the information to things that they are already familiar with. For example, the teacher wanted to introduce the Toulmin model of argument to eleventh graders who are well into the Formal Operational Stage. She didn’t start by talking about the Toulmin argument until after she showed a clip from the movie Legally Blonde. The students experienced some disequilibrium because of the lack of context—they were wondering what this movie clip had to do with what they were learning that day. She didn’t attempt to spare them from the disequilibrium, but instead inhanced it by calling the movie clip a highly sophisticated literary text (using a bit of sarcasm). Then the teacher had the students tell her what was going on in the clip. As they listed off the things that happened in the clip, she wrote what they said on the board. Then she put boxes around different parts the student mentioned that had similarities. From here, she spoke about what was contained in the boxes and gave a label to each of them, naming their attributes in Toulmin terms. From there she drew arrows from one box to another, recreating a diagram of the Toulmin model. This is an example of assimilation. By going through this process, the teacher helped the students with adaptation as they move from disequilibrium to equilibrium and allowed the students to add the new ideas to a previously established schema so that they could accommodate the new knowledge.
Student Needs
2. What are these students' needs through the lens of Piaget's theory? What more could or should be done?
The students, according to Piaget, are capable of abstract thought. Abstract thinking, once the level has been attained, can be developed and enhanced. The students need to work on problem solving, deductive reasoning, and abstract reasoning to support their cognition. By building on already established schemas, the students can assimilate new information to enhance their schemas. I can see evidence of abstract reasoning and deductive reasoning in the classroom I’m observing. Students are given the Toulmin model and expected to understand how it applies to arguments they have be researching and will be writing. The teacher led them through several scenarios of the Toulmin model of argument. Perhaps more could have been done to allow the students to have their own independent experience with the Toulmin model using abstract reasoning—maybe thinking of multiple, potential situations that would fit the model.
Plans for your Lesson
3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?
The cooperating teacher has asked me to teach MLA format and citations. For some students, MLA may cause a state of disequilibrium because they are used to using APA formatting or Chicago style citation. I intend to teach the format of MLA and then have the student use abstract reasoning to figure out how to apply citation format for different types of sources. As I have the students practice putting citations in the right order with all the information needed, they will become more comfortable with the formatting and their equilibrium will normalize as their assimilation balances out the conflict in their brains as they accommodate the new information. The activity I have planned will include giving the students an array of source information: author, title, publishing year, editor, cover designer, page number, credentials of the author, etc. (Not all these things are required for a correct citation.) Using this activity will allow the schemes to go through the process of assimilation and the students will accommodate the new information. They will use abstract reasoning to determine if the items provided on the board fit the new schema or should be discarded. In the end, the students will have a more complete schema regarding MLA citation.
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