Blog Post #4

What is my “theory” of child and adolescent development?  The basic principles of my personal theory is that growth is never ending, and everyone develops at different rates. Children all have different needs at different stages of their development process. The theories that I am drawn to as a future educator are SEL and The Hierarchy of Needs. 

I believe that every student needs certain things such as a loving environment to be able to learn effectively and to their fullest potential. If a child is not getting the nutrients they need or the love they need at home their school work is not going to live up to their fullest potential. This relates to The Hierarchy of Needs Theory because a child needs basic things before they can gain knowledge to reach self actualization and full learning potential. 

I also believe that as a teacher you have a pivotal role to make your students all feel safe and loved in the classroom. Creating a social emotional learning environment lets students be themselves and reach their learning targets. Creating relationships is a very important theory to make sure your students feel like they belong in your classroom. 

Using both of these theories together creates my own theory of making sure the needs of your students are met emotionally and physically before the learning process can even start. I want all of my students to feel like they play a pivotal role in my classroom and their own learning. My theory is that although students develop at different rates, you as a teacher can help progress your students’ learning process by simply connecting with your students. Connecting learning to students’ home life is probably the most beneficial thing you can do as an educator. If you connect your students to learning they will want to learn more and you as a teacher will feel fulfilled because you made a long lasting relationship with your students.