Running Head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE

Individual Differences Student Profile

Rachael Woodard
Instructor: Tracey Meyerhoeffer
EDUC 205: Development/ Individual Differences
Spring 2016

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Individual Difference Student Profile

When it comes to educating young people today, there is much diversity that teachers see
on a daily basis when it comes to a classroom setting. Here recently, I was given the opportunity
to observe a classroom with young children, which made me think how hard it may be for a child
to learn. Being a teacher and providing a fair and equal education to all children is what
educators have to deal with, for all children learn differently. Todays children have the
opportunity to create, explore, learn problem-solving techniques, develop personal interaction
skills, and learn concepts through firsthand experiences, and the little boy I observed, whom I
will call David, does exactly that at the daycare he attends. In this profile, I will provide
general information concerning his physical development, his cognitive development, and his
socio-emotional development, and lastly, I will provide a summary of my findings.
General Information
David is a five year, three months old child, whose family is from Idaho; they currently
live in Buhl, Idaho. David is an only child, and he lives with his mother. He is enrolled at a
daycare, which he attends Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays when his mother has to go to
class. On the days David is at daycare, his routine is coming into class and getting greeted by
other children who are also there to learn for the day. He starts with eating breakfast at 9am, and
there he will talk about what his weekend was like or just how his day was when he returned
home from the previous day. David spends his day following a routine that helps him enhance
his cognitive, emotional, and creative development. The daycare he attends is set up to help him
develop a positive self-concept through a balance of self-and teacher-directed activities.
Physical Development

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To paint a picture of Davids physical appearance, David has brown eyes and short brown
hair, and is very slim and tall, with light color skin. Davids physical maturation along with
other children his age, is a little below average. David has a hard time when it comes to not
tripping over toys and objects in the classrooms, for it seems that his balance is still a little off for
his age. When David is asked to go to the tables for planning time, he has a tendency to use both
hands to write or draw. David, I believe is actually right handed, but chooses to use both most of
the time. His fine motor skills are a little immature as he has problems holding the pencil the
right way in his hand. Davids gross motor skills are adequate in that he can kick a ball, but
cannot kick it back when the ball is coming towards him quickly. David seems to have a healthy
diet and also has exercise included in his daily routine. When it came to Davids hearing and
vision, the data was not available.
Cognitive Development
David is a preschooler about to go to kindergarten this coming year. Currently, at daycare,
when David is in circle with his class and they are starting off their morning, he chooses not to
participate by singing the good morning song the teacher sings to the children in the morning.
David has a short attention span, so he learns best kinesthetically. Kinesthetic learners learn
best by moving their bodies, activating their small and large muscles as they learn. These are the
hands-on learners or the doers who actually concentrate better and learn more easily when
movement is involved (Hutton, S. 2013). When it comes to being involved in certain activities,
it is hard for David to maintain attention. For example, when David must plan out his day for
work time, he chooses to throws a fit, yell and scream at the teacher. Additionally, David has a
hard time listening to stories that are being read to him by the teacher. He can relate some stories
to his experiences though. Davids temperament shows that he is in the range of a difficult child

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who needs consistent guidance when it comes to keeping on track with activities. When it comes
to Davids learning, he tries to understand what is going on around him, but he has a hard time
with his emotions and his self-control when it comes to expressing himself.
David is operating preoperational stage of Piagets stages of cognitive development.
According to Piagets theory, the brain develops and childrens experiences expand as they move
through four broad stages, each characterized by qualitatively distinct ways of thinking (as cited
in Berk & Meyer, 2016, p. 19). The Preoperational stage is the second stage of the cognitive
development; where children use symbols to represent their earliest sensorimotor discoveries,
and develop language and make-believe play (as cited in Berk & Meyer, 2016, p. 19). David is
at this stage, for I observed him playing with other children as they used make believe to cook a
dinner for their family in the kitchen.
Socio-Emotional Development
Davids interaction with his peers do involve some conflicts. David tries to work out
conflicts with other children, but they are not always resolved the way he thinks they should be.
David interacts with children from diverse backgrounds at his daycare. David has difficulty
interacting with adults, because he has a hard time relating to them and trusting them. David has
a great attachment to the lead teacher as evidenced by the fact that he listens to her, controls
himself around her, and seems to trust her. Davids self-concept is not as great as most kids his
age for children often do not want to play with him due to his lack of self-control and his
frequent temper tantrums. Davids self-esteem is lower than most boys his age, for David doesnt
have high social skills, which makes it hard for him to make friends. When it comes to Davids
socio-emotional development, I believe he is in the Initiative versus Guilt stages of Eriksons
social emotional development. In this stage, Erikson believed that the third psychosocial crisis

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occurs during what he called play stage (as cited in Berk &Meyer, 2016, p, 15). David is
learning through active play of all sorts. He is learning to lead as well as follow, but continues to
combine schemes with those of peers in sociodramatic play, but also still relies on adults as he
is still restricted in some learning areas (as cited in Berks & Meyer, 2016, p. 313).
Summary, Conclusion, and Implications
When it comes to the major findings, I have found that David is a child who is trying to
explore the world around him. His general development is typical for his age, and it seems to be
moving in the right direction. His self-control and self-esteem are a little below average for his
age, but has made some improvements along the way. Currently, Davids physical development
is a little behind others his age for he has the tendency to trip over toys and objects that are
around him. Also, Davids small and large muscle development is still lagging a bit. I believe
for Davids age, his cognitive development is where it should be in the preoperational stage of
Piagets stages of cognitive development. When it comes to Davids socio-emotional
development, he is at the Learning Initiative Versus Guilt (purpose) stage, which is called the
play stage, and includes active in play of all sorts.
Having David be able to remember stories that have been read to him, and applying his
experiences, shows he has made a connection when it comes to his development of learning.
Learning strategies for David would include using more hands on activities since he learns best
that way. Giving him guidance towards making more goals in his learning would also be
suggested so that he can make connections with his prior experiences and knowledge. Helping
him talk out his problems with his peers will help him have a better understanding of his selfconcept and self-esteem and will contribute to effective conflict resolution skills.

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In conclusion, there are many types of children with a variety of learning styles in the
classrooms today. Being a teacher and providing a fair and equal education to all children no
matter their learning abilities and disabilities is what this individual student differences profile
addresses. Getting a chance to write about David has helped me understand more about being a
teacher. Being able to know where a childs development is will help me as an educator
understand his/her general, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development as a learner.

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References

Berk, L. E., & Meyers, A. B. (2016). Infants, children, and adolescents (Eighth ed.). New York:
Pearson.
Hutton, S. (2013, August 13). Helping kinesthetic learners succeed. In Education.com.
Retrieved March 10, 2016, from
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/kinesthetic_learner/