Our personality traits come in opposites. We think of ourselves as
optimistic or pessimistic, independent or dependent, emotional or unemotional, adventurous or cautious, leader or follower, aggressive or passive. Many of these are inborn temperament traits, but other characteristics, such as feeling either competent or inferior, appear to be learned, based on the challenges and support we receive in growing up. The man who did a great deal to explore this concept is Erik Erikson. Although he was influenced by Freud, he believed that the ego exists from birth and that behavior is not totally defensive. He organized life into eight stages that extend from birth to death. Since adulthood covers a span of many years, Erikson divided the stages of adulthood into the experiences of young adults, middle aged adults and older adults. While the actual ages may vary considerably from one stage to another, the ages seem to be appropriate for the majority of people. I pick one of the stages and explain how it is applied to some classroom practices. Classroom Application Initiative vs. Guilt Give children the opportunity to make choices and act upon those choices. Because the crisis of initiative vs. guilt determines whether a child learns to plan activities on her own or comes to associate self- directed behavior with punishment, she must have the opportunity to make decisions. Provide a portion of the day when children can choose their own activities. Have a classroom library where children can pick their own books during reading time. This allows children the opportunity to learn how to make decisions for themselves. Break instruction and activities down into small steps. This makes it easier for children to succeed and encourages them to take risks. Without this framework, children may become frustrated by activities and sense that they are doomed to complete them poorly. Ensure that any competitive games or activities have well- balanced teams. If children consistently lose at math games, they may believe they are bad at math. Conversely, even a struggling student may feel confident in her mathematical abilities if her team performs well overall. Accept mistakes that result from students attempting activities on their own. If a student damages something or makes a serious error, show him how to fix, clean or redo it instead of simply punishing him. This will make students feel more confident in their abilities to attempt activities on their own. SIGMUND FREUD’S THEORY OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT Classroom Application Freud actually gave the idea about "inner conflicts" that can affect one's behavior. Some psychologists, like Erik Erikson adapted this idea but changed this from less sexual to more social in nature. The conflicts or crises are important in a sense that they must be solved in order to successfully and normally proceed to the next level of our development, and to avoid fixation or maladjustment. For instance, our pupils/students may be categorized into Phallic, Latency or Genital stage of psychosexual development. Our role as teachers therefore, is to assist our pupils/students solve or go through their inner conflicts on these stages. We can actually help if we give them ample attention in their certain needs. For example, play is an outlet among children where their sexual drive is being directed in the Latency Stage. If this will be suppressed, their will be a possibility for the child to fixate, or will continue to play even inappropriate for his/her age as an adult in the future. Among the pubescent/adolescent students, let teachers be more responsible in discussing about topics regarding sexuality. They must be more sensitive and careful because they know that on this stage, our students are going through a lot of crises and confusion. Let teachers teach them to be sexually responsible by explaining to them the sexual changes they are going through, and the consequences of their actions. Let us teach them to be more critical and reflective to clarify their inner issues. Let us not forget to offer our hands if they need our advice or to collaborate with their parents. This is the so- called sex education. As my conclusion, the application of Freud ideas to teaching and learning is that it gives us an explanation of some of our pupils/students' behavior that are manifested inside the classroom. However, the specific application of this theory in the teaching-learning process is not yet fully studied or experimented compared to other theories. What I presented here are just some of the aspects in which this theory can be applied. As teachers, the decision is still on the teachers how they will use this knowledge to assist their students. If they can add more of the applications. LEV VYGOTSKY SCAFFOLDING Classroom Application Psychologist Lev Vygotsky developed a theory of cognitive development which focused on the role of culture in the development of higher mental functions. Several concepts arose from that theory that are important to classroom learning. This lesson will focus on the concept of scaffolding, how it is applied in classroom. Scaffolding is directly related to zone of proximal development in that it is the support mechanism that helps a learner successfully perform a task within his or her ZPD. Typically, this process is completed by a more competent individual supporting the learning of a less competent individual. So, for example, there could be a teacher assisting a student, or a higher-level peer assisting a younger peer. To understand this concept better, let's think about how scaffolding is used in the construction of a home. The scaffold is an external structure that provides support for the workers until the house itself is strong enough to support them. As the home gains stability, the scaffold becomes less necessary and is gradually removed. In mathematical problem solving the teacher must first solve the problem for the learners to observe and analyze how to solve it. Giving clues on how to solve an equation is an example of scaffolding. Scaffolding is applied similarly in the classroom. First, the teacher should provide clues about how to proceed through the problem. As the child becomes capable of solving the problem without support, the teacher gradually removes these clues. This process is referred to as fading. SAMPLES OF REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES Fixed Ratio (FR) Reinforcement Schedule A child is offered a reward after they earn five A’s on her homework assignments. After her fifth A on a homework assignment, she gets to pick out a new toy. After a student answers 3 questions, they get a compliment from a teacher. Receiving a good grade for reading 3 number of chapters of the book. Fixed Interval (FI) Reinforcement Schedule Every minute the teacher gives the student an encouragement. Every minute there’s a repeat of this reinforcement. A course where there are exams every three weeks, studying right before the exam and then stopping until the next exam. Doing a job and receiving a paycheck every last day of the month. Variable Ratio (VR) Reinforcement Schedule Teacher gives candy to student who offers correct answers but after varying amount of responses. Selling Girl Scout cookies door to door. The classic of winning the jackpot on the slot machine after a changing number of times playing it. Variable Interval (VI) Reinforcement Schedule Teacher gives candy every couple of minutes, but the time between reinforcement is always changing. A parent attending to the cries of a child. Parents will not typically attend to the child each time it cries, but will leave he or she to fuss for a period before attending. Checking your phone for text messages – you do not know when you will be rewarded with a message, but continue to check until you do.