Practicum C: Scenario

SWINBURNE ONLINE

Practicum C
Scenario
Assignment 1
Melisa Edwards
7703074

Practicum C: Scenario

Contents
1.

Scenario............................................................................................................. 2

2.

Theory and Practice............................................................................................... 4

3.

2.1

Developmental Theory..................................................................................... 4

2.2

Socio-cultural theory....................................................................................... 5

2.3

Critical theory............................................................................................... 5

Recommendations................................................................................................. 6
3.1

Sensorimotor Development............................................................................... 6

3.2

Socio-cultural................................................................................................ 7

3.3

Critical theory............................................................................................... 7

4.

Summary............................................................................................................ 8

5.

References.......................................................................................................... 9

Practicum C: Scenario

1. Scenario
Tia is a young, 10 year old girl that has recently re-located from her hometown in India to
Australia after her foster family adopted her. Tia has had a difficult upbringing, and since infancy has
lived in an orphanage. Her birth parents died after their attempt to flee the country as refugees failed
with the sinking of their boat. Since then, Tia has remained in an underprivileged orphanage where
there is limited opportunity for girls to access formal schooling. Fortunately, Tia has been able to
access a public school education, however only periodically.

Tias academic performance is below average compared to her peers. She can spell with some
proficiency however, she has poor hand writing skills and lacks the precision required to handle a
pencil correctly. In the past, she has been isolated from others in the class, loses attention easily,
distracts others and often appears disinterested. These classes often lacked interaction and consisted of
little or no group activities. When faced with problem solving type situations, Tia demonstrates a lack
of multiple awareness and perspective; limiting her ability to provide an elaborated response. Recent
NAPLAN results have confirmed that Tias language skills are preventing her from performing at the
same level as her peers. While; her numeracy results confirm that it is her inability to understand
English with the same proficiency as her peers rather than her inability to understand concepts.

Tias social and emotional development has been delayed due to her difficult upbringing and
neglect experienced during her early years within an underprivileged and overcrowded orphanage and
still appears small for her age compared to her peers in Australia. She gets along with her foster
siblings; however, she is emotionally fragile and often requires emotional support. Within her new
class there are other migrants however, she lacks the self-confidence required to build positive
connections with his peers. Tia sometimes finds it difficult to understand and cope with her emotions
in social situations; which has resulted in a few aggressive outbursts towards others though, this does

Practicum C: Scenario
not define her usual behaviour. Tia typically tries to be accepted by her peer group, aims to please
others rather than herself and would be describes as gentle and quiet.

2. Theory and Practice

Developmental, sociocultural and emotional delays vary in their severity, underlying cause and
can be permanent or transient. Tias difficult upbringing, malnourishment, and lack of perpetual
access to a formal education during her early years of her life has resulted in extended periods of time
within a learning environment being missed. Tias upbringing within a cultural environment that does
not value girls and education has resulted in a lack of opportunity for her to access a formal education
and has resulted in transient development delays. Children that present with transient development
delays progress at a reduced speed compared to their peers though, children whom experience
transient delays are still capable of reaching the necessary developmental milestones eventually
(Center for Teaching and Learning, n.d.). Tia presents with transient developmental delays and these
often stem from; neglect, illness, trauma or a lack of opportunity to learn (Caswell Health Care, 2011).

2.1 Developmental Theory

Developmental progression throughout the early years covers a variety of domains including;
physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive skills. Children are expected to progress through
these domains in a predictable sequence. Piagets Theory of cognitive development explains that;
although the length of time required for individuals to progress may vary, the sequence remains the
same (Piaget, 1963; Psychology, 2012). Austin and Kearns (2013) explains that the integration of all
developmental domains are equally important as each area of development affects and influences all
other areas of development and these domains are largely reliant on a childs social and cultural
environment (Swabey, 2013). As a child begins to mature they become ready to learn, however the
childs social and cultural environment will influence their opportunity to learn.

Practicum C: Scenario

2.2 Socio-cultural theory

The socio-cultural theory focuses on the socio-cultural perspective and the role social interactions
and cultural activities have on influencing the childs psychological development (Cole & Miyake,
2006). The Socio-cultural theory stems from the work of Lev Vygotsky with additional elaborations to
include cultural-history theories (Chaiklin & Lave, 1993; Cole, 1996; Cole & Engestrm, 1994;
Leontiev, 1981). He proposes that developmental milestones within modern society disregard the
impact of culture on development, highlighting the disconnection between Tias current and previous
learning environments and their cultural focus (Rogoff, 2003). This theory encourages students to
understand how their socio-cultural background influences their perception and interpretation of the
world (Vygotsky, 1978). Socio-cultural strategies include verbal interaction with students to promote
guided participation and scaffolding the development of students knowledge and understanding and
focuses on the process of student acknowledgment and value of cultural behaviours (Rogoff, 2003).
The Vygotskian socio-cultural psychology builds on Piagets perspective that children shall be viewed
as active agents within their own environment and concentrates on the recognition of all aspects of
child development shaped by cultural, economic and social processes; inclusive of their environment
(Woodhead, 1999, 2006).

2.3 Critical theory

The critical theory originated in Frankfurt, Germany in 1923 from Herbert Marcuse; Theodor
Adorno; Max Horkheimer; Frederick Pollack and Leo Lowenthal (Rose, 1990). This theory provides
the basic assumptions for modern teaching strategies used to integrate interdisciplinary principles to
address social problems to develop a students critical understanding. It incorporates both implicit
and explicit teaching strategies and the inclusion of a historical framework that promotes equality and
cultural understanding (Abrahams, 2004).Throughout the early years of learning children are required
to adapt to their dynamic and evolving environment. A childs ability to adapt to these changes and the

Practicum C: Scenario
role of transition affects the childs sense of belonging, self-identity and cultural understanding
(ODonnell, 2012). Critical theory questions the idea of how education can be modified and tailored
to better cater to the needs of student's and explores the impacts it has on a students opportunity to
learn. Critical theory recognises that students come from different backgrounds and focuses on how
each student can reach their potential and how to ensure that every student is able to receive a quality
education (Vogler, Crivello, & Woodhead, 2008). This explains Tias transient developmental delays
and her lack of opportunity to learn as a resultant of her social/cultural environment and exposure to
limited pedagogical practices. Hence, she was not exposed to same learning opportunities as her peers
because of her environment.

3. Recommendations
3.1

Sensorimotor Development

Movement and motor; including fine and gross developmental delays encompass a childs
inability to progress with their skills to move and manipulate objects with the hands, highlighted by
Tias poor handwriting skills and inability to handle a pencil correctly (Amundson & Weil, 2001;
Case-Smith & Pehoski, 1992). The quality of Tias movement and motor skills development has been
influenced by her previous experiences and limited exposure to kinaesthetic learning. Using the
Bottom-up Hierarchy and Progression of Typical Fine Motor Development Tias peers would be
between the Refinement and Integrations and Implementation phases; whilst she is still between the
Pre-academic and Refinement stage (Kids Matter Early Childhood, 2014; NSW Department of
Education and Communities, n.d). It is recommended that Tia be exposed to a variety of kinaesthetic
authentic learning activities within the class including the use of pencil grips to promote the correct
pencil grasp, a variety of concrete and manipulative materials such as building blocks, different
writing and cutting tools including pencils, paintbrushes and chalk to improve dexterity. The
incorporation of cultural art will support Tias socio-cultural development through engaging and
authentic learning. To further support Tias written language development, remediation strategies

Practicum C: Scenario
including; writing readiness exercises, explicit instruction to improve written organisation and the
practice of correctly forming letters, numbers and symbols would be incorporated in her ILP (Kay,
2011).

3.2

Socio-cultural

A socio-cultural approach within the classroom; consisting of guided collaboration and scaffolded
learning shall be incorporated to cater and support Tia in her new learning environment. The teacher
shall, view Tia as capable and competent, regardless of her developmental delays. Encourage varied
learning ability groupings, engage students using a variety of visual/language based learning
experiences and promote learning communities where individuals can share their knowledge to solve
problems and develop meaning (Newmann, 1996). Students shall be encouraged to become subject
experts, using their cultural backgrounds as the focal point to build on (NSW Government Education
and Communities, 2011). Promoting collaboration within the class will support Tias sense of selfworth and will allow students to express their voices and ideas. This work would be displayed to
further increase Tias perception of self-worth and acceptance within the classroom.

3.3

Critical theory

Critical theory influences a childs opportunity to learn based on assumptions of their social and
cultural environment. It is recommended that the teacher promotes a collaborative involvement to
provide students with choice and input to generate more authentic learning experiences. Scaffolding
pedagogical approaches focus on the teacher understanding the needs of their student's; their strengths
and weaknesses and attempts to build upon these through targeted learning (ODonnell, 2012). To
support Tia in the classroom, explicit teaching of vocabulary, used throughout the units of work will
be used to support her development and understanding of the learning materials (ODonnell, 2012).
Authentic learning will be encouraged throughout the classroom to give students the opportunity to
reflect and share their cultural backgrounds with their peers. Cultural research activities provide

Practicum C: Scenario
students with the opportunity to explore various cultures and promote empathy (NSW Government
Education and Communities, 2011). The teacher shall provide scaffolded learning to support Tia
through these investigations and encourage the use of metacognitive strategies to promote selfreflection.

4. Summary
Adoption of a scaffolded, kinaesthetic developmentalist pedagogical approach within the
classroom will support Tias development. Of the developmental domains, it is largely Tias physical
and emotional development, which is limiting her ability to progress through the other domains. It is
recommended that movement and motor activities are incorporated within the class and her individual
learning program (ILP) to support her development of sensorimotor skills, while the establishment of
an authentic learning environment will support her cultural awareness, self-identity and physiological
development.

Practicum C: Scenario

5. References
Abrahams, F. (2004). Application of critical theory to a sixth grade general music class.
Visions of Research in Music Education(4).
Amundson, S. J., & Weil, M. (2001). Prewriting and handwriting skills Occupational therapy
for children (pp. 545-566). St Louis: C.V. Mosby.
Case-Smith, J., & Pehoski, C. (1992). Development of hand skills in the child. Bethesda,
MD: American Occupational Therapy Association.
Caswell Health Care. (2011). Development Delay Therapy. Child Development.
http://www.childfirstpaediatrictherapy.com.au/developmental-delay/
Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Learning goals. Teaching Resources. from
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/learning-goals-0
Chaiklin, S., & Lave, J. (1993). Understanding practice: Perspectives on activity and context.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Cole, M. (1996). Cultural Psychology. MA: Harvard University Press.
Cole, M., & Engestrm, Y. (1994). Introduction. Mind, culture and activity. An International
Journal, 1(4), 201.
Cole, M., & Miyake, N. (2006). Remembering Giyoo Hatano. Journal of the Learning
Sciences, 1(4), 201.
Kay, M. (2011). Diagnosis and Intervention Strategies for Disorders of Written Language
Asperger Syndrome. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Oasis Maap.
Kids Matter Early Childhood. (2014). Social and Emotional Development. Australian Early
Childhood Mental Health Initiative.
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/KMEC20102312-C2RPSocial-and-emotional-development.pdf
Leontiev, A. N. (1981). Problems of the development of mind. Moscow: Progress Press.
Newmann, F. (1996). Authentic achievement: restructing schools for intellectual quality. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
NSW Department of Education and Communities. (n.d). Fine Motor Development and Early
School Performance School readiness Program: Department of Education and
Communities.
NSW Government Education and Communities. (2011). Cross-curriculum perspectives in the
creative arts. Retrieved from
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/primary/creativearts/crosscurricu
lum/index.htm.
ODonnell, A. (2012). Educational psychology (Australian ed, pp.365-385 ed.). Milton, QLD:
John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Piaget, J. (1963). Origins of intelligence in children. NY: Norton.
Psychology, S. (Producer). (2012). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Rose, A. M. (1990). Music education in culture: A critical analysis of reproduction
production and hegemony. (Doctoral dissertation ), University of Wisconsin, Madison,
Ann Arbor. (UMI 9020464)
Swabey, K. (2013). Chapter 1: Child development: approaches to learning. In P. Hudson
(Ed.), Learning to teach in the primary school. Port Melbourne, VIC: Cambridge
University Press.

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Vogler, P., Crivello, G., & Woodhead, M. (2008). Early childhood transitions research: A
review of concepts, theory, and practice Working Paper No. 48. The Hague, The
Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Woodhead, M. (1999). Reconstructing developmental psychology Some first steps.
Children and Society(13), 3-19.
Woodhead, M. (2006). Changing perspectives on early childhood: theory, research and
policy. International Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood, 4(2), 5-48.