107, Healthy Development

Question:
I'm not sure this is so much a question as it is something that I'm somewhat irked by, but I was frustrated by the over-simplifications on the role that gender plays in behavior and therefore achievement. The reading mentioned the issue with Kolberg's theory for instance, as being male-focused or male-dominant. It also talked about girls as having more care-based or altruistic social connections (Chapter 13, p. 436)-- this seems like it may occur moreso at the high school level but I think in first grade, at least over the course of the last year, I have seen males associate almost equally as much in this way. I also question the idea of masculine "helping" roles (i.e. boys will be more willing to help in situations that are actually dangerous- p. 442); I'd love to see this experiment done at the elementary level and see the results!


Comment:
It has been interesting for me to read these articles and work on this unit so far. I took a child development course back in high school, plus a few high school psych and sociology classes that talked about a lot of what I'm reading I have already read before. At the same time, it's totally different to read it now that I see it playing out every day in the classroom. On the other hand, when I was taking the child development class I also worked as an assistant teacher in a preschool-- it is so amazing to reflect on the difference that two years or even only a year and a half makes in terms of development!

I also thought the information presented about empathy was interesting (Chapter 13, p. 437)-- basically that around four years old, children begin to develop some sense of empathy and connection to others that helps develop sharing skills, etc. I have found that empathy is the most abstract of Rocketship's Core Values for the students. They struggle most with the idea that they should care about other people's feelings and make choices that demonstrate an understanding of others feelings and perspectives. I think, in retrospect, maybe the reason for this is partially developmental. It has always felt somewhat strange to me to teach empathy explicitly-- how do you teach someone to care? Some kids seem to be very genuinely empathetic naturally (I have 2 particularly empathetic students in my Thoroughbreds class that come to mind); many others are totally oblivious.

Quote:
"As children move into the middle and late childhood years, parents spend considerably less time with them. In one study, parents spent less than half the time with their children aged 5 to 12 in caregiving, instruction, reading and talking as when their children were younger." This quote really stood out with me because I think it's exactly what Rocketship as a community is trying to ward off with our homework packets and reading packets. We are ensuring that parents ARE taking that time; we can see on a daily basis that our students still need the support of people reading with them, giving them that attention, etc. It all plays into child development and I think we need to continue to work to make sure that those aspects aren't neglected.