The Case of Harper
Social-Emotional Development and Learning: The Case of Harper
Instructions:-
Harper attends Sunset Elementary School and has been placed in a class with 25 other 3rd graders. Harper loves her teacher Mrs. Hernandez and struggles when a substitute takes her place. She excels in math and tends to get bored when the other kids in her class struggle. Harper also loves reading about the weather, somewhat obsessively, and can share weather facts and details for hours. She enjoys going to school, but does struggle with the loud noises a school brings. In school assemblies, for instance, she becomes overly upset about the noise level and tends to rock back and forth to calm herself.
Selecting one of the student scenarios in Part 1, address the following prompts in a 750-1,000 word essay:
Describe how language, culture, family background, and communities influence the learning of individuals with the selected disability.
Summarize the cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional development of individuals with the selected disability and three instructional approaches that respond to the needs of individuals with the selected disability.
Support your response with at least three scholarly resources.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Solution
Social-Emotional Development and Learning: The Case of Harper
The improvement of the quality of education to benefit students with selected disability requires the integration of different components. Family, the community, language, and culture influence the linguistic, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of the children significantly (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012; Dinallo, 2016). Harper is an intelligent student but various social and emotional challenges, which make it difficult for her to interact effectively with other students and concentrate for long. Additionally, her love and obsession for weather, love for school, and emotional attachment to the teacher, high noise sensitivity, inability to concentrate for long, and anxiety caused by noise create a complicated learning environment and make it difficult for Harper to interact effectively. A collaborative approach that brings the school, family, and community together to use the different elements such as culture and language among others is essential for guiding Harper through social and emotional development.
Harper is an intelligent student with the ability to comprehend Mathematics and weather facts. This shows that the major challenges she faces are emotional and social. Students like Harper requires social and emotional support that guides them towards meeting the academic needs and developing the ability to interact with others (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012). For example, the teacher can utilize the emotional attachment that Harper shows and exploit it to guide Harper through social and emotional development using weather and Mathematics. Moreover, the creation of a personalized instructional education program would enhance her cognitive ability and reduce boredom in class. The teacher can create and individualized program that includes weekly and annual goals for students with the capability of Harper. Jennings (2009) states that an individualized learning program facilitates the ability of students with various disabilities to achieve education goals.
The social and emotional development of children with such challenges depends greatly on the ability of the family and teachers to identify early intervention for improving communication and interaction with other students. According to Paul (2009), the enhancement of communication by encouraging increased frequency and communicative function improves interaction gradually. Teachers, family and community members should focus on directing the children towards improved language and communicative behaviors. The integration of this intervention into the learning process would allow children like Harper develop the ability to interact with other students effectively (Paul, 2009). Moreover, exposure of children to language events boosts social and emotional development and encouraging linguistic interaction and promoting understanding of people within a community (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012).
According to Fink
(2016) and Dinallo (2016), the
application of social-emotional learning is essential for helping students like
Harper. The development of a program that considers the needs of the students promotes
the efficacy of the learning process. The school should focus on creating an
effective environment by creating awareness and promoting positive thinking,
providing instructions, and integrating the elements of learning that excite
the students more into learning. Dinallo (2016)
suggests the involvement of family and the community members who understand students
with similar cases. Family and community inclusion allows the integration of
language and culture, which influence social and emotional development
considerably. Community, language and culture are options that the student understands.
Applying the same to learning enhances the effectiveness of the learning
process (Fink, 2016). Further, for a
student with the noise sensitivity disability, teachers can introduce measures
such as encouraging the use of earbuds and plugs would be critical to effective
learning.
References
Ashdown, D., & Bernard, M. (2012). Can Explicit Instruction in Social and Emotional Learning Skills Benefit the Social-Emotional Development, Well-being, and Academic Achievement of Young Children? Early Childhood Education Journal, 39 (6), 397-405.
Dinallo, A. M. (2016). Social and Emotional Learning with Families . Journal of Education And Learning, 5 (4) , 147-158.
Fink, J. (2016). Setting the stage for SUCCESS. District Administration, 52 (11), 30-33.
Jennings, M. (2009). Negotiating individualized education programs: a guide for school administrators. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Paul, R. (2009). Interventions to Improve Communication. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 17 (4), 835.
