Module 1

      For this weeks reading when it pertained to the context of students learning in a certain school setting I found it interesting that the network of people in a student's life greatly effects their learning. My main goal in life is to work in a school setting and counsel students and coach sports teams. Counseling will require me to deal with students who are developing in mental and physical contexts. I have never realized until now that it is greatly important to prepare myself for any scenario or student interaction. I will deal with students who have a variety of contextual influences in their lives so it will benefit me to know how to handle certain aspects. The Woolfolk text has helped me obtain knowledge I need when thinking about the context for learning as it relates to the school and students. Teachers, families, and peers are all a part of the students' context (p. 81).  Woolfolk describes context as the total situation that surrounds and interacts with an individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions to shape learning and development. Contextual aspects can be both physical and mental, physical can include the hormonal development of a student's brain or even their growth during puberty. Woolfolk does not focus on those aspects but rather the bigger picture of the influential 'outside' factors of the students' life. The contextual external influences for students are their families, their ethnic culture, religious beliefs, language, schools, teams, political views, government policies, memberships, neighborhoods and communities. The social groups that they involve themselves with along with the educational systems all affect a student's life greatly. Contexts influence the development of beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge. As an educator it is important to recognize the contextual influences in a student's life in order to understand each student individually better.

    There are many factors that influence students and it is well-known that the increase of one-parent families has increased in today's society. Woolfolk stated that "10% of children live with one-parent and 89% live with their mother" (p. 83). While doing my observation hours at Outlook Academy it truly opened my eyes to how privileged I have been growing up and developing. I spoke with one of the administrators of Outlook Academy and he informed me that many of the students grew up with either a single parent or other family member( grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc.).Many of the students attending the Academy have a low-income family and struggled in their former educational setting due to drugs, violence, and teachers. It is truly amazing that Outlook Academy has been formed in Chicago State University and gives the students a safe environment to complete their high school education without having to worry about gangs or drugs on the campus. There is a strict zero tolerance to any violence, drugs, inappropriate clothing, and the teachers check for their student ID cards and appropriate school material. The Outlook Academy was formed to get this students on a right track and on a righteous path to college and a career. Contextual influences have harmed these students and they did not have the best upbringing but with this new educational system they are able to reach for better things to come in life.

 

Comments

  1. TrollgeekMay 16, 2017 at 8:53 AM

    You're right that social context plays a huge role in the development of students. Those of us who grew up in a context of safety, love, support, and discipline, can easily take for granted all the important people who played important positive roles. But so many students don't have these social advantages. I guess the question then is how can teachers best help their students whose social contexts are characterized by failure, violence, insecurity, depression, and lack of trust? A school like the Outlook Academy can certainly help, but what happens when the students go home?

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