Running head: COMPETENCY 1 1
Competency 1
Abstract
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Competency 1 covers the idea that teachers in the classroom will thoroughly understand each
student’s knowledge of what is being taught by tracking their development, and will apply it
when creating future assessments, as well as instructions. With that, the theories created by
Maslow, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson play a crucial part in understanding the foundation that
competency 1 was created on. Highlighting the understanding of student needs, cognitive
development, social interaction, psychosocial development, competency 1 sets the basis for
understanding students in their normal environment. It is crucial to understand that throughout
the developmental process, the students in the classroom will change in many ways: physically,
emotionally, and mentally. Being able to recognize these changes, and adapt to them, creates the
first step within human development.
Abraham Maslow created the idea of internal development, meaning that everybody is
going to need different things. The hierarchy of needs that was created by Maslow highlights the
5 stages: Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. One of Maslow’s
biggest impacts on education is the statement that “No one cares how much you know until they
know how much you care” (Bingham, p. 5). In this statement, Maslow highlights the main
component to his theory, being that there is a cause and effect to each of the needs that he
created. Depending on the need of each student will determine the way that they act, feel, and
perform in the classroom. When one need of the student is met, the desire for that need goes
away, in terms of Maslow.
As a future educator, the idea of caring for students before anything is something I feel I
need to know when working in the classroom. Creating a safe, comfortable environment for my
students will lead to a better performance rate. When students know that one cares for them, they
are more likely to perform better in the classroom because the need for love/belonging is no
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longer missing. The idea of finding the needs that students are missing is something that every
teacher should take into their classroom. It is crucial to create a feeling of trust with each student.
Once the trust in created, the student loses the need for love/belonging, safety and even self-
esteem. They feel as though they belong, and feel confident in their ability within the classroom.
Maslow does a great job emphasizing the need to pay attention to your students, and find the
things that may be causing them to struggle within the classroom. Once these needs are found,
and met, the entire environment for that student can change.
Piaget created the theory of cognitive development, meaning that throughout each stage
of life new behaviors are formed, creating a new way of learning. There are four stages within
the theory: Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal. Piaget stated that “although the
order of succession through the stages is constant for individuals, progressing from stage to stage
depends on previous experience, maturation, and the social situation” (Bingham, p. 8). What
Piaget means by this is that each child is going to move through their cognitive development at a
different speed. Each child has a different background story, different experiences, and different
ideas of how they should learn. In the classroom, teachers must be able to recognize the
development, or non-development, that students are portraying in order to understand their level
of learning. Because “cognition is invisible” it is harder for students to realize, and remember,
that each student is going to learn differently as well as at a different stage (Bingham, p. 8).
Understanding Piaget’s theory is vital to understanding each student that will be within
the classroom walls. Each stage of this theory includes different activities, and learning
strategies, to help each student learn the way that their stage is showing to. The difference
between understanding these stages, and not, is a child’s education. When a child needs to learn
a certain way, and is being taught in a way that they do not understand, it is nearly impossible for
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them to learn. Each stage, whether that be playing with blocks/toys or hands-on experiences,
each application is going to teach different types of children. When thinking of these stages, I
think of it as reading. It is nearly impossible to jump straight to a chapter book (formal
operations) before a student can even fully understand the sentence (sensorimotor). With that,
going through each stage and receiving full comprehension is a key component in creating a
steady educational foundation.
Lev Vygotsky made the connection between private speech and cognitive development.
Vygotsky received from his research the idea that “words and the social context in which we
have learned them affect the way we think. Learning occurs in a social context and private
speech is indicative of learning” (Bingham, p. 11). Due to Vygotsky’s research, the zone of
proximal development (ZPD) was identified. The biggest focus of Vygotsky’s work is language.
