Understanding the matrix of children’s developmental stages provides various advantages for the future profession and teacher’s strategies arrangement. The matrix can mainly provide guidance to manage the most relevant point to focus on. For instance, the need for group activity and peer interactions in 3rd-5th grade, accompanied by a rebellious attitude towards authority and parents, can help to develop a more efficient collaborative approach during this age (Burneo-Garcés et al., 2019). It will help children to deepen their social abilities and shift the center towards learning through the comfortable surrounding of peers. A similar methodology can be utilized according to the needs of other age groups and their strength in cognition or social engagement.
In addition to general needs, the matrix also can be the guide to determining individualized approaches for students. For instance, following the wildly accepted pattern, choosing children with diverse developmental processes is easier. It will help to detect faster and address specific issues or behaviors to regulate each child’s growth or personal needs. Similarly, the guide helps the teacher evaluate the class’s interests and provides tactics to enhance the most relevant parts of the personality. For instance, in my future practice, I will address the emergence of abstract reasoning in 6th-8th grades through cognitive exercises and reflective activities, such as conceptual evaluation and hypothetical depictions.
References
Burneo-Garcés, C., Cruz-Quintana, F., Pérez-García, M., Fernández-Alcántara, M. Fasfous M. & Pérez-Marfil L. (2019) Interaction between socioeconomic status and cognitive development in children aged 7, 9, and 11 years: A cross-sectional study. Developmental Neuropsychology, 44(1), 1-16. Web.
Cowie, H. (2019). From birth to sixteen. Children’s health, social, emotional, and linguistic development. Routledge.
Driscoll, M. P. (2013). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.