Developmental Psychology:

Psychology is required for nearly all college majors. It’s important to know how people learn, grow, and develop. Students can benefit from learning human psychology in its simplest form.

The ability to understand human psychology is useful and essential in many fields, including Education. Understanding how people develop mentally, emotionally and physically is important when dealing with a large group of people. It is important to understand why people behave the way they do and how that leads them to become who they have become. 3)

The studies that have been conducted on humans have revealed many things, but how can they be applied to someone who wants to become a teacher like myself? Berk states that in the twentieth-century, public education led to an increased demand for information about how and what children of varying ages should be taught (Berk Page). 5)

It is easy to forget that students have different learning styles and needs before entering a classroom. It helps teachers to understand different personalities of students and influences on their behavior. Developmental Psychology, which is part of Southern Maine Community College’s education program for 7th to 12th grades, makes sense. The class covers a lot more than Introduction to Psychology.

America is a melting-pot of cultures. The diversity that exists in this country can be seen on a regular basis. Our country is made up of people from many different cultures. They also have many different beliefs, religions and customs. The class is a great opportunity to learn about diversity and the impact it has on everyone. If I’m accustomed, my students may learn one way. But then I might meet a student raised in another culture that has a completely different view of education. This does not make a child less intelligent. However, it can be a great opportunity to celebrate the diversity of a class. The challenge of providing the student’s skills to be successful in the new environment is one I enjoy. The influences that shaped the child could go back to the moment of conception. Although I will never be able to know all of my students, I can at least become more understanding and accepting.

This information will be useful in both my personal life and career. This class has taught me a lot about children and teenagers, which is important because I’m a teacher who will primarily be working with this age group. This does not mean that the other information in this course is useless. The class has already helped me to better understand events that have happened in my own life.

I am the oldest out of six children, so I’m familiar with the stages of physical deployment and how a newborn grows. After taking this course, the process becomes even more impressive. It’s possible that as a young child I didn’t fully understand how my siblings were growing, but I will now be able to appreciate the different stages of development as I grow older. Even though I don’t see myself becoming a father any time soon, I know the day will come. I’m sure the lessons I learned from this class will be invaluable as I raise my children.

After discussing death in class and learning about my grandmother’s passing, it was easier to deal with the situation. I could share what I had learned in class and put my family at ease. The discussion we had in class about “death-anxiety” was a recurring thought as I was sitting at her bedside. My family struggled with “fear, apprehension and uncertainty” (Berk pg. My grandmother was unable to leave her home. She wanted to go, if her only means of survival was a life-support system. It was comforting to know that she died peacefully.

The class I attended and the events in the news this week encouraged me to encourage mom to have her own living will. Only 29% of Americans possess one (Jon Radulovic. www.redorbit.com., 2006). Preparation is important and one way to ensure that your family understands your wishes is by ensuring they are aware of them. Before the hard questions are asked, you can find out what they mean. Although I have used the knowledge I gained in this course in my daily life, there are many more situations in which I will use it.