educational psyc 22d

Language readines

Infants are born biologically prepared to learn language.

Joint attention

The process in which a child and adult attend to the same object while the adult labels or describes it, supporting language learning.

Child-directed speech

A speaking style using shorter, simpler sentences and a higher-pitched, exaggerated tone that promotes language development.

Receptive vocabulary

The number of words a child understands.

Expressive vocabulary

The number of words a child can appropriately use.

Pragmatic language

The appropriate use of language in social situations.

Why pragmatic language is difficult to teach

Social language rules are often unclear and depend on context.

Emergent literacy

Foundational skills that prepare children for reading and writing.

Bilingualism and executive control

Bilingual individuals tend to have stronger executive control skills.

Challenges for schools with high immigrant populations

These schools often require additional resources to support English language learners, but resources may be insufficient.

Conversational vs. academic language

Immigrant students typically develop conversational language faster than academic language.

Sheltered instruction

A teaching approach that helps English learners by presenting English words and concepts in meaningful contexts using multiple strategies.

English language learners and special education

English learners should not be assumed to need special education simply because they have not yet mastered English.

Identifying learning disabilities in English learners

Standard North American intelligence tests may not accurately identify learning disabilities in English language learners.

OCD and culture

OCD symptoms often reflect cultural values (e.g., handwashing in industrialized societies versus social-network obsessions in Bali).

Effects of poverty

Poverty negatively affects children's development, health, social relationships, and academic achievement.

Socioeconomic status (SES) and achievement

Students from higher SES backgrounds generally achieve more academically and remain in school longer.

Duration of poverty

The longer a child experiences poverty, the greater the negative impact on achievement.

Academic streaming (tracking)

Assigning students to instructional groups based on perceived ability.

Historical Ontario streaming

Students were placed into Basic, General, or Advanced streams, often reinforcing social class inequalities.

Abolition of official streaming

Ontario officially ended the Basic/General/Advanced streaming system in 1999 during education reforms under the Harris government.

Post-1999 course pathways

Grade 8 students choose Academic, Applied, Essential, or Open courses with guidance from parents and teachers.

Streaming after 1999

Although modified, streaming continues because lower-income students are more likely to enter Applied or Workplace pathways.

Homogeneous grouping

Grouping students according to similar ability or aptitude.

Setting

Subject-specific grouping of students according to performance or aptitude.

Destreaming

Removing streaming from courses or programs so students learn together.

Why streaming is controversial

Educational placement has significant long-term academic, social, and emotional effects.

Goal of educational equity

Ontario should provide equal educational opportunities, achievement, and wellbeing for all students.

Province of residence and opportunity

A student's province of residence has a greater effect on future opportunities than gender, immigration status, or parents' education.

Streaming and inequality

Streaming tends to reinforce existing social inequalities instead of promoting equal success.

Students most affected by streaming

Low-income students, students in special education, and students whose parents lack university education have reduced access to valued educational opportunities.

Consequences of low streams

Placement in lower streams can reduce self-esteem, aspirations, and teacher expectations.

Social mobility and destreaming

Students from schools without streaming showed greater upward social mobility by age 24.

Ability is malleable

Research suggests ability is flexible rather than fixed.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to change and develop through learning and experience.

Growth mindset

The belief that abilities can improve through effort and learning.

Streaming and neuroplasticity

Evidence for neuroplasticity and growth mindset challenges the idea that students should be permanently grouped by ability.

21st-century competencies

Creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making are key educational goals.

Four stages of creative problem solving

Preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification.

Creative problem solving

Generating ideas creatively, then evaluating and implementing them through critical thinking.

Divergent thinking

The ability to generate multiple possible ideas or solutions; the most common measure of creativity.

Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

Widely used creativity assessments available in many languages and cultures.

Torrance test measures

Fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration.

Flexibility

The ability to consider information from multiple perspectives.

Critical thinking

A multidimensional process involving cognitive, motivational, dispositional, attitudinal, and metacognitive skills used to evaluate information and make reasoned decisions.

Purpose of critical thinking

Helps students plan, monitor, manage, and evaluate academic tasks.

Critical thinking and daily life

Students with stronger critical thinking skills report fewer negative life outcomes.

Creativity and classroom environment

Classrooms that encourage creativity also promote critical evaluation of ideas.

Creativity vs. critical thinking

Creativity and critical thinking are related but represent distinct cognitive abilities.

Creativity and inductive reasoning

Creativity supports identifying patterns, relationships, and making inferences.

Motivation in creativity

Creative thinking depends on cognitive, motivational, and attitudinal factors.

Educational challenge

Teachers should encourage students to ask questions and solve problems using both creative and critical thinking.

Continuous reinforcement schedule

Reinforcing every correct response to promote rapid learning of new behaviours.

Intermittent reinforcement schedule

Reinforcing behaviour only some of the time to strengthen long-term maintenance.

Interval schedule

Reinforcement based on the amount of time that has passed.

Ratio schedule

Reinforcement based on the number of responses made.

Fixed schedule

Reinforcement delivered according to a predictable pattern.

Variable schedule

Reinforcement delivered according to an unpredictable pattern.

Lean reinforcement schedule

A gradually reduced reinforcement schedule that teaches individuals to work longer without reinforcement.

Extinction

The disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.

Antecedents

Events that occur before behaviour and signal its likely consequences.

Effective instruction delivery (EID)

Instructions that are clear, concise, specific, and communicate the expected outcome.

Cueing

Providing a stimulus before a desired behaviour to remind individuals what to do.

Prompting

Providing assistance to help students respond correctly to a cue, then gradually removing the assistance.

Applied behaviour analysis (ABA)

The application of behavioural learning principles to change behaviour through careful measurement, analysis of antecedents, and reinforcement.

Behaviour modification

Another term for applied behaviour analysis, although it may carry negative connotations.