Blog #7

Students' identity required recognition by their teachers

                   We join schools because we are willing to learn, to have the power of knowledge, to be confident in our societies and with others, to learn what previous scientists had discovered and to achieve many goals that does not occur without learning and education. Then, we hope to teach new generations, our children, who can participate in building our society and lead by example. Every person has different needs which require support from people around them. Teachers have a noble message in teaching future students and can be good examples for their students. This paper will explore an educational experience and how we can, as teachers, motivate learners to continue their education and to overcome the difficulties that they might encounter in their education.

                As we know a school is one of many learning environments that contribute to building student characteristics, behaviors and personalities. It comes from the teachers’ who provide them with opportunities to maintain and strengthen their essential skills and knowledge. Bracher (2006) points out that teachers should assist learners to develop themselves and to “become more civil, circumspect, critical, self-critical, moral, compassionate, and responsible” (p. 76). We, as teachers, should strive for excellence not perfection as much as possible.

               Bracher illustrates there are different aims of education in his book “Radical pedagogy Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation”, (2006, p. 76). One of these aims is helping students to develop themselves and achieve their personal goals. They need someone to lead them to the straight way because they may not have the experience or knowledge to accomplish their objectives. As well, Bracher confirms that the teacher’s rules do not harm students' identities. In fact, this can help learners to build their “academic identity contents including open discussion, group work, homework, etc.” (p. 162). Teachers should be open-minded with their students, listen to their opinion and correct their mistake, and be kind with them. This can participate in increasing their respect with their students. A teacher who wants to use her/his power in controlling students, they definitely will lose respect from their students and diminish what students learn.  I have one year experience that had good relation with my managers, other teachers, and my students. As Dr. Plumb demonstrates in our class that teachers do not mean to deliberately impede the curriculum and ignore student’s identity and characteristics. But skillful educators means to open opportunity to students, build relationships to trust them, to be objective, and to have a close connection with others.

                  My experience after being a teacher for one year, seven years ago, in my country ( Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). It provided me with an interesting and unforgettable experience in my life when dealing with different teachers and students. There were many positive outcomes for me in that particular year. For example, I learned how to be patient as a result of dealing with both the aggressive and the lazy students.  In this situation, I gained the experience of working with the manager, teachers and my students. Our manager was a great example for me. She was a patient, honest, and supportive woman for everyone in the school. She really felt for her teachers and her students. There was no negative competition between the managers and the teachers at the school.  We worked together for the sake of the students. We monitored and supported our students and watched their progress with a deep hope for their success. We know that teachers have a major and direct impact on the learners. The teachers would allow their students to contact them whenever it was necessary. They also helped each other in cases where one of the teachers needed assistance. We created a good learning environment for our students and assisted them in getting through any problem that they may have experienced inside or outside of the school.

                 From this experience, I believe that my identity and skills have improved.  The experience taught me how to control a class consisting of 35 students with three lectures in a day. Moreover, my student's identity improved as well. I know how motivation has a great effect on the students’ level of learning and that it increases their enthusiasm for achieving their learning goals. When I felt happy about my students’ progress, I tried to reward them in front of their colleagues, thus encouraging all of the students to work harder. Furthermore, I learned that students can build skills not by studying certain curriculums that might be of no interest to them by doing useful hands-on tasks.  Finally, I learned that many of my students struggled with studying, coming to school, doing their chores at home, having financial barriers, and having different learning abilities for reaching their goals. Perhaps a greater difficulty that faced me during my time as a teacher was the everyday travel to this school.  I had to travel for 4 hours daily.  It was almost 2 hours to reach the school and the same distance to go back to my house.  I did not face the problem with finances at that time, but education for me is a lifelong process and I was committed to completing my teaching. Both dealing with teachers and teaching the successful students, helped me to forget this distance.  All the time I tried to teach my students what they need and follow the curriculum but I did not obligate them to write exactly what they read and learn in their books. I also treated all of the students fairly and equally.

             I have a story about two of my students who are good examples of such students. Their names are Fatima and Zainah. They were both in grade 10, but they did not pass many subjects for several years. At my school, there was a rule that stated that a person who did not pass a subject for more than three years would be expelled from the school.  I was responsible for writing the final exam, organizing all of the questions and answers, then marking the exams and reporting the results to my manager. However during the final exam time, as I was going over the grade 10 class tests, I became saddened by Fatamah’s and Zainah’s papers because they did not answer correctly most of the questions. This was a very difficult situation for me. At that point, I decided to add more marks for the questions that they responded to correctly. I repeated this process for the entire class. I did not do that because I have to do that, but I want to help those students to complete their learning. In addition, I was in a position that I could do something to assist them without bias and to remain fair to the whole class. We were students once, and had good teachers who were a great example to us.

               To conclude, teachers should be patient, open-minded, and aware of barriers to learning with their students even if the number of students is too big to control. Teachers can gain the respect of their students by building good relationships with them. Teachers can contribute to increase their students’ skills, their interest, and their motivation to learn more. Moreover, teachers should be fair to their students. If there something teachers can do to help their students, they should do for the sake of their students.

Blog #6

In my fifth blog I talk about the importance of learning. Wenger (1998) talks about that in his book "

Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity, and how learning can assist us in participating with different people by developing our knowledge and improving our skills. I find it is more interesting to discuss how Blacher ( 2006) explains in his book "Radical Pedagogy Identity, Generatitvity, and Social Transforation" that affective- physiological identity contents affects learning in many ways (p. 31). The focus of this paper will explore learning styles and ways that it assists us to support our learning and be successful, highlight health concerns that might obstruct our learning as well as discuss that teachers should take care of their learners in their classroom.

          I agree with Blacher when he confirms that affective-physiological identity contents affect learning in many ways. Bracher points out that there are differences in endowment and in developmental experiences. People prefer to learn in a specific environment. We should know the kind of environment that is appropriate for us to learn better. Some learners like to learn in a quiet place and be isolated from others when they're studying because this can help them to concentrate and keep their focus on their subjects. They can produce more in this type of environment. On the other hand, some people like to study in crowded places, such as cafeterias, coffee shops, or in their home beside TV or through listening to music. They find this environment helps them to feel safe when people are around them. Also, seeing others study can motivate those learners. At the same time, they can participate with others and be collaborators in their community. Furthermore, Bracher (p. 32, 33) illustrates also that the five senses play an important part in learning. The surrounding environment, such as, good smell, birds’ sounds, ocean waves can stimulate some people to learn and also produce powerful affective reactions.

 

              Moreover, many learners can learn when they consume different substances. Substances help them during their journey of learning. They prefer, for instance, to drink coffee, tea, soft drinks, or to smoke. It is obvious these days that many students resort to having a cup of coffee or tea before they enter their class. They find it a good way to focus, participate, and discuss with others during the lecture. In addition, many students who live in a constant state of anxiety, tension and suspense, especially close to the exams’ time, resort to use different kinds of stimulants and sedatives to keep their mind vigilant as long as possible. There are negative and positive sides of consuming different kinds of substances. On the one hand, substances can help them to stay wake up for a long time when studying for exams and make them feel good during the time these substances are in their body. On the other hand, consuming a lot of these substances can have a negatively affect on their health. This is observed by gaining weight, or becoming addicted to these substances, which can affect their mood. The negative side effects of the abuse of harmful substances occur in the long-term. They become addicted to the use of these substances or they might be unable to focus on something they read or studied. From my personal experience, many years ago I could not concentrate on my studies until I drunk 2-3 cups of tea daily. I found it helpful to continue concentrating on my studies and help me to avoid sleeping for a long time. But these days, I try to replace coffee or tea with a bottle of water because it is a healthy choice that positively affects our body, kidney, liver, brain and heart.

          There are sometimes difficulties that impede continuous learning such as health concerns. Many people might stop their learning if they feel sick, injured, or tired. In addition, Bracher (p. 32) confirms that "people experience extreme affective states that have not been incorporated into their sense of self, as is often the case with sadness, rage, terror, anxiety, shame, or depression". To overcome this barrier, there is a method that can stimulate learners to be engaged in learning, for instance, doing some types of activities or exercises. This can assist in providing them with a desire to continue what they want to do like reading, studying or writing. Because they decrease stress and give their brain time of relaxing and be away from the psychological distress that may hinder their learning.

          Importantly, Bracher (p. 33) mentions teachers should not obligate students to remain in the class for a long time. As we know some learners have special needs, and sometimes a place or learning environment threatens their identity as "when it produces claustrophobia, acrophobia, or agoraphobia" (p. 41). Alternatively, they might be unable to focus on their studies if they are still in the same place for a long time. This can contribute in creating big problems for some learners. Some people might quit their learning if they are forced to stay in a certain type of classroom because they will feel bored, frustrated, or might fall asleep. If there is a need to stay for a long time in the class, there should be different kinds of activities or motivations for many different learners, such as video games, paintings sculpture, sports, architecture, and so forth (p. 41). It can help to attract students and provide them with support for their identity in the form of learning and entertainment. In addition, learners have different ways to learn in the class: visual, auditory or kinesthetic. They learn by using a variety of these types of activities, which can help them to find their motivators, learn more about any field of study, and support a wide range of affective-physiological states.

 

 

        To sum up, people learn in different circumstances that relate to their affective-physiological states. Some people learn in being isolated and in a quiet place. Others learn in crowded places that make them feel secure knowing other people are there. Many leaners resort to consuming different substances to help them in their learning, but they ignore the long term health effects that might occur later in their lives. Teachers should be aware of their students’ needs, find a good environment for them, and provide different activities to motivate their learning. Together these states play an important role in attracting students’ attention, improving their identity, and supporting their learning success.

blog # 5

Why is learning important in our lives?

 Learning provides a fertile ground for improving our skills and for interacting with different people, from different communities, who have valuable ideas. Wenger in his book “Communities of Practice Learning, Meaning,  and Identity” said that learning is a “source of social structure” (p, 96). We live in a changing world whereby  we are the one who is responsible for cultivating our community of practice, and learning what is important to self development. Wenger confirms that learning is “caught in the middle. It is the vehicle for the evolution of practices and the inclusion of newcomers while also the vehicle for the development and transformation of identities” (p. 13). We also interact with others because we know that collaborative learning is greater than individual learning. Trying to find solutions to a problem can also be  considered a learning process.

In addition, educated people do not like to stop their learning, they participate in many areas of life to increase their knowledge. They have a strong desire and ambition  to continue their learning and teaching. For example, when an individual  works for a company, s/he may get training in different fields related to his/her job. The training will add to this person knowledge and experience. Furthermore, one’s training  may contribute to the increase in wages and it may also encourage a person to look for various options  in the future.  In contrast, somebody who does not like to participate in a community or get training, may not experience progress in their lives. 

We as parents, students, and teachers in different fields find that learning is an integral part in our lives. Our learning comes from different  sectors in communities of practice. We have  attended classrooms, training programs, we have read textbooks, we did  homework and exercises to get a diploma, Masters and PhD. Wenger stated that “being alive as human beings means that we are constantly engaged in the pursuit of enterprises of all kinds, from ensuring our physical survival to seeking the most lofty pleasures. As we define these enterprises and engage in their pursuit together, we interact with each other and with the world and we tune our relations with each other and with the world accordingly. In other words,  we learn” (p. 45). Moreover, learning is part of life which takes place at all times and in all places. It is a continuous lifelong process, going on from birth to the end of our life, beginning with learning from families, communities, schools, religious institutions, workplaces, etc.

Wenger confirms (p. 8) the importance of learning “for individuals ”  which enables them to engage  in their community. Also, learning  for “communities” means an issue of refining their practice and ensuring new generations of members. Learning for “organizations” means an issue of sustaining the interconnected communities of practice through which an organization knows what it knows and thus becomes effective and valuable  an organization. We cannot separate learning from other activity. This will be clear in  facing difficult and unfamiliar situations that we cannot respond by ourselves, and when we try to join a community of practice--all of these experiences make  learning more intensified .

I find that learning is important as the first stage for building  solid  communities. Once learning occurs, we can share what we have learned with other participants in our community. This practice will contribute to establishing good relationships amongst  the participants in any community of practice.  Clearly, there are many benefits for various community participants involved, including sharing our experience of learning such as for starting a business, learning about a subject to extend our knowledge, meeting new people, developing personal skills, and participating in social networking. In our course “Lifelong Learning Process”, learning takes place through the discussion between students and our professor, Dr. Plumb. We are learning in this course and sharing different opinions with our classmates and posting our assignments in our blogs. Sharing our knowledge and notions, especially during our class and among students from various places or countries is very beneficial for everyone because we can learn from each other’s experience. Everyone carries distinct knowledge and thoughts. Wenger demonstrated that

 “ because learning transforms who we are and what we can do , it is an experience of identity. It is not just an accumulation of skills and information, but a process of becoming- to become a certain person or, conversely, to avoid becoming a certain person...learning can become a source of meaningfulness and of personal and social energy” (p. 215).

In general, technology today facilitates the process of learning.  We can use computers to share documents, lecture, get a degree and “connect with people who share an interest all over the world” (Wenger, p. 194). In addition, technology contributes to alleviating stress, and saving our time and money . It is clear that many people today struggle with some financial resources, some of them might lose their income, have a loan, or be unemployed and unable to find a good work, etc. Using different kinds of technology such as  online learning enables them to alleviate these financial pressures when taking an educational program. For instance, learning online does not require having a car and insurance, buying gas, paying for parking. In addition, if people have children, they need someone to take care of them so they may need to pay for a baby-sitter.

What are other  benefits that I obtain personally of learning from my studies?

 I want to share one of the most important skills that I feel proud of and I did not learn before taking this course.  It is my learning about the computer programs that I missed learning in the previous educational stages.  I knew just the basic computer skills and I was eager to learn typing fast and also many other programs. Two years ago, I registered with the Academy of Learning College and I got my diploma in Microcomputer Business Applications. I learned a lot of programs that I can use in my studies  such as Access, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint, Windows Vista, Windows Xp, and so forth. This learning took me a long time and a lot of effort but it gave to me  many benefits stemming from using this technology.  I can use this technology to communicate  with my family, my friends  in my country through chat in the messenger, using email, sending pictures and so on. Now, I am confident in dealing with many programs and downloading some programs on the computer. I have discovered that many learners including myself  cannot work or study without access to this technology.

To sum up, it is important to  recognize the importance of learning and its effects on our daily lives. Many people share their experience and knowledge through their collaborative learning. It is also important to learn to use different kinds of technology to decrease stress at work and our lives, and to save our time and money. Currently, it is difficult to learn or teach well without using various kinds of technology.

           Joining a Community of Practice Creates Serious Difficulties and Challenges for Newcomers

          We know that interaction in a community of practice plays an integral role in developing our relations with others. As a member of such a community, an individual may have many other reasons for membership including "making money, doing well, feeling good, not being naive, being personable, dealing with boredom" (p. 78). Futhermore, joining a community of practice involves "entering not only its internal configuration but also its relations with the rest of the world" (p. 103). In addition, Wenger (p. 126) confirms that in a community it is not necessary to have interaction with all participants and know everyone very well, but it is fine to have a good relationship with some of them, and be able to spend time in negotiation a problem which is important to you. Moreover, Wenger (p. 125) demonstrates that a community of practice carries a lot of positive meaning for participants including sustained mutual relationships, shared ways of engaging in doing things together, very quick setup of a problem to be discussed, local lore, shared stories, inside jokes, knowing laughter, mutually defining identities, a shared discourse reflecting a certain perspective on the world and so forth.

      Wenger’s book "Community of Practice Learning, Meaning, and Identity (1998), highlights some challenges that newcomers encounter through joining a community of practice. Wenger states (p. 84) that the real problem of communication and design is to "situate ambiguity in the context of a history of mutual engagement that is rich enough to yield an opportunity for negotiation". In addition, there is a lack of support in the community of practice and this lack informs difficulties facing newcomers in their new community. One of these difficulties that Wenger had confirmed is the rejection of the new participants by the rest of the community. As a result, the rejected member of a community may experience difficulty in participating and learning about that particular community and thus receiving the necessary support. In terms of communication, it is not easy for newcomers to participate in a community of practice without having the support from their community. Changing oneself is not an easy process and change to fit into that community. For instance, although it may be easier for the newcomer to learn certain spelling words, it may not be as easy to understand and use the new language (p. 89). In order to have control over one’s practice in a community, the individual needs to understand the politics involved. However, having gaps in the language and being distanced from one’s ethnic group might make it difficult to understand local practices. In addition, the newcomers many also experience stress resulting from his or her inability to fully control the future. Wenger (p. 93) said that "control must constantly be reproduced, reasserted, renegotiated in practice".

Since the world is always changing , every practice must be reinvented. New community participants, like Wenger’s claims processors for example, struggle in their jobs as they try to create an atmosphere that they can live with (Wenger, p. 94). In a new community, participants always renegotiate their relationships and ways of participating. As a result, they may have to face losing friendships , conflicts, rumors and so forth. In some cases a community can fall apart because of internal tensions but in most cases new participants are "absorbed into the community as they start contributing to its practice" (Wenger, p. 94).

            From my point of view, one of the most significant difficulties that newcomers face is racism between white and black people as we have seen in the movie "Crash". Another significant difficulty that a newcomer may face occurs when her or his religion practices are challenged. These challenges contribute to creating large barriers between nations and cultures. The resulting obstacles prevent the building of mutual engagement and common interests. The media and the government often wrongfully connect Islam with radicalism especially after September 11th. In reality, Islam is based on peace, cooperation, mercy and justice. Radicalism is a conflict which destroys the entire society. In addition, in Islam, there is no difference between black and white people, or who speaks Arabic or not. There have been many instances of racism against Muslims after September 11th. One of these occurred a few years ago when a young ambitious man from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a great dream to continue his education in the United States. By moving to a new country or community the man lost contact with his previous connections. Losing one’s connection or friendship in a community of practice can create many challenges for the newcomer (Wenger, p. 125). In this journey towards getting an education, he faced a lot of difficulties, challenges and harassment. However, the man decided to continue pursuing his dream and he did not give up for the sake of his parents. He could not get a visa to visit his family for 6 years. We cannot imagine how difficult this situation was for him. In addition, another challenge was the difficulty of the delivery of a bank transfer to his bank account which resulted in him having to work in different places like restaurants and libraries to find sources of money to help him continue his studies. It took a long time for him to make enough money to complete his education because of the September 11th disaster. After he had finished studying the English language, the man got started accepted to an American university for obtaining a Master's degree. A few years later, he finished his Master degree and PhD. All of these difficulties enabled this man to become a more confident person by learning about the other cultures, immersing himself in the community, working in different places and facing racism with strong belief and desire to achieve all of his goals.

      To conclude, joining a community of practice is full of benefits for the newcomers who immerses him or herself and participates in the community. It is often not easy to participate and communicate with others especially when an individual first joins a particular community such individuals may face some difficulties and challenges like losing the support , power, control, and facing boundaries in their community. As member of particular communities, newcomers should have the same rights as the individuals who have been part of those communities for some time.

                 " Granting the newcomers legitimacy is important because

                    they are likely to come short of what the community

                    regards as competent engagement. Only with enough

                  legitimacy can all their inevitable stumbling and

                  violations become opportunities for learning rather than

                   cause for dismissal, neglect, or exclusion" (Wenger, p. 101).

Blog#3

What are the benefits of participating in a community of practice?

        In my paper, I will discuss the benefits of an individual’s participation in a community of practice. We as human beings take part in different types of communities. Our main motivation for participating in these communities is that we are searching for a good, comfortable, and convenient way of life. Reid (2000, p. 3) indicates in his study that participation is “a condition for success” and that we achieve personal development through our interaction  in the community.   We  seek contact with others because we hope to find success and improve our skills in different fields by participating in various communities. According to Wenger (2008) in his book “Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity”, participation  is  “a complex process that combines doing, talking, thinking, and belonging. It involves our whole person, including our bodies, minds, emotions, and social relations” (p. 56). Participation plays an integral part in our lives as learners,  teachers, parents and so forth. Most people have different intentions and needs when looking for progress in their lives. I , as a student, would like to concentrate on the benefits of entering a community of learners and participating in this area. 

              Here one must ask if participation can assist in shaping our experience. According to Wenger, “participation in social communities shapes our experience” (Wenger, p. 56). Participation yields us an opportunity to improve our experience and build strong connections with different people in different places. Participation can affect the participants in different ways. Individuals experience life in many different ways. Specifically, participants in a given community learn from each other, improve their skills, knowledge, thoughts, achieve personal goals, contribute to solving problems and learn about different cultures. According to Davidson, our participation in a community enables us to learn  from others how to deal with difficult situations and how to “discover both the needs and challenges facing us”. For instance, since I have started my studies at this university, I have learned a lot from my professors and my classmates. I learned how to make a blog and I learned how to tie a knot. We will remember those people who taught us something by sharing their time with us. This point is confirmed by Wenger when he states that participants will remember “the people” who have made valid contributions to a community and its participants.   

          A community of practice should include mutual engagement, respect and negotiation between the participants because they come from different families and have different experience, ideas, and beliefs. Reid (2000, p. 4) confirms this point by saying that there should be respect for the other participant’s idea in any community because there is no bad idea. They also “work together, see each other every day and exchange information and opinions’’(p. 75). Moreover, the relations between participants have different mixtures of

“Power and dependence, pleasure and pain, expertise and helplessness, success and failure, alliance and competition, ease and struggle, authority and collegiality, resistance and compliance, anger and tenderness, attraction and repugnance, fun and boredom, trust and suspicion , friendship and hatred” (Wenger, p. 77).

        A community of practice will be a source where both negative and positive experiences and feelings will be generated. Wenger confirms that “a community of practice is neither a haven of togetherness nor an island of intimacy insulated from political and social relations...Peace, happiness, and harmony are therefore not necessary properties of  a community of practice . Certainly, there are plenty of disagreements , tensions, and conflicts among claims processors (p. 77).  From my own experience, participating in a community of practice was formed after being a teacher for one year in my country “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”. Teaching in my country has provided me with an interesting and unforgettable experience through interactions with different teachers and students. There were many positive outcomes for me due to participating in that particular community. For example, I learned how to be patient as a result of dealing with both the aggressive and the less interested students. In this situation, I gained the experience of working with the manager, teachers and my students. I also learned to control myself during the intense discussions that took place.   

        Participation in a community is not something that we can turn on or off (p. 57). It is a part of who we are. In  the workplace, participation plays an important role in shaping our experience and developing our relationships with other workers which might continue even after our retirement or termination of a job. My relationships with other teachers who taught with me in  the same school still continue until today. I try to call them and ask them for advice even when I am here in Canada. I am eager to go back to my country to see them again.

         To conclude, community participation is a complicated concept. Community participation also plays an enormous role in our lives.  Through our participation in a variety of communities, we share ideas, increase our knowledge about other people’s experiences, develop our skills, and discover our talents. According to Davidson, our participation in a community of practice has many benefits for us. We learn  from others how to deal with difficult situations, face our needs and challenges, and understand our weaknesses. Our participation in any community is recorded in our memory and that of others. Although we may move to different places or leave our jobs, we leave behind impressions on those that we interact with.

               

Reference list:

Reid, J. N. (2000).  How People Power Brings Sustainable Benefits to Communities. Community participation.

Wenger, E. (2008). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity.
Cambridge University Press: New York, New York

http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/calarks/arks/Materials/particip/What_is_Participation.pdf

(http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x22651.xml

The Impact Of  Parents and Teachers On Children’s Learning

                         Life is full of lessons for adults and children. Children are the most important building block of  a society starting with infants, toddler, adolescents and adults. Children can easily be shaped by adults.  They can absorb information easily because they can imitate the the actions of the adult. Learning at an  early age can help to develop children’s skills, character, intelligence and language and shape the child’s development. It is the parents’ role to discipline and help kids to discover the world around them. Family influence and the external environment undoubtedly play key roles in children’s cognitive growth (Bornsten, Hahn, Bell , Hayens, Slater, Golding  and Wolke, 2006 , p. 156).  In addition, teachers play an important role in developing children’s skills.  Both parents and teachers should support children to improve their ability to learn new skills.

 

                  Curiosity is one of the most characteristic for kids  that assist them in learning. The child has the curiosity to search for different things. The parents' role is to enable that child to touch, move objects, reinstall, answer their questions , infer the relation between things, and to allow them to play with anything safe around them. All of these activities are relevant to  helping children to learn and improve their intelligence and language. I found a very useful article entitled “A Parent’s Guide to Children’s Speech” which describes the many ways for parents to deal with their kids. In this article  Elborn & Elizabeth ( p. 5) stated that children start to say their first words by 14 months such as “baba” or “mama”. By  24 months the child says single words, and by the age of three they are able to speak complete sentences. As a result, parents should concentrate on teaching their kids the sounds of letters and some vocabulary. In addition, this article , mentions how parents can deal with a  stuttering child and when they should visit or speak to a speech-language pathologist.  This paves the way for understanding their language and to use many words in describing something. In addition, Tomasello, Carpenter, and Nagell (1999) found that “infants who spent more time in joint attentional engagement with their mothers at twelve months of age comprehended and produced more language at that same early age and in the months immediately following” (p. 110).  Tomasello confirms the ability for young children to gain new words in “a variety of complex social – interactive situations” (p. 113).

                     Furthermore, parents can help their school aged children by choosing the best school for them, asking about the school’s programs, and so forth. This will positively affect their level of learning. Parents should also encourage their children to share with others to prevent them from becoming selfish later.

                    On the other hand, teachers have a sufficient role in sharing with parents this responsibility of educating children. The teachers’ main role is to assist parents in building children’s skills and in providing parents with the results. In addition, there should be a communication between parents and teachers for the sake of the future generations. Teachers can create a good environment for their students by finding interesting activities such as drawing, painting , learning letters and their sounds, and using play dough and puzzles. All of these will help children improve their ability to learn, discover many things on their own, stimulate their brain, and prepare them for the challenging studied in the future. One of the most important ways for children to learn reading and writing is through the use of writing stories and writing about themselves. Using some games has a big effect on their imagination and encourages them to memorize some of The Holy Quran, simple poems, and time tables. It may also be advantageous to do a simple experiment in front of the children and make them guess what might happen and to later discuss the results with them. Langley (2009) asserts that “Every day there should be at least one opportunity for a child to experience scientific fact or discovery within her environment” (p. 33). This will stimulate their ability to think deeply and improve their skills. Teachers can also read a book or story and ask the kids to repeat the short sentence. Teachers can use different kinds of teaching techniques to teach their students as it has been shown by Langley (p. 34)in the following table:

Reading Comprehension	Observation
Look at the cover of this book. Read the title, observe images.	Questions
What do you think this book is about based on the picture and the words of the title?	Hypothesis
This book, with these images and words on the cover, will be about.	Prediction
Make a prediction about the text. Read the book. Confirm prediction or change hypothesis?	Test/Experiment

              

                Many things are shared between parents and teachers. Both parents and teachers have the responsibility to observe the children’s development and to help them build confidence in themselves. They should also help children in changing their bad habit and assist them to overcome any difficulties in learning or thinking. Parents and teachers  work as  guides for children and have a big impact on them.

                In conclusion, parents and the teachers have a significant  influence on  children’s skills, their language, their intelligence, and their ability to speak and read. Furthermore, there should be cooperation between parents and teachers to illuminate future generations.

Reference list:

A parent’s guide to children’s speech, (A collection of full-length articles and handy checklists)

        Retrieved on 25/1/2012 
        from http: //www.caslpa.ca/PDF/a%20parent%20guide%20to%20children's%20speech.pdf

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          Cambridge,  Massachusetts, London, England.

http://www.google.ca/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1249&bih         

Differences between Human beings and Non-human

Nourah Binmana
Dr. Donovan Plumb
Lifelong Learning Process
GSLL 6206 01
21/1/2012



 

               Human beings have a big capacity for learning that distinguishes them from the non-human creatures. Humans are a more advanced, vicegerent species who are able to gain full respect from others. Also, Angels knelt to humans at the beginning of their creation. Humans have different feelings, goals, ideas, and emotions which make them superior to non-human creatures. For example, they enjoy hearing appreciation, accomplishing numerous achievements, looking for success, and have the will to pass on their history to the next generations. On the other hand, all of the other creatures live their lives without a plan and they do not care for their lives. Human beings and chimpanzees may have a physical similarity but there are many differences between them. Some of these differences are: higher level thinking, a greater capacity for learning, the ability to control themselves and the direction of their lives, self-awareness, innovation, a vivid imagination, the need for success, the use of intelligence and language, and genetics.

              The focus of the analysis here will be the use of language by humans and non-humans. Language is a source of power and it is one of the distinctive features that assists human to be more developed than any other creatures. There are numerous languages and dialects in the world. Language also enables us to have a dialogue with others and to share our points of view. It allows humans to understand and to communicate with each other. Farquhar & Fitzsimons (2011) state that language “is not just a series of message transfers between sender and receiver” (p. 661), but it helps in building relationship with others, understanding their ideas, expressing our feelings; happiness and sadness. Harrub, Thompson & Miller (2003) confirm that language:

“is one of the most distinctive behavioral adaptations on the planet. Languages evolved in only one species, in only one way, without precedent, except in the most general sense. And the differences between languages and all other natural modes of communicating are vast”. (p. 1).

Other creatures are silent and cannot speak a well developed language. They communicate with others by using gestures or a particular tone of voice. For example, the cat meows, the lion roars, the dog barks, etc. These voices for humans do not carry a meaning. Although, these sounds may have interpreted by some people because they are used to hearing the voices of their pets and they have trained them in a particular way. In addition, at any given place and at any given time people need a language because they have a strong desire to discuss various problems or dilemmas in their lives. In addition, other scientists Harrub, et al (2003) point out that “all evolutionists admit that communication via speech is uniquely human-so much so that it often is used as the singular, and most important, dividing line between humans and animals” (p. 1). Furthermore, Farquhar & Fitzsimons (p. 654) demonstrate the importance of using a language for humans to understand each other “Without a common language, there is no way of knowing whether two parties really understand each other or whether they are in fact talking about the same things, even when they use the same words”. Hauser explains that what the animals “have learned is in the 300-to-400 range, which doesn't even compare to the 60,000-word vocabulary of a typical high school graduate”. In addition, he demonstrates that apes know the signs pertaining to “food and actions” and that these signs help them to survive. However, apes cannot make grammatically correct sentences.

               Secondly, the brain and the resulting intelligence are the unique features that distinguish humans from other creatures. The brain leads humans to do what is right and to avoid what is wrong in their lives. Having a well functioning brain is considered a great blessing because it enables people to learn different skills throughout their lives. The function of the brain is different for humans and animals since humans use their imaginations and have the ability to speculate. At the Max Planck Institute, research was done with Esther Herrman on a two and a half year old girl named Greta and a monkey named Frodo from the garden of Leipzig for animals. In this experiment, a piece of banana put in a glass and the researcher asked the test subjects to take the banana out of the tube. The researcher performed this task in front of the test subjects and asked them to do the same task later. The result of this research showed that the Greta, the little girl, was able to take the banana out of the tube. Greta understood the researcher’s movement and imitated her successfully. On the other hand, the monkey Frodo did not understand the required task. Frodo took the tube and started waving it in different directions.

These are some photos for Greta and Frodo

Figure: 1

Figure:2

In this study, a scientist confirmed that human intelligence is distinct from animal intelligence in the area of social communication. In addition, it is mentioned that the size of the human brain is three times bigger than that of the monkey.

              In conclusion, human beings and non-human have some similarities and also many differences. These differences make humans more advanced than other creatures. In my opinion, the ability to use one’s intelligence as applied to language is the most important feature that distinguishes humans from non-humans. There are many scientists and researchers that confirm that the differences between humans and animals really set human beings apart from the non-humans.

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Reference list:
Dartman, K. & Abu Meilq, Y. (2010). The intelligence for the monkey and the
         intelligence of the human. Science and technology.
         http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,5691260,00.html


Farquhar, S. & Fitzsimons, P. (2011). Lost in translation: The power
         of language. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43,. 6.
         doi: 10.1111/j. 1469-5812.2009.00608. x


Harrub, B. Thompson, B. & Miller, D. (2003). The origin of language
          and communication. 17,3(P.93)


Hauser , (2004). Chimpanzees become human? . Health day news.
         Retrived 20/1/2012from

         http://www.whyevolution.com/chimps.html#brain