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Gets You Certified and in the Classroom!
Nationwide, more than 4 million teachers will be needed over the next decade, and all must take appropriate tests to be licensed. REA gets you ready for your teaching career with our outstanding library of Teacher Certification test preps.
Our test prep is designed to help teacher candidates master the information on the TExES PPR EC-12 (160) exam and get certified to teach in Texas. It's perfect for college students, teachers, and career-changing professionals who are looking to become Texas Early Childhood through Grade 12 teachers.
Written by a leading specialist in teacher education, our complete study package contains an in-depth review of all four state-defined domains and the 13 competencies, including discussions of key educational concepts, theories, and laws.
A diagnostic test and two full-length practice tests are offered online in a timed format with instant scoring, diagnostic feedback, and detailed explanations of answers. Each test features every type of question, subject area, and skill you need to know for the exam. Our online practice tests replicate the TExES question format, allowing you to assess your skills and gauge your test-readiness.
The online tests at REA's Study Center offer the most powerful scoring and diagnostic tools available today. Automatic scoring and instant reports help you zero in on the topics and types of questions that give you trouble now, so you'll succeed when it counts. Every practice exam comes with detailed feedback on every question. We don't just say which answers are right - we explain why the other answer choices are wrong - so you'll be prepared on test day.
The book includes the same two practice tests that are offered online, but without the added benefits of detailed scoring analysis and diagnostic feedback. This complete test prep package comes with a customized study schedule and REA's test-taking strategies and tips.
This test prep is a must-have for anyone who wants to teach EC-12 in Texas!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780738684253 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Research & Education Association |
| Publication date: | 08/11/2014 |
| Series: | TExES Teacher Certification Test Prep Series |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Sales rank: | 789,635 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
Read an Excerpt
TExES Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities EC-12 (160)
By Beatrice Mendez Newman
Research & Education Association
Copyright © 2014 Research & Education Association, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7386-8425-3
CHAPTER 1
Competency 001
Competency 001
The teacher understands human development processes and applies this knowledge to plan instruction and ongoing assessment that motivate students and are responsive to their developmental characteristics and needs.
Competency 001 addresses learner characteristics and is explained through 16 descriptive statements, which cover the following general areas:
• Developmental factors that apply to all ages (cognitive, social, physical, and emotional)
• Developmental characteristics that apply to early childhood through students in grade 12
• Creating a positive learning environment
• Knowing how to address the needs of students at different age levels
• Risky behaviors that students may engage in
* Competency 001 Key Terms
The following key terms are integral to fully understanding the scope of Competency 001. You should consider creating flashcards to remind you of what they mean so that you can recognize the direct or implied references to these terms in the test items.
* Developmental Processes
Teaching effectively requires extensive knowledge of the learners in our classrooms. Having a breadth of knowledge of the content area is only part of what is needed to be an effective teacher. To promote student learning, a teacher must also understand where the learners are developmentally, what strategies get their attention, what personal events and changes are impacting them, and even what forces are causing problems for them. To plan and deliver effective lessons, a teacher must take all of these factors into account. Developmental differences manifested at different age levels are generally categorized as cognitive, affective, social, and physical changes.
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget is a predominant figure in the field of cognitive psychology. His theory of cognitive development is based on the notion that cognitive abilities (one's ability to think) are developed as individuals mature physiologically and they have opportunities to interact with their environment. On the basis of years of observation and notes on children, including his own daughters and son, Piaget asserted that behaviors and ways of thinking occur in stages that last multiple years as the individual progresses to higher levels of cognition. According to Piaget, there are four stages of cognitive development, beginning with the sensorimotor stage (birth through age two) and culminating in the formal operational stage (early adolescence to young adulthood). The chart below summarizes Piaget's stages.
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development
Piaget used the term "operation" to mean the ability to conceptualize something that previously the child could do only physically. The stages delineate the child's cognitive development starting with the sensorimotor stage, a reality- based world in which the infant positions himself or herself at the center of the world and learns by processing the impact of his or her actions on the environment. Significant cognitive accomplishments in this first state include the creation of sensorimotor schemes, such as moving from sucking as a reflex to sucking as a means of learning about new objects. The development of object permanence is considered a major accomplishment of this period: the realization that when objects are not visible they have not disappeared altogether.
The preoperational stage covers the preschool years when children begin to use language deliberately in contrast to the "babble" and experimental articulations of babyhood. A major accomplishment in this stage is the acquisition of language that proceeds from random, imitative babbling through rudimentary syntax to language that enables children to be understood by people beyond their family circle. Because of the development of language, the child at this stage can represent events and objects in a variety of symbolic ways: words, images, gestures, and recall. Play is a critical developmental component in this stage as children demonstrate the ability to play symbolically—pretending that ordinary objects represent other things or acting out scenarios in which they themselves represent other individuals or creatures.
In the concrete operational stage, thinking becomes more sophisticated but is still largely based on concrete objects and immediate situations. However, important cognitive skills that develop at this stage include the ability to subdivide objects into subsets referred to as class inclusion or just classification. One-dimensional seriation—the ability to arrange or order objects on the basis of a single characteristic—is a cognitive ability that develops at this stage. Understanding of conservation is another significant development; children in the concrete operational stage gradually understand that objects conserve their mass or volume when they are transferred to or transformed into different shapes. Children at this age begin to decenter which Piaget describes as transitioning from the earlier state in which the baby centers all experience on his or her own body to a "decentered" state in which children begin to see themselves objectively positioned among other people and within an environment (Piaget, 1969, p. 94).
The formal operational stage begins in later childhood (about age 11) and extends through adulthood. Learners at this stage of cognitive development can engage in logical, abstract, and hypothetical thought; they can use the scientific method, meaning they can formulate hypotheses, isolate influences, and identify cause-and-effect relationships. They can engage in both deductive and inductive reasoning, and they can operate on verbal statements exclusive of concrete experiences or examples. These cognitive abilities characterize the highest levels of thought, which continue to develop throughout adulthood, although many child development experts believe that some individuals never make it completely through the formal operational stage (Piaget, 1969; Santrock, 2009, pp. 182–199; Presley & McCormick, 2007, pp. 61–65).
Despite the overwhelming influence of Piaget on education, it is important to remember that his cognitive stages are not absolute, which means that teachers must look not simply at students' ages, but at their behaviors and abilities. Piaget himself pointed out that the stages are incremental, gradually moving the child toward integration of cognitive, social, affective, and moral accomplishments into a unified whole (Piaget, 1969, p. 128). Piaget's stages should not be used to categorize but to understand why children do certain things at certain ages and to plan instruction that addresses their current intellectual abilities and moves them toward higher levels. Competency 004 addresses how teachers can use knowledge of these developmental stages to plan effective, engaging instruction and assessment.
Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
Another influential theoretical approach to understanding human development is offered by Erik Erikson, who concentrated on how human development reflects the individual's social affiliations. For each of eight stages, Erikson hypothesized a "crisis" from which the individual "re-emerges with an increased sense of inner unity, with an increase of good judgment, and an increase in the capacity 'to do well' according to his own standards and to the standards of those who are significant to him" (Erikson, 1968, p. 92). According to Erikson, negotiating each crisis effectively is essential in constructing and maintaining identity. The crisis at each stage is not a "catastrophe" but an opportunity to grow and to thrive. The stages span from birth through death (Erikson, 1968, p. 96). The chart on the next page outlines Erikson's stages of development.
Three of Erikson's stages are salient to the EC–12 teacher. Stage 4, industry versus inferiority, marks the child's entry into the school environment where the child has to negotiate a new social setting involving teachers instead of parents and a lot more children. Industry, according to Erikson, is the natural drive at this stage as the child attempts to imitate adult competencies and to produce things that may win him or her recognition. A sense of inferiority may result if the child's ability has not yet reached his or her desire to produce; the potential to produce may not be realized until a later stage (Erikson, 1968, pp. 122–128).
Around the time students enter junior high, they begin the developmental task of achieving identity—Erikson's Stage 5, identity versus identity confusion. According to Erikson, the struggle to achieve identity is one of the most important developmental tasks and one that creates serious psychosocial problems for adolescents. For example, even the individual who has successfully achieved all the important developmental milestones from the previous stages (such as initiative and industry) now ?nds himself or herself in a state of ?ux: everything (body, feelings, thoughts) is changing. The adolescent starts to ask, "Who am I? Who can I trust? What will I do when I grow up?" Individuals at this stage seek answers to big questions but may resist and question what authoritative grownups tell them, the resistance caused by the realization that accepting adult beliefs and expectations interferes with individual free will. Erikson believed that if adolescents ?nd out what they believe in, what their goals, ideas, and values are, then they attain identity achievement; failure to discover these things leads to identity confusion and impacts later stages (Erikson, 1968, pp. 128–135).
In high school, students are entering the stage of young adulthood—for Erikson, a psychosocial stage characterized by the polarities of intimacy and isolation. Individuals at this stage of development begin to think about forming lasting friendships, even marital unions. Erikson would argue that many psychosocial problems experienced by young adults have their origin in the individual's failure to achieve identity during the preceding stage; the young person who does not know who he or she really is cannot achieve true intimacy, and the result is isolation brought on by the unwillingness to risk true intimacy because of the potential impact on identity (Erikson, 1968, pp. 135–138).
Piaget's and Erikson's frameworks generalize about expected behaviors, attitudes, and capabilities young people demonstrate at the developmental stages these two theorists define. In reality, teachers deal with students who do not fit perfectly into Piagetian and Eriksonian molds. Moreover, both Piaget and Erikson explained that stages are not absolutely linear: vestiges of behaviors, attitudes, and cognitive abilities from previous stages persist in later stages. However, understanding these developmental theories does offer insights into the cognitive, social, physical, and emotional states of children, and these understandings should inform the instructional decisions teachers make.
Other Developmental Characteristics
It would seem that the developmental characteristics that teachers should be concerned about are strictly cognitive, but other learner characteristics impact student readiness and ability to participate in classroom activities. The cognitive and psychosocial stages attributed to Piaget and Erikson have affective manifestations as well. For example, according to Erikson's theory, if the crisis presented at each stage is not effectively negotiated by the individual, the result is "maladjustment" (Erikson, 1968, p. 96). Integrating Erikson's theory into the classroom environment suggests an expected "norm" for children and young people at the various Eriksonian stages. Thus, a child who seems timid, nonparticipatory, academically and socially lethargic is the opposite of what Erikson describes as the behavior outcomes of a child who has successfully negotiated the initiative versus guilt stage (Erikson, 1968, p. 114).
Similarly, a child who seems to lag behind in Piaget's cognitive stages may exhibit frustration, anger, and low self-esteem because apparently "developmentally appropriate" tasks are beyond his or her ability. Competency 001 focuses on the teacher's ability to recognize developmental characteristics; later competencies cover specific teacher actions that demonstrate responsive instruction that appropriately addresses students' needs.
Play Development and Classroom Expectations
Play is an important part of childhood and should thus be an integral part of classroom experiences. Play is what occupies most of a child's day up until he or she enters school; so children start school with a great deal of experience in using play to learn. Play can be symbolic, constructive, solitary, social, indirect, intellectual, or physical (Santrock, 2009, pp. 460–463). Many of the skills necessary for academic success are acquired through the self-initiated play that children engage in during the preoperational stage: problem solving, persistence, creativity, organization, cooperation. Consequently, teachers can use play as a teaching strategy in presenting new concepts. In early elementary grades, children equate school day events with play, reporting play as a key activity in their accounts of school day routines (Fein & Wiltz, 1998).
When teachers integrate play into academic activities, they provide opportunities for learners to develop oral language skills, observation skills, critical thinking skills, social skills, and motor skills. Indeed, play can be integrated into any academic subject (Brewer, 2007).
Classroom play is important even for older students. In self-initiated play situations, older children learn cooperation, reciprocity, courtesy, verbal and nonverbal communication, and aggressive and nonaggressive behaviors. As they move into the concrete operational and formal operational stages, children's play—self-initiated and classroom structured—integrates gender roles, confidence based on physical ability, cooperation, rule-setting, literacy development, and technology-related cognitive skills. When older students describe a class as being "fun," they frequently are referring to such things as learning new content through games, integrating kinesthetic activities into the class routine, and using role playing to demonstrate new knowledge. In general, children and young people consider play voluntary, pleasurable, and meaningful; thus, educators see benefits in integrating play activities and behaviors into class activities. In fact, play seems to contribute to learning and academic achievement (Manning, 1998, p. 155–159).
* Beyond Content: Real-World Issues in the Classroom
The theories of development summarized above reinforce the reality that the classroom is not just a place where students learn academic subject matter. The school space functions as a site where young people interact meaningfully in situations that mimic the "real world." Students spend about eight hours each day in school (more if they are involved in extracurricular activities). Thus, the school space necessarily contributes to skills necessary for success in venues outside school.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from TExES Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities EC-12 (160) by Beatrice Mendez Newman. Copyright © 2014 Research & Education Association, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Research & Education Association.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
About the Author,About Research & Education Association,
Acknowledgments,
INTRODUCTION,
TExES PEDAGOGY AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES EC–12 (160) DOMAIN REVIEWS,
PART I • DOMAIN I Designing Instruction and Assessment to Promote Student Learning,
Chapter 1: Competency 001,
Chapter 2: Competency 002,
Chapter 3: Competency 003,
Chapter 4: Competency 004,
PART II • DOMAIN II Creating a Positive, Productive Classroom Environment,
Chapter 5: Competency 005,
Chapter 6: Competency 006,
PART III • DOMAIN III Implementing Effective, Responsive Instruction and Assessment,
Chapter 7: Competency 007,
Chapter 8: Competency 008,
Chapter 9: Competency 009,
Chapter 10: Competency 010,
PART IV • DOMAIN IV Fulfilling Professional Roles and Responsibilities,
Chapter 11: Competency 011,
Chapter 12: Competency 012,
Chapter 13: Competency 013,
TExES PEDAGOGY AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES EC–12 (160) PRACTICE TESTS,
Practice Test 1 (also available online at www.rea.com/studycenter),
Practice Test 2 (also available online at www.rea.com/studycenter),
References,
Index,
