-
Period: to
SAMEROFF'S THE TRANSACTIONAL MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT
-
An External Writing
Sameroff's writing so far has me thinking of Ravitch's (2010) The Death and Life of the Great American School System. In the beginnings of her book she is in deep reflection about how we get off track by attempting to find what Sameroff describes as "simple predictive formulas" (p. 6). In our quest to do this, we have left out the more important element, the student experience. This is why I think the simplicity of doing so has reached this complexity he speaks of. -
Optimal Mix
There should be an optimal mix where we focus on basic understandings of students, of experiences, and the relation between the two. So many times we do isolate these areas when it is better to establish a hybrid if you will to marry them (p. 4). Such a mix could tell a fuller story about learning. -
The I-E Interaction
Measures of both individual and environment interactions are needed. It made sense to me that one offsets the other and a balance could be achieved. Like cells, each child is different. By using differences in the individual's make up as well as individual environmental factors, a balance can be achieved where one plays off the other (p. 5). Further on, Sameroff brings up the notion of compensation (p. 7); I immediately returned here. It seems that interplay is related to compensation. -
It's in the Modification
That modification he speaks of hits home (p. 8). I think of how we expect students to act sometimes and they fool us most of the time. It is important to open one's mind and break some of the "onesizefitsall" schema we have for students, especially those who come with labels, because with students there are continuious changes and dynamic growth; we never know what experience will modify them to do something different behaviorwise (p. 10). -
Definitions Are Not Always Static
I recently wrote a paper exploring how the terms in education are static and unmovable. Sameroff's explanation regarding adulthood really appeals to me because the term is changing (p. 9). It is important to be everpresent (as in the Ravitch book) in reflection and to change our stance on terms when they do not gel with what we are seeing in the classroom. Though it is a natural mental process to develop schema, we must be open that terms (and our stances) may change with each new experience. -
Building Upon the Ruins
The word "interplay" sticks with me (p. 5) on a personal level. I have seen strengths in myself that overshawdow some weakness, and as a result a balance (i.e., accord) was achieved for me. There is an interplay there, and as I develop in some mental skill (i.e., writing, research), over time, I see those weaknesses strengthening because of other strengths from the different experiences that interact with them. -
Qualitative's A Must!
Those messy questions of etiological issues and relationship cannot be explained with quantitative measures (p. 7). Scientists looking for that sort of measurable answer for these types of questions will always come out empty handed. Opening the door of a qualitative form is a more feesible way to answer such descriptive questions. As Sameroff indicates, definitions positioned living organisms as static, and there is nothing static about a child's learning and overall functionality. -
Raising the Ceiling
Sameroff's focus (p. 9) on what schools can do for those with disabilities (developmental, cognitive, experiential) should be a primary focus. I believe we are all disabled in one way or another, but the school is able to meet those needs by taking the research suggestions and intentionally implementing them in ways that can help struggling students alter learning experiences as well as fully capable ones to expand their learning. -
My Regulation Needed Regulating!
I never looked at self-regulation outside the individual's property (p. 10). But thinking of it now, someone needs to step in to bring attention to some aspect of the person's life that needs self-regulating as well as to provide the safe environment for it to successfully process. So for the "I" model to ignore that is problematic. -
Multiple Lens
Not defining an environment for someone else is yet another point that hits home (p. 16). It's habit to look through one lens, which is why I am going to like the Tracey & Morrow book, for it looks at lenses in literacy. By looking through multiple lens of a situation, there would be a more cohesiveness to the conclusions formed. I recalled the book Fantasia that merged various forms of data from one incident. The multiple pieces resulted in a more realistic picture of war. -
The "C" Word
Culture fizzes itself into so much concerning language, yet it sits in the corner ignored. Sameroff's explanation of environtype and the relationship/interaction of child and culture calls attention to it in the ytransactional perspective (p. 14). External experiences of a child are too important to discard from the mix, and if space is given, there is a place for the relationship to play out. -
Those Russians!
I continually forget but am ALWAYS reminded about this historical event of catching up with the Russians (p. 17)! Is it the root of why we are in the standardized-testing-as-the-only-acceptable-tool-for-assessment phase? Just a thought. -
Change Via Another
The process of changing behavior where one partner has the capability to direct change in another (p. 19) is a point that is reinforced in me with this reading. I completed a reading on a meta study where the researchers finding was that learning disabled students faired better when they were in peer-to-peer learning groups. It was a powerful conclusion because it shreaded the incorrect notion that the blind cannot lead the blind on the pathways of learning. Peers are powerful teachers! -
Interplay
"Children affect their environments and environments affect children" is the quote to remember for me (p. 19). It stipulates the interplay that one has on the other. Until those aspects are equal in the research and we look from different directions, we will not get the whole picture of the learning life of students.
