1-1 Learner Development

The candidate understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning
and development vary individually within and across the cognitive linguistic, social, emotional,
and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate, relevant, and
rigorous learning experiences.

It is critical that we as teachers and music educators understand how our students grow and
develop linguistically, socially, emotionally, and physically, and the fact that the order, manner,
and rate at which each of our students develops within these areas vary. This information is
critical because it directly influences our designs and implementation of learning experiences so
that they are developmentally appropriate, relevant, and challenging for our students.

As a teacher that strives to be student-centered, it is essential that I understand my students so

that I know what strategies are most beneficial to their learning. Since students have an active
role in student-centered learning it is vital that the information being presented to them is
relevant to them. The first step to creating this personalized teaching/learning is to understand
where my students are developmentally. Knowing this information helps me to better understand
what strategies would be most appropriate and effective for them. Although most of my students
will be relatively close to one another developmentally speaking, I know that some will be more
or less mature in certain areas than others. Additionally, each of my students bring their own life
experiences which are unique to them and effect who they are. Similarly, each of my students
learn differently. That is why it is so important for me to implement a variety of different
teaching strategies and instructional approaches such as Kodaly, Orff, Dalcroze, etc. Through my
experience with these different methods, I am able to adjust my instruction to best fit my
students’ styles of learning, whether it be audio, visual, kinesthetic, etc.

Throughout my student teaching experience, I sought learn more about my students: what
intrigues them, what bores them, what is fun for them. With this information, I was better able to
associate with them and design activities that are relevant to them and what they enjoy. Through
understanding what my students already know, along with where they are at developmentally, I
am able create activities/assignments/projects that will challenge them so that they can grow. My
first artifact shows my knowledge on multiple different instructional approaches. The second
artifact exemplifies my application of one of these approaches through a lesson plan. The
students were really enjoyed that lesson were very engaged in the process. The third artifact
shows my understanding of learner development and how students move at different speeds and
some need more individual help in order to learn better.