Episode 2: Learners' Characteristics and Needs

LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT MATRIX

Observation:

Directions: Observe two learners, one from higher level while the other one from the lower level (e.g. Grade 6 and Grade 1). Record the data you gathered about the learners’ characteristics and needs in different levels. The items under each domain are by no means exhaustive. These are just sample indicators. You may add others aspects which you may have observed.

	Grade/Year LEVEL OR SECTION (Indicate grade/year level or section of learners observed)
Level:	(Senior) High School
Age:	17-18 years old

DEVELOPMENT DOMAIN
Physical
Gross-Motor Skills Fine motors Skills Self-Help Skills	They develop a sense of maturity and carry themselves with discipline. Cooperative and helpful to others. Need frequent physical activity and movement.
Social
Interaction with Teachers Interaction with classmates/friends Interest (interview the learner) Others	Actively participate in class discussion. Need to feel part of a peer group, consisting of boys and girls, and are influenced by peer pressure and conformity to their group. Prefer active over passive learning activities that involve working with their peers.
Emotional
Moods and temperament Emotional independence Others	Sometimes they are quite and focus to the teacher’s discussion and sometimes they did not. Tend to develop sense of independence as they grow older and matured individual. Need adult support, guidance, and calm direction.
Cognitive
Communication skills Thinking skills Problem-solving skills Others	They need o enhance their level of communication skills especially in using correct grammar to be able to understand/express their opinions/ideas. In terms of recitation, the student can easily answer the question to ask to them as long as they are attentive and focus on what the teacher’s discussing. Enjoy solving "real-life" problems. Beginning to think critically.

ANALYSIS

Write the most salient developmental characteristics of the learners you observed. Based on these characteristics, think of implication for the teacher.

Level	Salient Characteristics Observed	Implications to the Teaching-Learning Process
(Senior) High School Age: 17-18	Grade 11                                Interested in gaining/creating friendship with others. They like to chat/talk with their seatmate. Focused on themselves and how they are perceived by their peers. Very observant to the environment.	The teacher should use effective strategies in teaching in order to apply/enhance more the student’s awareness towards the environment.

REFLECTIONS

           Today’s learners are wealthy in terms of access to media and communication, and they demand engagement in everything they do. The students of today all have something in their lives that’s really engaging something that they do and that they are good at, something that has an engaging, creative component to it. They want to know how the learning they are engaged in will help them later on in their lives. Another characteristic of this learner is that role models are no longer parents or teachers, but peers.

            "Kung gusto mo, maraming paraan, 

              kung ayaw mo,

             maraming dahilan." – R.Duhaylungsod

            The teacher I cannot forget is Mrs. Rosalinda Duhaylungsod for she is a very popular teacher in my Alma Mater. She is known to be very strict, but very excellent in teaching. This is the positive reason that I cannot forget about from my teacher way back in high school. There is no hard and fast list that tells you who is a good teacher or who is not a good teacher.

            Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is my favorite. Not just because it gives full details of development from infancy to adolescence but also because of the significance of each stage to teaching. It can be applied from preschool to high school level types of learners. This theory focuses on how individuals construct knowledge.

            When I become a teacher I will make sure I use the appropriate materials ask motivational questions that provoke thinking. Most important of all even if I want to challenge my students, I will not make a student carry out tasks that is beyond his or her cognitive capabilities. As they say, too much of something is bad.                   

            The classroom has indeed changed. Teachers of today face the challenge of reaching a new type of learner who has a different mixture of social expectations, learning characteristics and needs than students in previous generations. I have learned that acknowledgement and appreciation of effort is important. Equality or fairness in class must prevail. The teacher must be concern not just to a few but to all his or her students. Encouragement must be present at all times.