Sharla Arnold Ed Psych

In the Level 2 middle school theatre class I have been observing I see a lot of Piaget 's and Vygotsky 's theories at play.  Cognitively speaking, Piaget' s Concrete and Formal operational stages are most prevalent at this age.  In theatre I see students using inductive and deductive reasoning as they try to make choices about how a character would act.  I see them really start to use hypothetical reasoning as they make sense of the deeper meaning of the plays they are studying.  I also see Vygotsky represented as students work to cooperate and collaborate on scene work.  They rely heavily on the teacher as the More Knowledgeable Other to answer questions and get feedback.  They are also becoming more aware of their own understanding of the Zone of Proximal Development , meaning they know how far to push themselves when creating scenes together.  Both theories agree that this class needs a chance to try new tasks, develop their own opinions abou...

I decided what I want to be when I grow up at age 40.  I have always loved theatre and even got my degree in it but after that I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with that degree.  I found myself in love and starting a family and that degree in theatre faded into the background.  Fast forward 15 years and three kids later and suddenly I see the impact theatre classes can have on kids transitioning from Erikson's Industry stage into Identity.  This really became clear to me when my own son, diagnosed with ADHD and high functioning Autism, found joy and self esteem as he started his theatre classes in 6th grade.  I was shocked at the positive impact this class had on him.  Now he is in 8th grade and I am able to observe his class and it is clear how much these students benefit from this type of class as they struggle to move from childhood Industry stage into puberty and adolescent Identity stage. My son's theatre class is a Level 2 intermediate theatre clas...

The theatre world loves a bit of drama....ok, quite a bit of drama.  We like things to be interesting, emotional, and relevant.  The bigger the interest, the more emotional and the more relevant, the better.  So, the debate between Piaget's and Vygotsky's theory of development really peaked my interest.  There are parts of Piaget that I relate to and make sense to me, particularly his theories on how we classify the information we receive into schemas by assimilation or accommodation.  I also love the idea of introducing new material by relating it to an existing schema, that makes perfect sense.  The problem with Piaget is that Vygotsky said some stuff, and it's super good!  Vygotsky really makes sense in how theatre is performed and taught, so Vygotsky gets my vote and here is why... The three main components of Vygotsky's theory are that a student needs 1) a More Knowledgeable Other (someone who knows more than you that will guide you), 2) a Zone ...

If growth mindset was a religion, I would be a true follower.  If it was a YouTube channel, I would subscribe.  If it was a food, it would be a big beautiful cake with frosting on every side and 100 candles on top and I would eat it by myself!  I lean toward being an optimist but must admit, I have had habits of a fixed mindset for most of my life.  Recognizing those tendencies in myself has opened my eyes to the true power of being positive and being optimistic.   On a general level, the theatre class I observe has a teacher who infuses growth mindset into everything I have seen her teach.  The main topics she has covered this year are acting using the "view points" method, acting with an internal purpose, and student presentations on musicals.  In every unit they have studied I never once heard a students express a fixed mindset toward the task at hand.  I never heard the teacher use fixed mindset language such as, "some of you may not be...