Group Differences

Individual Differences
Special Needs

Oleh: Martha Sari

(1743009)
 Book reference:

Educational Psychology

Second Edition

Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton

Copyright © 2009 Kelvin Seifert

Editor-In-Chief: Kelvin Seifert

Associate Editor: Marisa Drexel
Editorial Assistant: Jackie Sharman
Proofreader: Rachel Pugliese

The Global Text Project is funded by the Jacobs Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland
To teach students well, we need to
understand the important ways that
they differ among themselves, and
when or how the differences really
matter for their education.
Students do differ in a multitude of ways, both
individually and as group. Sometimes the differences
can make classroom-style teaching more challenging,
but other times they simply enrich classroom life.

 Individual differences are qualities that are unique,

just one person has them at a time. Variation in hair
color, for example, is an individual difference; even
though some people have nearly the same hair color, no
two people are exactly the same.
Individuals with similar, but nonetheless unique qualities
sometimes group themselves together for certain purposes, and
groups unusually contain a lot of individual diversity within
them.
For example:
If you happen to enjoy playing soccer and have some talent for it
(an individual quality), you may end up as a member of a soccer
team or club (a group defined by members’ common desire and
ability to play soccer). But though everyone on the team fits a
“soccer player’s profile” at some level, individual members will
probably vary in level of skill and motivation. The group, by its
very nature, may obscure these signs of individuality.
Group differences are qualities shared by members of
an identifiable group or community, but not shared by
everyone in society.

An example is gender role: for better or for worse, one

portion of society (the males) is perceived differently
and expected to behave a bit differently than another
portion of society (the females).
Gender differences in the classroom
Gender differences in the classroom
Gender roles are the patterns of behaviors, attitudes, and
expectations associated with a particular sex with being
either male or female.
Gender differences, which are related to social roles, from
Sex differences, which are related only to physiology and
anatomy.
The differences have to do with physical behaviors, styles
of social interaction, academic motivations, behaviors, and
choices. They have a variety of sources primarily parents,
peers, and the media.
i
Differences in cultural expectations and styles
Differences in cultural expectations and styles
A culture is the system of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
that constitute the distinctive way of life of a people.
Culture is nearly synonymous with ethnicity, which refers
to the common language, history, and future experienced
by a group within society.
Cultural differences in language use
Cultures and ethnic groups differ not only in languages, but also
in how languages are used. Since some of the patterns differ from
those typical of modern classrooms, they can create
misunderstandings between teachers and students

Cultural differences in attitudes and beliefs

For teachers, the most important ones center on beliefs about
identity, or the sense of self, or of “who you are”. A number of
other cultural beliefs and practices can be understood as resulting
from how members of a culture think about personal identity.
Learning Style and Thinking
 Learning Style and Thinking
All of us have preferred ways of learning. Individuals do
differ in how they habitually think. These differences are
more specific than learning styles or preferences, and
psychologists sometimes call them:
 Cognitive styles, meaning typical ways of perceiving
and remembering information, and typical ways of
solving problems and making decisions
 Learning Style and Thinking

In a style of thinking called:

 Field dependence, individuals perceive patterns as a

whole rather than focus on the parts of the pattern

separately.
 Field dependent persons tend to work better in groups, it
seems, and to prefer “open-ended” fields of study like
literature and history.
 Learning Style and Thinking

In a complementary tendency called:

 Field independence, individuals are more inclined to

analyze overall patterns into their parts.

 Field independent persons, on the other hand, tend to
work better alone and to prefer highly analytic studies
like math and science.
 Learning Style and Thinking

Another cognitive style is impulsivity as compared to

reflectivity.
 Impulsive cognitive style is one in which a person reacts

quickly, but as a result makes comparatively more errors.

 Reflective cognitive style is the opposite: the person

reacts more slowly and therefore makes fewer errors.
Multiple Intelligence
Multiple Intelligence
Many classical definitions of the concept have tended
to define intelligence as a single broad ability that allows
a person to solve or complete many sorts of tasks, or at
least many academic tasks like reading, knowledge of
vocabulary, and the solving of logical problems.
One of the most prominent of these models is Howard
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
Table 11: Multiple intelligences according to Howard Gardner

Form of Intelligence Examples of activities using the

intelligence
Linguistic: verbal skill, ability to use - verbal persuasion
language - writing a term paper skillfully
Musical: ability to create and - singing, playing a musical
understand music intrument, composing tune
Logical: Mathematical, logical skill, - solving mathematical problems
reasoning, often using mathematics easily and accurately
- developing and testing hypotheses
Spatial: ability to imagine and - completing a difficult jigsaw puzzle
manipulate the arrangement of - assembling a complex appliance
objects in the environment
Bodily: kinesthetic, sense of balance, - dancing
coordination in using one's body - gymnastic
Table 11: Multiple intelligences according to Howard Gardner
Form of Intelligence
Interpersonal: ability to discern
other's nonverbal feelings and
thoughts
Intrapersonal: sensitivity to one's
own thoughts and feelings
Naturalist: sensitivity to subtle
differences and patterns found in the
natural environment
Examples of activities using the
intelligence
- sensing whem to be tactful
- sensing a “subtext” or implied
message in a person's statements
- noticing comples of ambivalent
feelings in oneself
- identifying true motives for an
action in oneself
- identifying examples of species of
plants or animals
- noticing relationships among
species and natural processes in the
environment
Multiple Intelligence

Multiple intelligences suggest the importance of

diversifying instruction in order to honor and to respond
to diversity in students’ talents and abilities. It may be
more important simply to provide important learning and
knowledge in several modes or styles, ways that draw on
more than one possible form of intelligence or skill.
Gifted and talented students
What are students who are gifted and talented like? Generally
they show some combination of the following qualities:
 They learn more quickly and independently than most
students their own age.
 They often have well-developed vocabulary, as well as
advanced reading and writing skills.
 They are very motivated, especially on tasks that are
challenging or difficult.
 They hold themselves to higher than usual standards of
achievement.
Gifted and talented students
Contrary to a common impression, students who are
gifted or talented are not necessarily awkward socially, less
healthy, or narrow in their interests—in fact, quite the
contrary, they also come from all economic and cultural
groups.
Ironically, in spite of their obvious strengths as learners,
such students often languish in school unless teachers can
provide them with more than the challenges of the usual
curriculum.
Gifted and talented students
Without accommodation to their unusual level of skill or
knowledge, students who are gifted or talented can become
bored by school, and eventually the boredom can even turn
into behavior problems.
Partly for these reasons, students who are gifted or
talented have sometimes been regarded as the responsibility
of special education, along with students with other sorts of
disabilities.
Gifted and talented students
Supporting the gifted and talented usually involves a mixture
of acceleration and enrichment of the usual curriculum.
- Acceleration involves either a child's skipping a grade, or else
the teacher's redesigning the curriculum within a particular
grade or classroom so that more material is covered faster.
- Enrichment involves providing additional or different
instruction added on to the usual curriculum goals and
activities.
Summary
The important question that follows from this point is
what to do about the diversity.
 The answer could be accommodating diversity—about
actually working with students’ diversity and turning it into a
resource rather than a burden or challenge.
 It is not only about knowing how different one student can be
from another, but also about diversifying teaching to
acknowledge this fact.
Thank You