130 TExES Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities 8

130 TExES Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities 8 - 12 Exam Practice Questions

1. Which of the following is not one of Erick Erickson's stages of psychosocial development?

A. Infancy
B. Adolescence
C. Middle Adulthood
D. Senior Adulthood

2. Elements of Erickson's fifth stage of psychosocial development, Adolescence, include:

A. Initiative vs. Guilt
B. Obsess over peer approval
C. Receiving care from maternal caregiver
D. All of the above

3. Cultural influences impact students' ability and readiness to learn by:

A. Recognizing different standards
B. Emphasizing different choices
C. Rewarding different behavior
D. All of the above

4. The cognitive changes of adolescence include:

A. Slower cognitive processing
B. Applying experience to new situations
C. Improved ability to communicate
D. All of the above

5. List ways to address adolescent behavior issues.

A. Explain consequences
B. Refuse to listen
C. Take arbitrary actions
D. All of the above

6. Effective ways to manage behavior include:

A. Asserting authority and power
B. Explaining the rules
C. Withdrawing approval
D. All of the above

7. A discipline plan provides a framework in which to:

A. Assess situations
B. Address issues
C. Make changes
D. All of the above

8. To encourage class participation, it is important to:

A. Place rules visibly
B. Provide feedback and ask for input
C. Refuse to explain guidelines
D. All of the above

9. Ways of teaching students how to approach an assignment might include:

A. Set firm deadlines
B. Requiring memorization of facts
C. Giving detailed instructions
D. All of the above

10. Influences that affect communication with parents include:

A. Age of students
B. Educational level of the parents
C. Administration support
D. All of the above

ANSWER KEY EXAM 130

1. Answer: D

Erick Erickson's eight stages of psychosocial development are widely accepted and have greatly influenced later theories of psychological development. Erickson believed each stage was crucial to healthy development. He believed great emotional harm would occur and hinder children's success throughout life if they were not allowed to move through the stages at their own pace and not be rushed or pushed. Erickson's eight stages of development shown with the major task of each one:

Infancy: Birth to twelve months; trust versus mistrust
Younger Years: One to three years; autonomy versus shame and doubt
Early Childhood: Three to five years; initiative versus guilt
Middle Childhood: Six to ten years; industry versus inferiority
Adolescence: Eleven to eighteen years; identity versus role confusion
Early Adulthood: Eighteen to thirty-four years; intimacy versus isolation
Middle Adulthood: Thirty-five to sixty years; generativity versus stagnation
Later Adulthood: Sixty years to death; ego integrity versus despair

2. Answer: B

Adolescents are developing a separate and unique identity. They are concerned with how they look and frequently obsess over being accepted by their peers. They want to be "part of the group" and as a result of this psychological need to belong, cliques develop. Adolescents experience an identity crisis, of sorts, because they are changing hormonally, emotionally and physically. Intellectually they don't always understand these changes and emotionally they may have difficulty coping with the consequences. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are and where and how they fit into the world. They explore new ideas, test established limits and try to cope with and understand the changes they are experiencing. They try on different roles, personas and behaviors. It is a confusing time but a necessary and critical step in developing a positive sense of self. Parents, peers, teachers, authority figures and everyone with whom the adolescent interacts, has an effect, either positively or negatively.

3. Answer: D

Studies have shown that a student's culture has a direct impact on learning. Since most educational standards are based on white, middle class cultural identification, students who don't fall into that demographic face challenges. It's not that these students are incapable of learning; they just judge what's important and how they express that importance differently. Sometimes it is difficult for them to understand and relate to curriculum content, teaching methods and social skills required because their culture does things differently, emphasizes different choices and rewards different behavior. Children identify with their culture; they become what they know. If teachers ignore cultural differences, it causes communication issues, inhibits learning and increases the potential for behavior problems. As long as an adolescent has no physical or mental health issues, he is capable of learning. He just needs information presented and examples used that are relevant to his life experiences; that is the only way it makes sense to him.

4. Answer: B

The cognitive changes that occur in adolescence affect the way youngsters understand themselves and how they relate to parents, peers and authority figures. They are learning to think in the abstract, consider hypothetical situations and recognize multiple aspects of a problem. Their information processing is becoming more sophisticated. They are increasingly capable of dissecting complicated issues. They begin applying hard-learned experiences to new situations in unfamiliar circumstances and begin to develop a sense of independence and a feeling of competence. Since the primary tasks of adolescence are learning to understand abstract concepts, acquiring and honing problem-solving skills and developing critical thought processes, it is important to prepare lessons that not only teach facts but focus on helping students practice these new abilities.

5. Answer: A

One of the developmental goals in adolescence is learning to behave in an appropriate manner in different situations. As a result, an adolescent tries on different personalities and experiments with various behaviors. He gradually learns to use his newly acquired decision-making skills to assess himself and his abilities. All adolescents engage in risky behavior; it's a normal part of development. But for some, risk-taking becomes problematic and goes beyond the norm. Red flags include regular instead of occasional incidents and involvement with peers who participate in the same dangerous activities. Parents and other responsible adults must explain the possible consequences of these actions, make rules and enforce them. Caring adults should channel his/her drive into more acceptable pursuits that challenge the mind, stretch the abilities and keep them out of potentially troublesome situations.

6. Answer: B

Behavior management is an essential ingredient in creating a positive learning environment. If students are misbehaving, they are not paying attention and they can't learn. It is important to establish written expectations, review as needed and enforce when necessary. Explain the rules clearly, consider the circumstances before taking action and apply the rules fairly and consistently. Look at situations from the students' perspective and try to be objective rather than judgmental. Address problems and issues immediately so they don't escalate or reappear. A teacher should be willing to admit mistakes. This tells students it is okay to make a mistake as long as one admits it, learns from it and tries not to make it again. Collaborate with the students, ask for their opinions and offer choices. When students are active participants and believe they are heard, behavior issues are minimized.

7. Answer: D

Most students respect rules if they are clear, the consequences are understood and explained ahead of time and they are consistently and fairly enforced. A discipline plan is a written description of acceptable behavior. It provides a framework in which to assess situations, address issues and make changes. It won't stop or prevent unacceptable behavior, but it does provide a means to identify and deal with it. The plan can be imposed by the teacher or developed with input from the students. It must be explained to and understood by students and parents. Critical elements include:

Rules written as positive statements
Incentive Plan clearly defined, easy to understand, fair to everyone
Positive Consequences explained; may vary with each rule
Limit Setting Acts (taken before the next step is invoked) established
Negative Consequences of hierarchal steps taken to address unacceptable behavior

8. Answer: B

It is important to foster an environment that encourages class participation and ensures no one is inhibited or prevented from participating because of teaching methods. Participation is predicated on teacher and student expectations, instructional strategies and classroom atmosphere. It is important to develop class rules for discussions, provide frequent feedback and ask for student input to ensure teaching practices are in line with student perceptions of reasonable opportunities to actively engage.
When a question is asked, a problem posed or a solution required students need time to think about the information and formulate a response. Encourage questions. Require different students to summarize the lesson, pose a prepared question from assigned material or describe something they learned. Acknowledging every contribution encourages additional participation.

9. Answer: C

Teachers in every discipline have a responsibility to teach not only the facts but also how to think about and approach a task and complete the assignment. Instead of focusing on memorizing the data, creative teachers give students ways to discover the answer through research and reasoning. They incorporate relevant commentary and detailed explanations into the instructions for all assignments. Students learn better, retain data longer, recall it easier and integrate it more effectively when they understand the how and the why, not just the what. Providing guidelines that explain how to approach a task (such as breaking it into smaller, more manageable parts and allowing adequate time to properly complete the project) and supplying written prompts and reminder sheets give students valuable tools they can use in all classes. These reasoning tools can also be used to make choices in areas outside of the academic environment. This is a prime example of making learning relevant to their life.

10. Answer: D

Some parents are eager to participate, some do so only when required and others avoid involvement of any kind. All three can be a challenge. Eager parents may bombard the teacher with notes, phone calls and emails. Setting reasonable, well-defined limits may be necessary. Parents who only show up when specifically requested may be incapable of or don't really care to address underlying issues; they show up because they have to. Parents who are never available and impossible to contact provide no help or insight and offer no support. Some communication methods may be more effective than others depending upon the age of the students, the educational level and time limitations of the parents, the administration's support and other resources available. No matter what communication method is used, teachers should convey expected behavior, explain classroom rules and present a general picture of material to be covered, project assignments and homework requirements.

TExES Exam - Main