As part of today’s TDT we were encouraged to engage with peers posts which has prompt me to keep on top of my ePortfolio more.  I do engage frequently with mine however it is more for TDT’s rather than professional thoughts and opinions. By looking at my peers posts it has inspired me to engage with my ePortfolio outwith my TDT’s.

Prior to the Christmas break I was beginning to really getting into the swing of writing posts and commenting on my peers posts. However this began to fall away when assessments and presentations were coming up as all my focus was on them. The lack of engagement from my peers and lecturers on my post also made me lose my confidence. When I am posting a blog it takes me ages to write it up as I am constantly re-reading and re-writing it. The amount of time I spent on my posts and the lack of feedback I received really made me think, whats the point?

However after today’s lecture with Derek my “what’s the point attitude” slowly began to fade. After engaging with my peers post I was made aware that people did not engage on every single post and they still continued to post outstanding blogs so therefore why shouldn’t I?One blog that particularly stood out for me was – 5,6,7.. Dance. I found this post really interesting as Lauren’s passion and enthusiasm for her love of dance really shone through. I liked how she incorporated pictures from her own dance experience into her blog to make it that bit more personal. Her lesson plan really showed how much experience she has in dance and I am sure her enthusiasm would really motivate the children.

For me to improve my blog personally I feel I need to be more open to share my posts on edushare. I still feel very apprehensive when posting my work on their for everyone to see and for my professional development I feel this is something I must work on. I also feel I need to include more interactive sources such as videos, pictures and my professional reading into my blog to show I am really meeting and understanding the Standards for Registration.

The ePortfolio’s are a great tool to use as it is a space in which your thoughts and feelings are gathered. It allows you to reflect and engage in professional dialogue with peers and university staff providing you with the opportunity to expand your professional knowledge, thoughts and opinions.  After engaging with my peers posts this has really spurred me on to engage with my ePortfolio more and also my peers. By working together as a cohort and really engaging with one another’s ePortfolio’s we can flourish and grow together as professionals and make this a huge learning success.

During our psychology lectures one lesson I particularly enjoyed was studying the theory of attachment. I found it interesting that your sense of security and attachment is connected with the development of you as a person. Attachment is a bond in which a person has a special sense of security  and comfort to another person which is usually the Mother. However in the modern day attachment can be formed with many different people such as the child’s father or the child’s grandparents.

I looked further into some studies regarding attachment and one that I thought was interesting was Freud and Dunn (1951) study on war orphans. Freud and Dunn studied six war orphans who’s parents were killed in the concentration camps. The infants were looked after as-well as possible from fellow prisoners however it was difficult to form any sort of attachment as people were never around long enough. The conditions the children lived in were hard and they had limited food and no toys to play with. After the war had ended the children were moved to Bulldogs Bank Reception in the Lake District. The children couldn’t communicate much except a few German swear words. Freud and Dunn found that the children were very hostile to the adults trying to help them and the children would do everything together, if one did not eat nor did the rest. They appeared to have formed attachment to one another. The children progressively developed relationships with adults and slowly recovered from the deprivation they suffered however still remained very much attached to one another. For me I thought this study was a real eye opener as to how key attachment is for development. The infants missed a crucial period for creating attachment therefore their social skills were affected.

An attachment theory I feel can be really beneficial in the classroom is Mary Ainsworth Strange Situation study. Ainsworth studied children’s reaction when a stranger was in a room with and without their mother present.As a result of the experiment she came up with three different attachment types; insecure avoidant, securely attached and insecure resistant. Insecure avoidant  is when the child has little interest in their caregivers and aren’t phased when alone with a stranger, they also aren’t looking for comfort when the caregiver returns. Securely attached is when the child gets upset when their caregiver leaves and seems distressed when alone with the stranger, however is quickly soothed when their mother returns. Insecure attachment is when the child doesn’t want to explore the room and they cry when their caregiver leaves and when left alone with stranger. There is however mixed responses when their mother returns they want to be soothed but they can also reject their mothers comfort and be angry. Children with a secure attachment don’t need all the teachers attention on them and are happy for other children to receive some of that attention. These children are able to wait their turn, with belief that their teacher will be able to meet their needs.  This allows the child to take risks and tolerate frustrations in the learning process. However, children with attachment difficulties will typically show distrust within in their teacher and classmates, and many put this down to  lack of concentration rather than attachment difficulties. A child who constantly talks can be using this a strategy to keep bad thoughts away. These children may also have difficulty dealing with unstructured situations such as playtimes . If they make mistakes, these children may have explosive reactions.

Overall for me I feel that having the knowledge of the attachment theory is crucial for teachers. Having the ability to spot that a child is acting up as they have trust issues because due to not having that attachment figure in their life, and not because they are trying to show off or be the “class clown”. As teachers having the knowledge and tools to deal with this situation can only insure a better learning experience and future for your pupils.