Gender Deveopment

There are many different theories and views towards gender development, and I believe in today's society these views are greatly different when compared to past ideas. There are four different views; Biological, Social Learning, Cognitive development theory and Gender Theory Schema.
So first, is the Biological view which is basically that a persons gender is determined through physiology such as hormones, or through neurological. I believe that with this viewpoint it is more so physiological than neurological, because depending on hormone levels, a person may have more of a masculine tone to them or a feminine one. And this can be in either both male or female, it is not determined by the sex.
Secondly, is social learning. And this is basically that gender roles are learned through observation and their surroundings. for instance, if a boy is growing up in a family with two older sisters and a single mom, the child is only seeing the feminine side, and so this is how he would learn his role, and build an idea of himself. Thus, the child may be a male, but have more of a feminine gender role.
Next are the two theories than go along with gender development; Cognitive Development theory, which states that a child will come to see the differences between femininity and masculinity and that overtime will be able to distinguish between the two and what makes up each of them. And finally, Gender Schema Theory, which is more of an information process approach, in which a child sees what is the socially accepted schema of gender in their community, and then blends themselves with this concept. This theory has also shown that children meeting the cultural gender expectations have more self esteem.
So, by looking at the different views and theories on gender development, and compare them to present time and in the past, it shows that there are many different views and theories now-a-days when compared to in the past when gender was directly linked to sex. For example, if you were a male you were masculine and a female you were feminine. There wasn't acceptance for a male who was more feminine or a female who was masculine.

Diversity in Eduacation

In today's society there is a vast array of diversity in education. When most people look at diversity, the first thing they think of is usually race. However some of the other types of diversity within education is socioeconomic status, cultural capital, and of course multicultural education.
So first, socioeconomic status is basically how much money a person or family has. This comes into education for what type of school they go to or where in the city their school is located. Socioeconomic status also plays a role for post secondary, because someone who comes from a family who's parents went to post secondary, they are more likely to also go, as well due to costs of post secondary, if a person comes from a family with money, they are more likely to be able to afford to go.
Next is Cultural capital, which is the culture a student brings into the classroom. As an example, if a student is new to a school and comes in unable to speak the same language as everyone else, they are coming in with a low culture capital. And, so it is the opposite for someone coming into a new school who speaks the native language. They will be coming in with a higher cultural capital than the student who does not speak the native language.
As teachers, there are numerous things that we will need to do in regards to diversity in education. One being to , "reduce barriers"; this means to watch our own attitudes towards diversity in education, and we need to have high expectations for all students regardless of race, sex, gender, etc.
As well, we can follow "Kanu's 3 recommendations" which are;
1. the school curriculum should be anti-racist and anti-discriminatory
2. multi cultural education should be part of everyones education
3. Students should be trained to be more aware of culture. Including their own culture.

Multiple Intelligence

After taking a multiple intelligence survey, I have discovered which forms of intelligence I appear to be stronger in compared to others. My results ranging from highest to lowest were;

100 - Bodily Kinesthetic

80 - Musical

70 - Naturalist

60 - Mathematical

60 - Interpersonal

60 - Intrapersonal 

60 - Spatial

40 - Verbal

30 -Existential

This shows that I am strongest with movement, and expressing knowledge and through the actual doing of something. As well I am also strong with musical, and Naturalist intelligences.

And like everyone else, I use all nine forms of multiple intelligences, I am just stronger with some compared to others.

IQ Testing

Who knew that IQ testing was so complex and can be used in so many different ways. I for one, definitely did not. I thought it was just a test and however you performed was your IQ. I was unaware, that first you make up the test, which needs to be as impartial as possible, This way it doesn't matter gender or language or anything. Then you need to find a sample of people that represent the population fairly. So for Canada, you would need a sample of three to five thousand, and then you need to make sure that, that sample represents Canada. Finally after they have taken the test you are now able to standardize the results. Its by far a more complicated process than I first thought.
Now when you have a student take an IQ test you need take their raw score and standardize it. Depending on the results of the test you are able to determine the mental age for that student. Then by dividing that number by their chronological age, or actual age, and multiply by that by 100, you are now left with the students IQ.
As teachers, it can be both beneficial or not depending on the teacher and what it is used for. For instance if a teacher finds out the IQ results for their class, they may focus on only those who had high results compared to those with low results. Thinking that they could make more process with the ones with higher IQ's. Thus, proving to be a negative result of knowing the scores. However, if the teacher is able to look at the results, see where students need help and what areas they are good at, the teacher is able to focus extra time in certain areas, proving to be beneficial.

Heinz' Dilemma

The "Heinz' Dilemma" is basically, would you steal a drug that you can't afford that could possibly save your wife's life. If it were me, I would definitely steal the drug because if there was a chance to save my spouse I would definitely take it, no matter the consequences.
Now, if I were to look at Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral development to see where my response fits, I would say I was in the first level, "Pre-conventional" and the stage of "Hedonism". This is because we do something because we want something, so the doing would be stealing the drug and the wanting, is wanting my spouse to survive.
The other possibilities to Kohlberg’s levels/stages are also under pre-conventional is "punishment", where you don't do something due to the punishment you’d receive for doing it. Under the Conventional level, is "nice girl/boy" where you don't do something because of how others will see you, "law and order", because it’s against the law. Then the third and final level is post-conventional which has the stage of "social contract", which is we do what is best for society, or what allows society to function, and the other stage is "universal ethical".

Erik Erikson

So, Erik Erickson has developed eight stages of human development starting at birth then going straight through till death. Now, I very much believe that everyone goes through theses stages at one point in their life, however I don't believe that everyone goes through them at the same rate that he has laid them out. For instance stage 5, "Identity vs. Identity confusion", which he has laid out from the ages of 10- 20. For the most part this does fit, people are going in school sorting out what they want to do for the rest of their life, or they may be moving straight into the work world from high school and trying different things out until they find what works best for them. However, I believe this happens much later in life as well, somebody may decide to go back to school later in life, or they may decide a switch in career to be the best thing for them, and so they would be back figuring our who they want to be. Same with music, friends and clothing. This changes throughout a persons life. Music for one is always changing, so who's to say you may not move to a different style because of a new emerging artist. Fashion is also changing all the time, so for the most part people will change the way they dress depending on whats trendy at the time. And, with friends, yes usually you make friends and they stick with you, however someone new may start where you work and so you can make new friends. So I believe this is definitely a lifelong stage rather than just one you go through for 10 years and then move on. Same goes for stage 6, "Intimacy vs. Isolation". I don't believe that everyone finds their partner in those years, and if they do, whose to say it will last forever. If a couple divorces they may find themselves going through this stage at the age of 40 or 50.
As well, I believe that a person may be in multiple stages at one time. So for me, I find myself in stage 5, "identity vs. Identity confusion" because in college I believe I know what I'm going to do but at the same time I'm working to make sure its the right thing for me. I'm also in a new surrounding in college so I'm meeting new people and new friends, and building my future identity. And, I'm also in stage 6, "intimacy vs. Isolation" where I'm dating different people and finding an intimate relationship.
So, again I definitely agree that everyone goes through these stages, just not in the same time frame or even order that Erickson has them laid out in. Some of these stages are also life long, not just occurring in 10 year spans.  And as well that people may go through more than one stage at a time.

Success!

Success. Definitely not something I've ever given too much thought into. But now that I have, and actually broke it down and looked at all the different features and aspects of life that bring you success, it makes sense why its so darn awesome when you get it. For instance, Richard St. John explains in the TED video the eight things that lead to success are; passion, work, good, focus, push, serve, ideas and to persist. And for the most part in almost any thing you succeed in you will definitely find these features, but I believe it takes even more than just these eight.
As I look at what makes me successful in academics, these eight are defiantly present, but it also requires a lot more, such as organization, to study, keep up to date with readings and assignment, to have a support group in place, etc. So I believe there is a lot of work put into success, even though for a lot of it you may not realize just how much it did take to reach that goal. I agree with Richard St. John's explanation of the eight things that go into success, but again I believe it takes much more than those eight depending on what you are trying to succeed in.