My Work.
This is my final work and progress throughout the Capstone Project for 2020.
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Draft One :
Jayla Brown Dr. Holt English Bard 15 May 2020 Should Psychology Be Incorporated In 1A Private Schools? The topic I chose was based around the importance of psychology and should it be placed at 1A schools, more specifically, my school Galloway. I took time to research psych and which study would be practiced on a high school level and I also spoke with the principal of my school, Mr. Foreman, and my physics teacher, Mr. Clark. I wanted to face this question because I went to two different private schools and I am involved in my community and I am aware that psych is not as prominent as it should be. Students ranging from 9th to 12th grade are some of the most stressed out, awkward, and depressed people. If psych is more talked about now in high school, it will give a base or platform for kids to be more aware of their feelings but also understand them and know how to move forward. This will set them up perfectly for the academic and social aspect of college and life moving forward. I will not be talking about it as much, but also psych can go into studies like neuroscience and branches of physics, which gives students another inclusive course that might interest many. Psychology should be incorporated in 1A private school communities because it opens up a new window for students to be prepared for their next steps. I cannot just start by assuming the school does not want to teach psychology, so I went to the beginner steps of the process of adding a course to a schedule for the school. I took the time to interview my principal, Mr. Foreman. We spoke about staffing, extended education, and the all around scheduling. When I began talking to Mr. Foreman, we started with the fact that psychology was actually a course or elective at The Galloway School but was taken away due to staffing and schedule which is a huge factor at all schools when speaking about new courses or courses in general. Foreman stated that he also does understand the importance but there are background steps that have to be taken and considered. In the next future steps, psychology would be offered as an elective. Staffing was a huge factor because Galloway as well as other 1A schools, the staffing is small. Mr. Clark, who I will be speaking with later, taught psychology when it was offered but he also taught physics and astronomy, which is an immense workload for a singular person. At Galloway, Mr. Foreman, allows teachers to have a maximum of five courses to teach as their full time load, which Mr. Clark exceeded. The next steps to take was to hire more staff to help cover the four courses of physics, because if physics is more spread out amongst teachers, that allows availability to Mr. Clark’s schedule to bring psych back. That is not as easy as it sounds though because each teacher has to be qualified to teach the students and to recognize that fully could take a school year, so that you can evaluate testing and the relationship between the students and teacher. Foreman brought up a point to speed up the process of getting physcology in the school, and that is Global Online Academy, which is a nonprofit, international learning organization which takes place online and students can get access to courses their schools do not offer. That is an amazing offer that Galloway has and it does provide many different courses to students. Mr. Foreman and I both agreed, while that is a tool for further knowledge, a class like psychology would have a greater impact if it is taught in a class setting. The class setting provides a more personal connection instead of facts just thrown at you or even the element of just doing research instead of learning. We then spoke about what grade levels of high school psych should be offered because that also falls into the category of scheduling and staffing. Foreman says that when psych is offered or brought back to Galloway, it will most likely be offered to tenth grade and above due to the ninth graders scheduling and their intro to high school. I understood that also because ninth graders at Galloway have many other courses that are required and needed to get a grasp of the big change from high school to middle school. My years in high school, tenth grade and above was also when I did begin to get more stressed and felt as though I needed an outlet without going to the guidance counselor. Foreman provided great information pertaining to the logistics of getting psych to our school, but I also talked to Mr. Clark to better understand the importance and background of psych from his perspective. Mr. Clark graduated from college and got his degrees in psychology and physics. He understands the importance and fully supports the fact that it will be brought back to Galloway as an elective. He spoke to me about when he was an assistant in teaching it in his previous years and how he has wanted to teach it ever since. Mr. Clark went over staffing but from a teacher’s perspective not the one doing the hiring. He spoke about getting certified to either teach physics or psychology and physics was just the open path at the time because it had a much higher demand. We then went into the background of the multiple layers of psychology and what classes could come out of it being an elective at Galloway. It is a very valuable course because you can do so much more than just general psychology but also, neuroscience, behavioral psychology, or even abnormal psychology. Abnormal psychology is what I think high school needs the most to get rid of misdiagnosis by students to themselves. Abnormal psychology goes into mental health issues and understanding the mind to further stop the manipulation of your mind. Mr. Clark and I both agreed that if abnormal psych was brought to high school, students would not be scared anymore to reach out or go to the guidance counselor because mental health would not be seen as a disease or “embarrassing.” Students everyday will cry in the bathrooms or skip class, not because they are bad kids but because they do not know how to reach out to anyone. If your friends are hiding their issues and seem happy or if you are on your phone a lot, everyone looks happy. Students that cry sometimes also automatically assume that they are depressed because “it means that you are sad,” which is incorrect and kids do need to be more educated. It is more of a must in all 1A private schools. Word Count 1135 |
Draft Two:
Jayla Brown Dr. Holt English Bard 15 May 2020 Should Psychology Be Incorporated In 1A Private Schools? The topic I chose was based around the importance of psychology and should it be placed at 1A schools, more specifically, my school Galloway. I took time to research psych and which study would be practiced on a high school level and I also spoke with the principal of my school, Mr. Foreman, and my physics teacher, Mr. Clark. I wanted to face this question because I went to two different private schools and I am involved in my community and I am aware that psych is not as prominent as it should be. Students ranging from 9th to 12th grade are some of the most stressed out, awkward, and depressed people. If psych is more talked about now in high school, it will give a base or platform for kids to be more aware of their feelings but also understand them and know how to move forward. This will set them up perfectly for the academic and social aspect of college and life moving forward. I will not be talking about it as much, but also psych can go into studies like neuroscience and branches of physics, which gives students another inclusive course that might interest many. Psychology should be incorporated in 1A private school communities because it opens up a new window for students to be prepared for their next steps. I cannot just start by assuming the school does not want to teach psychology, so I went to the beginner steps of the process of adding a course to a schedule for the school. I took the time to interview my principal, Mr. Foreman. We spoke about staffing, extended education, and the all around scheduling. When I began talking to Mr. Foreman, we started with the fact that psychology was actually a course or elective at The Galloway School but was taken away due to staffing and schedule which is a huge factor at all schools when speaking about new courses or courses in general. Foreman stated that he also does understand the importance but there are background steps that have to be taken and considered. In the next future steps, psychology would be offered as an elective. Staffing was a huge factor because Galloway as well as other 1A schools, the staffing is small. Mr. Clark, who I will be speaking with later, taught psychology when it was offered but he also taught physics and astronomy, which is an immense workload for a singular person. At Galloway, Mr. Foreman, allows teachers to have a maximum of five courses to teach as their full time load, which Mr. Clark exceeded. The next steps to take was to hire more staff to help cover the four courses of physics, because if physics is more spread out amongst teachers, that allows availability to Mr. Clark’s schedule to bring psych back. That is not as easy as it sounds though because each teacher has to be qualified to teach the students and to recognize that fully could take a school year, so that you can evaluate testing and the relationship between the students and teacher. Foreman brought up a point to speed up the process of getting physcology in the school, and that is Global Online Academy, which is a nonprofit, international learning organization which takes place online and students can get access to courses their schools do not offer. That is an amazing offer that Galloway has and it does provide many different courses to students. Mr. Foreman and I both agreed, while that is a tool for further knowledge, a class like psychology would have a greater impact if it is taught in a class setting. The class setting provides a more personal connection instead of facts just thrown at you or even the element of just doing research instead of learning. We then spoke about what grade levels of high school psych should be offered because that also falls into the category of scheduling and staffing. Foreman says that when psych is offered or brought back to Galloway, it will most likely be offered to tenth grade and above due to the ninth graders scheduling and their intro to high school. I understood that also because ninth graders at Galloway have many other courses that are required and needed to get a grasp of the big change from high school to middle school. My years in high school, tenth grade and above was also when I did begin to get more stressed and felt as though I needed an outlet without going to the guidance counselor. Foreman provided great information pertaining to the logistics of getting psych to our school, but I also talked to Mr. Clark to better understand the importance and background of psych from his perspective. Mr. Clark graduated from college and got his degrees in psychology and physics. He understands the importance and fully supports the fact that it will be brought back to Galloway as an elective. He spoke to me about when he was an assistant in teaching it in his previous years and how he has wanted to teach it ever since. Mr. Clark went over staffing but from a teacher’s perspective not the one doing the hiring. He spoke about getting certified to either teach physics or psychology and physics was just the open path at the time because it had a much higher demand. We then went into the background of the multiple layers of psychology and what classes could come out of it being an elective at Galloway. It is a very valuable course because you can do so much more than just general psychology but also, neuroscience, behavioral psychology, or even abnormal psychology. Abnormal psychology is what I think high school needs the most to get rid of misdiagnosis by students to themselves. Abnormal psychology goes into mental health issues and understanding the mind to further stop the manipulation of your mind. Mr. Clark and I both agreed that if abnormal psych was brought to high school, students would not be scared anymore to reach out or go to the guidance counselor because mental health would not be seen as a disease or “embarrassing.” Students everyday will cry in the bathrooms or skip class, not because they are bad kids but because they do not know how to reach out to anyone. If your friends are hiding their issues and seem happy or if you are on your phone a lot, everyone looks happy. Students that cry sometimes also automatically assume that they are depressed because “it means that you are sad,” which is incorrect and kids do need to be more educated. It is more of a must in all 1A private schools. I am in the class of 2020 and I am going to college soon to start real life and I also wanted to dive in the greater goods in the after effects of having psych classes. 1A schools especially Galloway want their students to be prepared for life and college as best as they can. Psych is needed in high school for that goal to be accomplished. General psych and so on is teaching students about themselves and behaviors to better form relationships with peers and teachers because you learn how you think and traits of other people. You would be able to have greater interactions and you learn how to actually be comfortable to implement yourself into situations. In college I will be meeting an entirely new community and I wish I had a class to prepare me for these situations and, academically, I would be able to get myself out of situations by talking to my professors and colleagues about a problem. I also believe that with all the courses that come with psychology, like neuroscience, it creates a better base for what you do or learn in college. I consider it a class like Econ or stats because you encounter both in college and after personally taking them, I feel much better equipped for the basic classes I will have within my first year. If psych was included in that mix, I would feel like I was entirely prepared for college because I would understand how to use credit cards and not get scammed, I would understand how to get a census from the population, and I would be able to understand behavioral science and really have the full package to grow up and push forward. Conclusion:For my capstone project, I really wanted to dive into a topic that meant a lot to me and could really bring positive change to the school I’m graduating from. I also want to leave my mark on places I’ve been. I chose psychology because in the end, it is one of the most important human studies. That is because it affects every human no matter the race, sex, or social background. Another reason why I chose it is because private school kids or just teenagers in general struggle with mental health and if it is understood instead of feared, a change can be made. Private schools add a new pressure to be the smartest, have the best social life, or get the most community hours. Psychology should be taught as 1A private schools, if their true goal is to prepare students for a better future. It would provide kids with care and extended knowledge which will create a better community and future. Word Count: 1588 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kt8BoyiH8QhAdohmOTE21aHbpvblj3adV71uZIEO0q8/edit?usp=sharing |