There are two ways many people look at education and its impact on children. Some educators believe that children are born with certain capabilities, while others see their surroundings as the influences that will guide a child’s learning. Both are right since there are studies to prove these methods true, but that hasn’t ended the debate; nature vs. nurture in education.
Thanks to many free samples of essays online, you can decide where you stand with the nature vs. nurture debate. When you read a nature vs. nurture debate essay, you will see the different opinions brought up by each side of the divide. Many scholars have tested the theories you are likely to have seen or read about, and you can eventually make up your mind on this great debate.
Since there are so many opinions that students are bombarded with when they read these theories, it is not surprising when one gets confused about which is better between nature vs. nurture.
At some point, it has been decided that each works just as well as the other since children can be inherently bright and still be influenced positively and/or negatively by their surroundings. There are also the nature vs. nurture classroom activities that we will talk about here as we try to determine whether one is better than the other.
What is the Difference Between Nature Vs. Nurture?
Genes and hereditary factors make one’s nature and are traits passed on to a child by their parents. A person’s physical appearance and personality are credited to their genes, and studies have shown parents to encourage the good traits while discouraging the bad.
Nurture is mainly the effects of the environment on one’s behavior. When looking at why is nurture important in child development, studies show that one can be influenced to overshadow a personality trait. For instance, a naturally shy kid can be encouraged to team up with others as they grow up.
While they may be naturally introverted due to their hereditary traits, being put in groups of people could foster a likeliness for teamwork and interaction that could eventually bring out the talker in them.
Influence of Nature and Nurture on Education
There are stark differences between these two outlooks that have been studied deeply. A quick search online will produce a paper or two by some of the best writers on this topic.
Here are some differences between nature and nurture.
Genetic and Hereditary Influences
Studies have shown some things to be determined by genetics. 60% of a baby’s temperament results from their genetics, as are their sleeping patterns. Primarily, their genes will determine how social or unsocial they are. Nature also sets the pace when it comes to foods they may like or dislike or whether they are active or passive.
Environmental Influences
While genetics may be the primary influencers, the environment that which these kids are brought up will determine how they fare in life as they grow. For instance, genes may determine how easy a child is to soothe when irritable, but swaddling and rocking will also work perfectly for almost any baby.
While you may not have a lot of say in their sleeping patterns, exposing them to light more in the day and limiting how much of it they have as sleeping time approaches could be a game-changer. Bottom line: some of the things we have been made to believe are determined by genes can be altered to some degree by a child’s environment.
Persuasive Arguments For and Against Nature and Nurture in Education
Some traits are, unquestionably, attributed to genes. Such factors as eye color, straight or curly hair, skin pigmentation, and certain diseases – such as Huntington and Bipolar disorder – are passed on from parent to child through the genes. The two leading schools of thought on this topic are Nativism and Empiricism.
In Nativism, all human characteristics are an attribute of their unique genetic makeup, including psychological characteristics - behavioral tendencies, mental abilities, and personality attributes. Some traits that may appear way later after birth is due to maturation, some sort of biological clock that turns some traits on and off in a pre-programmed manner.
Many argumentative studies have been published to show this position, and you can access them online free for a deeper understanding of what these scholars believe.
Empiricism, the nurture position, shows humans to be some sort of blank template that you fill up as you grow. It is like you are writing these blank papers of your life as you grow, powered by the influences from your physical environment and experience.
Several studies and essays, such as the one done by Freud (1905), show that the environment plays a huge role in one’s social attributes. Parenting influences the behavior a kid picks up as they grow and what they become by extension.
Both Matter
Whether you are a nativist or empiricist shouldn’t really be a problem. When you look at samples of writings on these topics, you notice they both matter as we are products of both. Our genes design some of our (major) traits, but the environment that we grow up in decides which ones take precedence. Even in education, each of these studies should be taught indiscriminately
