Tag Archives: Nature vs. Nurture

Nature Vs. Nurture in Education

H1 – Honor student diversity and development

Throughout my experience with both psychology as an undergraduate student and my new experience with education as a graduate student, human development has been a large part of my educational endeavors. Principle H1 addresses this explicitly saying that educators should honor student diversity and development. One of the most prominent debates in both fields is that of Nature vs. Nurture.

Pressely and McCormick (2007) bring up the argument that nature can only be taken advantage of if it is nurtured as well. I feel this is especially true in the education field. As educators we must take what is given to us (our student’s predisposed genetic build up) and foster and teach them various skills to allow them to be even more successful in life.

With this perspective, that nature and nurture are in part, equalities, as an educator this needs to be kept in mind. I cannot dismiss students based on learning disabilities that they had no choice of being gifted with and students that were genetically gifted should not receive the majority of my attention solely because they are more advanced. This dynamic of student abilities and skills will provide me a challenge to accommodate each student and their needs whether it is because they are at an advantage or a disadvantage.

Pressely, M., & McCormick, C. B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press