Group, Individual Difference and Exceptional Children

• Group, concept, types and characteristics of a group, classroom as a group and group dynamics.
• Individual difference meaning nature and factors affecting individual differences and its educational implication, differences in mental abilities (I.Q.), physical looks and socio-cultural background.
• Exceptional children – concept, types and characteristics:
• Physically challenged
• Mentally challenged
• Gifted
• Emotionally disturbed
• Socially maladjustment
• Learning Disabled children
• Types of Learning Disability
o Dyslexia
o Dysgraphia
o Dyscalculia
o Attention deficit disorder (A.D.D.)
o Hyper activity
o Attention deficit with hyper activity disorder (ADHD)
o Autism

Concept of group
Right from the birth we became a member of a group. We cannot think of ourselves as ever lived without a group – M.C.David (1968) defines a group, “a social psychological group is an organized system of two or more individuals who are interrelated so that the system performs some function, has a standard set of role relationship among its members and has a set of norms that regulate the function of the group and each of its members.
Essential characteristics of a Group
 In psychological sense a unit of two or more individuals is a group.
 The members share set of belief or values.
 The members share common goals.
 They have a feeling of belongingness among the members.
 The members have a set of norms of behavior.
 The members are interdependent.
 The group has some kind of structure is hierarchical where functions and powers are distributed.




School as a social group
 They have common goal
 They have common structure
 Students and teachers are motivated to achieve common goals
 School as a group has a leader
 School offers excellent opportunities for group dynamics

Classroom as a group
 It is an instructional group which helps the members to satisfy the needs and achieve goals.
 It is a group to improve the behavior of the students.
 Development of mental process through intellectual activities
 Development of feeling of service and belonging

Aims of classroom
 Preparation of social life now as an adult
 Development of sense of belonging and developing community feeling
 Developing leadership quality


Group Dynamics
Group Dynamics is nothing but inter-relation or ‘interaction’ among the members of the group. “Group dynamics implies an interactive psychological relationship in which members of a group develop a common perception based on feeing and emotions.” Dynamics means force. Therefore group dynamics refers to forces operating with the group. It studies these forces, the factors that give them structure and sources that govern the status, positions and role relationships among members.
BUT the behavior of the group members is not static. It changes through interaction. Group dynamics offers the development of three skills.
 Skill for democratic living.
 Skill for better understanding.
 Skill for development of democratic leadership.
The teacher must know how groups work in her classroom. She should ensure that the group are not formed on the basis of caste, creed or religion etc. or based on sympathy, suggestion or imitation.
To bring change in the behavior and more learning in the classroom we must bring about changes in the characteristics of the group. Therefore we need to follow some group techniques in the classroom.

Group Activity in the class and in the School at large
 Counseling sessions by the teacher
 Buzz sessions
 Role playing
 Brain storming
 Recreational Activities, parties, picnics, dramatics
 Sports activities
 Project Method in teaching
 Co-operative learning

Individual Differences

Individual differences stand for the “Variations or deviations among individuals in regard to single characteristics or a number of characteristics. We distinguish from one individual to another. Therefore we are unique individuals. None of us are same as any other person in the world.
Following are the Individual Differences
 Intelligence
 Aptitudes
 Attitude
 Traits of personality
 Abilities
 Interest
 Looks Socio-economical, cultural

Determinants of Individual Differences

Heredity factors
1 Parents genes
2 Mother’s health, age emotional status
3 Father’s age, health, relationship with wife
4 Genetic history of both side of family.

Environment factors
1 Family background
2 Socio-economical condition
3 Parents education
4 Family culture
5 Friends & peers.

Individual Differences are mainly of three broad categories.
o Physical Differences
o Cognitive Difference
o Psycho-social or emotional difference.
We as teachers need to keep these individual differences in mind so that we can teach accordingly – so we can provide learning experiences accordingly. So the psychologists have suggested some educational implications.

Educational Implications of Individual Difference
1. Remember there will be a deviation in each classroom. Along with the average, the presence of v. superior and extremely dull is equally possible in the class.
2. Every teacher should have the knowledge of abilities, interest, capacities, attitudes, aptitudes and other personality traits of his pupils – The teacher, should provide guidance by keeping the above information in mind to develop each children’s potential.
3. One should not expect uniformity in gaining proficiency or success from all the students – They will differ
4. All the students cannot learn by one particular method or instruction and a rigid or uniform curriculum

Provisions for Individual Differences in school
1. Ability grouping
Homogeneous
Heterogeneous
Mixed group
2. Other measures of individualizing instruction
Smaller classes
Individual attention
Specially designed homework
Special coaching and guidance programme for both low achievers and gifted students
3. Adopting the methods for individualizing instruction and special programmes, One to one tutor project method, programme learning, Contract learning, Learning according to one’s own pace. Peer teaching, pair learning.
4. Adjusting the methods of teaching. Teaching style should be based on the learning style of student. Using VAKT (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and tactile learning experiences) Methods
5. Knowledge of individuals potentials i.e. I.q test, personality test, cumulatibve record and apptitude scale, interest invenstions.
6. Adjusting the curriculum, Flexible curriculum, co -curricular experiences, elective courses, Different streams of works/words

Exceptional Children

The term means rare or unusual, a kind of significant deviation from the usual, natural or normal happenings.

They may deviate
Mentally, Physically, Emotionally, Socially, Morally

Telford and Sawrey the term exceptional children refers to those who deviate from the normal in physical, mental, emotional, or social characteristics to such a degree that they require special social and educational services to develop their maximum capacity.

Types of Exceptional Children

1. Gifted and talented children: They are either having very high IQ that is 130 and above or they are talented in music, art, performing art, dance, sports or sculpture. These children can learn very fast and they have higher thinking abilities and they learn very fast. They can learn the concepts of higher classes at very early age.

2. Mentally Challenged Children (Mentally Retarded Children):
They are divided into three categories:
Educable Mental Retardation (EMR)
Trainable Mental retardation (TMR)
Custodial Mental retardation(CMR)
These retarded children need special education under the guidance of special educators, and they have to go to special schools to get their training.

3. Emotionally Handicapped Children: These children are emotionally disturbed and because of that they are maladjusted. They can be Neurotics and Psychotics or socially maladjusted so they need counseling, guidance and special help.
4. Socially Maladjusted or Handicapped Children: They are also known as juvenile delinquents. These children are socially maladjusted because they have emotional problems. Either they come from single parents home or they lack in parenthood, guidance and counseling. Because of that they commit crimes in the society and some times become violent. They need close supervision, love and guidance.
5. Learning Disabled Children: These children have difficulties in learning because of mental dysfunction. There IQ is normal. But they have difficulties in processing information. They can be off different types. Dyslexia (Difficulties in Reading), Dyscalculia (Difficulties in calculation), Dysgraphia (Difficulty in writing), Attention deficit disorder (ADD), Hyper Activity Disorder (HD) and Attention deficit with hyper activity disorder (ADHD) and Autistic children. They have social interaction problem and do not have language ability and they have problems in adjusting and interacting with other individuals.
6. Orthopedically challenged or handicapped children: They can be visually challenged, Deaf, Dumb and crippled children. These children need special methods to teach and also special equipment and computer assistance and teaching and learning. They need to go to special institutions to learn under the guidance of special educators.