Running Head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 1

Individual Differences Profile

Gabriela Shanice Gerhardt

Instructor: Samra Culum

EDUC 205: Development/Individual Differences

Spring 2020
 Individ 2

Individual Differences Student Profile

Akeelah has discovered a talent. A talent she never thought of pursuing even further. She

knew there’s more words in this world but never imagined of learning Latin, Greek, and French

words. She loved playing Scrabble on the computer and learning new words. It was ​information

processing​ she was gaining while learning new words. It wasn’t until one day in class, her

teacher, Ms. Cross, asked if she could stay after class. Akeelah’s been struggling with turning in

assignments. Ms. Cross believed she could be her best student in class and gave her a flyer for

the Crenshaw Middle School Spelling Bee. Ms. Cross knew Akeelah could be amazing at the

spelling bee. Mr. Welch also believed she would be great. No one knew how far she could go

with her spelling until Dr. Larabee tested her skills at the Crenshaw spelling bee. It was then

Akeelah was asked by the principal to join for the district spelling bee, work her way to regionals

and then go to nationals. She had her own techniques for learning new words and learned how to

gain more confidence in herself. Akeelah was surrounded by love and support to get through the

challenges she had to face. Now, let me tell you how she made it to the Nationals.

General Information

Akeelah is an eleven year old girl in 7th grade attending Crenshaw Middle School at

South Los Angeles. She lives in an ​extended-family household​ with her mother, sister and

niece, and brother. Her father passed away when she was six years old. She has another brother

that is in the army. Akeelah has three siblings all together and she is the youngest out of the four

of them. Her daily schedule​ ​was walking to and from school. It looked like she would walk home

from school with her best friend Georgia. After school, I saw her on her computer playing
 Individ 3

Scrabble until dinner was ready. She would then sit with her mom and siblings to eat a family

dinner.

Physical Development

Akeelah is tall, with semi-long, curly hair, with dark brown eyes, and dark skin. She

definitely has the attitude of a teenager but still acts like her age. She looks healthy for her age.

She talks and hears well. She doesn’t listen but that’s normal for a child. There was a scene that

shows she is right handed. She looks like she’s at a healthy weight. She did say she skips P.E.

Akeelah complained to Dr. Larabee about carrying a heavy book. He said, “Good! It will

develop arm muscles.”

Cognitive Development

Akeelah is a seventh grader at Crenshaw Middle School. It was said she skipped the

second grade. She doesn’t do her school assignments but she gets a 100% on her spelling tests.

It’s the ​experience-dependent brain growth​ she’s experienced while learning French, Greek

and Latin. She’s learning new words from new cultures. She seems to be only interested in

learning new words. Akeelah is incredibly smart when memorizing new words.

Socio-emotional Development

Akeelah seems to be very friendly but ​low self-esteem​. She doesn’t want to be made fun

of or judged. That’s her reason for not joining the spelling in the first place. She was afraid of

being called a maniac. There’s a couple of girls her age or a year older than she is that makes fun

of her. She does alot of ​social comparisons​ between herself and the other girls at her school.

The only ​friendship​ Akeelah had was with her best friend Georgia. After joining the District

spelling bee, she gained a friendship with Javier. He introduced himself and invited her to his
 Individ 4

birthday party in Woodland Hills. He was very friendly and invited her to study with his group of

friends at his school.

Her attitude towards adults is different compared to talking to her peers. She does what

she can to not get in trouble with her mother. She doesn’t like to disobey her. Her mother had

some struggles at the beginning. She was more concerned about Akeelah’s grades and Terrance,

her big brother not coming home on time after school. She wasn’t paying any attention to

Akeelah. Every time Akeelah tried talking to her mom about the spelling bee she didn’t want to

hear it. Akeelah forged her father’s name to join the regional spelling bee. Once her mother

received a phone call from Javier’s mother she made her way to the regionals and pulled Akeelah

out of the spelling bee. Akeelah admitted to forging her father’s name. She did not follow the

corregulation​ her mother had for her. She let her mother know that she hasn't been paying any

attention to her. Her mother didn’t want to hear what she had to say about the bee. Ever since

that moment, ​parental self-worth​ was shown. She began to support Akeelah and started paying

more attention to her. She bettered herself for the sake of her children that needed her attention.

Akeelah gave Mr. Welch, her principal attitude until he became the person to help her out

by being by her side at the spelling bees. She was convinced to join the spelling bee at Crenshaw

Middle School when he said Akeelah wouldn’t have to attend summer school. Joining the

spelling bee will be the credit she needs to not attend summer school. After Mr. Welch saw

Akeelah be tested by Dr. Larabee, Mr. Welch knew she had potential to win the district spelling

bee. He asked Dr. Larabee to coach Akeelah.

Dr. Larabee began coaching Akeelah but not right away. He knew she had potential but

she wasn’t showing she wanted to win. She showed up late to her first lesson. He told her to stop
 Individ 5

with the ghetto talk and learn to talk right. She talked back to him and stormed off. She was

thinking she didn’t need a coach for the spelling bee. At the district spelling bee, Akeelah was

lucky to spell another word to become the 10th runner up in the regionals spelling bee. She got

lucky. Dr. Larabee was there to see how she was doing without a coach. Akeelah later then

arrived at his house apologizing. They both worked together to increase Akeelah’s spelling

skills.

Once Akeelah became confident in gaining her spelling skills, she learned she was

surrounded by love and support. There was a ​process of praise​ everyone was showing her. They

all believed in her and supported her with every step she took to get to the National Spelling Bee.

At this moment, she was going through the third stage of ​Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental

theory, Concrete Operational Stage​. Concrete Operational Stage is when thoughts become

logical, flexible, and organized to concrete information. Akeelah was able to learn to be more

flexible with her own thoughts. She learned how others felt too. It was a moment that her

thoughts became clear on what she wanted to do.

Summary of Major Findings

Akeelah is talented in her learning skills to spelling words. It is amazing for her to learn

so many words while joining the spelling bees for the first in her life. At the beginning, she

rehearsed​ her words. She said the word and spelled it. She was ​working her memory capacity​.

Dr. Larabee helped her work on her memory capacity when she thought she couldn’t learn all of

these words. Akeelah used a couple of strategies to win. From the very beginning, tapping the

side of her body helped her remember the words. She then learned the strategy of jumping rope

and spelling at the same time. Dr. Larabee wanted her to learn to take all distractions out.
 Individ 6

Akeelah learned ​organization​ with the help of Dr. Larabee by teaching her big words come from

little words. While learning new words, she became dependent on Dr. Larabee. Once he told her

there was nothing left for him to teach her she fell apart. She depended on him to help her and to

be by her side. It was the support of her mother who talked to Dr. Larabee about how upset

Akeelah was. He then told her mother that she is surrounded by coaches starting with her. Once

Akeelah learned she was surrounded by coaches, she was unstoppable. She’s showing

Erickson’s theory, Industry versus Inferiority​. Industry versus Inferiority is resolved

positively when experiences lead children to develop a sense of competence at useful skills and

tasks. The useful skills and tasks that she learned through the process of becoming a National

Spelling Bee champion helped her be that champion.

It was just the beginning of accomplishing these challenges Akeelah had to face while

wanting to win the National Spelling Bee. She was pushed to be amazing. She was taught to be

amazing. She was supported by her friends, family, teacher, principal, and the community. She

told Dr. Larabee she couldn't do it without him. It was that extra support she needed from him to

be the best speller she can be. She never knew what kind of potential she had until she made new

friends and gained more support that never knew she needed. That’s how she became the winner

of the National Spelling Bee.

Work Cited

Berk, L. E., & Meyers, A. B. (2016). ​Infants, Children, and Adolescents​ (8th ed.) Pearson

Education.