2.1: Individual Development
As students enter and experience adolescence, they undergo many changes and evolve into even more unique specimens of humanity than they likely were in primary school. The challenges that this period pose to parents may be little in comparison to the hundreds or thousands of these students descending upon schools every day. Bodies, minds, independence and relationships are all surging toward adulthood, and teachers must be aware of the impact these changes might have on motivation, cognitive ability, personality, and social conduct.
American education has not always had such a focus on the development of our youth. Examining a historical timeline of our system demonstrates a tendency to develop our students into a mold that met our contemporary societal needs. Even some of the new bandwagons in education can be traced back to old themes revisited with a fresh perspective. Teaching practices vary greatly over history through the following trends, but education recently is more openly recognizing a balanced curriculum that recognizes the benefits of each practice.
1860 transcription/copying
1870-1920 rule recitation
1900-1950 guided practice/ examples
1940-1950 drill & practice
1960 concept building
1970 story problems
1980-1990 problem-solving/creative thinking
1990-present BALANCE
Many of these popular teaching practices were born from emerging ideas and research that spawned theories about learning. The key contributors to today’s balanced teaching practices include: Thorndike (positive reinforcement and readiness), Gagne (early learning styles, cumulative component tasks), Pestalozzi and Froebel (experimentation—still the successful basis for American kindergarten and graduate schools), Bruner (structure, readiness, intuition and motivation), Dewey (deductive problem-solving, psychological and sociological aspects of learning), Ausubel (meaningful learning, prior knowledge, advanced organizers), Skinner (further analysis of positive, neutral and negative reinforcement), Bandura (practice leads to performance, social learning theories), Guilford (practice, trial and error, solution manuals), Weiner (motivation and effort), and Piaget (connects knowledge and maturity in a real-world context).
As we learn more about our students, both who they are today and who they have the potential to become, our methods adapt to support that potential. Increasingly diversified student populations, abundant career paths or other post-secondary options, and culture clashes require us to take the best of all methods and continue to adapt and enhance them for the benefit of our students’ physical, mental, social and academic well-being.
The physical changes of adolescence can impact a student’s self-esteem and motivation more than anything else. School can seem like a lonely and judgmental place where an adolescent is surrounded by multitudes of peers. Insecurities allow them to believe everyone else has been spared whatever imperfection they are most self-conscious about at any given time. This focus clouds the perception of their own redeeming qualities. Teachers must have an acute sensitivity to the impressionable adolescent and their tendencies to inadequate themselves by modeling confidence, acknowledging their own imperfections, embracing individuality, providing a supportive classroom community, and showing an appreciation for our humanity and inherent uniqueness.
Whether entering middle school or high school, students face an intimidating mix of familiar faces with strangers, a more diverse culture and mammoth facility. It is a time when cliques grow stronger and more exclusive as adolescents seek to a sense of belonging and validation. New relationships are formed. Some old relationships flourish while other long-time friends drift inexplicably apart. For the first time, adolescents begin to have the ability to explain why they like or dislike something or someone. Values take shape from childlike conscience and belief systems are defined. This is a defining experience that teachers influence by offering insight, experience and guidance in their daily opportunities to touch a student’s life.
We want desperately for all students to “do the right thing” all the time, sometimes forgetting, even as teachers, that we learn the most important lessons from our mistakes. Teachers should also understand that “the right thing” is not necessarily the same thing for any two individuals. Lawrence Kolhberg outlined Six Stages of Moral Reasoning that help illustrate this point. Although his “stages” are now more popularly appreciated as circumstantial or categorical, they thoroughly describe the thought patterns and justifications that support two very different decisions as the “right” one based upon an individual’s situation.
The moral reasoning example leads directly to a discussion of the Piagetan model. Jean Piaget was a retired scientist who, while observing his grandchildren’s growth and development, began to research more analytically connect some of his observations in a theoretical fashion. His Cognitive Development Theory outlined a linear progression of cognition from the very early toddler years through adolescence. A unique look at cognitive development through the eyes and experiences of our children, it formalizes such ideas as readiness and critical thinking, ideas which quickly serve as models for science and math education. Although his theory has also become more accepted as skill levels rather than stages, the ideas have begun to be implemented in all areas of the curriculum. Problem-solving has never been more greatly appreciated across all content areas than it is today. As teachers, we value the process of learning as much as the product, and our students learn how to learn while they learn how to read, write, draw, calculate, etc.
That process of learning has also taken on a new face. Discovering and embracing learning styles not only helps teachers be more effective instructors, but student awareness and knowledge is beneficial as well. To understand one’s learning style (check out my style) and be able to manipulate the strategies and performance of one’s education is an amazing gift. As I began my student teaching, I assessed the learning styles of each of my three Honors Geometry classes. I wanted to create three different class focuses: writing, problem-solving/proof, and constructions. The learning styles assessments allowed the students to take the test online and associate themselves with a group that was defined as their class. As verified instructor, I am able to view their individual reports as well as class data. The class data helped me determine which classes would be most engaged and successful in each focus area. The experience has been amazingly fun for me and the class, and I look forward to assessing the focus results as the school year draws close to an end. Did the writing class perform better as a result of their writing assignments and analyses? Were the students who made manipulatives and drafted more geometric constructions than the others able to make better connections to the content? Will my problem-solvers perform better proofs or problems that require more creative methods? Most importantly, regardless of the focus area, did the individualized work that was suited to a particular learning style inspire deeper understanding and improved performance across the board for all students?
My mentor teacher was a psychology major who never intended to become a teacher, but one of those who has found himself teaching and cannot give it up. His perspectives are unique because of his background. He is a master of analyzing and managing behavior. He understands and practices behavior-focused discipline that attacks particular behaviors without passing personal judgment against a student. I enjoy his easy yet analytical nature, because I know it is rooted in knowledge, experience, and the best interest of the individual student.
It requires additional effort, but teachers are becoming more accountable for individualizing curriculum in cases that used to be categorized as “normal.” Just as we value individuality among our family or co-workers, it is important to value it in our students as well and transfer that value to their learning. We must be conscientious about the diversity of our students and recognize improved performance, even if it is still sub-standard. For some of these kids, if teachers are not genuinely building their self-esteem, they have few if any other models in their life from which to receive recognition. In addition to the dispensing of knowledge, the school and classroom becomes a community that offers social support and life skills in addition to academic objectives.
