Adolescent Learning Practices And Preferences

Adolescence is popularly known to be a very tumultuous stage in a person’s life. In the adolescent stage (also coined the identity vs. role confusion stage by theorist Erik Erikson) bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever.

In order to illustrate a key stage in the life course, I will be looking at the area of adolescence because I believe that this is one of the most critical life stages, with so many immense transitions young people go through. I have chosen to focus on adolescence because of a commitment to working with these vulnerable individuals aged from 14 to 19. We can no doubt all reflect on wrong choices we felt we made in our adolescence, and how our education and employment prospects may have benefited from good advice at this crucial juncture in life. I want to be able to guide vulnerable adolescents in the right direction and help them make the right choices, by understanding their needs, and supporting them in practical ways to live fulfilling and independent lives. From personal experience, I sincerely believe that with the right kind of guidance and attention, troubled teenagers can get back on track.

Many of us look up to someone important in our lives. This role model can be anybody, from “famous” individuals, fictional characters, and even “ordinary” people. Although they may be very different, each influences the lives of young people everyday. In Carl T. Rowan’s “Unforgettable Miss Bessie” and Mike Rose’s “I Just Wanna Be Average,” the authors demonstrate that one of the most common role models comes in the form of a teacher. Educators are said to be second in line after parents when it comes to influencing youth. They are trainers who play a crucial role in the development of students.

“…apart from the prime and given responsibility of teaching selected content and skills, middle school teachers must be about the business of helping students believe in themselves, form their character, discover their interests, nurture their potential, gain a sound perspective on their physical development and related health issues, and develop those universally and critically important humanitarian and social skills—all while daring them to be their best selves, to breath deeply, and to live well at the moment.”

In this paper I plan to discuss the developmental stages of adolescence. Adolescents are also referred to as "teenagers" or "young adults." Adolescence begins after the childhood stage and ends right before adulthood. The years of adolescence range from 12 years old to 21 years old. The years of adolescence can be quite a roller coaster ride. Young people in this stage encounter a great deal of changes in their life as they prepare for adulthood. I will discuss emotional, intellectual, physiological, and social domains of development and how it relates to adolescents. I will also discuss some helpful tips for teachers to aide in communicating effectively to adolescents and understanding their

School, everyone summons different thoughts and connotations whenever they hear that word. Although people range in their opinions of school, many can agree that schools all have the same goal: to educate their students. This is proving to be false; John Taylor Gatto provides evidence of this in his essay, “Against School.” Within this text he explains how schools are not educating students to be the best they can be, instead teachers are teaching them to become role players in today’s society and to be desensitized from their natural creativity. Gatto, a three time New York Teacher of the Year, has had his fair share of teaching. Gatto provides evidence to the audience that they have been wrong all along about the way a school functions. His ideals prove that the schooling systems in today’s society are not what they seem; schools are thought to develop and help a student unlock their full potential but through the evidence that Gatto provides us he shows that the education system does anything but that. He shows us this by appealing to the audience’s logos and pathos or their logical and emotional natures.

The National Middle School Association (NMSA) is now known as the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE). It has been a “voice for those committed to the educational and developmental needs of young adolescents” since 1973. This organization is the only national education association specifically committed to those in the middle level grades. There are over 30,000 members including principals, teachers, central office personnel, professors, college students, parents, community leaders, and educational consultants. The AMLE is recognized across the United States, Canada, and 46 other countries. In addition, AMLE has a network of “58 affiliate organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia that strengthen outreach to the regional, state, provincial, and local levels.” The Association for Middle Level Education’s mission is dedicated to improving the educational experiences of all students ages 10 to 15 by providing vision, knowledge, and resources to educators and leaders. (National Association of State Boards of Education, n.d., paragraph 1).

The book tells that “the thing that gives a cluster its power is a common, and unifying social narrative- a grand story that gives meaning and defines who’s in and who’s not.” Since most students spend their social time at school, there are some of the common facts about schools and themselves. For instances, students care about their graders rather than learning materials. School is such an anxious place for students. The authors then express their opinion that teachers should be the ones who do offer help to navigate life problems. To make sure, developmental need of each of students should be exposed by teachers as each person has different timing of that need. Furthermore, one of the social workers said “they are on the edge, that is for sure.” What it means is today’s teens are stressed out than ever before. It challenges adults to find different environments where can lead young people to taste meaningful practices and

The expectations for this assignment were to interview a young child between grades one and eight. I interviewed a child who is currently in the fifth grade and is nine years of age. For the purposes of confidentiality, she will be expressed as Grace Campbell. I decided to interview Grace because I knew that she is a very mature and intuitive little girl. The interview with Grace took place at her dance studio; Brooklin Dance Academy. I ensured that we could proceed with the interview with very little to no distractions. Throughout this essay I will be exploring the concept of switching rolls and understanding a child’s perspective of their learning in contrast to my own narrative. Everyone’s perspectives and views of the world are mirrored by what they’ve seen or experienced in life. Within this interview I will be interpreting Grace’s point of view through a teachers “lens” which is contrary to having typically been the student. Firstly, I will be explaining the criteria by which I used to choose the questions that were asked within the interview. I will then be contrasting my own educational narrative to that of Grace Campbell. Lastly, I will be exploring the possible effects of different student narratives in relation to learning in a classroom, learning environments in general, teacher involvement and students as individuals.

Many people endure three years of middle school and four years of high school. It is an eventful time for children between 11 to 18 years old. During the adolescent years there are hormonal changes, environmental changes and emotional developmental gains. Middle school is the beginning of transitioning towards independence under the constant eye of adults. During high school they are challenged with real-world challenges that help them transition into adulthood. The behaviors of these individuals change as the factors change around them. For every person, the experience of high school or middle school may be different. Either way, both have the same goal of wanting the student to succeed and evolve. Even so, the similarities and differences vary. Middle school and high school are alike in the areas of receiving an education, socializing with others, and having teachers while different in areas of maturity, difficulty in work, and independence.

Middle school learners are perhaps the most diverse group of students in education today. The differences that exist in every classroom, including gender, socio-economic class, linguistic and cultural background, learning style, and intellectual capacity, is increased by individual differences in developmental level. While all middle school students will progress through different developmental levels and display the characteristics inherent in each, they will reach and conquer these developmental milestones at difference times. Because of this difference in developmental maturity, students may also be at their most vulnerable, as they progress through stages they don’t understand and can’t control.

This essay will describe child and adolescent behaviours reported in the media and will examine the link to development theories, learning styles and sociocultural influences on child and adolescent development. As a developing secondary school preserve teacher, my focus will be mainly on adolescent behaviours and development. I will be examining an article from a media how these developmental theories analyses and helps us to understand the behaviour of child and adolescents. I will also try to explain about the domain of development such as physical, cognitive, emotional and social.

As a teacher, you must first understand that middle school students are at an awkward time in their lives. They are needy, hormonal, and their bodies are behaving in ways they have never struggled with before. Students around this age level crave the attention and opinions of their peers as well so as their instructors. Children are looking to find themselves, and they can be easily influenced by either a good seed or bad one.

Subjective data: complaints of blood tinged urine, incomplete emptying of bladder, burning on urination reported pain rated 5 on 1-10 scale

Everyone looks different on the outside, so why make them look the same on the inside? Adolescents are being enrolled into the school systems around the globe everyday, but are they being served the true ‘goals’ of an education? We are being taught what other adult figures think that we need to know, but the relevance may not be as suitable as you think Every student can learn, just not on the same day in the same way.