Category Archives: Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Oh, How the Times Have Changed

Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence, Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond, Socioemotional and Psychological Development in Adolescence, Urban Adolescents

“As the historical record shows, the social, economic, and cultural aspects of adolescence have varied substantially across successive birth cohorts over the past 30 years in the United States. Young people born during the recessionary years of the early 1980s experienced a booming economy at high school graduation, unlike the experiences of those who were born several years before or later. The scarcity of job opportunities for high school and college graduates today will most likely be replaced by more abundant job opportunities for young people entering young adulthood in the coming decade. These socioeconomic variations tend to leave their mark on the life course as well as on the psyche of young people. The challenge for studies of adolescents in the future will be to incorporate such historical conditions into theoretical and empirical models rather than merely referring to them as contextual background. In other words, we need to directly query how changing circumstances have altered the development of young people.” (Johnson, Crosnoe, & Elder, 2011, p. 279)

I found it really interesting to read how adolescents have developed and are continuing to develop differently in comparison to the generations before them. The New York Times article (Cohen, 2010) highlighted many statistics that really brought to light how cultural and historical circumstances have impacted how quickly and in which way adolescents transition into adulthood. Continue reading Oh, How the Times Have Changed →

Let young adolescents be themselves

Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence, Creating Classroom Community, Socioemotional and Psychological Development in Adolescence, Urban Adolescents

“Unlike their high school counterparts, young adolescents haven’t yet gone underground with their experiments in who they want to be and how they want to behave. They try out the possibilities like actors improvising on a public stage, taking first one role and then another. They are still playing with lots of possible selves.” (Cushman, K., & Rogers, L. 2008, P14)
This is so true, and I like the last sentence “They are still playing with lots of possible selves” in particular. Young adolescents haven’t completely figured out what they want to be, what they want to do or how they want to behave because they are still going through a phase where they experience dramatic physical changes, amplified feelings and expanding minds so that they can act very differently when they are being different selves. The most important thing is that in this special stage, every “self” is extremely easily influenced by their peers, usually in bad ways. Continue reading Let young adolescents be themselves →

Middle Schoolers are people too!

Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence
MVP: “Teachers have a responsibility to guide students through adolescent years. If it sounds as if we expect teachers to be more like counselors instead of merely teachers, then you are beginning to comprehend the role of effective  middle level practitioners.”
“I don’t know how you do it! They’re so hormonal!”
“It takes a special kind of person to teach middle school.”
These are conversations I’ve had plenty of times with my 7th grade science teaching mother.  The article from What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know made me self aware in how I, an educator myself, often perpetuated the stigma of how troublesome middle schoolers can be. I found the article to be valuable in allowing teachers to reflect on the reasons behind middle school behavior and our role as educations in this setting.
I think it is common in many cases to find teachers of middle school students to be seen as victims who have to put up with these students, however this article made me very aware of how much students are victims of puberty and continuous changes both mentally and physically.  Rather than the same tone of fear I am guilty of taking with adolescents, the writers showed compassion by dissecting the many things students in this age group are experiencing. By being more considerate of the changes such as growth spurts, physical developments, and cognitive developments, educators are in a better position to put themselves in the shoes of their middle school students and react in ways that are proactive and accommodating to their needs.  After reading this article, I hope to be much more like the teacher who responded to his students constant trips to the bathroom as an obvious sign of self examination and act proactively in solutions rather than in consequences.

Parenting vs. Technology

Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence, Urban Adolescents

With all the neuroscience and writings in education, the best advice we may want to give to parents is what our own grandparents might have told us: to spend loving, quality time with our adolescents. Teenagers desperately need contact with their parents. They need to be involved in their families just at a time when they are trying to separate themselves from the family. As teachers, we know how crucial it is to guide them, influence them, and mold them. As much as they resist being molded and influenced, the fact is, they still need it…. Just as the young male Columbian mammoths used faulty judgment in advancing to unstable ground for better food, so will our adolescents increase risky behavior without parent and teacher intervention. (Philip, R., 74)

As I was walking home after school last week, I struck up a conversation with a mom who was concerned about her daughter. She claimed that my student had become a total different person after starting high school four weeks ago Continue reading Parenting vs. Technology →