Category Archives: Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond

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 →

MVP #2: Listen to the Students, Not the World

Culturally, Linguistically, and Socioeconomically Diverse Adolescents in Urban Contexts: Framing the Conversation, Observing to Learn and Learning to Observe, Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond, Urban Adolescents

“Children and adults are never solitary individuals, immune to the social and cultural forces around them. Gaining understanding of the cultural norms and assumptions we bring as teachers, as well as those brought by each of the students in our classes, is an often difficult task but is essential to providing a learning space that is welcoming and caring and sets up all students for academic and social success.”(Knoester, 2008, p.154)

This statement really highlights the importance of being self-aware and reflective of the biases and assumptions we bring with us into the classroom. We have all been influenced throughout our lives by our experiences, the ways in which we grew up and were raised, the environments we lived in, our cultural backgrounds, the traditions we practiced, etc. Continue reading MVP #2: Listen to the Students, Not the World →

You wouldn’t like it either

Observing to Learn and Learning to Observe, Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond, Urban Adolescents

“Like its puni- tive counterpart in education, zero tolerance policies, the three strikes law falls short of success, due to its focus on punishment and fear, rather than prevention and community empowerment” (Cramer et al., 2014, p. 464)

Regarding the zero tolerance policies, three strike laws that I read from the article, I feel that it put into perspective how many institutions (i.e schools) are putting much of their energy into false ideas of what solutions for students may be. Continue reading You wouldn’t like it either →

Mentors, Witches, and Intuition

Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond

“A trusting relationship with a mentor can thus provide a framework in which girls acquire and refine new thinking skills. To the extent that interactions with a mentor occur within this zone [Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development] of challenging, but attainable pursuits, the mental capacities of girls may increase and improve.” (Rhodes, Davis, Prescott, Spencer, 145-146)

In the article entitled, “Caring Connection: Mentoring Relationships in the Lives of Urban Girls,” it is clear that mentoring can be a tremendously important factor in the improvement of the lives of young girls. That said, the article did underscore the many issues that mentoring cannot directly address and the complexities innately related to measuring the progress of a population like this one. Continue reading Mentors, Witches, and Intuition →

Blame on the brain, not on me

Adolescent Brain, Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond

“Certainly social pressures are part of adolescent vulnerability, but perhaps more important is that the teenage brain lends itself to highly motivated exploration of the world in order to learn how to be an adult. This is the time to take risks! Apparently the stage of the brain construction during adolescence makes the brain more vulnerable to addiction that at any other time in life.” (Philip, 2006, p165)

Adolescents are more vulnerable to drug, alcohol and tobacco addiction, and parents usually think that their kids are going through a special stage where they easily get tempted by this kind of things. As it mentioned in the article, there are various reasons why teenagers become addicted, for example stress, emotional problems, family history, etc. Some parents understand that their kids at this age have great curiosity about things that only adults can do, want to explore the new outside world by themselves and enjoy the excitement of breaking the rules; however, the real reason is often neglected by parents that it is actually the brain construction that makes young adolescents more vulnerable. There are a lot of brain changes during adolescence such as loss of neuronal connections and forming of new connections, which lead to teenagers’ impulsive and risk-taking behaviors. Therefore, it would not be helpful if parents and teachers always blame teenagers on the addiction issues because in fact it’s not all their fault, the brain changes are something that they cannot control. Continue reading Blame on the brain, not on me →