When walking in the woods, sunshine can illuminate a path that has been taken by others, making a journey a bit easier, and offering the opportunity for you to discover what they had discovered. Let’s shed a little light on those who created the Middle Level paths for us. Now is the time to reawaken, enliven, and celebrate early lessons from Middle Level Education.
Summary:
10-14 Year olds can be mysterious creatures. But those who have gone before us can help see the path to reaching these students.
Watch the entire keynote here!
The Magic Formula for Young Adolescents
Answering these 4 questions in this order:
- Who? (What are the developmental characteristics of young adolescents?)
- What? (What does who these kids are today, societal expectations, and the disciplines of knowledge say about what these students should learn?)
- How? (What does who these students are and what they should be learning say about how they should be learning?)
- How to Structure School? (
Remember: “Who?” drives “What?” and “How?”, which in turn drive “School Structure”
Who? (Developmental Characteristics of Young Adolescents)
Physical Development
- Undergoes more developmental change than any other time except birth to two – Accelerated and uneven
- Bones grow faster than muscles – clumsiness, restlessness, and growing pains
- Puberty and release of hormones (girls 1-2 yrs ahead of boys)
- Brain has remarkable development – executive function developing
Intellectual Development
- Tend to be curious and display wide-ranging interests
- Eager to learn about topics they find interesting and useful – personally relevant
- Favor active learning & interacting with peers when learning
- Develop ability of abstract thought & complex reasoning
Moral Development
- Lifetime attitudes, beliefs, & values develop now
- Develop own personal values (but connected to values of parents and key adults)
- Be idealistic and have a strong sense of fairness
- Transition from self-centered perspective to considering the rights and feelings of others
Psychological Development
- Identity formation and quest for independence
- Seek own sense of individuality and uniqueness, while still striving to maintain peer approval
- Tendency to be moody, restless, and demonstrate inconsistent behavior
Social-Emotional Development
- Often lags behind physical and intellectual development
- Strong need to belong to a group – peer approval become more important than adult approval
- Often experiment with new behaviors
- Torn between desire to conform and to be independent
- Start to feel romantic/sexual attraction and develop sexual identity
- Tend to emulate esteemed peers and non-parent adults
Responding to Young Adolescent Developmental Characteristics
Reaching 10-14 year olds depends on understanding their developmental characteristics and practices harmonious with those characteristics (cut with the grain, not against it).
Responding to Physical Development (more physical change than anytime except birth to two years):
- Explain that these changes are natural and common – Respond to questions and provide accurate information
- Health and science curricula that explain changes – Appropriate instruction in risks of alcohol, drug use, teen pregnancy & sexually transmitted diseases
- Access to plenty of water and healthy food
- Opportunities to move
- Minimize peer competition
Responding to Intellectual Development (curiousity; wanting to understand their world; growing into abstract thought):
- Build upon their individual experiences and prior knowledge
- Focus on experiential, active learning and authentic learning experiences
- Provide a breadth of activities from concrete, structured experiences to challenging activities
- Help students understand how they think
- Need to interact with their world
Responding to Moral Development (forming attitudes/beliefs; idealistic; beginning to consider other’s rights and feelings):
- Organize learning activities that foster critical thinking and higher levels of moral reasoning
- Activities that require consensus building & application of democratic principles
- Design experiences to examine moral dilemmas and contemplate responses
- Experiences to examine concepts of fairness, justice, and equity
- Focus on societal issues such as environment, poverty, or racial discrimination
Responding to Psychological Development (seeking identity and independence; vulnerable; can be moody and restless):
- Learning experiences that allow for exploration, and experiment with various roles – role-playing, drama, and reading
- Opportunities for student choice and self-assessment
- Help build student sense of self-esteem through opportunities to do esteem-able acts
- Schools provide structures such as teaming and advisory programs
- Activities to promote atmosphere of friendliness, concern and group cohesiveness and are free from harsh criticism, humiliation, and sarcasm
Responding to Social-Emotional Development (Want to belong to group; experiment with new behaviors; Starting to feel romantic/sexual attraction):
- Recognize importance of peer relationships and friendship
- Provide occasions for positive peer interactions, including cooperative learning & collaborative experiences
- Opportunities for argumentation or debate in academic settings
- Provide for teaming, service learning, student government, service clubs, etc.
What? & How? (Instructional Innovation)
- Integrated Curriculum
- Hands on Activities
- Projects
- Planning with Students
- Cooperative Learning
- Less Dependence on Textbooks
Curriculum Integration
Types of Curriculum Integration Boil Down to 3 Characteristics
- Themes (yes or no)
- Subject Area Boundaries (yes or no)
- Planned with Students (yes or no)
James Beane Approach to Integrated Curriculum
- Find themes at the intersection of 2 questions:
- What are your questions and concerns about yourself?
- What are your questions and concerns about the world?
- Plan with students how to study those themes?
- What to societal expectations and the disciplines of knowledge say about how to study those themes?
- A Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric to Reality
The 8-Year Study – Proving the Effectiveness of Curriculum Integration
- The Story Of The Eight-Year Study With Conclusions And Recommendations Volume I
- The Eight-Year Study: From Evaluative Research to Demonstration Project, 1930–1940
- Eight-Year Study: Purpose, Method, Results
How to Structure School? (Middle Level School Organization)
- Teaming
- Common Planning Time
- Teachers Looping
- Advisory
- Exploratory
- Block Scheduling
Resources:
Middle Level Legacy Project
- The Legacy of Middle School Leaders: In Their Own Words – Book
- The Middle Level Legacy Video Series – Overview
- The Middle Level Legacy Video Series– Videos
- Founders highlighted in the Keynote:
- William Alexander
- John Arnold
- Jim Beane
- Ed Brazee
- Kenneth McEwin
- Mark Springer
- John Swaim
- Sue Swaim
- Gordon Vars
- Tom Dickinson
- Nancy Doda
- Tom Erb
- John Lounsbury
Successful Schools for Young Adolescents:
- The Successful Middle School: This We Believe (AMLE)
- The Middle School Model and Successful Middle School Program (AMLE)
Developmental Characteristics of Young Adolescents:
- Engaging Students in Learning: Key Actions
- Developmental Characteristics of Young Adolescents (and Implications for Practice)
The Adolescent Brain:
- Positive and negative spirals and the plasticity of the adolescent brain – UNICEF
- The Adolescent Brain: A Second Window of Opportunity – UNICEF
Resources:
- Young Adolescent Development & School Practices: Promoting Harmony
- This We Believe in Action: Implementing Successful Middle Level Schools
- Meet Me in the Middle
- AMLE – Association for Middle Level Education
- MAMLE – Maine Association for Middle Level Education (NOTE: new URL!)
- NELMS – New England League of Middle Schools
Mike’s Sites:
- Mike’s Consulting: StudentLearning.Guru
- Mike’s Day Job: Learning Through Technology Director, MSAD 44 (Bethel Area Schools)
- Mike’s Blogs and Resources: https://mikemuir.us
- Educator Micro-credentials: iLearnMaine.org
Student Learning Guru 