Value young adolescents

AMLE says:

Educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them. Effective middle grades educators make a conscious choice to work with young adolescents and advocate for them. They understand the developmental uniqueness of this age group, the appropriate curriculum, effective learning and assessment strategies, and their importance as models.

It means:

Educators should enjoy working with adolescents, know with whom they're working, and work to better their lives.  Address the fact that students at this age are changing physiologically, emotionally, developmentally.  Design curriculum, lessons, and flexible assessments (or as flexible as your school will permit) that address or leave room to address issues at large that young adolescents encounter -- bullying, puberty, identity formation -- as well as individual issues that are equally relevant to the lives of students -- diversity, special abilities, needs, and interests.  Validate their existence as intelligent young beings who have something to contribute to society.  It's not that young adolescents are dumb; they simply are in the process of acquiring the life experience that their adult counterparts have hopefully already acquired over the course of years.  Help them acquire it, through integrative learning and interdisciplinary studies.  Economics and "social studies" are inextricably linked in the real world; why shouldn't they be in school?  Educators need to be role models for students, modeling the behavior they hope their students to develop.  They need specific preparation before teaching middle level students, as well as continuing professional development opportunities.  

 

Example:

Wilson Middle School has a Girls' Group.  Candace Shay, a seventh-grade science teacher at the school, created it in 1997 for her master's degree, and found that adolescent girls have low self-esteem compared to boys.  She wanted them to learn self-acceptance.  When Jena Waters, who was raised by her father and grandmother and had difficulty finding a female mentor as a young adolescent, began student teaching, Ms. Shay invited her to help out.  She mentored the after school group, which meets each week to discuss positive body image, etiquette, professional success, self-esteem, and bullying, and became the coordinator.  Meetings have anywhere from 25-30 girls to standing room only and feature a new topic each week.  The group proactively recommends those who have been bullied or who may have low self-esteem.  To celebrate the positive changes or development in members, the group had a special event with spa services, dinner, dessert, and a guest speaker who is a (female) leader in the community. 

Girls' Group meeting. Source

Why it works:

Wilson Middle School is fortunate enough to have two teachers, Ms. Shay and Ms. Waters, who not only enjoy working with adolescents, but also care enough to proactively create an avenue to target and aid young women in forming positive identities.  The issues that Girls' Group addresses helps to ensure that these young women have a safe place to go to for help.  Having a culminating event as described above not only shows them a "real-world" role model (although Ms. Shay and Ms. Waters are undoubtedly also role models for these young women), but also exposes them to integrative learning: learning from a woman who has gone through some of the changes they have gone through, and succeeded to a leadership role in agencies serving the community, is a powerful message.

My classroom/school:

My school is actually rolling out with a Girls' Club of its own, but not inspired by this article.  It is meant to address the fact that 50 new students are coming to my high school site, although only 3 graduated, and that about 20% of them are girls.  Combined with the young women already attending my site, there is a blatant need to support females since they are in the overwhelming minority.  There is also a blatant need to help them form positive identities, especially with respect to body rights.  Many of the students, male and female, are unaware of body rights whatsoever, and especially among female students, there is a high rate of sexual abuse.  This club will help teach them about body rights, and also address personal interests, girly stuff (e.g. painting nails, boy bands), and whatever else is interesting to them.  Needless to say, the head honcho -- aka principal -- of my school is a very powerful female herself, who is well known in the ASD and special education community.