Running Head: “THIS I BELIEVE….

” PHILOSOPHY

“This I Believe….” Philosophy Statement on the Teaching Middle School

Shannon Baglanis

EDML 441

Dr. Emma Savage-Davis

November 16, 2017

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Young adolescence is a unique time in a child’s life and they must be educated in a way

that specifically meets the unique intellectual, physical, social, emotional, developmental, and

moral needs of 10 to 15 year olds. Middle School educator preparation programs are geared to

solely focus on this age group so educators are fully prepared to teach adolescents. Young

adolescents are diverse which means educators must incorporate different races, culture, and

abilities into instruction.

Young Adolescents are undergoing immense physical change as they go through puberty.

The rate at which adolescents develop are different from each other and can be a source of

hardship for adolescents are they interact with their peers. Educators must help adolescents

develop healthy habits such as exercise, eating correctly, and respecting themselves. At this time

in their lives adolescents need caring adults to guide them through as they are eager to interact

and learn from adults. Educators must also help young adolescents formulate positive moral

principles that reflect their personal family and cultural needs. What young adolescents learn in

middle school will be what they use as their base for high school where they will experience

immense peer pressure and pressure to succeed in school. If educators help adolescents formulate

positive moral principles they will be more likely to engage in safe practices.

During adolescence, students begin to form metacognition and independent thought.

They become curious and explore many different things that interest them in order to find what

they like best. Their capacity for abstract though becomes wider, they test hypotheses and

analyze data, understand metaphors, argue opinions, and challenge adult authority. Adolescents

are more concerned with the real world around them then they are with content related matters in

social studies, English, math, or science.

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Through moral development young adolescents start challenging previous thoughts about

moral issues. Before this time in their lives they believed what adults such as parents or teachers

told them and followed their rules without questions. When they reach this stage, they begin to

form their own opinions on moral issues and challenge adults. They will no longer accept trivial

answers without and explanation for why things are the way that they are. During moral

development adolescents move from being self-centered to caring about others. Males tend to

focus on justice and females tend to focus on interpersonal care. Adolescents are unprepared to

cope with their complex moral questions which is why educators play a key role in developing

adolescents moral reasoning. As educators, we can use the relationship between adolescents

intellectual and moral development to help them experience and formulate responses to complex

moral issues.

Adolescents are extremely concerned with what their peers think of them and they

constantly seek approval from them. As young adolescents develop they explore different peer

groups in order to find the one that fits them best. They move away from their need for adult

approval and solely focus on their peers. The desire to gain approval from peers can have

positive and negative consequences of young adolescents. They may be pressured into trying

things such as drugs or alcohol and begin to experience romantic feelings towards peers.

Although young adolescents try to be independent and often rebel against adults, we must afford

them opportunities to interact with their peers in safe spaces through group work and school

wide programs. Ensuring that adolescents develop positive social and emotional attributes it will

improve their academic achievements.

The essential attributes of a successful middle school education must have instruction that

is developmentally responsive, challenging, empowering, and equitable. Instruction that is

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developmentally responsive focuses specifically on young adolescents and their unique needs.

Educators must hold students to high standards that challenge each student to try to the best of

their ability. Educators must also empower students by teaching them the content and skills they

will need to succeed in future endeavors. Instruction must be equitable, which I believe is the

most important characteristic because educators must always be advocating for their students.

We must make sure each student is given the opportunities to succeed and have their needs met.

These four essential attributes are then broken down into three categories; curriculum,

instruction, and assessment; leadership and organization; and culture and community. Within

these categories it is broken down into 16 characteristics. These characteristics are important for

educators to follow in order to ensure adolescents are successful.

The middle school movement transformed junior high into the middle school method it is

today. Middle schools are grades 6-8, with four content based classes of english, social studies,

science, and math. Students also take exploratory classes such as gym, music, art, or technology.

As middle school founding father, Gordon Vars, believes, the middle school schedule should be

flexible and follow the block method which has content classes being longer. Educators must use

team planning to ensure effective instruction is given to all students. Teachers meet with other

teachers of their content areas as well as other teachers at their grade level to exchange ideas and

effective teaching practices. Teaching is not a profession that can be done in isolation it must be

team effort or student will suffer. Vars also advocated for advising programs in the middle

school. Since adolescents need to have caring adults in their lives and feel that teachers really

care about them, teachers are given a group of students they are expected to meet with multiple

times a week in order to make sure they are doing well and to help them with academic and
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personal problems. These characteristics of the middle school structure are important for each

middle school to have.

I believe that these characteristics are the best practices to ensure adolescents needs are

met. As educators, our role is to advocate for our students and advocate for incorporation of the

best practices for the benefit of our students. I believe the advising program is important and

should be implemented at all middle schools. I understand some teachers may be against this

because it adds to their already immense work load but I believe making sure each student feels

they are cared for, valued, and important is the biggest thing that can make or break them

personally and academically. If adolescents do not feel safe in their environment they will not be

successful in any aspect of their development.

In today’s society, family dynamics are constantly changing. Many students come from

various different families such as divorce, single parent households, or are raised by other family

members. As educators, we must get to know our student’s family lives in order to make sure to

open effective communication with the parents or adults in charge as well as to make sure we are

aware of and sensitivities the students may have with their family situations. It is very important

for family to be involved with the student and the school community. When family is involved

students are more likely to succeed academically. Unfortunately, many students do not have a lot

of family support. Educators must help those students as best as they can to supplement for the

lack of support they receive. Educators must also be understanding to student’s various family

structures and change their practices accordingly. Parents have a huge impact on student’s

motivation, behavior, and academic abilities. As a future educator one of my top priorities will

be to keep communication lines with my student’s families open and always encourage, never

force parent involvement. If students don’t think their parents care about their schooling then
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they will be less likely to care about their own schooling. As teachers, we must always encourage

our students to do their best and help them in any way we can.

As a future teacher, I know my biggest role is in aiding young adolescents in all aspects

of their development. A big part of that is to continue professional development. I plan to

participate in any and all opportunities my school and district offer to better my development as a

teacher. I want to always be aware of and try to implement the best practices for young

adolescents. I will also make sure to always be planning with my team and feeding off of my

colleagues. I believe that a teacher’s best resource are fellow teachers, especially as a new

teacher I will need to seek advice from more veteran teachers at my school. Not only are fellow

teachers important to my professional development but so are staff such as counselors, social

service workers, and home-school coordinators. All of these roles are very important for me to

understand and utilize when I need help or have questions about a student. Counselors will be

able to help my students with more intimate personal problems that I will be unable to give my

undivided attention to. As a teacher, I will always be looking out for my students and if I suspect

there is a problem in their life or at home I will utilize these resources to help my students.

My short-term goal for my professional development in my first three years of teaching is

to attend as many professional development workshops, activities, and conferences as possible. I

believe these will benefit me and that I need to gain as much professional development as

possible in my first few years of teaching so I can immediately begin applying what I learn to my

teaching practices. My long-term goals are to continue attending professional development

workshops, activities, and conferences but really focusing on fine tuning my teaching practices. I

will always keep up to date on new findings through the AMLE and adjust my teaching practices

as it is necessary to provide the most benefit my students.

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References

National Middle School Association. (2010). This we believe: Keys to educating young

adolescents. Westerville, Ohio: National Middle School Association.