It’s something of a truism that middle school is an awkward time. Kids at this age are starting to mature past childhood, but they’re a long way from being reasoning adults. On top of that, because young adolescents develop at different rates and have different life experiences, a single classroom can contain students at all the different stages along the journey. As Phyllis Fagell writes in Middle School Matters, one middle school student might be fretting about whether it’s OK to sip his father’s alcohol, while another might worry that he’s already a father. For these reasons, Fagell says, “When kids make the big leap from 6th grade to 8th grade, there’s no such thing as an average middle schooler” (p. 12).
All of this is a perfect formula for drama. And drama is the prevailing narrative about middle school. It’s the narrative that drove Nancy Deutsch’s 3rd-grade daughter to perceive middle school as a miserable place, as Deutsch explains in her article in this month’s Kappan. But middle school need not be about misery. Yes, all the transitions young adolescents experience are fertile ground for conflict and confusion, but they are also fertile ground for growth. We can reframe the narrative.
Because young adolescence is such fertile ground, middle schools need to provide students with opportunities to explore and grow.
Deutsch, whose research focuses on remaking middle schools, helps us by breaking down the stereotypes about middle school, showing us that many of the negative stereotypes have a positive flip side. For example, instead of seeing young adolescents’ increased propensity to take risks as something to fear, we can see it as an opportunity to encourage them to try new things. And instead of perceiving young adolescents’ inward focus as selfishness, let’s recognize it as a natural part of identity formation and an opportunity to help them establish identities as vital members of a community.
Because young adolescence is such fertile ground, middle schools need to provide students with opportunities to explore and grow. Deutsch suggests that schools incorporate project-based learning (PBL), and Steven Wolk offers guidance in this issue on what PBL can look like and why it’s valuable for all students at all ages. Dani Tinkel argues that middle schools need to ensure that students are adequately challenged so that they’ll see the benefits of being engaged in their schoolwork instead of becoming bored and shutting down.
Growth, however, is not just about academics. In her interview, Alma Lopez, the 2022 National School Counselor of the Year, discusses how important it is to help middle schoolers build social connections, especially when so many of them missed key developmental opportunities for socialization during the pandemic. Jessica T. Schiller and Inte’a DeShields demonstrate how social and academic growth can feed each other. Their near-peer literacy program challenged and engaged Black middle schoolers as they learned from college tutors about their African heritage. Programs like this capitalize on young adolescents’ desire for social connection by linking them with near peers, and leverage their interest in identity by offering lessons relevant to their cultural backgrounds.
Each of these approaches responds not to the stereotypes about young adolescents but to where they are in their development. Being in the middle means opportunities for growth on all sides. The job of adults is to prepare the soil so growth can happen.
Reference
Fagell, P.L. (2019). Middle school matters: The 10 key skills kids need to thrive in middle school and beyond — and how parents can help. Da Capo.
This article appears in the October 2022 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 2, p. 4.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Teresa Preston
Teresa Preston is an editorial consultant and the former editor-in-chief of Phi Delta Kappan and director of publications for PDK International, Arlington, VA.
Visit their website at: https://prestoneditorial.com/
