Community and Understanding

This week, my attention was caught by the piece entitled Turning Points. This piece caught my attention as it not only because it points out the issues that the youth of today are facing ranging from the choices and pressures that adolescents face to the very social fabric of the times in which they live having become less defined, but also because it focuses on a plan for action that can be undertaken by teachers in order to attempt to assist students during these times of change. In particular the strategy suggested in the article of creating communities of learning struck me as this is a policy I wholeheartedly believe in.

            The concept of a community of learners is based around the idea that a stable, respectful environment in which all voices can be heard is a means by which students can achieve intellectual achievement and personal growth. The concept extends outside of the classroom with students taking what they have learned in the classroom back into the community where they can practice it in their own households and neighborhoods, thus furthering their education. The community of learners is a basic concept which can allow students to think critically as well as outside of the box due to the open nature of discussion, allowing students to obtain ideas and personal preferences from others, which in turn can make them think further about their own ideas and principles, perhaps leading to a learning experience, and change to occur within society over time.

Bashing Teens: The Impact on their Education

In Reading the chapters for this week, I was particularly interested with the piece by Mike Males, and how it depicts the media as being a primary assailant to the character of teenagers. He depicts a society in which the media is quick to blame and pass judgment on teenagers, even using its means of spreading information as a scare tactic against teens. I feel that in many ways that this is an accurate portrayal, because as Males says, our society is quick to pass judgment on teens, even labeling them as predisposed to mass amounts of violence. People are quick to pass judgment and hand out consequences, because they feel that teenagers have “lost their way” and thus need reformation, while no blame is placed elsewhere.

            I feel that this is part of the reason that teenagers are distant at times, because they do not know who to trust due to scare tactics such as with sexual education and STD’s, and school shootings. This has made them more difficult than ever to fully reach as an educator. Youth bashing is something, which seems to have become more and more accepted within “adult” society, as many are more than willing to jump on an anti teenage bandwagon. These practices are part of why this age group has become at times difficult to reach within the classroom as teenagers may not feel a part of society due to restrictions placed on them, and accordingly we as educators must work to break down walls and foster dialogue and communication to reach them better.

Adolescence and a shift in teaching strategy

In my reading of Saltman, I came across a statement that caught my interest, that being that “the meaning of adolescence is different in different cultures and at different times”. This is a comment of particular importance to me as a future history teacher because of the overall impact that the times and society play in the role of developing meaning in general. The issue is that past definitions as to the meaning of adolescence, and hence the methodology of teaching those of the adolescent age needs to adapt and shift over time. This is an important issue in our modern education system as the teaching of such topics such as the social sciences has not been fully adapted to the modern times and society, with the use of the if it is not broken don’t fix it philosophy.

            This is an interesting issue as the previous definitions and methodology as to the teaching of adolescents may not be adequate to fully prepare the youth of today for future educational endeavors or for adulthood in general, and hence we must in fact reexamine how we define adolescence as well as how we teach our students to bring about change. The overall issue remains that times will continue to change, as how do we as educators keep up our standards to meet the ever changing needs of our students, while still making it possible to ensure proper education for everyone?