During this week's reading, This We Believe outlined the history of the Middle School Movement and the Association for Middle Level Education. The main idea behind the concept of middle school is that it allows young adolescents to be in an environment in which they can discover themselves, as well as learn at a more advanced rate than in an elementary school. The online article went further into the history of young adolescent education. Previously, these students spent their first eight years at the elementary school, and then onto high school. Researchers thought that these students might be able to handle more academically, and as a result introduced the idea of a junior high. This was at a higher level and gave students the chance to take “tryout” courses to discover their interests. The idea of middle school came along when people began to realize that the junior highs were more like senior high schools and lacked the stable environment that younger students needed.
As someone who studies history I really enjoyed the readings because I thought about the history behind middle school. This also answered some questions I already had, like the difference between junior high and middle school. These two readings also led me to reflect on my own middle school experience. I went to more of a true middle school in that we were in the kind of “wing units” described in the online article. Each grade had a “pod” (part of the building) where we took all our classes. Then we were further broken down into teams, so each team had a different group of teachers that they worked with throughout the year. I did view my middle school teachers as less personable, just as was stated in the online article. However, I can understand why this might be true - elementary school students spend their entire school day with their teachers. In middle school you might only see one of your teachers for an hour a day. This is something I am going to try and keep in mind when working with middle school students. They might not spend a lot of time with me, so I need make it count.
In the fall I am going to be in
a middle school for my pre-student teaching, so I am curious to find out how
closely they follow the middle school model. It is a junior high school, so it
will be interesting to learn if that is in name only, although the online
article seemed to imply that the junior high model is no longer used.
I never realized that there was such a thing as a
middle school model, or that educators are not always trained to work with
young adolescents. It really does make sense why middle school would be
different from a high school environment. Students are going through tremendous
changes, and they need an environment that will support them.
Hi Erin! I really enjoyed reading your post. As a fellow history lover, I also thought it was interesting to read about the origins of the middle school. I was also surprised to learn that teachers were not always specifically trained to teach adolescents! I just assumed that teachers had always been trained specific to the age group they were planning to teach. You made a great point about utilizing your time with students wisely - I think it's easy to forget that we won't see students all day, every day, so we have to make more of an effort to establish good rapport and positive relationships. I am student teaching at a middle school first this fall, so I will definitely be looking out to see how the school I am at is structured!
ReplyDeleteHey Erin,
ReplyDeleteFirst and formost great post. I believe that a major take away from your post as well as what was understood from my reading was just how far the education system had come. Being able to read the history of how middle schools had been started and the many hoops they had to go in order to somewhat resemble what we see and accept today is truly amazing. I particularly was how this could be translated into our teaching with our students. Being able to undertsand the history and goals of middle school, I feel will better us in the long run because it allows us to understand the purpose and intent behind why it is we are truly there. Great post.
Hello Erin and thank you for your post.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed reading the article about middle school due to learning about its in-depth history. Our education system has really transformed in the last 60 years or so. I too found that middle school is the start of independence; students now have lockers and multiple teachers. All of which allows them to build social skills and experiences that they never had in elementary school.