1. What’s all this fuss about Middle Schooling?
USQ Grad Dip Ed
Vacation School
9-2-07
Steve Smith

2. Focus issues for today What is middle schooling?
‘What did you learn at school today’?
Are young adolescents miniature adults?
Do our schools need to change?
Attributes of Middle Year learners
What’s great about teaching in the middle school?
Underpinnings of great middle schooling

3. Do you know who I am?

4. What is middle schooling?

5. What is Middle schooling
What is Middle schooling? Engaging young adolescents within purposeful, challenging learning and healthy lifestyles…through
1) Recognising that today’s young adolescents are becoming increasingly disengaged with schooling and learning and in many ways are different to yesterday’s youth
2) Accepting that young adolescents aren’t miniature adults or children and have different physiological and emotional needs to students in other years
3) Willingness to alter some of our practices and beliefs in order to ensure we are engaging young adolescents within purposeful, healthy learning experiences and lifestyles

6. What’s so special about Middle Years students?
Enthusiastic and Creative
Haven’t learnt to hide their feelings & emotions
Crave ‘active’ student-centred learning
Keen to develop relationships/rapport
Keen to bond with an adult
Loyal
Value justification and substantiation
Value honesty and fairness
IT savvy
Parental support/interest
Love learning through ‘Narratives’

7. 1) Recognising that today’s young adolescents are becoming increasingly disengaged with schooling and learning and in many ways are different to yesterday’s youth
‘Recent studies have shown that …. this is a time when the gap between low and high achievers increases markedly … many students lose their enthusiasm for learning, disengage from classroom activities and make the least progress in learning’
Middle Phase of Learning. State School Action Plan 2003

8. Even worse! Shaw & Alchin (2005) suggest
“Research undertaken in the Victorian Quality Schools Project showed little growth in literacy and numeracy achievements during school years 5 to 8. The achievement level of the lowest quartile of students actually declined.”
The Australian Educational Leader. Vol 27, No. 4, p 27

9. “Students might leave school in Year 11 but they book their ticket in Year 8” Trevor Fletcher DDG (Schools) NSW

10. Perceptions of school culture: Attitudes to School scale
Mean
Rating
All MYRAD students,
March 2000 (n=32,210)
Year Levels

11. Perceived treatment by teachers; ‘My teachers take a personal interest in me.’
Mean
Rating
All MYRAD students, March 2000
(n=35,600)
Primary: % agreed
Secondary: 21.9% agreed

12. Children and teenagers today Professor Loretta Giorcelli
Are less attentive. Attention span = age plus 3 mins (Yet our lessons are becoming longer! … implications??)
Are more attention seeking
Are more impulsive
Are less compliant and more argumentative
Are more technically compliant
Are under more personal pressure
Are more globally connected
Have higher IQ scores
Are more subject to adult turbulence
Are more rights orientated

13. Our society is changing
What do you think is the average age Australians: (2002 & 2010)
Leave school
Leave home
Marry
Become a parent

14. Our society is changing (ABS stats and projections)
What do you think is the average age Australians:
Leave school
Leave home
Marry
Become a parent

15. Are our kids growing up too early?
Refer to early on set of puberty and Carr Griegg’s work
“Why do you think this is so?”
“ our kids are physically rich yet emotionally anorexic”
Gender issues ie underachievement of Boys and meaningful father conversation

16. Latency What is it? Why do we need it? Modern trends
Implications for teachers

17. 2) Accepting that young adolescents aren’t miniature adults and have different physiological and emotional needs to students in other years
Early teenagers are yet to grown into themselves . They are enduring a massive change to their mind and body.
Just as they haven’t grown into their bodies….they haven’t quite grown into their brains either. Physiologically the young adolescent brain is still ‘under construction’.
Middle years learners are NOT miniature adults so don’t try to make them one!

18. “Early teenagers are yet to grown into themselves
“Early teenagers are yet to grown into themselves . The average teenager gains 20 kilograms and grows almost half a metre in the space of four or five years. I’m sure many of you know the sensation of being in a room with a group of young people who seem to be a clumsy jumble of elbows, knees, pimples and groins. Just as they haven’t grown into their bodies. They haven’t quite grown into their brains either.” Andrew Fuller Students don’t experience physical and emotional maturation at the same time!

19. Up to the age of nine or ten the brain continues to be twice as active as an adult’s. (MYELINATION increases 10 – 18)

20. Sleep Adolescents need more sleep than they did as children… around 9 and a quarter hours and they have a preference for sleeping and waking later than they did when they were children. Most teenagers’ brains aren’t ready to wake up until 8 or 9 in the morning “90 % of year 10 students are not getting enough sleep” Michael Carr-Greig

21. Sleep
What are some factors which impact on the quality and amount of adolescent sleep?
How important is sleep for our health?
Humans can survive 36 days without food but only 11 days without sleep!

22. Increased risk taking Adolescents are risk takers eg Reckless behaviour, sensation seeking, risk taking . Maggs, Almieda and Galambos (1995) found that 80 % of 11 to 15 year olds exhibited one or more problem behaviours in a month ( disobeying parents, school misconduct, substance use , anti-social acts such as theft or fighting) As Tracy Moffitt has pointed out risk taking during adolescence is normative. Risk takers feel more accepted by peers and view risk taking as fun. Non- risk takers are seen as anxious and over controlled Implications for teachers?

23. Re-structuring and the frontal lobes “The frontal lobes - the bit that helps us to plan, consider, control impulses, make wise judgements in short to be kind, caring, considerate people- is the last bit to mature. In fact someone probably should put a sign of the frontal lobes of most early adolescents saying “closed for construction” The frontal lobes are being re-structured at this time in a way that prepares them for adult life.” Andrew Fuller

24. Synaptic Pruning Between ten years of age and puberty, the brain ruthlessly destroys its weakest connections preserving only those that experience has shown to be useful, The adage here is “ use it or lose it” – and this applies at any age. “Synaptic pruning” continues throughout life but occurs mostly during the late childhood and teenage years so that the synapses that carry the most messages get stronger and the weaker ones get cut out, This helps in refinement and specialisation. Implications: Relevant integrated curriculum????

25. Emotions Middle schooling is a stage of:
Developing a personal sense of identity and power
Developing a personal value system and intimacy
Emotional and psychological independence from parents
What might be some behaviour and classroom management implications?

26. Middle years: Behaviour management “What a nightmare!”
If middle schoolers are beginning to grapple with self-identity and values and power …… what BM/CM strategies probably wont work?

27. Some thoughts
Inappropriate behaviour arises as a consequence of a relationship breakdown
Building positive relationships should reduce inappropriate behaviour
Behaviour management implies sustainable, permanent behaviour modification
The emphasis on classroom management might be on managing ‘good’ behaviour not ‘bad’
Consider: “If I say or do this now, will it bring us closer together or will we end up further apart?”
William Glasser

28. Destructive habits for an effective relationship John Boulton
Criticising
Blaming
Complaining
Nagging
Threatening
Punishing
Bribing

29. Middle years: Behaviour management
Great BM and CM is anchored on the establishment and acceptance of ‘EXPECTATIONS’
What will be your expectations and how can you establish them?
Can you ‘undermine’ your own expectations? If so how?

30. BM considerations The decision to behave lies with the student
Teachers influence the conditions to behave
No BM strategy works well for all students all the time
Idle minds are prone to misbehave
Sarcasm rarely works and will often inflame the situation
‘Its much easier to be firm at the start and relax later than vice versa’

31. BM considerations (cont)
Try to get to know your students and names ASAP
Vary your methods, manner and teaching style but not your expectations
Discipline and self-discipline is established outside the classroom
Don’t blow things out of proportion
‘Don’t fight a pig in the mud’
‘Try to fight fire with water’
‘Be hard on the problem but soft on the person’

32. BM considerations (cont)
Show students you have a sense of humour and you are human
Vary your T/L methods and manner
When modifying student behaviour identify the specific issue eg ‘lift your chairs quietly’
Ask your supervising teacher for ideas which have been successful with the class/student

33. Consequence of poor preparation!
‘Proper preparation prevents p#ss poor performance’
A well planned and pedagogically sound lesson is a great preventative BM strategy

34. Effective Classroom management micro-skills Education Queensland
Establish clear expectations
Give clear instructions
Use waiting and scanning
Acknowledge students on task
Demonstrates encouraging body language
Descriptive encouraging

35. 3) Willingness to alter some of our practices and beliefs in order to ensure we are re-engaging young adolescents within purposeful, healthy learning experiences and environments
You have a licence/responsibility to make learning purposeful, enjoyable and challenging
Use the freedom provided within the QSA syllabii
Opportunities to enrich learning through purposeful integration of KLAs
Opportunities to negotiate learning contexts etc with students
Responsibility to re-visit and reinforce key competencies, capacities, traits, behaviours, perceptions etc

36. Findings: The Second Circle The classroom level: On Productive Pedagogy Mean Ratings of Dimensions of ‘Productive Pedagogy’ from Classroom Observation Data

37. Perceptions of learning: Having time to think
Mean
Response
Rating
Year Level
Thinking trial and comparison
data, May 2000 (n=5,507)
Primary: 56% agreed; Secondary: 34% agreed

38. Teachers’ perceptions: Individual interest and knowledge
Teachers say:
“The number of students I teach each week is sufficiently small to enable me to get to know all of them individually.”
Primary: 53% agreed Secondary: 34% agreed
“Students in the middle years are happier when they relate to a small team of teachers for most of the time.”
Primary: 88% agreed Secondary: 60% agreed MYRAD 2000

39. Perceptions of learning: Having time to think
Teachers:
“The time-table allows students at this school to engage in in-depth learning for extended periods of time.”
Primary: 56% agreed Secondary: 24% agreed

40. Student decision-making and self-regulation
Students:
“My teachers lets us have some say in what we do in class.”
Primary: 62.9% agreed Secondary: 34% agreed
Teachers:
“My students are involved in classroom decision-making about the curriculum.”
Primary: 34% agreed Secondary: 24% agreed

41. ‘I give up’ Young adolescent mental health and resiliency
Resilience is the happy knack of being able to bungy jump through the pitfalls of life. It is the ability to rebound or spring back after adversity or hard times”
Andrew Fuller

42. Some factors effecting resilience
One particular strength is identified and celebrated… “Island of competence”
At least one stable mature adult confidant
A supportive peer group
Others?

43. What’s so great about teaching Middle School students?
You have a licence/responsibility to make learning purposeful and enjoyable
Use the freedom provided within the QSA syllabii
Opportunities to enrich learning by integrating KLAs
Opportunities to negotiate learning contexts etc with students

44. What’s so great about teaching Middle School students?
You develop Student/teacher relationships/rapport which carry over
You will experience the highs and lows of teaching regularly
Students are enthusiastic and crave active student-centred learning
Might be the last stage that parents feel they can assist student learning … so create the partnerships
Professional support eg MYSA

45. What are some challenges to teaching in the Middle school?
Discussion

46. What are some challenges of teaching in the Middle school?
Plan engaging learning experiences
Procure a wide range of material and human resources
Becoming IT savvy
Collaborative planning
What is ‘student-centred learning?
How do you integrate the curriculum?
How do you negotiate with students?
Noisy classrooms
Letting go of absolute control
Creating partnerships
‘Putting up’ with student enthusiasm
Co-curricular expectations

47. How might you hook kids on learning?
Discussion

51. Where to from here? MS module included within each Grad Dip course.
Are keen to learn more?
Those students keen to specialise in middle schooling are invited to attend a 3 day ‘advance’ March 19, 20 & 21 at Perseverance Dam Rec centre
Please collect info sheet at the end of this lecture

52. Middle years ‘advance’
Cost: $100 (accom, meals, venue hire resources etc)
Participants: Edu 2490 (MS ‘Major’ students within BPMU and Grad Dip (MS specialists)
Limited number of places available for Grad Dip students
Perseverance Dam is 45 Km north of Toowoomba (near Crows Nest)

54. So you want to be teacher? Courtesy of Steve Taylor
We were all sitting around the dinner table discussing life and the man across from me decided to show his brilliance. He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can't, teach. I decide to bite my tongue and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests that it's also true what they say about lawyers. Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.

55. "I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest
"I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest. What do you make?" And I wish he hadn't done that (asked me to be honest) because, you see, I have a policy about honesty and ***-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it. "You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honour, and an A- feel like a slap in the face. How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best?

56. I make parents tremble in fear when I call home: I hope I haven't called at a bad time, I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today. Billy said, 'Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?' And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen. I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be. You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder, I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them spell 'definitely beautiful', 'definitely beautiful', 'definitely beautiful' over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again. I make them show all their work in math. And hide it on their final drafts in English.

57. I make them understand that if you have brains then you follow your heart and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention. Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: I make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children. Now what about you? What do you make?"

58. What is Middle schooling
What is Middle schooling? Engaging young adolescents within purposeful, challenging learning and healthy lifestyles…through
1) Recognising that today’s young adolescents are becoming increasingly disengaged with schooling and learning and in many ways are different to yesterday’s youth
2) Accepting that young adolescents aren’t miniature adults or children and are physiologically and emotionally different to students in other years
3) Willingness to alter some of our practices and beliefs in order to ensure we are engaging young adolescents within purposeful, healthy learning experiences and environments