Teaching Adolescents
What is on the outside can deceive us if we let it. Does one glance really tell you everything you need to know?Look deeper. Go beyond the exoskeleton and into the evolving mind of the adolescent. Search for the hidden literacies of students, and use these obscured talents to further them. Teachers need to help students achieve a fruitful adolescent literacy by gaining a deeper understanding of literacy practices at home and school, social and emotional states that can lead to marginalization, and how standardized assessment scores can falsely define a student’s literacy level.
As educators, we must shift our attitudes and take off the blinders by connecting with our students in an attempt to truly know who they are so we can engage and motivate them in the classroom. How often do we believe that students who do not do well on assessments are below par? Some students just do not perform well while others perform poorly on purpose to identify with a chosen peer group. In a research based book by Margaret Finders called “Just Girls-Hidden Literacies and Life in Junior High”, one student, Tiffany, is described by language arts teachers as a rebellious, red headed, loud mouth, non-reader. One teacher, Mrs. Zmoleck, was shocked to find out that Tiffany was actually an avid reader at home who had completed 44 books so far that school year. Tiffany purposely did not apply herself while writing journal entries, essays, and quizzes to gain respect from her peers as adolescents sometimes do (Finders, 1997, p.76). By making connections between the classroom and the life experiences of adolescents, teachers can engage and motivate students in a way that may illicit favorable participation at school(Knowledgeloom.org, 2008, p.8). In another article, a similar account is recorded. Mrs. Bryant is the language arts teacher of Jacques whom she believes to be a childish student who likes neither school nor writing very much (Knobel, 2001, p.407). In fact, his “childishness” is his adolescent way of identifying with a group of students who find humor in his 10 word short stories. Had Mrs. Bryant connected with him and looked deeper, she would have come to find that he was a young business man very involved in the life of his church often writing and speaking to members of the clergy and potential members (Knobel, p.408). What Mrs. Bryant does is judge Jacques on school literacy alone as opposed to getting to know his literacy practices outside of class. She could possibly engage and motivate him in class by differentiating his assignment to be similar to something he finds worthy of writing about like the landscaping flyer he produced for his business. Educators must shift their attitudes, remove blinders, and connect with students to gain information necessary for determining the steps needed to further their adolescent literacy. Recognizing the reading and writing practices of adolescents will help teachers choose the appropriate content and processes needed to improve literacy (Pytash, 2013, p.67).
The complicated state of adolescent social and emotion status may cause less observant educators to misdiagnose literacy levels. During the adolescent stage, students are often trying to discover who they are without the help of adults. When they choose behavior not in line with the teacher’s classroom standards, the student can become marginalized. Teachers risk the possibility of marginalizing students when they view literacy only from the standpoint of cognitive ability and the traditional classroom view of reading and writing. In Finders’ “Just Girls” a group of students known as the “social queens” practiced literacy as a social event by reading teen magazines voraciously. One purposely performed poorly on a quiz and the teacher decided she was an unmotivated non-reader even though the girl had read the entire book and recalled what happened in great detail to the interviewer. (Hall, 2009,p.286). Because the teacher’s idea of literacy didn’t include the literacy practiced by the “social queens” they were marginalized as being unmotivated non-readers which was not true. Teachers must broaden their definition of what counts as literacy to gain a better perspective of a student’s level of literacy and include these in the classroom. They must also become more familiar with their students and recognize the challenges adolescents face concerning the importance of peer group perceptions.
A final thought for consideration involves the use of standardized assessments to decide which students are literate and which are not. How is it fair that student placement can be decided solely on one test taken one time? Sure, some students will do well, but not all students do well taking these type tests. How are students who see passing these tests as hopeless motivated to try to learn? This is where educators must know their students and their abilities to learn, not just what they have or have not learned. These type assessments are assessments “of learning” and not assessments “for learning”. Teachers should reserve judgement when using only assessments of learning and instead use research based instruction gathered from knowledge of student learning styles, socioeconomic status, and cultural diversity to determine how to reach the learning goals through differentiated methods. (Stiggins, 2002,p.762).
Mismeasurement of student literacy occurs within the school setting. Through understanding and connecting with our students, recognizing the gap between home and school literacies while planning accordingly, and helping students understand that one standardized test score does not define one’s ability to learn, educators can help adolescents’ confidence and willingness to succeed.
