Educationand Adolescent Development
Educationand Adolescent Development
Theyoung minds of children are fragile in terms of what they are exposedto: if a youngster is shown that savagery is great, then they will goon with their lives trusting that as the standard likewise, if anunderage person is exposed to great things in life, then they willlive their whole life believing that only the positive exists in thisworld. Both these examples show the extreme cases, however, thereasoning behind this logic is that teachers need to be very carefulabout what they teach children since they learn and adapt quickly atthis stage of life. Although adolescents are more mature than youngchildren, teachers also have to be careful about what they teachthem.
Thecognitive views of adolescents held by Piaget and Vygotsky have beenthe most influential in education. In modern day learning, childrenhave to go through various stages of schooling before they attainadult status and live independent lives away from theirguardians/parents. According to Piaget, children at thepreoperational stage have acquired some language but cannot thinklogically. This stage can be compared to the pre-school andkindergarten years of learning where a child is taught the basics ofgrammar and math. The next Piaget stage is the concrete operationalstage where children can automatically understand mental operationsand have acquired some level of logic through experience. In thenormal grading system, this stage is equivalent to middle school.Piaget believes that the final stage of reasoning is the formaloperational stage: an individual can think rationally and in abstractterms (Dolgin, 2011). Compared to the grading system, this stagerepresents the high school level. Additionally, modern schoolingencourages team work and group associations as a way for learners tograsp contents faster. This cognitive theory of social constructivismis influenced by Lev Vygotsky.
Currently,people believe that culture affects how adolescents behave: they areinfluenced by social media and the internet. Anything thatadolescents believe is cool on the internet (the World Wide Weboffers various social interaction platforms that are more popularwith young people), they emulate. Piaget believed that teenagers arerational thinkers and use deductive reasoning in their choices(Dolgin, 2011). However, things are far from normal in the current‘pop culture’ sometimes teenagers post nude pictures and videosof themselves. Piaget’s theory of reasoning is out of place in thecurrent world of adolescent development because some actions castserious doubt on the rationale of an adolescent as a rational being.
Inconclusion, teachers have to use certain methods to ensure thatunderage person’s learn efficiently. One way involves taking themthrough a grading system that focuses on their cognitive development.The other way is by encouraging collective learning as a way to speedup learning. However, modern culture greatly influences adolescentdevelopment and cognitive theories may not be so helpful inunderstanding teenagers. There is still room for more research as towhat really influences adolescent development.
Reference
Dolgin,K. G. (2011). Theadolescent: Development, relationships, and culture.Boston: MA Allyn & Bacon.
By