My Philosophy of Middle Childhood Education

Before going into college, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. The problem was I did
not know what I wanted to teach, or more accurately, who I wanted to teach. I settled into a
Middle Childhood Education (MCE) major because I decided that I wanted to teach both
language arts and social studies. What I didnt realize then was how I would come to love being
a middle school teacher. Working with middle level children these past few years has really
given me insight into who these students are. Discovering how these students develop, what their
learning needs are, and how a middle school functions has helped me to shape a philosophy on
how I want to teach my middle level students.
Characteristics of a Middle Level Student (Element 1a)
Know your student! This is a common statement repeated throughout my education
classes. The middle level children experience an onset of changes. The changes that occur during
a young adolescents life can affect the student for years to come. It is my belief that
understanding the developmental changes that my students will exhibit will help me better know
my students and in turn, will guide my teaching.
Physical Development
The most apparent change a child usually goes through during the ages of 10-15 years old
is the physical change. Since every child has their own pace of growth, there is no typical middle
school student (Powell, 2011). A student that was the tallest in the fifth grade may find that
he/she is the shortest in the eighth grade. It is this pacing of body development that can have a
sometimes brutal effect of the other aspects of a students development. For example, a girl that
starts puberty in the fourth grade may be socially rejected. Other students might find her
intimidating and therefore exclude her from activities. This is just one example how physical
development effects the other stages of development like social and emotional.
Because this is a trying time for middle level children, it is my role as a teacher to help
my students through this stage of life. One way to do this in my classroom is to be flexible and
understanding. I will need to be able to perceive if a student is acting out as a result of the
biological changes he/she is going through. I will also need to be sensitive to girls requests to
use the bathroom as they are beginning their menstrual cycles during this time. Because students
become very self-conscious it is important that I do not stereotype them and assume what things
they can and cannot do because of their physical appearance.
Intellectual Development
When children enter the middle school ages, their minds are going through a substantial
amount of growth. Their thoughts are turning from child-like into adult-like (Lorain, 2011). To
think of this in terms of educational psychology, students are leaving the concrete stage, where
they visualize concepts by seeing or touching them, and going into an abstract stage where
students begin to think in general terms and can visualize concepts without seeing them (Powell,
2011). While these student will not reach the abstract mind set until their late teens, this time of
intellectual transitioning will play a huge role on how I need to teach my students.
I am aware that students will have a harder time focusing for long periods of time while
in class. This means that I will need to breakdown class sessions into segments that will help me
manage this issue (Lorain, 2011). Another thing that I can provide for my students is the
opportunity to think about their own thinking. I believe that it is important for students to know
how they arrived at their conclusions because this will help them become self-aware and make it
easier for them to solve future problems. One of the biggest issues at this time is the variety of
intellectual development that is taking place between each student. How will I teach 25 students
who are all at different levels of development? As Powell (2011) puts it, one way I can tackle
this issue is to constantly observe what is working and what is not and for which students at
which times. I will need to listen to my students and be flexible in my instructional approaches.
Emotional Development
Emotions for middle school students can run rampant. Students emotions are
unpredictable and may vary from being moody, anxious, angry, and embarrassed to hopeful,
optimistic, and excited (Powell, 2011). As stated before, physical changes can effect a students
emotional changes. This leads to a lot of self-consciousness and self-esteem issues that can
follow a student there whole life. One of the biggest things that may impeded my students lives
is worry (2011). With days filled with emotional ups and downs it is my job as the teacher to
help stabilize my students. As an adult, I must try to understand how the worry and fear of my
students seem very real to them and not degrade their emotions. I will also need to model for my
students how to respond rather that react to emotional situations so that they can make it through
the circumstances with thought rather than taking immediate action. With many emotional
situations, my students will also need from me a sympathetic ear or advice (2011).
Social Development
Middle school students take this time to build relationships between both adults and
peers. As for relationships with adults, students seek security with them may look at adulthood as
something exciting, which it can be (Powell, 2011). At the same time, they seek independence
from adults. Then there is the relationship with peers. Before, I spoke on worry. A big worry for
students is that they will not fit in with their peers (Powell, 2011). Some students even change
their personalities so that they will be excepted into a peer group (Oswald, n.d.). This leads to
peer pressure, which can be good or bad. Students feel this strong need to be part of a social
group, so I want to incorporate socialization into my class. Because of these social groups, some
students may find themselves on the outskirts where they are made fun of by the other students. I
will need to have withitness to stop these actions before they occur and ensure that every student
knows that bullying will not be tolerated in my class.
Character Development
When it comes to a young adolescents character development, there are many
characterizations that can be made. Powell (2011), states that these students often: are concerned
about fairness, ask unanswerable questions, do not ask for needed support, make poor decisions
trying to fit in. Many schools have programs that can build students characters and even answer
questions about morality. Even if my school does not have such a program, I would implement
one in my classroom. Programs like this teach students about character traits such as
responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship (2011). The program
model these traits, but I must model them for my students as well, in and outside the classroom.
My Role as a Teacher
There are many professional roles that go along with being a middle school teacher.
These roles involve working with both the students and my fellow teachers. One of the biggest
jobs I have as a teacher is being a role model. Some students may not have an adult in their lives
that they can look up to. I realize that as the leader in the classroom, I have a lot of power. My
attitude and instruction methods have the power to influences students behavior, confidence,
and sense of community (Battaglia, n.d.). With this in mind, I know that I need to be the best that
I can be so that my students can have a positive learning environment. With this leadership also
comes the chance to be an advisor to my students. It is important that I am able to listen to my
students concerns.
My role with my coworkers is different than that of my students. My main role with them
is to be a team player. All teachers bring different aspects to the game. I can learn from them and
they can learn from me. Thats why I believe it is important to be part of a team. This will make
it easier for me to share information and receive help from my coworkers. Teaming will help me
integrate cross curriculum and all together build up my school (Powell, 2011).
I do have one role for myself and that is to be a lifelong learner. It is impossible for me to
know everything there is to know about teaching. This applies to both my teaching practices and
my content fields. I need to seek more knowledge and learn from those around to improve
myself each year.
Classroom Environment
I want to have a welcoming classroom and for all my students to feel safe physically,
emotionally, and academically so that they can learn more freely without fear. I can mainly
ensure this by preventing classroom problems. This calls for withitness on my part to observe
what is going on at all times in my classroom. It also calls for the physical arrangement of my
classroom to be set up in a way that allows me to see everyone while also sectioning it into
useful areas such as a small group area or a reading center (Burke & Dunn, n.d.). Having
routines and rules can also help keep the classroom under control (Powell, 2011).
Each student will be diverse in some way (e.g., race, ethnicty, culture, age, appearance,
ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, family composition) and I want to make sure
that they all feel as though they belong, which as I said early, is a big worry that students have.
There are simple ways that I can do this. Some examples are get-to-know-you activities or
waiting at the door each day to greet the students as they enter. I want to form a connection with
my students.
Curriculum and Assessment
Earlier I stated that one of my roles to myself is to be a lifelong learner. That starts with
content pedagogy. I not only need to know as much as I can about the content that I am teaching,
but I also need to know how to teach that content. It is my goal to strive year after year to know
more about both of these and to put new information to use in my classroom. This means
keeping up to date with the latest education, language arts, or social studies news, which includes
staying informed about assessments.
As a teacher, I know how important assessments are to my job. They check the
performance of both myself and my students. Assessments, however, are used more than just to
see if Im doing my job. They can be a tool for me to use. I will use different forms of
assessments, such as formative or summative, to gage where my students are and help me answer
questions like: Do my students know this concept? Will I need to re-teach something? Are my
students ready for new material? Once I have my answers, I can begin planning what I can do
next (Powell, 2011). Assessments instruct me on how to improve my instruction. That is why I
believe they are important and necessary in the classroom.
Conclusion
There are so many things that build my philosophy for middle school. My students will
either succeed or fail by my hand. That knowledge is enough to encourage me to be the best I
can be. Whether this means knowing about students developmental stages or knowing the
different types of assessments and how they fit into my classroom, I will always be searching for
ways to improve myself and better my students lives.
References
Battaglia, S. (n.d.). Characteristics of Middle School Teachers. Everyday Life. Retrieved from
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/characteristics-middle-school-teachers-18476.html
Burke, K., & Dunn, R. (n.d.). Redesigning the middle-school classroom: Five easy steps to
improve students grades and decorum. NCMLE.org. Retrieved from
http://www.ncmle.org/journal/PDF/Jan09/Redesigning.pdf
Lorain, P. (2011). Brain Development in Young Adolescents. Nea.org. Retrieved March 24,
2014, from http://www.nea.org/tools/16653.htm
Oswald, A. (n.d.). Emotional and Social Development: Social Connections. Seven Counties
Services Inc.. Retrieved from
http://sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=37689&cn=1272
Powel, S. D. (2011). Introduction to Middle School (Second ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.