Ed Foundations 2nd Post on Module B - Great Title!
Wayne teaches at an inner city public high school. While he is really excited about his new job close to the inner city suburb where he lives and went to university, he’s finding that not all the students share his enthusiasm for learning. Wayne really enjoys the subject matter of his senior classes and spends a large proportion of his planning time ensuring he has the depth of content covered. However he is finding that his class is falling into two groups. In one group a number of apparently highly motivated students are intellectually pushing him. Another group seems to consist of students who don’t really want be there. Both groups are causing Wayne concern as it appears that the ‘motivated’ group don’t engage at a deep level and instead want to know the ‘correct’ answers, while the ‘less motivated’ group are difficult for him to engage. A number of students seem to be distracted at school, he thinks they are tired or have perhaps been using drugs and alcohol. He is also concerned that a number of students seem anxious and fearful of not getting into the nearby University.
There are predictions that the 21st century will be the age of neuroscience, where we can alter our brain physiology to the degree that we mastered metallurgy in the Iron Age (Farah, 2004). Students have a lot of pressure from parents and teachers to do well, not only scholastically but also in social activities and sport. Whilst Wayne may be concerned by illicit drug and alcohol abuse, he should also be worried by excessive caffeine consumption and usage of ‘smart pills’ such as Modafinil, which are used by pilots and Special Forces soldiers to enhance concentration (Farah, 2004). I was shocked to learn first hand that current high school students think it is ok to be drinking 4+ cups of coffee per day and consuming caffeine pills such as NoDoze at exam time. Schools shouldn’t be pushing students so hard that they feel the need to use performance enhancers just to get through high school or university.
Wayne is in a difficult position if his observations turn out to be true. If students have been using drugs or alcohol, they will need someone who will not get angry and who will offer adult support in guiding them towards help. We teach subjects but if we don’t teach students, we haven’t helped them develop or prepared them to learn. Wayne will need to be aware of all the policy and support mechanisms available to him to achieve the best outcomes for all involved. Studies over the last decade have found that adolescent substance abuse has been on the rise worldwide with 90% of regular alcohol drinkers putting those around them at risk through fighting, illegal drugs and unsafe sex (Ibiwoye, 2011).
Substance abuse has been associated with feelings of alienation and the inability to develop effective relationships or achieve goals (Ibiwoye, 2011). Wayne could benefit from reading theories of social cognitive development from Bandura and Marcia. Having a low self-esteem has been known to create barriers to participation, however schools with initiatives to address this have seen increases in attendance and student well being (Krause, 2010). In Marcia’s stage of identity diffusion, the student either doesn’t have a role model or a sense of self. As noted by Erikson, teachers are responsible for reinforcing that sense of accomplishment (Kraus, 2010). Wayne needs to be this role model, demonstrating how to work in a group whilst creating a safe learning environment and helping students feel emotionally connected. This can be achieved through valuing individuals for who they are, developing tasks that build on their strengths and celebrate achievement (Krause, 2010).
Piaget believed was that if we listen to the students, the solution will present itself. If Wayne listens to the concerns of all his students he will probably be able to hear some of the issues that are creating stress or disengagement and take steps to nullify them. He could take an active interest in study planning or goal setting or even letting students know how important sleep is to their ability to perform highly. A study from 1998 revealed that adolescents aren’t sleeping enough, mostly due to workload and electronic distractions (Wolfson 1998). Students need to be getting approximately 9 hours sleep and if not, they accumulate a sleep debt. This affects their mood and ability to concentrate. If they aren’t sleeping, they aren’t learning (Wolfson, 1998). Wayne can talk about overall student workload with the other teachers to make sure that their students are not being bombarded with homework.
References:
Farah, F et al. 2004, ‘Neurocognitive Enhancement: What can we do and what should we do?’, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol.5, no.5, pp.421-425, accessed via http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v5/n5/abs/nrn1390.html on 23 April 2011.
Ibiwoye, A & Adeleke, I 2011, ‘Estimating the Proportion of Undergraduates in Lagos at Risk of Substance Abuse’, European Journal of Scientific Research, vol.48, no.3, pp.505-515, accessed via http://www.eurojournals.com/EJSR_48_3_13.pdf on 23 April 2011.
Krause, K et al. 2010, ‘Social, emotional and moral development’, In Educational Psychology for Learning and Teaching, 3rd edition, chp. 3, pp. 105-106. Cengage Learning, accessed via e-reserve on 23 April 2011.
Wolfson, A & Carskadon M 1998, ‘Sleep Schedule and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents’, Child Development, vol.69, no.4, pp.875-887, accessed via http://sleepforscience.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/73fcbc8090d3aca81567db2c113cf0e8/pdf/wolfson_carskadon1998.pdf on 23 April 2011.