Cognitive and Emotional Development

This week's readings for class dealt with the cognitive and emotional development of adolescents. Our resources covered a wide range of topics, including cognitive development, moral development, self-concept, self-esteem, and specific challenges faced by groups such as immigrants and LGBT youth.

Cognitive and Moral Development

The portions pertaining to cognitive development dealt with the specific changes in how young people think, such as shifting from concrete operations to more formal operations and the ability to hypothesize and understand abstract concepts. In the chapter from Developing Adolescents, one of the most helpful resources is a side box containing "normal" behaviors in adolescents, such as arguing for the sake of arguing, being self-centered, and being overly dramatic. It is rather enlightening to know that these seemingly problematic tendencies in young people are just a manifestation of their brains becoming more sophisticated. The text advises that teachers should try to help adolescents understand how their emotions can affect their thinking, and to steer adolescents toward considering possible consequences of their actions, since adolescents are likely to be impulsive and lack maturity in their judgments.

The theory of multiple intelligences is explored along with cognitive development, suggesting that teachers should try to use a broad range of methods, in order to make academic success more likely for students who might be stronger in one area, such as bodily/kinesthetic, than another more traditional area such as verbal/linguistic or logical-mathematical. Developing Adolescents also mentions moral development, urging teachers to be aware that young people are forming their values and ideas about ethical behavior. Teachers should strive to promote prosocial behaviors such as volunteering, encourage honesty, and create a learning environment that views racism, sexism, and other biases as destructive. Teachers also need to keep an eye out for signs of learning disabilities and anxiety or depression.

As a supplement to the discussion of moral development, we read a philosophical overview and history of moral development, described as "a perennial philosophical view complemented by modern empirical research programs".

This resource defines moral development, explores ancient thought from sources such as Confucius, Aristotle, and Rousseau, and transitions into a discussion of the modern cognitive-development theories of Piaget and Kohlberg, who both saw moral development as progressing in stages. There is some attention given to the debate of whether moral development occurs naturally, with humans moving toward self-actualization and lofty ideals because this is in their genetic code and it feels good to be good, or if moral development proceeds as a result of trying to fit in to society and get ahead, which certainly made me think. Kohlberg is acknowledged as the predominant voice and father of research in modern moral development theory, but critiques of his methods are provided.

The most interesting part of this resource is the "Caring" critique provided by Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings. I agree with their ideas on an alternative to the "justice" model that can seem rigid, formulaic, and legalistic, and I found that their approach of being supporting, nurturing, and helpful resonated with me as a better alternative. I also thought it would be important to keep in mind the pedagogical implications listed in this resource, particularly the caveat that students who are still in concrete operations may be unable to follow lessons aimed at more critical thinking skills and may reject these lessons. I also liked the counter-intuitive but probably quite true observation that students with messier papers who seemed to contradict themselves might actually be showing a greater degree of learning than those with smooth rendering of ideas.

There were several other brief resources to supplement the cognitive development portion of Developing Adolescents. An article from the Lucile Packard Children's hospital goes through the common indicators of progression from simple to more complex thought in early, middle, and late adolescence. It also gives suggestions that teachers can follow to encourage positive and healthy cognitive development, such as assisting adolescents to set their own goals, stimulating them to think about the future, and offering praise for well thought out decisions. The Seven Counties Services website points out improvements in metacognition and language acquisition, and it warns about lapses in logic that result from not yet complete maturation of the frontal lobes. Also on the Seven Counties Services website is an article by Urie Bronfenbrenner that defines and describes the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem in which a child grows and develops. It seems clear that all of these systems would affect cognitive development, and emotional development as well.

An excellent excerpt from Ellen Weber's book on Using Roundtable Learning brings up the notion of "Two-Footed Questions," in which the teacher should first relate a lesson topic to students' personal lives (perhaps in order to cater to the self-centeredness that comes with this age :) ) and then bring in the larger question, which brings a sense of immediacy and meaning to the discussion. I found this excerpt helpful and will try to find ways to use this strategy in teaching Latin, which can certainly make students ask, "Why do I have to know this?" Making the subject matter personally relevant seems like a wonderful, simple way to garner more interest. Weber also discusses creating a proper tone in the classroom to nurture free expression and engage in thoughtful ways.

The main idea I will keep with me from my readings on cognitive development is that students are eager to use their newly-developing higher thinking skills, and that I should incorporate chances for them to experiment with debate, symbolism, and humor whenever possible.

Emotional Development and Group Differences

The portion of Developing Adolescents on emotional development discusses identity, emotional intelligence, and group differences in emotional development (such as gender differences, ethnic diversity, and Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual youth). There is another helpful side box that gives tips for talking with adolescents, and there is an emphasis on being able to listen without judgment, which seems crucial to me in dealing with this age group. Across the board, providing a nonthreatening, open ear seems like a critical way to connect with students who are in such formative years and may find it challenging to even identify their emotions, let alone trust an adult enough to open up about feelings.

Many of the supplemental resources pertaining to emotional development discuss self-concept and self-esteem. It is clear that, during adolescence, students are both discovering their identity, in thinking about their strengths and weaknesses, and also deciding (perhaps constantly evaluating and re-evaluating) how they feel about themselves.

While I certainly agree with the Seven Counties Services resource which affirms that "You have a right to feel good about yourself," I truly believe more in the sentiment of what is said in articles by Carl Pickhardt and Maureen Manning, i.e., that self-esteem is built by doing esteemable acts. The cognitive development resources mention that volunteering is a way to help students develop morally, and it seems that volunteering and similar activities, where students have a reason to feel good about themselves, being they are doing things to be proud of, seems wise. Ironically, if adolescents take actions that help them get out of self, they may grow to feel better about themselves

Pickhardt observes that self-esteem, while important, is independent of morality and also independent of outcome, meaning that having a high opinion of oneself does not necessarily lead to being a good person or succeeding. Manning says that schools should look to improve the specific skills with which students are struggling rather than seeking to increase self-esteem across the board. For example, if a student is being aggressive, instead of trying to help that student feel better about him or herself, one should see if there is another issue that should be addressed first, such as a learning disability, and teach better coping skills -- it seems a no brainer to me that praising for bad behavior will only reinforce it.

As a rule of thumb, Pickhardt's statement that you should "define yourself broadly and evaluate yourself kindly and most of the time you will appreciate the value, and enjoy the company, of who and how you are" seems like a good guideline. It also seems that many adolescents would struggle with being able to do this, as they tend to base their self-esteem largely on physical appearance, and then on talents such as being good at sports or making perfect grades, which can create an easily crushed sense of self-esteem. I liked Manning's suggestion of encouraging students to look at their improvement over time instead of focusing on how their peers are doing.

The big idea I got from all the resources was that a sense of safety and security are key. For students to develop emotionally, their homes, relationships, and communities need to be supportive. Since adolescence is already a stressful time, deficiencies in safety in the family, school, or larger environment are sure to cause problems.

Daniel Goleman's article on Emotional Intelligence was another valuable resource. It was of great interest to me that schools which focused on promoting emotional intelligence had greater academic success, which might seem contradictory at first, when it could seem that more time spent on teaching these skills would take time away from the content area lessons. However, Goleman makes a strong case that getting students to learn to identify and manage their emotions can have a huge impact on how well they are able to cooperate with others, manage stress, and have more self-awareness -- which would in turn make it easier to focus and succeed on schoolwork. His case that higher emotional intelligence "pays off not just in improved behavior but in measurable academic achievement" resonates with me.

My absolute favorite resources were the National Association of Social Workers Immigration Policy Toolkit and All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families. I read these voraciously and often with great anger as I saw the blatant inequalities and injustices these children faced. I already felt very deeply about these issues, but seeing how grave the situation is laid out in black and white was quite emotional! It makes a lot of sense that children with these roadblocks and setbacks would have a much harder time developing a positive self-concept and feeling secure and safe.

I was discouraged to see how much of the legislation in our country has discriminated against immigrants and LGBT families. To think that many children were ripped away from their parents in immigration raids and that many LGBT children are denied death benefits if their parent passes away makes me want to find a way to change this system. I was grateful to read enough specific statistics and instances of how inequality exists and manifest to feel as if I understood the problem better, could be more sympathetic, and would be extremely motivated to try to work with these young people to promote higher self-esteem.

The last resource on multiculturalism ties in well with the previous two, suggesting that we must "elevate and celebrate diverse ethnic backgrounds" in order to promote the healthy emotional development of all youth.


Links:

Cognitive and Emotional Development, p. 11-20

Moral Development

What is Cognitive Development?

The Maturing Adolescent Brain

Urie Bronfenbrenner

Two-Footed Questions

Emotional Development

Self-Esteem

Sense of Identity & Self-Esteem

Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Emotional Intelligence

Immigration Policy Toolkit

LGBT youth

Multiculturalism