Endless Adolescence

“We place kids in schools together with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other kids typically from similar economic and cultural backgrounds. We group them all within a year or so of one another in age. We equip them with similar gadgets, expose them to the same TV shows, lessons, and sports. We ask them all to take almost the exact same courses and do the exact same work and be graded relative to one another. We give them only a handful of ways in which they can meaningfully demonstrate their competencies. And then we’re surprised they have some difficulty establishing a sense of their own individuality.”  --- from Dr. Joe Allen's book Escaping the Endless Adolescence.

as reported in Po Bronson's blog Why teenagers are growing up so slowly today.

(Thanks to Kay Burkhalter for sending this along to me.)

Teenagers and abstract thinking

Teenagers develop abstract thinking at different times.  Makes sense:  they don't all have a physical growth spurt at the same time, why should they have a cognitive growth sprurt simultaneously?

Most teachers don't accommodate this differential.

What might that look like? (from Shawn Cornally's blog Brain-based learning):

If we don't know what rung our students are on, it's very difficult to say which of the following two questions we should ask:

1. How are gas prices affected by unrest in the various oil-producing regions of the world?
2. How were gas prices affected during the Arab Spring in Egypt?

As a teacher, I like Question 1 better. It seems more open. It seems more, well, abstract. And to that student who has reached that rung on the ladder, he or she will be able to shine. Most teenagers can only be led there through Question 2 or something like it.

"It's time to do something, people."

Garr Reynolds introduces "a pep talk from Kid President" in his blog Presentation Zen.

Why be boring?  Boring is easy!

innovation incubator

From Briefings magazine, an article that pulls together much of the recent press about the outcomes of Montessori education:  we're not talking about higher test scores, though that may also be a secondary outcome.  No, we're talking about the development of personal characteristics that lead to creative, entrepreneurial leaders in business, the arts and sciences. 

The most difficult question being asked today in, around and about schools?  "How do we educate the next generation of inventive, creative and entrepreneurial leaders?"

Business writer Steve Denning answered the question this way:

“The biggest problem is that we’re applying a factory model made up of hierarchical bureaucracies and a focus on efficiency, scalability and grinding out graduated students.This system is run for the convenience of parents and educators and has little to do with lifelong learning that is critical to the future of the economy. When I started writing about this, people told me that we don’t need to invent a new system, it is already there. Montessori has been doing this for more than a century.”

Hyper-parenting

There's a spectrum of parenting styles with a sweet spot at "involved".

"Negligent" is at one extreme of that spectrum.  At the other is "hyper-parenting;". The so-called helicopter parent.  Can a parent be too involved in their child's life?  Read research about the college-age children of  hyper-parents.

Let them fail?

"Why parents need to let their children fail."

That succeeded in getting my attention.  My inner mamma bear growled:  "Ridiculous!  I won't let my children fail!  What a stupid idea."

But I was quickly surrounded by memories of swarming helicopter parents, hovering overhead to rescue their children from any pain or disappointment...

...and in doing so, rob them of the opportunity to learn to deal with it.  Life comes with pain and disappointment.  How we deal with it determines our long-term success or failure.  We only learn to pick ourselves up with optimism if we have learned to do so.  Like every baby learning to walk. 

As Scott Peck said, "We learn to solve problems by solving problems."  (not by having our parents solve them for us.)

What does a child learn
by owning their problems;
by dealing with failure and disappointment;
and by figuring out (or being asked by a loving parent or teacher), "so how are you going to handle this?"

What does he learn?
The 3 r's:
Responsibility
Resoucefulness
Resilience

Don't rob them by using the 4th R:  rescuing.

Montessori at home

Parent Map presents "10 Montessori-inspired design ideas for kids' rooms."

Montessori inspired?  Child-sized furniture and tools that help a child with independence.  Dedicated work places.  Floor-bed rather than a crib. Practical life activities such as cooking.  An aesthetic emphasizing simplicity and beauty.  Natural materials (eg., wood vs plastic).

Montessori teachers will cringe at some of these ideas, but I found some good ideas for parents.