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Education Dive
Preteens' brains experience a growth spurt in key social areas
Shawna De La Rosa
March 18, 2020
Dive Brief:
Aside from experiencing physical changes, preteens also undergo a brain
growth spurt much like toddlers, developing neural connections that
will determine how their brain is wired for the rest of their lives,
according to The Hechinger Report.
Investing energy in a preteen's developing brain has long-term
benefits, as the rapid growth at this age takes place as connections
are being formed between areas associated with social development,
identity formation and the calibration of feelings, according to Ron
Dahl, director of the Institute for Human Development at the University
of California, Berkeley. Preteens are figuring out what they enjoy
doing, who they enjoy being around and their status in a group.
When adults invest energy into preteens during this developmental
growth spurt, fewer problems may appear later in the teen years, as
teens develop long-term behaviors and habits that will follow them into
adulthood during this time period.
Dive Insight:
During the preteen years, social recognition motivates many decisions.
Leveraging that into curricula can inspire and guide students in the
right direction. For example, math is more engaging if done in large
groups.
Additionally, teachers and parents’ emotional support efforts can go a
long way during this phase, but while positive comments can be very
motivating, students in this age group also don’t process information
that is just given to them.
Like most adults, students will excel when they love what they are
doing. Writing assignments, for instance, are not so much of a burden
when students are writing about a topic they're passionate about.
Allison Berryhill, an English and journalism teacher at Atlantic High
School in Iowa, uses passion blogging as a way for students to write
about their interests and passions, all the while developing stronger
writing skills. A student’s voice, or “passion,” is part of the grade.
They then use the skills developed to analyze texts and apply them to
other writing assignments.
Passion and purpose are also part of the motivation behind experiential
learning. While students are hungry to learn about things they find
interesting, it gets tricky when applying that passion to its purpose,
or figuring out how to apply it to a real-life situation.
Employers report a gap between what they need in the incoming workforce
and what they are seeing in their new recruits. Experiential learning
is a way to close that gap. Andrew Potter, a college and high school
teacher, says students can learn to make those connections through
experiential learning when it includes ways to engage, equip and
empower them.
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