Chapter Five: How do Adolescents Develop?

Chapter Five. How do Adolescents Develop?

In order for us to make wise selections in book collections, we must know our readers and understand their developmental needs. There are different stages of development of adolescents and understanding them is crucial.

Physical Development:

We all go through the same struggle. Our growth spurts leave us feeling ackward. Asking ourselves, am I normal? Why do my friends have boobs and I don’t? Why haven’t I gotten my period? Why do I have so many pimples? Everyone develops differently. We may know that now but at that point in our lives we didn’t and we struggled accepting ourselves. This is a time of change for adolescents and change is difficult and very scary. We must remember that their many insecurities come from our physical appearance. For this reason, we must find books that outline the different stages of an adolescent’s physical “inadequacies” so that they may find comfort in the knowledge that all this is normal. All this will help them understand that it is normal to not feel normal.

Intellectual Development:

How do we progress from sensory motor to a concrete operational stage, to an even more formal stage? It was believed that kids begin their transition from concrete to abstract at around the age of ten. However, one that teaches even at the high school level knows that even at this stage, some students may struggle with this. Therefore, when we think of books to create our collections, we must think of where these kids are in terms of intellectual development so that they successfully read without feeling a sense of inadequacy.

Developmental Stage

Within this developmental stage, there are eight factors that determine exactly where an adolescent starts.

• ·         Learning to get along with peers- As children we surround ourselves with any group of kids our age. However, as we grow, we drift off and shift groups to find other teens that share our same interests in sports, music, hobbies, etc.
• ·         Easy relationship with the opposite sex- As children there are not that many differences between boys and girls, however when we reach adolescence, it is obvious that these changes are more noticeable. It is here when we can be friends with a boy without necessarily having to call him our boyfriend.
• ·         Working for pay- This brings a feeling of independence because they make their own money to buy their own stuff. It makes them feel a bit more mature and responsible.
• ·         Changing relationships with parents- This can be a toughie. Adolescents develop the tendency to question everything that our parents represent: their authority, their common sense, their knowledge, their rules. We might shift away a bit from them.
• ·         Finding a vocation-Ask questions like: What do I like? What do I want to be? They form their own mini self-assessment to find their calling.
• ·         Developing morals and values- What do I believe in? What do I hold to be true?
• ·         Adapting to physical bodies- Again the ackwardness of their changing bodies: growth spurts that leave us feeling uneven and weird looking. Clothes don’t fit as they should.
• ·         Defining appropriate sex roles-If we don’t fit in there’s name calling. Set forth by society and because we don’t necessarily understand the expectations we are left not knowing what to do or how to handle things.

These changes don’t happen over night and these changes take getting used to and accepting them and sometimes those are the most difficult tasks to do.  WE MUST CHOOSE OUR BOOKS WISELY SO THAT THESE KIDS SEE THAT ALL THIS IS NORMAL!

Moral development: (Kohlberg’s Theory)

There are three stages of moral development:

• ·         Pre-Conventional-Kid operate in this stage of morality where we make decisions based on rewards or punishment. If I don’t behave, I will be put in time out so I better behave!
• ·         Conventional-When we follow rules set forth by society/religion, etc. We recognize laws and we recognize the importance of them so we follow it. For example speeding!
• ·         Post-Conventional-We sometimes might deem it necessary to break a rule that our mind and heart says is wrong. Perfect example is Rosa Parks. She broke the rule because she knew it was wrong to be forced to give up her seat for a white person. Teens struggle with this stage because it requires them to jump more from the concrete to the abstract. For a example, a teen might question Rosa Parks and her decision to not move by thinking, Why didn’t she just move? She wouldn’t have gotten in trouble if she had and in doing so failing to see the big abstract picture. The law was unfair. Very unfair.

So why is all this important? Simply because again, as educators or librarians we must look for books that speak to where kids are and books that will gradually move them to higher levels through the developmental tastes from concrete to abstract.

Maslow: NEEDS HIERARCHY

1.      Physiological Needs: If the kid is hungry, tired, sick, cold it will hamper his achievement and his ability to perform at a cognitive level. These needs, if not met, will override anything else that takes place, including learning. Think of kids who come to school feeling hungry or that haven’t slept. How do we expect them to be productive if their physiological needs have not ben met.

2.      Safety: It is our duty as educators to ensure that the learning environment is healthy and safe. This is where we avoid name calling, bullying so that they feel comfortable enough to be focused and alert in order for learning to be successful.

3.      Love/Belonging: We all know that feeling loved and a sense of belonging makes everything easier. We want to create an environment where our children feel accepted and cared for. Asking them from time to time how they are doing is essential in order to meet this need.

4.      Esteem: Making them truly believe that they can do whatever they set their mind to. Feeling accepted and validated makes their self esteem stronger and will naturally need to more success.

5.      Self-Actualization:  Kids must feel that they can be whatever they want to be with no limits. This is sure to make them feel more successful and prone to trying harder. Believing in themselves is a crucial part in order for their needs to be fully met.

Developing as Readers

·         Develops empathy-Reading makes them more humane.

·         Unconscious Delight-Become lost in the book.

·         Reading Autobiographically- We want to read about people like us so that we may reflect upon our reality.

·         Vicarious Experience-These are the windows that allow us to see out of our ordinary lives. Let’s say we can travel…well through reading we can!

·         Philosophical Speculation-The asking of questions such as: What if? And actually developing theories in answer to those questions.

·         Aesthetic Experiences-We read merely for the beauty of it. We fall in love with the language, with the setting, with the situation, with the character. We romanticize the situation and we make it our own.

I may sound like a broken record, but all this is important solely because in selecting books and making our collections, we must make wise selections so that our readers become one with the book. So that they can see parallels to their lives in the alternate worlds of the characters with which they are familiarizing with.