Are Middle Schools the answer? by Sharon Gregg
“You don’t have to suffer to be a poet. Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.”John Ciardi.
I remember tuning in to see what shenanigans Spike, Joey and Caitlin were up to on the painfully amateurish, but somehow compelling television show, Degrassi Junior High. What was it about those awkward kids that had adults as fascinated as the target audience?
I suppose we could all relate because everyone was 13 years old once and it was probably horrible. These are among the most difficult ages where kids are neither here nor there.
For years, educators have been grappling with this age group. Junior high schools that largely mirror high school, middle schools that usually co-exist within either a junior or senior school environment, or some blend of the two, have been evolving to find the right way to keep these children focused and help them navigate the confusing and often difficult emotional and physical changes they’re going through. Usually encompassing grades 6 to 8, whatever approach educators take, there is nothing straightforward about this age group or their learning needs.
The Link caught up with Assistant Head of the Senior School, Dr. Angela Terpstra, to get her expert take on the middle school challenge and what BSS is doing in its approach.
TL: What was BSS’s history with Middle School did we ever really have one before or did we just play around the edges?
AT: In the past, BSS approached the Middle School as being good prep for a strong Senior School. We emulated the Senior School approach and thought, as did most at the time, that it was a great way to get these young minds on the path to academic success. ‘Give them more, sooner’ was the philosophy.
Since the early 1990s, developmental psychology and cognitive science research caused everyone to rethink that approach. It became clear, as if it hadn’t been already, that the mind and body of a 12 year old are very different from those of a 16 year old just as vast a difference in fact, as say, that of a two year old to a five year old. But it’s taken a long time to respond to this reality, particularly in schools that were seen to be university prep after all, what can be better prep for higher ed than something that looks like higher ed for young people?
We needed to reexamine how we were working with our young adolescents, so in 2009/10, we began with a pilot program where these girls were given a different approach to their studies in accordance of our own learning, and that pilot set in motion much more research and a new program design which has continued to evolve ever since.
TL: Middle School seems all the rage these days with some saying it’s the answer for this age group and others questioning its value. Why do you think it is so important?
AT: This is a very painful time for kids, with lots of change physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and socially. A time of chaos when they are trying on a variety of identities and not quite sure which fits.
They’re not kids anymore, but not yet full blown teenagers. Many schools want to control kids of this age, avoid the messiness of their groping toward adulthood, regiment their behavior and, to quote educator and author Nancie Atwell, “avoid any acknowledgement that the students’ needs, tastes, values are, alarmingly, not our own.”
We can’t think that these girls are “less” than older teenagers or just smaller versions of the older girls. They have ideas, capacities and creativity that are particular to their stage of development. We believe that this reality demands an approach that is designed and built for this age group.
TL: How do you carve out a distinct place for these students in a school that was designed for a Junior School and a Senior School? Do these students have a home of their own or do you want them integrating with the Senior School?
AT: We want to carve out a place for them that is distinct academically, socially, and physically, but they also want to be a part of the larger school to be a school within a school. If adolescence is a time for young people to become acclimatized to an adult world, then we can pick and choose how we ease them into that world by including them in appropriate activities with the older girls, but also creating their own activities that allow them to shine in their own way.
We want the best of both worlds. We have also created a distinct timetable (and that was maybe the hardest accomplishment, thanks to Sian Jones, Vice Principal, Academic Program, and her timetabling team!) that allows for discrete classes, and yet gives flexibility to teachers to collapse the times and create longer periods for work. We’ve woven in particular programs that we think are important, for example, Healthy Girls, Robotics STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), lots of physical activity and exposure to the arts.
We’ve created a staffing model where the students are no longer in the hands of nine or 10 teachers, (who would want to have nine or 10 teachers at age 12?). By reducing the number of teachers who operate as a team, they know the girls well and have time to discuss their progress with each other to ensure everyone is getting what they need.
Currently, we have dedicated several classrooms for our Middle School and fortunately, they are smack in the middle of the School.
TL: Would there be any fears that these students could feel intimidated or uncomfortable out of the ‘nest’ of the Junior School where they can be the top dogs?
AT: There is always a fear when approaching something new. We have created safe ways of having the girls begin the transition to the full Senior School experience in a non threatening way. If we give them strategies now to help deal with those changes and build resilience, we are giving them life long skills.
TL: Describe the BSS Middle School program in a nutshell is there a particular pedagogy or philosophy that drives the curriculum? Any difference in how students are measured? Homework? What can I expect when my daughter graduates to Middle School from Junior School and how will that better prepare her for Senior School?
AT: Our Middle school is inquiry driven and girl shaped! I mean that our pedagogy is inquiry and our focus is to make sure that the culture and practices that characterize BSS are focused on giving our girls confidence, autonomy and ability.
We have also chosen to not measure the girls in the same ways as high school. The report cards for Middle School measure in grades, not numbers and there is more anecdotal reporting that paints a clearer picture of how they are as learners. We have taken the focus away from the marks and put it more on the learning. So, for example, instead of having a final assembly where only girls with the highest marks are celebrated, we have “exhibitions of learning” where we celebrate the work of all the girls and put it on display for everyone to see.
TL: What would you say to parents who believe that a certain amount of academic competitiveness or achievement oriented acknowledgement is good for students?
AT: I’d agree. It is good at appropriate times for girls, or anyone, to have achievement rewarded and to be motivated by a certain amount of competitiveness. And these girls will have lots of opportunities to do just that when they’ve built the confidence, the maturity and the resilience to manage competitiveness well, whether they win or lose.
Coming in to the BSS Middle School, you can expect a time of exploration, of taking risks, of feeling safe and believing that the world lies before each girl as a plethora of possibilities.
