Emergent Middle School

From the Emergent Middle School
William M Alexander

At first this article started off a little dry and a bit outdated but as I got through the article I realized he was making a lot of valid points that still play out in our educational system today. Alexander was calling for a reform in the transitional period for youth who are “standing at the threshold of puberty.” (160) He advocates that middle school should serve students between childhood and adolescence which is what an emergent middle school will provide. Specifically it is a “school planned for a range of older children, preadolescents, and early adolescents that builds upon the elementary school program for earlier children and in turn is built upon by the high school’s program for adolescence.” (160) Isn’t this what the middle school of today is? It sounds good on paper but what we have now I don’t think reflects Alexander’s basic ideas. I also think his aims were too vague but I did like the point he made about personal development and appropriate attention to the development of values. (161) Since this is a critical time for youth I think its important that they start looking into themselves to see where they fit into society. I think it’s also important for teachers to start looking a middle school not as some short transition period but fully dedicate themselves to them. I just think, for myself, that I cannot teach middle school because it’s not an environment that I can easily handle but that’s only because I’m not educated on matters of puberty and what they really have to go through. Yeah I’ve been through this myself but don’t feel like I am equipped for dealing with it now partially because I’m afraid and also because I hated that environment myself and don’t really want to deal with that again. I should seriously start looking into why I feel this way instead of giving middle schoolers the shaft.
My favorite point in this article was the tremendous lag between research results and teacher implementation of these recommendations. Alexander states that “there is a twenty-five year lag between what is available of valid scientific knowledge and its functional application in the educative process.” (162) Why does this have to be true? Why are we still facing transforming the middle school and we can’t decide what works best. Well not one thing can work for all but there is plenty of emerging research about the transition between childhood and adolescence and what needs to be implemented isn’t something complicated; its just some individualized attention to the needs of the student, especially with issues of puberty and self-identity.