Teaching Students First and Subjects Second

Middle schools are student-centered as opposed to subject-centered. It is one of the best reasons to teach in a middle school but one we sometimes forget.

I recently wrote about the differences for students who attend a middle school as opposed to a junior high school in my article Middle School Versus Junior High. Since I attended a junior high school when I was in grades 6-8 and am now beginning my tenth year of teaching at a middle school, I thought I pretty much knew the differences and understood the whole "middle school thing" quite well. Then, this past school year I enrolled in a course at Northern Illinois University titled Middle School Organization and Instruction, and I found out exactly why it is again I teach at a middle school and why I continue to like it.

In class, we were provided with all of the factors that led to the development of middle schools and junior high schools. We learned about all of the influences that impact adolescent learning. We studied organizational patterns, instructional techniques, and program characteristics found in middle schools. The list goes on and on. However, out of all the "stuff" I stuck in my binder, I found one bit of information to be the most insightful and it reminded me why I enjoy middle school students so much. Our professor provided us with the following attitudinal stance of middle school according to an early middle school pioneer, Neil Atkins. To me it makes it perfectly clear that middle schools are about students first and subjects second.

• The uniqueness of the middle school comes not so much in grade organization, courses, grouping, or schedules as it does in matters of attitude, perception and sensitivity.
• The mission on the school is viewed as neither remedial nor preparatory.
• The transitional nature of the students age 10-14 is not only recognized but valued.
• Therefore, the middle school can be characterized as having the capacity to accommodate children whose chronological age is dominated with problems of coping-changing interests, changing personal relationships, and changing bodies.

Anyone who has worked with, been around, or talked to adolescents knows that their world is in a constant state of flux. Teaching them the Pythagorean Theorem or the differences between similes and metaphors seems impossible sometimes until the pressing issue-with their mind, their body, their world-is addressed first. Often, that's the part of teaching middle school students I like the most...it's teaching students not simply teaching stuff.