Educational Psychology the Transitional Stages

Educational Psychology

The transitional stages that "Frank" is experiencing at the beginning of middle school have reflected negatively into his life, as they have coincided with a move from a rather urban setting, with friends close by (Case Study: "Moving to the Country" 6) to a rather austere social environment in a rural area. Bronfenbrenner and others would attest that Frank's already transitional age defied the wisdom of his move and therefore his ecology must be altered to better meet his needs, through structured allowance for creativity.

Bronfenbrenner 26) the differences for Frank have made it difficult for him to motivate and be involved in the life he is leading, especially academically. The challenges Frank faces are associated with his perception of disconnect between himself and his peers and with his new public school as apposed to his more challenging private school, which he previously attended. (CS 9)

Frank self-identifies with an outsider clique which he titles the "I don't care" group and describes as a group who doesn't care about belonging to cliques even though he admits that his school is rather cliquish. Frank may give this impression and hold these perceptions mostly because he has not grown up in this environment and therefore does not know the histories or personalities of his peers, and in the reverse they do not know his so he does not perceive himself as fitting in. Another important theme in Frank's disconnect is the fact that he feels like the information and situations he faces at school are not relevant to his life and are not informed about anything outside the immediate. This can be evidenced by his lack of attention on his language arts journal, as he puts it:

He hates the assignments, which largely consist of journal entries about designated topics. He asserts, with some vehemence, that "the journal entries are not -- ughh -- relevant to my life." Mom reports that "he turned in his journal, but he didn't write in it. He ripped the pages out so the teacher couldn't read the journal. All the pages were ripped out. So, it's been like that." She adds that Ms. Rowe, the language arts teacher, "talked to me for about an hour about this."

Frank is open about his dislike for Ms. Rowe, who is new to the middle school. He says, "I just don't get along with her" and "totally can't communicate with her." He also candidly admits that he does more goofing around in Ms. Rowe's class than in other classes, and that the time he spends on task in her class is about "fifty-fifty." Other than Ms. Rowe, Frank gets along with all of his teachers. (CS 10)

Frank's dealing with his journal by taking an active part in hastening a discussion, with regard to the negative aspect of his level of motivation at this time to do the work is a sign that he is clearly not "lazy." According to some motivational theorists, Frank seeks to be motivated by hastening the eventual "discussion" that will likely ensue, as a result of his not completing his work. Frank instead wishes to make a statement about his desire to keep his thoughts, from Rowe.

Different motivational systems are associated with positive and negative outcomes (Gray 1987). A behavioral inhibition system promotes avoidance of negative outcomes and a behavioral approach system is oriented to positive outcomes. When individuals anticipate an aversive outcome, they may try to avoid it or to reduce its negativity. If they cannot avoid it, they may attempt either to delay or hasten its onset. Some people eat their spinach first, others leave it to the end. When individuals anticipate a positive state, they try either to improve their chances of reaching it or to hasten its arrival...

(Karniol, and Ross 593)

Frank clearly attempted to turn his lack of desire of doing the assigned work for Rowe into a hastening of the arrival of a conversation about his dislike for the class, the teacher and the assignments given in it. Rowe may also be at a disadvantage with Frank as she is new to the school and possibly the profession and therefore may be getting less respect from students, in class than other more experienced teachers might receive. Frank may have a lot to say, yet he clearly does not feel that this new environment will be receptive to what he believes is relevant to the world, and his thinking.

Another clear example of Frank's perceived disconnect is his recent desire to protest the Iraq war by not standing for the pledge of allegiance, and how it was handled by Mr. Groban, his science teacher and advisor. Frank's protest was met with a by the Groban with a discussion, that Groban experienced as productive but that has some distinct flaws in the manner in which the situation was dealt with.

Recently at school, Frank didn't want to stand for the "Pledge of Allegiance" as a way of protesting the war in Iraq. According to Mr. Groban, the teachers "weren't sure how to handle that because that's a touchy issue." Ultimately, Mr. Groban talked to Frank about it:

And I just explained different things, you know, what legally you can do and what you can't do -- whatever, I mean, it doesn't matter. And he was very receptive. I mean, no argument. Nobody was trying to scare him, I was just saying, "just because you know where Baghdad is, most seventh graders don't.... So it's okay to have a political belief if you really know something, but just" -- I didn't want everyone following -- whatever -- because they don't really know. A lot of them are too young, or they just don't care. So, Frank was very receptive to our discussion.... [H]e was very respectful. We actually had a good conversation, talking like two adults, and that was it.

First, it is unknown how Frank perceived the conversation, though it is easy to see that this incident is a part of his perception of the people in his school lacking similarities to him, and I his interests. Frank may have been satisfied that his "protest" at least received some adult attention and a reasonable conversation, though it would also be easy to assume Frank chalked it up to one more example of this new community dropping the ball on opportunities to explore "relevant" events that could and do affect them. In this example the flaw, on the part of Mr. Groban was not using Frank's protest as a learning tool for the whole class, rather than explaining to Frank that the majority of kid's his age don't even know where Iraq is let alone care about what is happening there. To make Frank feel more at home Groban could have created a situation involving a learning class discussion about Frank's stand, regardless of how "touchy" the issue of the pledge of allegiance can be. There was clearly a missed opportunity, and Frank's insight directly in this matter would illuminate the issue, from his perception.

Frank Also seems to have a rather challenged perception of his successes and failures, he does not seem to care about either, he does not feel particularly connected to his noted successes, such as being involved with 4H or the Boy Scouts, and just calls them devices he uses to avoid the boredom of staying home and watching TV. "It's just more fun than, you know, after school, than [to] just sit home and watch TV and do nothing." (CS 4) Though he is clearly not lazy as when he actually engages in activities that interest him he is motivated to participate and even have fun, by observation. He seems to have a desire, not to fail but to set himself apart from others, to assert his individuality, even from his overachieving family. His mother emphasizes how, unlike her other children Frank is, frequently, and though it is unknown if this is Frank's goal, his intelligence would lend one to believe that his attitude of "laziness" is simply a way to set himself apart from his family, and his peers to gain attention. (CS 2) His self description of himself as lazy, at the very end of the case study in fact lends credence to this theory, "When asked whether he has any challenges to overcome in the future, Frank replies, "nothing I can think of." But then he gives his amiable smile and earnestly adds, " -- except I'm lazy." (CS 13) This encounter by the researcher gives a clear sense that Frank owns the label of lazy and as his teacher Groban intones, may simply be relying on the fact that he has sufficient intelligence to get caught up quickly when he desires to do so. (CS 12) He has been shown by his history, and the example of his family members, that he can pretty much do anything he sets his mind to so, excelling in an environment where he is not stimulated is not necessary as he can simply do just enough to get by, if he so desires. Additionally, Frank may be deliberately acting out and acting lazy as a result of his resentment that he was not given the opportunities that his two high achieving siblings were given by living in a stimulating urban environment, as long as they did. Though Frank does not specifically intone resentment he is clear that he does not like the place they now live and that the people around him do not share his interests or intelligence. Addressing all these problems with Frank, by actually directly asking him if this is how he feels, and making sure to give him plenty of time to think about it would likely greatly help his predicament, as it would facilitate recognition for him of his uniqueness (something he desires) and would allow him to possibly overcome the hurdles of his current situation. The teachers in his school would also do better directly with Frank if they like Grobin, gave him a voice in his surroundings, as a respected equal with superior knowledge to his peers. Grobin and the other teachers should allow Frank to work independently, on subject matter which is engaging to him, there are simply some students who need to be singled out, rather than asked to conform completely to the surroundings they find themselves in. Peer connections might also need to be forced, in some manner, as Grobin pointed out after attending a dance Frank seemed more at ease and interactive. Frank should be encouraged to face his fears of the other students being entirely unlike him and seeking out connections outside of school that are better directed toward his own interests, teachers may facilitate this by finding peers among those they know who more closely exhibit Frank's interests and partnering them with Frank so he feels more at home. Not allowing Frank's strong statement about the Iraq war to be a teaching tool and a learning opportunity was a clear misstep, even though Frank may have been partly satisfied by receiving attention from Groban, that was respectful, class discussions may have seriously helped Frank open up to his peers and allow them to give their opinions as well. Groban was wrong to further separate Frank from his peers intellectually even though it may have strengthened his ego, there are likely many peers who have opinions and cares about current events that are different or even similar to Frank's and he needs connectivity rather than exclusivity. Rowe needs to modify her assignments for Frank, as they clearly are not what he finds interesting. Adding an option to discuss language arts material that is more interesting to Frank, or any other student will likely help him succeed in the subject matter. ("The Legacy of Learning" 25)