13.9: Grade School and Middle Childhood

Remember the ecological systems model that we explored? This model helps us understand an individual by examining the contexts in which the person lives and the direct and indirect influences on that person’s life. School becomes a very important component of children’s lives during middle and late childhood, and parents and the culture contribute to children’s experiences in school as indicated by the ecological systems model through their interaction with the school.

Clearly there are entire graduate courses devoted to the intersection of child developmental psychology and grade school education. Of course, here we only talk about a snippet of that.

Stanley Hall and Pedagogy

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Children in a classroom environment that could be in one of many locations around the world

 

Hall was one of the first scientific psychologists who gained notoriety as an educational expert; his work was often geared toward parents and educators in addition to psychologists.[1]

Hall presented public lectures to educators on the psychology underlying childhood and how to “best” teach children (otherwise known as “pedagogy”).

This work made significant contributions to the study of, and improvements within, parenting and educational practices.

Hall believed that a child’s nature should guide educational practices so children could become healthy, productive members of society. Overall, Hall’s in-person presentations started the movement for the U.S. to integrate psychological and scientific studies within educational endeavors.[2]

Parental Involvement in School

Parents and caregivers vary in their level of involvement with their children’s schools. Teachers often complain that they have difficulty getting parents/caregivers to participate in their child’s education and devise a variety of techniques to keep parents in touch with daily and overall progress. For example, parents may be required to sign a behavior chart each evening to be returned to school or may be given information about the school’s events through websites and newsletters. There are other factors that need to be considered when looking at parental involvement. To explore these, first ask yourself if all parents who enter the school with concerns about their child be received in the same way?

Horvat (2004) found that teachers seek a particular type of involvement from particular types of parents.¹⁸ While teachers thought they were open and neutral in their responses to parental involvement, in reality teachers were most receptive to support, praise and agreement coming from parents who were most similar in race and social class with the teachers. Parents who criticized the school or its policies were less likely to be given voice. Parents who have higher levels of income, occupational status, and other qualities favored in society have family capital. This is a form of power that can be used to improve a child’s education. Caregivers who do not have these qualities may find it more difficult to be effectively involved.

Lareau and Horvat (2004) offer three cases of African-American parents who were each concerned about discrimination in the schools. Despite evidence that such discrimination existed, their children’s white, middle-class teachers were reluctant to address the situation directly. Note the variation in approaches and outcomes for these three families:

• The Irvings were a middle class, African-American couple was concerned that the school was discriminating against black students. They fought against it without using direct confrontation by staying actively involved in their daughter’s schooling and making frequent visits to the school to make sure that discrimination would not occur. They also talked with other African-American teachers and parents about their concerns.

• The Masons were a working class, African-American couple, a minister and a beautician, who voiced direct complaints about discrimination in the schools. Their claims were thought to undermine the authority of the school and as a result, their daughter was kept in a lower reading class. However, her grade was boosted to “avoid a scene” and the parents were not told of this grade change.

• Ms. Caldron, a poor, single parent was concerned about discrimination in the school. She was a recovering drug addict receiving welfare. She did not discuss her concerns with other parents because she did not know the other parents and did not monitor her child’s progress or get involved with the school. She felt that her concerns would not receive attention. She requested spelling lists from the teacher on several occasions but did not receive them. The teacher complained that Ms. Caldron did not sign forms that were sent home for her signature.

In summary, working within the system without direct confrontation seemed to yield better results for the Irvings, although the issue of discrimination in the school was not completely addressed. Ms. Caldron was the least involved and felt powerless in the school setting. Her lack of family wealth and lack of knowledge and confidence kept her from addressing her concerns with the teachers. What do you think would happen if she directly addressed the teachers and complained about discrimination? Chances are, she would be dismissed as undermining the authority of the school, just as the Masons, and might be thought to lack credibility because of her poverty and drug addiction.

The authors of this study suggest that teachers closely examine their biases against parents. Schools may also need to examine their ability to dialogue with parents about school policies in more open ways. What happens when parents have concerns over school policy or view student problems as arising from flaws in the educational system? How are parents who are critical of the school treated? And are their children treated fairly even when the school is being criticized? Certainly, any efforts to improve effective parental involvement should address these concerns.

What Happened to No Child Left Behind?

In 2001, President Bush signed into effect Public Law 107-110, better known as the No Child Left Behind Act mandating that schools administer achievement tests to students and publish those results so that parents have an idea of their children's performance. Additionally, the government would have information on the gaps in educational achievement between children from various social class, racial, and ethnic groups.

Schools that showed significant gaps in these levels of performance were mandated to work toward narrowing these gaps. Educators criticized the policy for focusing too much on testing as the only indication of student performance. Target goals were considered unrealistic and set by the federal government rather than individual states. Because these requirements became increasingly unworkable for schools, changes to the law were requested.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into effect in 2001 by George W. Bush.[3]

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Every Student Succeeds Act was signed into effect in 2015 by Barack Obama.[4]

On December 12, 2015 President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This law is state driven and focuses on expanding educational opportunities and improving student outcomes, including in the areas of high school graduation, drop-out rates, and college attendance.[5]

Culture and Formal Schooling

Stevenson and Stigler conducted a cross national study (published in 1992) investigating the differences in the cultural contexts and math academic achievement of students in Japan, Taiwan, China and the US. These studies looked at math classrooms in the four settings and found that the average US seventh grader performed at the same level as the average Japanese second grader. Twenty years later in an NPR episode, Stigler described his observations in a Japanese classroom that demonstrate some of the dynamics that are diametrically opposed to what one might see in a US classroom. He described how in the Japanese classroom the teacher invited a child who was having trouble drawing a three-dimensional figure of a cube up to the board to demonstrate what he was doing. The child struggled with his work on the board while other students were invited to give him periodic feedback. At the end of the lesson when he managed to do it right, they all applauded. Stigler, (and Stevenson and later other psychologists like Li) argue that this indicates a fundamental cultural difference between Eastern and Western educational culture. Effort is seen as positive and inherent to education. In service of that Japanese parents and teachers emphasize effort over intelligence as a fixed trait that each of us possesses a certain amount of. Similar to Carol Dweck's idea of growth versus fixed mindset, Japanese (and Chinese) adults see education as a process that requires effort on the part of everyone. Japanese teachers are given more paid preparation time, and treat each lesson as a polished jewel. Novice teachers are paired with more experienced mentors. The goal is to create lessons where children are challenged to work at a level slightly above their current ability, so that they need to struggle and try. When they do, teachers take the time to consciously point out and praise their efforts.

Of course these aren't binary differences - not all Eastern cultures, and certainly not only Eastern cultures all have this view. Also, it's not as if all the Eastern practices yield positive results. Individualism does lend itself to greater creativity. There are lessons that we can all learn from each other to benefit outcomes for school children everywhere.

Diversity inside urban schools

Certainly learning is complicated by the diversity of situations students come from. First of all, language presents an interesting challenge. In LAUSD for example, children speak different languages at home, and their fluency in English varies dramatically. Clearly language can affect other cognitive abilities that we expect children to learn in the academic setting. Also for immigrant children, the traumatic experience of relocation, the difference of cultures and conflict of families with new reality, all this has an impact on the way the child feels in the new classroom. Among migrant adolescents one can note a more intensive experience of internal conflicts, they face a wrenching sense of loneliness, don't feel understood and accepted. (Khaperskaia, Yu and Sensin, C).

Support for schools - cross national differences

In the US schools differ greatly in the amount of funding they receive from state and federal governments.  In other Western nations there is more financial and logistical support for education.  The purpose of this is to produce citizens who are academically supported and ready to enter the workforce, but also that their health and wellbeing is supported along the way. Gabola et al (2021) had intended to find out whether school burnout (exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy) differed in between Switzerland and Italy where the cultures are relatively similar, but support varies. They did conclude that Italian adolescents reported greater exhaustion and cynicism than their Swiss counterparts. According to Gabola et al. (2021) "...every cantonal educational department offers a health team supporting each school in Switzerland. The main goal is to promote students’ health and wellbeing. Furthermore, they work to maintain positive relationships among student groups and between teachers and their classrooms. Some health professionals are, for example, the school nurse, school mediator, school doctor, and school psychologist. Overall, the health team may guarantee a quick and easy answer to students’ maladaptive behaviors by contributing to developing a wellbeing culture and offering a helping service devoted to each student.

By contrast, there are no stable health professionals inside the Italian school system. Apart from some specific school districts, the Italian school system does not offer psychosocial and medical support to their students. As is well known in Italy, there is a very long tradition of inclusion of students with special needs taught by specialized teachers who work with the regular teacher and the whole classroom. Nevertheless, students with intimate and personal needs due to their private and school life can only rely on sensitive and responsive teachers."

 

References:

Horvat, E. M. (2004). Moments of social inclusion and exclusion: Race, class, and cultural capital in family-school relationships. In Lareau (Author) & J. H. Ballantine & J. Z. Spade (Eds.), Schools and society: A sociological approach to education (2nd ed., pp. 276-286). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Khaperskaia, Y. & Sensin, C. (2019). Learning difficulties of migrant children in Italy. Современная зарубежная психология, 8(1), 56-63. https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2019080106

Spiegel, A. (2012). Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning. NPR.org

Attributions:

Child Growth and Development by Jennifer Paris, Antoinette Ricardo, and Dawn Rymond, 2019, is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (adapted by Bhadha, 2023)

[1] Ross, D. (1972). G. Stanley Hall: The psychologist as prophet. University of Chicago Press.

[2] Young, J. L. (2016). G. Stanley Hall, child study, and the American public. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 177(6): 195-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2016.1240000

[3] Image is in the public domain

[4] Image is in the public domain

[5] Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Parenting and Family Diversity Issues by Diana Lang, 2020, published by Iowa State University is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Adolescents’ school burnout: A comparative study between Italy and Switzerland by Gabola P, Meylan N, Hascoët M, De Stasio S, Fiorilli C. in European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education. 2021; 11(3):849-859. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11030062 licensed CC-BY 4.0

Child and Adolescent Psychology by Florida State College at Jacksonville; Troianne T. Grayson; Mary Wuergler; and Michael Konrad is licensed CC-BY 4.0