| Subject: Equilibration and Adolescence |
Author:
Peter V.
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Date Posted: 13:49:21 02/03/08 Sun
Several things jumped out at me in the reading for this week, but the one I kept thinking about was this concept of "Equilibration", which is a part of Piaget's theory of assimilation and accommodation. I'm continually amazed when I think about the number of things that adolescents are processing, trying to understand, and deciding on. They are simultaneously trying to sort through who they are, who they want to be, what they believe, what really matters, what is right, what is wrong, what true friendship looks like--the list goes on and on. Yes, they are sorting through all this--and they are also supposed to be learning the content of several academic subjects--some of which may seem unimportant and inapplicable at the time.
Wow. There is a lot of information processing going on here! They already have a worldview and a modus operandi, but they daily encounter claims, thoughts and situations which cause cognitive conflict. Some of this cognitive conflict might even come from me, their teacher, as I challenge them to consider that education is power and that it will leave them with lots of options later in life! I have seen several students this year that are slowly starting to put more effort into their work as I win them over. But, I guess I should not be so surprised by the vacillation that I see as students struggle to decide between their current understanding of what is important and what others (coaches, teacher, gangs, parents, friends, pop culture, etc.) tell them is important.
This applies to my job as a teacher in several ways. First, I can expect that when I'm working with a student on behavior and/or academic motivation, they are going to be torn between incompatible perspectives. For this reason, I should no longer be surprised when a student comes to me, tells me that they have decided to change, work hard and "do the right thing", has a good week and then reverts to old behavior patterns a week later. This is just part of the equilibration process in which the siren calls of friends, culture and academic success seem to compete. I suppose that I should also not be surprised when a great student suddenly decides to cut class every other day, break dress code, and do absolutely no work. Somehow they were offered another perspective on life, and they are going through the disequilibrium of deciding if that one is actually the "right one".
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