Philosophy of Adolescent Learning

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Philosophy of Adolescent Learning

Brittany Beaulieu
Duke University

Abstract
Adolescent learning is influenced by many different factors. This paper approaches the
topic through three lenses: Educational Psychology, Cognitive Development, and
Adolescent Psychology. Adolescent students are facing biological and cognitive changes
that impact their ability to focus and rationalize events. Their social world is shifting and
reputation and status are of utmost importance. Through this, students may face hunger,
instability at home, and other stressors. These factors impact the way that adolescents
should be taught. Presenting students with hands-on learning engages them. Providing
content in a variety of forms creates multiple neural pathways and increases students
abilities to recall information and cement it in the long-term memory. Promoting group
work and cross-curricular education prepares students for life after school.

Introduction
Adolescent learning is multi-faceted. While cognitive processing is key in the
learning process, internal and external factors influence how well students are able to
absorb new information. The fields of neuroscience and psychology can help us, as
educators, shape our beliefs about adolescent learning and form a philosophy for how to
best support our students.
My personal philosophy draws from the work of Constructivist educational
psychologists, an understanding of cognitive development, and adolescent psychologists.

I believe that students learn best through experiential means. Inclusion of various
learning preferences is necessary for student engagement and understanding. I believe
that student needs must be met before learning can occur. I believe that it is our job as
teachers to educate the whole child, through support, honesty, integrity, and commitment
to success.
In the following philosophy, I outline my beliefs regarding how adolescents learn
through three lenses: Educational Psychology, Cognitive Development, and Adolescent
Psychology.
Educational Psychology
I believe adolescents learn through action. This can mean different things for
different students. Some may learn best through reading about a new concept and
studying it in written form. Others might process information most effectively through
listening to someone speak about the subject. Still more students might learn best by
physically moving through the process, or modeling the concept through movement.
There are myriad ways to present information to students. Providing students with
content in a variety of forms improves their chances of effective information storage in
the brain.
I would like to make my students aware of Gardners Theory of Multiple
Intelligences. Students who demonstrate low general intelligence may feel discouraged in
class, particularly if they sense they are not keeping up with their peers. Understanding
their strengths could have a positive impact on their self-esteem and perceived value of
education.
Additionally, information about the way my students best process information
will help me to adapt the style of my lessons appropriately. While it is important for all
students to participate, even if the content is presented outside of their learning
preference, an awareness of their strengths only improves my teaching and their learning.
Constructivist theory and the work of Lev Vygotsky greatly inform my
philosophy. Students take an active role in constructing their understanding of the world.
This construction cannot take place in a vacuum, but rather in a social and cultural
framework. Collaboration with peers is vital to cognitive and social development.
It is important to consider culture when thinking about adolescent learning. As a
teacher, it is imperative to recognize where the student is coming from this informs
their social aptitude, language skills, and ability to apply previous knowledge to new
problems. When these factors are considered and supported, effective student-centered
learning is more likely to occur. Bill Ussher and Chris Gibbes speak to the importance of
these social interactions between student and teacher, called mediations, in their article,
Vygotsky, Physical Education and Social Interaction,
In the learning environment the vehicles (for example, speech, written word,
drawing, action) and tools (for example, pens, paper, computers, games) are the
foundations of mediations. As teachers, these mediations are grounded in our
pedagogical knowledge - how we demonstrate and communicate our thoughts and
ideas to the students (Andrews and Lupart, 1993). Vygotsky emphasises the
importance of social interaction between adults and children, in particular the role
of the adult in guiding and mediating learning. (p. 76)
While students take an active role in constructing understanding, the teacher is a

necessary component. Optimal learning takes place in what Vygotsky coined the Zone of
Proximal Development the space in which students can do new things with assistance.
Vygotsky places the teacher in a more functional role than did Piaget, recognising
the importance of the teacher and student forming positive relationships. These
views clearly relate to the notion of student-centred learning, and provide a
framework that prompts the teacher to think beyond traditional teaching styles
and methods, and to provide relevant and meaningful contexts for student
experiences. (Ussher and Gibbes, p. 76)
Like Vygotsky, I believe that collaborative group work is valuable. It encourages

the sharing of ideas and representation of multiple viewpoints. It also prepares students
for life after school. Many careers require cooperative, project-based work.
Vygotstkys teachings also remind me to educate the whole child. I must be aware
of student needs that extend beyond the classroom. How can I mediate learning
effectively if I am unaware of a students background? This means attentiveness to
whether the child has a stable home environment, access to clean clothes, and regular
meals, among other factors. While many of these elements may be outside my control as
a teacher, recognizing struggles outside of the classroom will better equip me to assist
students who may be struggling in the classroom.
In order to assist those students who may need non-academic support, kids must
feel comfortable sharing their problems with me. Creating a safe classroom space can
facilitate these conversations. I hope to cultivate a classroom climate that causes students
to feel safe, comfortable, and motivated to learn. I recognize the need for boundaries and
clear expectations. Students thrive in an environment that provides space for creativity
and self-direction, but still maintains order and control.
Cognitive Development
Brain development in adolescents has an enormous impact on the ways in which
students interact with their environments, view themselves, and learn. Fascinating
changes take place in the brain during adolescence.
Kimberly Carraways text, Transforming Your Teaching: Practical Classroom
Strategies Informed by Cognitive Neuroscience, explains cognitive development through
the lens of education. She begins by outlining Eight Learning Principles Informed by
Cognitive Neuroscience, (p. 3). This list frames the important principles of cognitive
development in education:
Experience changes the brainCognitive capabilities develop and change over

timeLearning does not occur without emotionThe brain is particularly
attuned to purpose, meaning, and relevanceLearning involves the active
construction of neural networksMemory is stored in distributed networks in the
brainSome kinds of memory fade over time, making review essential for longterm retentionThe brain is limited in its capacity to take in large amounts of
information at one time. (pp. 3 4)
Neuroscience and cognitive function are highly complex areas of science. The
more we, as educators, understand brain function in our students, the better we can
anticipate and react to problems in the classroom. For me, the most valuable cognitive
information relates to the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for tasks
like planning, focus, judgment, and self-control (pp. 23 24). The prefrontal cortex is not
fully formed in adolescent brains, leading to occasionally erratic behavior.
While these [prefrontal cortex] cells are myelinating, functions like managing
time, organizing ideas, thinking ahead, reflecting on consequences, controlling
impulsivity, and using the past and future to influence decision-making may be
uncoordinated and inconsistent. (pp. 32 33)
I found the second chapter, in Transforming Your Teaching: Practical Classroom

Strategies Informed by Cognitive Neuroscience, Factors that Affect the Learning
Process, extremely valuable. I knew anecdotally that environmental factors like stress
can negatively impact brain function and adequate sleep can boost brain function, but did
not know how this works cognitively. I plan to share this information with my students
through a scientific lens. It is easy to ignore well-meaning advice from a teacher stressing
the importance of sleep; it is harder to ignore cognitive research detailing lack of sleeps
many deleterious effects.
I found the benefits of exercise Carraway outlined in Factors that Affect the
Learning Process noteworthy. Physical activity is associated with positive academic
performance, and Teachers who create opportunities for physical activity give their
students a tremendous academic advantage, (p. 59). Additionally, Carraway states that,
Exerciseboosts levels of serotonin[which] are associated with positive mood and
reduced symptoms of anxiety (pp. 58 59). As a former dance educator, I have a
certain fondness for movement. I presumed that movement in the traditional classroom
could prove helpful in learning content, especially with my belief in the importance of
experiential and hands on learning. Carraways research on the value of exercise and
movement confirms my beliefs.
Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniels book, Make It
Stick, delivers practical strategies for putting cognitive understanding to work for students
in the classroom. The authors provide teaching and learning skills built from a deep
cognitive understanding of memory function. As I read through the book, I thought of
myself as both a student and a teacher, considering how I could use this knowledge in
both arenas. An anecdote from medical student Michael Young demonstrates how useful
strategies like quizzing oneself and spacing out practice can be performed. He also
addresses the discomfort of moving from a familiar routine to a new technique.
It makes you uncomfortable at first. If you stop and rehearse what youre reading
and quiz yourself on it, it just takes a lot longer. If you have a test coming up in a
week and so much to cover, slowing down makes you pretty nervous You just
have to trust the process, and that was really the biggest hurdle (pp. 213 - 214)
This, I think, is the biggest struggle for students, asking them to trust a process
that does not yield immediate results. As an adult who has read the research and
understands the science behind the claims, I had difficulty changing my study habits and I
certainly buy-in to the concept. Students who may already see studying as a burden might
dismiss something that appears initially ineffective before they have a chance to witness
the results.
Make it Stick has certainly influenced how I will teach, particularly in the
structure of my lessons and units. I plan to implement strategies like retrieval practice,
generation, and elaboration. As Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel advise, These might be
exercises that require students to wrestle with trying to solve a new kind of problem
before coming to the class where the solution is taught, (p. 227). It will take scaffolding
and student trust in the process.
Additionally, I think it will prove valuable to explain to my students how the brain
creates memories and how that process affects the way we need to structure our learning
in and out of class. I plan to continue to remind students that learning should and will feel
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challenging. As Make It Stick summarizes, Embrace the fact that significant learning is
often, or even usually, somewhat difficult. You will experience setbacks, (p. 201). If
students do not accept this fact, failure will not be viewed as an opportunity to dig deeper,
but as a reason to give up.
Students also need to be taught how to study. This can be done through direct
instruction on study strategies, modeling effective note taking, creating questions to work
through, and engaging in reflection.
Louis Cozolino, author of The Social Neuroscience of Education, emphasizes the
importance of social connections on brain formation, which other authors we have read
did not discuss. I see the logic here our evolution occurred out of the foundation of
social groups and eventual specialization. Certainly, our brain growth would reflect that. I
found his brief mention of the two additional lobes of the brain, the cingulate and insula,
fascinating. The cingulate and insula, are gaining increasing recognition as important
areas involved in linking bodily and emotional processing with conscious experience,
(Cozolino, 2013, pg. 28). This could have huge implications on our understanding of
brain processing.
Cozolino speaks to the benefits of using storytelling as a teaching technique.
Tying content to something personal can make it easier to remember; it provides layers of
meaning. Additionally, storytelling can often utilize many different learning styles. If
students are reading a story, they are encountering the content visually. If read to, aural
learning is at work, and if creating their own story out of facts and disconnected pieces,
they can write a cohesive narrative or speak it. This process seems very useful for student
knowledge retention.
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More so than any other researcher, Cozolino focuses on the importance of

emotional ties to basic brain function. This is the foundation for his classroom practices,
which emphasis creating a safe environment for students. The Social Neuroscience of
Education reaffirms my belief that students needs must be met before they can learn.
Cozolino describes the tenants of what he refers to as the Tribal Classroom; The tribal
classroom would be based on democratic leadership, cooperation, group cohesion,
equality, fairness, trust, and strong personal relationships, (p. 12). While I have
questions about the implementation of a Tribal Classroom, I understand how it could be
useful. As Cozolino states, Supportive, encouraging, and caring relationships stimulate
students neural circuitry to learn, priming their brains for neuroplastic processes, (p.
17). No doubt that when a child feels safe he or she will be more open and able to learn.
Additionally, that layer of human-to-human connection, or face-to-face, mind-to-mind,
and heart-to-heart, (p. 17) will motivate students to please their teacher.
This leads into one of the most problematic themes of the text for me, the femalecentered nature of childcare/education. Cozolino only refers to the role that mothers play
in childrens lives, not fathers or other adults that might raise a child. Teaching was often
compared to mothering. While Cozolino is speaking about mothers in the following
passage, he is drawing an unstated connection to teachers:
Higher levels of maternal attention result in more benzodiazepine, oxytocin, and

glucocorticoid receptors being formed in many regions of the brain, allowing for
the dampening of fear and anxiety while increasing attention, curiosity, and
exploratory behavior. (Cozolina, 2013, pg. 44)
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Teachers main responsibility it not to provide maternal attention to students

their main responsibility is to educate students.
In framing my understanding of student needs, Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
gave me greater context and structure for successful student support. As stated in the
Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology,
Maslow theorized that needs explain much (but not all) of human motivation and
striving, and that the gratification of basic needs leads to a holistically healthy or
self-actualizing personality whereas a lack of gratification of the basic needs
results in psychopathology or sickness. (Salkind, p. 634)
I interpret holistically healthy to mean prepared to learn in an educational

context. Knowing that students need to have food, clothes, and shelter; feel safe and
loved; and have some level of positive self-esteem before they can begin to learn will
prove vital in assessing why a student is unable to focus or complete work when
assigned.
Adolescent Psychology
Adolescent psychology informs our understanding of social and emotional
adolescent concerns. Adolescence is a broad field with myriad viewpoints. The tenants
that shape my understanding of adolescence are its cultural frameworks, brain
development, importance of social status, and intense self-reflection and crisis. This is
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informed by the work of adolescent psychologists David Elkind, James Marcia, and
Margaret Mead.
Sigmund Freud believed that adolescence was a universal phenomenon that
was genetically determined and independent of environmental factors, (Allman, 2015). I
do not agree that adolescence is universal. In many cultures, the social aspects like
identity crisis and egotism, that I, as a Westerner, associate with adolescence are absent.
However, in my framework as an American educator, most of my students will go
through these struggles. Like Margaret Mead, I believe that Cultural Relativism is vital to
my understanding of adolescence on an individual basis.
As mentioned, the prefrontal cortex is key to understanding adolescent behavior
teenagers are known for their impulsive behavior and lack of foresight. Cognitive
development influences how adolescents act on their changing perceptions of themselves
and others. Adolescents often face an identity crisis in which they question their beliefs
and values. They look to their peers for guidance and support, trying on different
identities until they find identity resolution. Social status is highly valued by most
teenage students for this reason.
Adolescent psychologist David Elkind speaks to egocentrism in adolescents.
Egocentrism is marked by heightened self-awareness and self-consciousness, (Allman,
2015). He believes Teens tend to think that others are interested in them as much as they
are interested in themselves, (Allman, 2015). During this time of self-reflection, teens
enter into what James Marcia refers to as Moratorium, one of the four categories of
identity statuses. Moratorium refers to
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Individuals who are in an acute state of crisis. They are exploring and actively
searching for alternatives, and struggling to find their identity; but have not yet
made any commitment or have only developed very temporary kinds of
commitment. (Allman, 2015)
Like Margaret Mead, I believe that adolescents are struggling so profoundly

because they desire a meaningful identity. This has cultural implications there is no
universal identity for adolescents to discover.
CONCLUSION
The most challenging part about creating a Philosophy of Adolescent Learning is
generating something that reaches all adolescents. It is important to recognize that
adolescence looks and feels different for each student. With this knowledge, I believe the
following.
Hands on learning is vital. The more students can physically interact with the
content, the better. This style of learning helps the brain facilitate effective memory
storage through the creation of more than one neural pathway, relating the content
visually as well as through sensory interaction. The more ways the brain has to recall
information, the more likely the student is to remember it and be able to use that
information in higher order thinking.
I also believe group work is important. After leaving school, most students will
enter the work force. Most professions require an ability to share ideas, collaborate on
projects, and communicate new ideas to others. These life skills should be honed during
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school. Explaining their value outside of the classroom may increase students buy-in to
the schooling process. Adolescents like to feel that what they are doing is purposeful
transparency in educational goals is vital.
My research in creating kinesthetic classrooms supports my views on movement
as a learning tool. Using movement to teach and review content increases the number of
neural pathways to recall the information in the brain. Additionally, studies report that
physical activity keeps the brain alert and ready to receive new information. 30 second
brain breaks to get up and stretch, walk around the room, or even do jumping jacks will
improve students brain function.
I believe cross-curricular learning is valuable. This practice allows students to
take information and/or skills from one subject area and apply them in another. The
ability to transfer knowledge in this fashion is an excellent indicator of deep learning and
understanding.
Students need to be taught how to learn as recently as this summer, I did not
know the most effective and efficient ways to study for long term knowledge retention.
Teaching students skills like good note taking, what to put on flashcards, how often to
review information, and how to self quiz and reflect on their learning will create more
effective and empowered students. I plan to incorporate this into my teaching practice.
Before students can learn, they have needs that must be met. Students who are
hungry and ineffectively clothed will not be able to concentrate in class. Less obvious
signs, like an unsafe home life or parents financial strain can also impact students
abilities to learn. As teachers, we must do our part to make sure our students
physiological and safety needs are being met. This can be accomplished through an
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awareness of students backgrounds and the creation of a safe and comfortable classroom.
Classroom culture is key. If students feel safe in reaching out to their teacher for help,
help can be provided. If they do not feel safe, the teacher and school may never know
about the students struggles and the student will continue to be unable to learn.
Biologically, adolescents are going through many changes that teachers must be
aware of. Cognitively, students pre-frontal cortex, the impulse and judgment control
center, is not fully developed. Students may act out in class or emotionally check out. It is
important to be aware of this possibility and understand how to diffuse problematic
situations when they arise. Some students may still be going through puberty and dealing
with hormonal unbalance and identity confusion. Again, the creation of a safe and
comfortable classroom will go a long way in assisting students with their feelings while
encouraging them to learn.
Patience and acceptance are vital. Our students want to do well in school, but they
may not know how to do so while maintaining their social reputation. They want to learn,
but they may not be able to because they do not receive regular meals. They want to
explore and create but may not know where to start. As teachers, we have the wonderful
and challenging task of giving our students all the tools they need to be successful.
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Reference List
Allman, K. (2015). MAT 702: July 16, 2015[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Duke
University Sakai: http://sakai.duke.edu
Allman, K. (2015). MAT 702: July 21, 2015[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Duke
University Sakai: http://sakai.duke.edu
Brown, P.C., Roediger, H.L., McDaniel, M.A. (2014). Make It Stick: The Science of
Successful Learning. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Carraway, Kimberly. (2014). Transforming Your Teaching: Practical Classroom
Strategies Informed by Cognitive Research. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, Inc.
Cozolino, L. (2013). The Social Neuroscience of Education. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, Inc.
Goldberg, M. (1987). Piagets Structuralism and the Teaching of Literature. The Journal
of Education, 38(4), 272 287.
Kagan, J. M. (1971). How Psychology Stimulates Education Now (B.F. Skinner) and
Then (William James). Psychology in the Schools, 8(4), 368 373.
Salkind, Neil J. (2008). Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology. Los Angeles, CA: Sage
Publications.
Ussher, B., Gibbes, C. (2002). Vygotsky, physical education and social interaction.
Journal of Physical Education New Zealand, 35(1), 76.

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