Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to determine if middle childhood students do have smooth concentration in class work. In this regard, a middle school student selected randomly among his peers was examined for an extensive period of time using several data collection methods.
The observed results showed that there is no way a middle childhood student can have a smooth concentration at school, owing to the vast complexities presented by the physical changes associated with this developmental stage.
Interestingly, the same observations have also been made in past theoretical and practical perspectives on the subject, as discussed in the literature review’s segment of the case study.
Middle Childhood student
Does a middle childhood student have smooth concentration in class work?
Introduction
Middle childhood or late childhood is arguably one of the most complex stages of human development. This is indeed a stage through which a child is expected to undergo many changes in life, owing to the vast aspects of development which they have to face (Liu et al., 2006).
These aspects of development include, but are not limited to, socioemotional, physical, psychological, and cognitive.
In this regard, the life of a middle childhood student is associated with diverse characteristics, particularly developmental features, which may tend to have a significant impact on the child’s concentration in academics.
Moreover, it is also in the course of this particular development stage where a child becomes aware of the true meaning of school life, among other important engagements that are common in growing children.
It has been argued that, it is at this stage of life when a child’s brain is at its best shape to learn and adopt new aspects, both at home and in school.
For the purpose of this study, Hillary, a middle-school student aged 12 years, and who is in the later stages of the middle school has been selected for observation in regard with the study question.
Appropriate study approaches have been applied to examine the behavioral traits of the student in various aspects of his educational setting.
The main reason as to why middle childhood would be chosen for this study was because it is a stage characterized by dramatic changes which tend to have a significant influence in a child’s life.
More importantly, this complex developmental stage has of late become the subject of study in vast fields of modern day research. In this regard, this case study offers some useful sense on how the aspects of this specific development stage would tend to impact a student’s concentration at school.
Context
Hillary is a grade 7 student at Hampshire Regional High School located at Westhampton in the state of Massachusetts. Hampshire Regional High School is indeed one of the high rating schools in Westhampton County.
Currently, the school has a population of around 810 students who are in grade 7 through 12. Hillary comes from a medium-income family of six members where he is the only son. The other family members would comprise of his two parents and three siblings.
The family lives in the small rural community of Westhampton, which is located in the county of Hampshire. The town of Westhampton is about 100 miles west of Massachusetts capital, Boston, and only 20 miles from Springfield.
The fact that Hillary is in the later stage of middle childhood makes him a good choice in this particular study, since he represents any other student who falls within this complex developmental stage.
Literature Review
Much has been said in regard with the middle childhood developmental stage, and how it impacts children at school. Some people have questioned whether a middle childhood student can have a smart or smooth concentration in educational matters.
In this regard, scholars and researchers have come out clearly to explain the controversy surrounding this matter, using different views and perspectives.
While some people have claimed that there is no way a student in middle childhood can have a smooth concentration in education due to the many complexities of transescence surrounding this particular stage of development, others have held on the contrary, by pointing out that it is actually in the course of this stage of human development when a student mind is in its best shape to understand things better.
As Seifert and Hoffnung (1987) observe, middle childhood is a perfect time for growing children to acquire a sense of independence and responsibility as they adapt to the many rampant changes coming their way.
By doing these, the children would be seeking for adult recognition and acceptance, among other things.
Children at this stage would tend to behave in manners linked to their sex as gender roles become stronger. More importantly, they would also be much concerned about being accepted by their peers and friends.
All these characteristics represent the emotional or psychological development of a child, whose associated problems include poor concentration and more academic challenges.
Middle childhood is said to be an extremely important stage for healthy advancement of a child in all aspects of development (Chunawala & Pradhan, 1993).
It has been observed that, the biggest percentage of the human brain development is realized in early childhood and middle childhood stages of life.
It is in the course of these two stages of human development when a child is likely to reach developmental milestones which include, but are not limited to, motor skills, language skills, and emotional attachment and regulation.
At this stage of life, children can take full control of their impulses, thus reasoning better in many situations (Feinstein & Bynner, 2004). More importantly, they can also plan and focus ahead in matters involving them in life.
Based on these observations, nothing would hinder middle childhood students from having a better concentration in school-related matters, particularly the academics.
According to Bandura and others (2001) children in this stage would also tend to display an increasingly better comprehension of their talents and abilities. This, however, could be a disturbing challenge for a child if these talents happen to fall outside the academic field.
In this case, a student would tend to pursue his/her best interests in life in other areas of concern, thus developing a bad feeling for academics. This eventually leads to poor concentration in class work.
More importantly, middle childhood prepares a child for other key aspects that are likely to apply significantly in their future lives.
Some of these key aspects include self discipline, eating habits, health literacy, conflict management and negotiation, and the ability to come up with informed decisions or judgments in delicate situations of life.
It is also during the middle childhood when dramatic changes in physical advancement start taking place in a child. This stage is characterized by a fast sexual development, among other common changes in human life, such as weight and height.
According to Horwood, Mogridge and Darlow (1998) these rapid and irregular physical changes are likely to cause serious complications to many people within this stage of human development.
For instance, many adolescents and teenagers would find it hard to cope with these changes, and for that reason, they could end up comparing themselves unfavorably to their friends, either at home or in school.
At the same time, they are much concerned about engaging in activities that in compliance with their physical changes. For example, owing to their increased energy, these people would tend to have a burning desire to attend daily physical exercises or activities.
These changes also do play a key role in helping the people in this developmental stage gain awareness of their sexual maturation, thus pushing them to develop a desire to experience the sex life.
Moreover, people in this stage are also likely to experience fatigue and restlessness owing to hormonal changes taking place in their bodies.
As a matter of fact, all these experiences and activities resulting from uncontrollable changes in physical development would tend to interfere with a student’s concentration at school, particularly in class work.
In fact, middle childhood is also a significant period of life through which children who are just about to enter puberty develop knowledge and skills that would enable them establish healthy social engagements which are likely to play an important role in their future lives (Parker & Asher, 1993).
Conversely, children in this stage of development would tend to seek relationships and associations, not only with other people, but also with the many new things happening in their surroundings.
More importantly, they also see their peers as useful companions who can play a significant role in catering for their basic social needs which may include things like social acceptance, need for safe attachment, playful companionship, and intimacy relationships, among others.
Research has revealed that, people are likely to suffer a degraded self-worth if their desire for social acceptance is neglected (Hartup, 1992).
Same case applies to children in the middle childhood stage. In this regard, children within this period of life are socially vulnerable and would be characterized with a strong desire of wanting to be associated with peers groups.
A study that was recently conducted to examine the amount of time that children would spend in interaction with peers showed that, children ranging between the ages of 7 and 12 exhibited the highest percentage of time spend in matters regarding peer interaction compared to children of other ages.
Peer relationships and friendships that are more complex are likely show up in middle childhood, as the children in this stage start realizing the importance of having friends around them, especially of the same gender (Bee & Boyd, 2003).
In other words, it is at this stage of development where children are likely to experience increased peer influence or pressure than in any other.
Even though children at this stage are said to be more dependent on parental values and beliefs, many times are those they would try to come out with their own decisions and ideas (Burchinal, Ramey, Reid & Jaccard, 1995).
Moreover, it is also in the course of this period when adolescents start realizing their identity in a social context.
It should be observed that the social skills of middle childhood are often guided by their physical or mental development, and for that reason, they are more likely to display immature behavior.
Even though the children would have gained an increased attention span, they will still have to face more academic problems at school.
As a matter of fact, the many external pressures arising from increased peer pressure as highlighted above often tends to discourage learning, by pushing those students who happen to fall within this stage away from educational activities offered in the classroom, among other leaning grounds.
Another common characteristic of middle childhood students which brings forth many learning complexities is that, learners within this educational setting have varied learning styles.
This has the meaning that, to ensure that the learning needs of every student are adequately met, teachers must try to come up with various teaching styles that are likely to serve the students better. This, however, is not an easy task to undertake, particularly in a middle school setting.
According to previous study observations, it is patently clear that these external pressures would tend to push students toward their peers, from where they derive their self concept, than in anywhere else, not even in academics.
Methodology
The observations conducted on this study would involve monitoring the individual over an extended period of time, particularly in matters involving behavior.
For perfect evaluation, a combination of appropriate data gathering techniques was used for this exercise, and this included observational method, face-to-face interviews, and tests and surveys. Observational method, however, had proved to be the most effective approach here.
This would involve gathering the data by simply watching the behavior of the individual on different settings, and noting any changes in his physical characteristics under those settings. This approach also proved to be an excellent way of discovering behaviors.
More importantly, information acquired from direct observations seemed to have much weight compared to information acquired from other sources.
Hillary, the student used for this study was selected randomly from a group of students in the school, and there were no special approaches that were used to identify him, apart from the fact that he represented middle childhood in an educational setting.
Even though it would not be easy to monitor every detail of the individual’s behavior and characteristics, I managed to observe him in different situations which enabled me to come out with optimal results as far as the study subject was concerned.
In some cases, I was even compelled to transcend normal individual limits to interview other people who played a key role in Hillary’s life. These other people would include the boy’s parents, siblings, teachers, and peers, particularly those who appeared to be too close to him.
Findings
Various observations were made out of this study as highlighted below. For instance, a complex growth of the student’s brain was observed in this development stage, based on the boy’s reasoning and focus in classroom affairs.
The student had also undergone a significant intellectual development in the course of this developmental stage. This is according to the information provided by the people who were interviewed regarding his behavior and characteristics.
On this note, I personally observed that Hillary responded positively to opportunities which allowed him to take part in real life situations. Among other observations, all these were significant indicators that the boy was developing intellectually.
However, even though these outcomes contributed to better understanding of the learning needs, they didn’t seem to improve the boy’s concentration in school.
It was also noted that, just like any other child in this developmental stage, particularly the ones in grade 7 and above, Hillary could not be lucky to elude the inescapable demands and pressures of physical development.
Hillary proved to be more active in the course of this period than ever before, and this was necessitated by the rapid physical, emotional, and sexual changes taking place in his body.
Based on my observations, it was easy to note that Hilary was able to apply a logical approach to not only class problems, but also other issues involving his life both at home and in school.
More importantly, the boy socialized more with his peers at school, where they would establish larger social networks.
“The interaction with my peers seems to be of great importance to me now than ever before, and sometimes I rarely concentrate in class work thinking of the many activities that bring us together during break times”, Hillary would once respond to one of my interviews regarding his socialization with peers at school.
It was also patently clear that Hillary had developed a strong interest for daily physical exercises while at home and during free times at school. These activities, however, appeared to distract his concentration at school.
According to his parents and siblings, Hillary would often be concerned with the demands of the rampant physical, emotional, social, and intellectual developments taking place in his life. For instance, the boy would exhibit characteristics of being preoccupied with his own affairs.
In this case, he would be intensely curious about many aspects in life, some of which would be beyond his age and level of understanding. More importantly, the boy would often engage in a number of activities and experiences aimed at satisfying his basic social needs.
A good example here is whereby the student spends much time in socialization activities with his peers either at home or in school, thus getting distracted from his academic work.
In fact, it was not surprising to hear Hillary’s mother assert that the boy’s attention and concentration in homework given to him by his teachers was being compromised by the inescapable pressures of social interactions at home, usually after getting home in the evenings.
All these findings have clearly shown that a middle childhood student can never have a smooth concentration in academic affairs, since their lives are impacted by the dynamics of transescence that are common in this particular developmental stage.
Conclusion
As it would be observed from the many scenarios highlighted in this case study, the complexities of the many physical changes associated with middle childhood normally present serious challenges for middle school learners.
Apart from the main findings of this particular research, previous studies have also proved that it is difficulty for middle childhood students to have maximum concentration in school, particularly in matters involving academics.
This case study has successfully applied both theoretical and practical frameworks to approach the question, thus leading to informed conclusions.
This study was conducted in a free and fair manner, and it incorporated the use of the most appropriate data collecting approaches that would be applicable for a research of this nature, to give the most desirable outcomes.
However, as it would be observed from the findings presented in this case study; there are controversies about the role played by the rampant psychological and intellectual developments associated with middle childhood.
While some people claim that these developments only improve student understanding in class, others would observe that, they also increase a student’s concentration in academics. In this regard, there is a need for further investigations to determine the truth about this matter.
References
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Bee, H., & Boyd, D. (2003). Lifespan development (study edition). Massachusetts, US: Allyn and Bacon.
Burchinal, M., Ramey, S., Reid, M., & Jaccard, J. (1995). Early child care experiences and their association with family and child characteristics during middle childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 10(1), 33-61.
Chunawala, S., & Pradhan, H. (1993). A study of students’ attitudes to school subjects, a preliminary report. Journal of Education and Social Change, 7(2), 76-80.
Feinstein, L., & Bynner, J. (2004). The importance of cognitive development in middle childhood for adulthood socioeconomic status, mental health, and problem behavior. Child Development, 75(5), 132-136.
Hartup, W. (1992). Peer relations in early and middle childhood. Handbook of Social Development: A Lifespan Perspective, 12(8), 257-281.
Horwood, L., Mogridge, N., & Darlow, B. (1998). Cognitive, educational, and behavioral outcomes at 7 to 8 years in a national very low birth weight cohort. Archives of Disease in Childhood-Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 79(1), F12-F20.
Liu, M., Hsieh, P., Cho, Y., & Schaallert, D. (2006). Middle School Students’ Self-Efficacy, Attitudes, and Achievement in a Computer-Enhanced Problem-Based Learning Environment. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 17(3), 225 – 242.
Parker, J., & Asher, S. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 611-611.
Seifert, K., & Hoffnung, R. (1987). Child and adolescent development. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.