Study Of Adolescent Learner Practices: The Essay On Robert Smith.

Emerging Narrative

Discuss about the Study of Adolescent Learner Practices.

There have been numerous attempts for explaining and addressing the learning practices of the middle year school students in Australia. Most of the students at this stage are seen to fight with their lack of engagement with studies. They do not seem like they are involved in the school curriculum. This stage is also important in the learning activity of children, as several students are seen to have different kinds of learning and communication difficulty at this stage. Therefore it is necessary to carefully observe their learning developments in the classroom so that their difficulties can be taken care of (Greenhow, Gleason & Li, 2014). Numerous students are seen to become frustrated with their repeated failures and tend to give u what they are doing. Scholars have found out that due to the repeated failure the formation f the perception regarding their capability is greatly influenced (Wong et al., 2015). This is very much necessary for their later life as self perception regarding own capability is essential to accomplish anything. The sense of incapability may be static in later life and children tend to acquire a sense of helplessness. In this case study, I will observe a second grad student in the elementary school, Robert Smith.

I was observing nineteen fifth grade students in the elementary schools while I was focusing on a specific student, Robert Smith as among them he was the only one who was having problem with the learning abilities and having communication issues. I chose him after observing him for few weeks and after talking to his teachers about her previous grades. He has a severe lack of motivation in studies. He also had the tendency of withdrawing himself from any kind of event as most of the time he expected failure as an outcome. His teachers observed the same. Therefore, it was considered that he is having the learned helplessness and he was having clear symptoms of that. I had created a profile which had included the family information of the child, schooling information and the other inputs about his previous teachers. I was interested more in gaining an insight about the learning techniques of the child and how he copes up with his schooling. Other than Robert, I also find other students who were losing engagement in the learning process. Ellis (2015) suggests that engagement in schooling should be considered as a concept being multifaceted. From this point of view the school engagement can be characterized in three different methods; emotionally, behaviorally and cognitively. Therefore any kind of attempts that increase the student engagement in their regular schooling can face different challenges from both the perspectives, the role of teachers promoting various outcomes and the scope for actions.

Connecting Practice and Theory

There are a large number of teachers who spoke about their experiences facing disengaged behavior of students. Many commented that no matter how hard they try the students do not respond to anything and do not try to improve their present conditions. They observed that the learning abilities of Robert were responding to their try in a very slow motion. Robert’s parents were also worried about his learning developments. His parents also expressed worry about his inability of interacting with other children. His parents indicated that he is reluctant to go to school and he is mostly in a bad mood before coming to school. I had checked last three grade reports of Robert and noted that he is mostly getting average marks in the language and reading part. However, his math’s grades are worse. He was getting far low than the average grades. I had asked Robert to sit for a small assignment where he was supposed to answer questions such as ‘what do you feel when the teaching is talking to the class?’, ‘can you complete your homework within time?’; ‘do you like to read?’ All the students who sat for this study were writing different kinds of answers to the entire question paper, where I noticed that Robert was not at all attentive towards whatever he was asked to do and trying to copy from other students.

Robert was also having problem at the lunch time where he could not gel up with his peers. They have repeatedly complained against him. Even some teachers had complained because of his behavioral problems. Seeing him having difficulties in communicating with his peers, I had doubts whether he is being treated in a bad way at home front or not. Most of the times children who are being yelled at home tend to grow such tendencies. I had talked to all of his teachers and observed his classroom practices. Therefore, his low level of coping up capabilities were seen to affect his natural communications as well,

Observing the overall profile of Robert has suggested that he is definitely a victim of learned helplessness. He was rigid at this point that he does not have any kind of social and intellectual characteristics; therefore his situation cannot be changed. He has a low perception about his own capabilities and also has a feeling that he has no control over the outcome of any situation. Scholars who found out that the children with learned helplessness has a sense of failure in their own ability than in the surroundings such as the difficulty of any job or the failure of the teacher. They can also detect whether any particular teacher is compassionate enough towards them. Therefore, I have seen that Robert recognizing that his science teacher is giving the positive judgments about his abilities.

Implications for Teachers and Teaching

This analysis gives me a better understanding with the situation inside the classroom and the impact of the learning practices on the students with learning difficulties. Scholars have indicated the fact that in most of the cases the teachers are unable to identify the symptoms of the learning difficulty of the child. Therefore, I had developed an intervention that may alleviate his learned helplessness across the academic and physical domains. An effective policy may involve targeting a specific setting where the child can be motivated with the learning practices. The child needed to be motivated so that he can further take part in different events in schools. The interventions were:

• The children with learned helplessness are not positive about having improvements in their abilities. Wexler et al. (2015) suggest that they focus more on comparing their own performance to others therefore they tend not to identify their own improvements. Thus, most of the times Robert were also seen to overlook his improvements. However, in the proposed learning practices, I have tried to make him realize that he is improving as well. When the teacher is pointing towards his own achievements, it made him happy and he left the class with a big smile.
• Mikulincer (2013) indicated that the children with the learned helplessness stress on themselves way more than a child should do and they mostly expect a negative outcome from any situation. Robert is always scared that his classmates will make fun of him if he fails to do something. However, in the designed classroom, the students had the space to practice things on their own; therefore Robert was enthusiast to practice new things.
• As the children with learned helplessness think themselves to have a low ability, they avoid situations where they might be asked to perform (Brunson, 2015). They have a continuous fear of judgment. Therefore, they avoid such situations. However, in the designed curriculum, the students had lower peer pressure and were encouraged to be engaged in physical activities outside the classroom. This made him happy and energized.
• According to Maier & Seligman (2016), these children also have problems in having control over situations in life. In the learning practices, they were encouraged to involve in tasks where they need to take care of something and be responsible. This enhances their ability of taking responsibility and expresses their feelings about a situation.

In this section, I will suggest few implications that the middle year teachers can make to encourage and involve the students more in the curriculums. In these years students spend more time in their schools and with their peers. Therefore, they should be careful just as the parents are. In most of the cases, it can be seen that when the teacher asks something in the class, few students raises their hands but some of them not if the teacher asks someone who had not raised his or hand for answering the question, tend to be quiet or say ‘I do not know’. However, most of the time the teachers also do not have time to focus on that particular student and in the need to cover the entire study materials, he or she misses a specific student (Hwang & Kearney, 2013). The teacher should take care of some other things in the class other than the study materials too. Therefore, I am suggesting some of the implications that the teacher could follow to improve the situation:

• These children want to see themselves as successful ones and they tend to compare their own performances with others. Thus they tend to feel insecure. Therefore, the teachers are suggested to encourage them continuously and give them positive feedbacks.
• The teachers are also suggested to identify their little improvements. This will make them happy and they will not expect the negative outcome anymore.
• Some of the students may not be comfortable enough to share his or her feelings in front of the whole class. Therefore, the teacher should make sure that he or she is given personal time and space where they can share their views about their performance.
• This difficulty is more prevalent in the early years. Even these patterns are also established in this stage where the children learn their capabilities. Therefore the elementary teachers should identify the specific patterns so that they can be intervened with suitable reinforcements. Therefore, they are suggested to put more attention to the students.
• The teachers should praise and reinforce the innate ability of the child when they are successful in a particular task. If the students starts believing that they are good at something, they will let themselves more opportunities.
• The positive feedback from the teachers will make the students with learned helplessness difficulty more encouraged. This can act as a powerful tool in their improvement.
• () suggest that the teachers may set a specific goal from each of the student so that they can try to achieve something tangible. The accomplishment will give them more confidence as well.

Conclusion

This study shows that it is necessary for the students to be observed, so that the teachers could identify the specific issues with their developmental phases. In this study, we have seen the child with the learning difficulty was having severe issues in coping up with his surroundings. These children tend to be anxious most of the times as they tend to compare their performances continuously. They tend to be sad or in bad temper most of the times. They may also have issues with their communication skills with the peers. In this situation, the peer support is also necessary. If they realize they are not being judged all the time, they tend to be less anxious. The teachers may apply the ‘I do, I do’ model by providing the students a guided practice or release their sense of responsibility gradually, so that they can move towards the independent practice. As mentioned by the scholars that having collaborative practices can enhance their skills and the teachers may monitor their individual improvements during this time. With a careful observation, responsibility, planning and ensuring the implications, we can make sure that the students with the learned helplessness difficulty can cope up with this situation. The caring and thoughtful teachers who are willing to take care even if there are difficulties should be appointed so that they can help the students.

Conclusion

Reference List and Bibliography

Brunson, B. I. (2015). The Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern and reactions to uncontrollable events: An analysis of learned helplessness.

Ellis, R. (2015). Understanding Second Language Acquisition 2nd Edition-Oxford Applied Linguistics. Oxford university press.

Greenhow, C., Gleason, B., & Li, J. (2014). Psychological, social, and educational dynamics of adolescents’ online social networking. Media Education: Studi, Ricerche, Buone Pratiche, 5(2), 115-130.

Hwang, Y. S., & Kearney, P. (2013). A systematic review of mindfulness intervention for individuals with developmental disabilities: Long-term practice and long lasting effects. Research in developmental disabilities, 34(1), 314-326.

Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. (2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience. Psychological review, 123(4), 349.

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers' reading practices and preferences. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, The, 38(2), 115.

McPherson, G. E., Osborne, M. S., Barrett, M. S., Davidson, J. W., & Faulkner, R. (2015). Motivation to study music in Australian schools: The impact of music learning, gender, and socio-economic status. Research Studies in Music Education, 37(2), 141-160.

Mikulincer, M. (2013). Human learned helplessness: A coping perspective. Springer Science & Business Media.

Mirrione, M. M., Schulz, D., Lapidus, K., Zhang, S., Goodman, W., & Henn, F. A. (2014). Increased metabolic activity in the septum and habenula during stress is linked to subsequent expression of learned helplessness behavior. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 29.

Sedibe, H. M., Kahn, K., Edin, K., Gitau, T., Ivarsson, A., & Norris, S. A. (2014). Qualitative study exploring healthy eating practices and physical activity among adolescent girls in rural South Africa. BMC pediatrics, 14(1), 211.

Taboada Barber, A., Buehl, M. M., Kidd, J. K., Sturtevant, E. G., Richey Nuland, L., & Beck, J. (2015). Reading engagement in social studies: Exploring the role of a social studies literacy intervention on reading comprehension, reading self-efficacy, and engagement in middle school students with different language backgrounds. Reading Psychology, 36(1), 31-85.

Ware, P., & Kessler, G. (2016). Telecollaboration in the secondary language classroom: case study of adolescent interaction and pedagogical integration. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(3), 427-450.

Wexler, J., Reed, D. K., Pyle, N., Mitchell, M., & Barton, E. E. (2015). A synthesis of peer-mediated academic interventions for secondary struggling learners. Journal of Learning Disa Fitton, V. A., Ahmedani, B. K., Harold, R. D., & Shifflet, E. D. (2013). The role of technology on young adolescent development: Implications for policy, research and practice. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 30(5), 399-413.bilities, 48(5), 451-470.

Wilcox, K. C., & Jeffery, J. V. (2015). Adolescent English language learners' stances toward disciplinary writing. English for Specific Purposes, 38, 44-56.

Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., ... & Schultz, T. R. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), 1951-1966.

Young, J. A., Symons, C. M., Pain, M. D., Harvey, J. T., Eime, R. M., Craike, M. J., & Payne, W. R. (2015). Role models of Australian female adolescents: A longitudinal study to inform programmes designed to increase physical activity and sport participation. European Physical Education Review, 21(4), 451-466.