Course Description
Designed to expand students’ understanding of the social, historical, political, and cultural contexts that influence and inform how youth ages 9 to 15 years old are constructed, perceived, and represented in the United States, and the teaching and learning practices that evolve from those constructions.
Athena Title
Crit Constructions of YA
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDMG 7050E
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will be able to: - Explain how young adolescents’ cultural and historical locations influence how they perceive and interact with the world. - Contrast theories about how young adolescents learn and will explore the implications of each theory for classroom practice. - Critique research on teaching and learning in the middle grades, grades 4-8. - Articulate how teaching and learning practices are shaped by social and political forces, which have social and political consequences for middle grades students that extend beyond the walls of the classroom.
Topical Outline
In relation to middle grades education, grades 4-8: Cultural and historical locations of self and young adolescents Critique of developmentalism (adolescents vs. adolescence) Social constructions of young adolescents Cultural perspectives of young adolescents Stereotypes of young adolescents Schooling of young adolescents Culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy