The "Middle" Child aka Tweens

Reflection: How does having a separate school category (Middle) affect our understanding of tweens?

Subjects: Tween Development, Teaching Strategies, Importance of Understanding Tweens as a Separate Group  

            I feel that having a separate Middle school category helps us to better understand the developmental needs of tweens.  In separating them into a category at the school level, we are more easily able to separate them in our minds in other areas such as physical development, social development, and general interests which lead us towards developing appropriate strategies in order to better serve them.  Without a middle school category, it would be too tempting to lump tweens into either a child or teen category.

            Educators are already ahead of the game developing strategies in order to better meet middle school students’ needs.  Weiner (2007) presents a variety of instructional activities based around the PIES (Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social development) of young adolescents and argues that many of the annoying behaviors of middle school students that frustrate educators, such as the inability to sit still, are based on common developmental issues.  Teachers can their understanding of young adolescent PIES to promote a learning environment where young adolescents can succeed by working with rather then against common issues, such as having students move from one learning station to another in set intervals in order to combat restlessness (Weiner, 2007). 

            It isn’t only schools that understand the differences between children, tweens, and teens.  The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has created separate lists on adolescent development for middle school/early high school and for older high school teenagers.  The Search Institute has also created developmental assets lists for ages 5 to 9, ages 8 to 12, and ages 12 to 18.  As Anderson (2007) and Lesesne (2006) both discuss, tweens are experiencing so many different developmental transitions (physically, mentally emotionally, and socially) which they may need help with or information on.  Librarians can help tweens deal with these transitions by providing materials and programming that center on tween issues.  Librarians can use the strategies and information provided from similar sources to those mentioned above in order to make better decisions on the types of materials and programs provided for tweens.

Reference:

Anderson, S. (2007). Serving young teens and ‘tweens. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. 

Lesesne, T. (2006). Naked reading: Uncovering what tweens need to become lifelong readers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. 

Weiner, C. (2007). Understanding Kids in the Middle. Principal (Reston, Va.), 86(4), 74-5. Retrieved September 14, 2010 from Education Full Text database.