Middle Grades Curriculum

Voices and Visions of the Self-Enhancing School

Edited by:
Kathleen Roney, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Richard P. Lipka, St. Bonaventure University

A volume in the series: Middle Level Education and the Self-Enhancing School. Editor(s): Kathleen Roney, University of North Carolina Wilmington. Richard P. Lipka, St. Bonaventure University.

Published 2013

High stakes testing, standards, and accountability politics is taking us away from the importance of the affective domain in curriculum development. This critical learning domain is often an unrecognized and infrequently considered topic in the literature. Through this book we extend the current knowledge base by addressing a curriculum model developed in the 1980s. We add a 2012 knowledge base as we delineate the role of self-perceptions in school-related learning, how middle level curriculum affects self-perceptions, and the type of curriculum planning which enhances self-perceptions and improves learning in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.

The combination of sound psychological principles and practical teaching and curriculum suggestions with an empirical basis makes the book attractive to both higher education and local school professional libraries. In the former it will serve as the primary text in graduate and advanced undergraduate middle level education programs and practices courses. It might also be a primary text in courses or workshops in affective education or other experiences which emphasize affective, values, and self-concept. It also has potential as a supplementary text in undergraduate educational psychology courses. At the in-service level this book could be used as a workshop resource or as a professional reference for middle level teachers, administrators, curriculum workers, and supervisors.

Our interest in young adolescents and their school setting coincides with the fourth edition of This We Believe (NMSA, 2010). The self-enhancing school is characterized by “from-to” statements; for example, “from” avoiding parents “to” working with parents. Using theory and research we discuss the costs of staying in the “from” position and the benefits derived from moving to the “to” position. By combining educational psychology and curriculum development we make a unique contribution to middle grades curriculum developers.

CONTENTS
Foreword, John H. Lounsbury. Introduction: The Vision, Kathleen Roney & Richard P. Lipka. Should Schools be in the Business of Enhancing Student Self-Perceptions? Thomas M. Brinthaupt. Developing Caring, Humanistic Classrooms: Effects on Young Adolescents’ Complete Growth, David F. Brown. Grouping Students in the Self-Enhancing School, David C. Virtue. From External Control to Self-Direction, John A. Mundell and Mary Lynn Redmond. From Self-Isolation to Peer Interaction: Building Community in Middle Grades Classrooms, Clark Power & Ann Marie R. Power. From Age Isolation to Multiage Interactions, Elizabeth Pate. From Accepting Failure to Promoting Success, Patrick Akos, Molly Frommer, & Emily Rinkoski. From Avoiding or Blaming Parents to Working with Parents, Lee Shumow & Nancy DeFrates-Densch. It Is All About Expectations: Moving From Negative to Positive Expectations, Chris M. Cook & Shawn A. Faulkner. From Debilitating Teacher Self-Perceptions to Enhancing Teacher Self-Perceptions, Sara Davis Powell. Self Enhancement Through Self-Transcendence: Towards Mindful Middle Schools for Teaching and Learning, Robert W. Roeser, Cynthia Taylor, & Jessica Harrison. Understanding Learners: From Confusion About Learners to Clear Understanding of Learner Characteristics, David Strahan. The Effects on Teachers and Students of Using Vague and Specific Learning Constructs to Enhance Self-Perceptions, James E. Calder & Thomas M. Brinthaupt. From Subject-Centeredness to Life Centeredness, Rajni Shankar-Brown. From Teacher-Exclusive Planning to Teacher-Student Planning: The Promise of Partnering in a Connected World, John M. Downes. From Textbooks and Tests to Problems and Projects, Brianne L. Reck. Middle School: A Static Institution Within a Dynamic World: Moving the Middle School Curriculum Into Our Dynamic World, Edward N. Brazee. Epilogue: What Have We Learned, and What Must We Do, Richard P. Lipka & Kathleen Roney. About the Contributors.