One of your friends has a daughter who will be entering seventh grade
next year at a new middle school. Your friend has heard that in general,
students’ academic motivation, self-image, and school grades all decrease
as they leave elementary school and enter middle school. He wants to
know why this might happen, and seeks your advice on what to expect
and how to help his daughter through this transition. What do you tell
him?
Sometimes teachers fail to alter their teaching styles to the developmental
needs of their students. This can be tricky for all involved because his daughter,
along with all the other 7th grade adolescents, are at a time in their lives when they
desire more independence. In fact, his daughter and her friends are probably going
into the seventh grade assuming they are getting more freedom from authority.
However, teachers of adolescence are more inclined to use discipline. This is when
a developmental mismatch occurs between what adolescents need and what they
are getting from their teachers. Teachers have a direct impact on their student’s
motivation. Many times it comes down to their personal perception of their duty as
a teacher and their view of the students learning potential. If his daughter’s new
teacher views his or her duty as cultivators, then her teacher believes that the
students success is a result of effort and practice which is an incremental view of
