12.3 Teaching and Learning

As we have just described, school-age children are great learners, using logic, developing strategies, accumulating knowledge, and expanding their language proficiency. In every century and nation, new responsibilities and formal instruction begin in middle childhood because that is when the human body and brain are ready. Traditionally, this learning occurred at home, but now more than 95 percent of the world’s 7-year-olds are in school; that is where their parents and political leaders want them to be (Cohen & Malin, 2010).

International Schooling

Everywhere in the world children are taught to read, write, and do arithmetic. Because of brain maturation and sequenced learning, 6-year-olds are not expected to multiply three-digit numbers or read paragraphs fluently out loud, but every nation teaches 10-year-olds to do so. Some of the sequences recognized universally are listed in the accompanying At About This Time tables (see next page).

Nations also want their children to be good citizens. However, citizenship is not easy to teach. There is no consensus as to what that means or what developmental paths should be followed (Cohen & Malin, 2010).

Although literacy and numeracy (reading and math, respectively) are valued everywhere, many curriculum specifics vary by nation, by community, and by school. These variations are evident in the results of international tests, in the mix of school subjects, and in the relative power of parents, educators, and political leaders.

For example, daily physical activity is mandated in some schools but not in others. Many schools in Japan have swimming pools; virtually no schools in Africa or Latin America do. As you read in Chapter 11, some U.S. schools have no recess at all.

Geography, music, and art are essential in some places, not in others. Half of all U.S. 18- to 24-year-olds say they had no arts education in childhood, either in school or anywhere else (Rabkin & Hedberg, 2011) (see Figure 12.5).

Focus on Facts As achievement test scores become the measure of learning, education in art, music, and movement has been squeezed out. Artists worry that creativity and imagination may be lost as well.

Source: Rabkin & Hedberg, 2011. National Endowment for the Arts.

Same Situation, Far Apart: Spot the Hidden Curriculum Literacy is central to the curriculum for schoolchildren everywhere, no matter how far apart they live. However, in the U.S. classroom at the left, boys and girls learn together, clothes are casual, history books are paperback and illustrated, and children of every background read the same stories with the same patriotic—but not religious—themes. The hidden curriculum is quite different for the boy memorizing his holy book on the right.

©WILL & DENI MCINTYRE/CORBIS
© OLIVIER CIRENDINI/LONELY PLANET/GETTY IMAGES

Educational practices may differ even between nations that are geographically and culturally close. For example, the average child in a primary school in Germany spends three times as much school time studying science as does the average child across the border, in the Netherlands (Snyder & Dillow, 2010).

Differences between one nation and another, and, in the United States, between one school and another, are notable in aspects of the hidden curriculum, which includes implicit values and assumptions evident in course selection, schedules, tracking, teacher characteristics, discipline, teaching methods, sports competition, student government, extracurricular activities, and so on.

Whether students should be quiet or talkative in the classroom is part of the hidden curriculum, taught from kindergarten on. I realized this particular hidden curriculum difference when I taught at the United Nations high school. One student, newly arrived from India, never spoke in class so I called on him. He immediately stood up to answer—to the surprise of his classmates. Soon he learned to stay seated, but he never spoke spontaneously.

More generally, if teachers’ gender, ethnicity, or economic background is unlike that of the students, children may conclude that education is irrelevant for them. If the school has gifted classes, the hidden message may be that most students are not very capable.

The physical setting of the school also sends a message. Some schools have spacious classrooms, wide hallways, and large, grassy playgrounds, others have cramped, poorly equipped rooms and cement play yards. In some nations, school is held outdoors, with no chairs, desks, or books, and sessions are canceled when it rains. What does that tell the students?

Having Fun? Not necessarily.

© ANDREW GOMBERT/EPA/CORBIS
© CHRISTOPHER CHUNG/ZUMAPRESS/CORBIS

Over the past two decades, more than 50 nations have participated in at least one massive international test of educational achievement. Longitudinal data reveal that, if achievement rises, the national economy advances with it; this sequence seems causal, not merely correlational (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2009). Apparently, better-educated adults become more productive workers.

Science and math achievement are tested in the Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS). The main test of reading is the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). These tests are given every few years, with East Asian nations usually ranking at the top and the United States’ rank rising, but it is still not as high as many other nations (see Tables 12.2 and 12.3). Most developing nations do not give these tests, but when they do, their scores are low.

After a wholesale reform of the educational system, Finland’s scores increased dramatically from about 1990 to 2001 (Sahlberg, 2011). Changes occurred over several years, from the abolishment of ability grouping in 1985 to curriculum reform in 1994 that encouraged collaboration and active learning. Strict requirements for becoming a teacher may be key. Only the top 3 percent of high school graduates are admitted to teachers’ colleges, where they receive five years of free education, including a master’s degree in education theory and practice.

Finnish teachers are also granted more autonomy within their classrooms than is typical in other systems, and since the 1990s they have time and encouragement to work with colleagues (Sahlberg, 2011). Buildings are designed to foster collaboration, with comfortable teacher’s lounges in place (Sparks, 2012), reflecting a hidden curriculum.

Sharing Answers After individually subtracting 269 from 573, these two third-graders check their answers two ways—first by adding and then by showing their work to each other. As you can see, he is not embarrassed at his mistake because students in this class enjoy learning from each other.

© DEBBIE NODA/MODESTO BEE/ZUMAPRESS.COM/ALAMY LIMITED

Respect for teaching might be the reason for Finland’s success, or perhaps something more basic regarding Finland’s size, population, culture, or history may be responsible. Or it may come from considering every child to have strengths and weaknesses: Few are designated as having special needs because all are given individualized attention.

International test results may be related to educational approaches in various nations. TIMSS experts videotaped 231 math classes in three nations—Japan, Germany, and the United States (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999/2009). The U.S. teachers taught math at a lower level than did their German and Japanese counterparts, presenting more definitions but not connecting those definitions to prior learning. Few U.S. students seemed interested, because they felt the teachers themselves were not overly interested: “teachers seem to believe that learning terms and practicing skills is not very exciting” (p. 89).

By contrast, the Japanese teachers were excited about math instruction, working collaboratively and structuring lessons so that the children developed proofs and alternative solutions, both alone and in groups. Teachers used social interaction and followed an orderly sequence (building lessons on previous knowledge). Such teaching reflected all three theories of cognition: problem-solving from Piaget, collaborative learning from Vygotsky, and sequencing from information processing. Remember that Japanese students excel on the TIMSS, which suggests that all three theories may be relevant.

Elaborate and extensive measures are in place to make the PIRLS and the TIMSS valid. For instance, test items are designed to be fair and culture-free, and participating children represent the diversity (income, ethnic, etc.) of the child population. Consequently, most social scientists worldwide respect the data gathered from these tests.

The tests are far from perfect, however. Designing test items that are equally challenging to all students is impossible. Should fourth-graders be expected to understand fractions, graphs, and simple geometry, or should the test focus only on basic operations with whole numbers? Once those general questions are decided, specific items may nonetheless be unfair. One item testing fourth-grade math was the following:

This problem involves simple subtraction. Yet, 40 percent of U.S. fourth-graders got it wrong. Were they unable to subtract 57 from 62, or did they not understand the example, or did the abbreviation for kilograms confuse them because—unlike children in most nations—they are more familiar with pounds? On this item, children from Yemen were at the bottom, with 95 percent of them failing. Is that because few of them have cats for pets or weigh themselves on a scale?

In the United States

MIKE TWOHY/THE NEW YORKER COLLECTION/WWW.CARTOONBANK.COM

Although some national tests indicate improvements in U.S. children’s academic performance, when U.S. children are compared with children in other nations, not much has changed in reading or math scores in the past two decades. A particular concern is that a child’s achievement seems to be more influenced by income and ethnicity in the United States than in other nations, some of which have more diversity and more immigrants than the United States.

Also in the United States, although many educators and political leaders have attempted to eradicate performance disparities linked to a child’s background, the gap between fourth-grade European Americans and their Latino and African American peers is as wide as it was 15 years ago. Furthermore, the gap between low- and high-income U.S. students is widening, as is the gap between American Indians and other groups (Maxwell, 2012; National Center for Education Statistics, 2012).

International comparisons and disparities within the United States led to passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 (NCLB), a federal law promoting high national standards for public schools. One controversial aspect of the law is its requirement of frequent testing to measure whether standards are being met. Low-scoring schools lose funding and may be closed. An unfortunate result is that children of middling achievement are pushed hard to make sure they meet the benchmark, while children far above or far below standards may be ignored.

Most people agree with the NCLB goals (accountability and higher achievement) but not with the strategies that must be used (Frey et al., 2012). NCLB troubles those who value the arts, social studies, or physical education because those subjects are often squeezed out when reading and math achievement is the priority (Dee et al., 2013). States have been granted substantial power of implementation, teacher preparation has increased but class size has not decreased, and the tests, and testing, remain controversial (Frey et al., 2012; Dee et al., 2013).

Federally sponsored tests called the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measure achievement in reading, mathematics, and other subjects. Many critics believe that the NAEP is better than state tests (Applegate et al., 2009), basing their conclusion on the fact that the NAEP labels fewer children proficient than do state tests.

Disagreement about state tests and standards led the governors of all 50 states to designate a group of experts who developed a Common Core of standards, finalized in 2010, for use nationwide. The standards, higher than most state standards, are quite explicit, with half a dozen or more specific expectations for achievement in each subject for each grade. (Table 12.4 provides a sample of the specific standards.) As of 2013, forty-five states have adopted this Common Core for both reading and math; Minnesota is a partial adopter, in reading but not in math; and four states—Texas, Virginia, Alaska, and Nebraska—have opted out of the Common Core.

The issue of how best to teach children to learn what they need, and what exactly that learning is, continues to be controversial in almost every nation.

One example of such a controversy involves determining when, how, to whom, and whether schools should provide second-language instruction, a question answered in opposite ways from nation to nation. Some nations teach two or more languages throughout elementary school, and others punish children who utter any word in any language other than the majority one.

In the United States, less than 5 percent of children under age 11 study a language other than English in school (Robelen, 2011). (In secondary school, almost every U.S. student takes a year or two of a language other than English, but studies of brain maturation suggest that this is too late for efficient language learning.)

Some U.S. educators note that almost every child speaks two languages by age 10 in Canada and most nations of Europe, where children are taught two languages throughout middle childhood. African children who are talented and fortunate enough to reach high school often speak three languages. The implications of this for U.S. language instruction are often ignored because of debates about immigration and globalization. Instead of trying to teach English-speaking children a second language during the years when they are best able to learn it, educators in the United States debate how best to teach English to children who do not speak it.

Teaching approaches range from immersion, in which instruction occurs entirely in the new language, to the opposite, in which children are taught in their first language until the second language can be taught as a “foreign” tongue (a strategy rare in the United States but common elsewhere). Between these extremes lies bilingual schooling, with instruction in two languages, and ESL (English as a second language), with all non-English speakers taught English in one multilingual group. ESL is intended to be a short and intense program to prepare students for regular classes.

Methods for teaching a second language sometimes succeed and sometimes fail, with the research not yet clear as to which approach is best (Gandara & Rum-berger, 2009). The success of any method seems to depend on the literacy of the home environment (frequent reading, writing, and listening in any language helps); the warmth, training, and skill of the teacher; and the national context. In some schools, every teacher is bilingual; in other schools, none are—and children notice that hidden curriculum. ELLs are more likely than other students to underachieve and then drop out.

All the Same These five children all speak a language other than English at home and are now learning English as a new language at school. Although such classes should ideally be taught to true English language learners (ELLs), children who already speak English are sometimes mistakenly included in them (like 8-year-old Elena, from Mexico).

AP PHOTO/DANIEL SHANKEN

Children and parents born outside the United States may not be accustomed to the teaching norms: For instance, should students be quiet or vocal? Should students work in groups or independently?

Many immigrants to the United States are raised in families in which survival depended on cooperation, and thus the competition and individuality within U.S. classrooms are disconcerting. At the same time, they often greatly respect education and teachers, so they are aghast if a student refuses to do homework or talks back to a teacher. To further complicate matters, generalities (including those just described) about immigrants and cultures may be stereotypes. For instance, although the political rhetoric sometimes implies that all U.S. immigrant children are from Mexico, many Latino immigrants are not Mexican, and many immigrants are not Latino. Although immigrants from Latin America account for more than half of the foreign-born population of the United States (53 percent), only 29 percent of foreigners have come from Mexico, roughly the same as have come from Asia (28 percent). Other Latino immigrants have come from elsewhere in Central America (8 percent), South America (7 percent), and the Caribbean (9 percent) (United States Census Bureau, 2012).

Further, differences are vast within every group. Asian immigrants to the United States are from China, India, and many other Asian nations—each with a distinct culture that affects learning. And, of course, many families with Hispanic names have lived in the United States for centuries: Spanish may be a foreign language for them.

Cognitive research leaves no doubt that school-age children can learn a second language if they are taught logically, step-by-step, and they can maintain their original language. Whether they do so, however, is affected by factors beyond cognitive research: SES, family ethnotheories, expectations, and national policies.

An underlying issue for almost any national or international educational dispute is the role of parents. In most nations, matters regarding public education—curriculum, funding, teacher training, and so on—are set by the central government. Almost all children attend their local school, whose resources and standards are similar to all the other schools in that nation.

In contrast, local U.S. jurisdictions provide most of the funds and guidelines. Parents affect education by talking to their child’s teacher, by parent–teacher associations (PTAs), by moving to a particular school zone, or by electing local officials. Moreover, while most parents send their children to a nearby public school, almost a third do not. They choose a public charter school, a private school, or home schooling (see Figure 12.6).

Where’d You Go to School? Note that although home schooling is still the least-chosen option, the number of home-schooled children is increasing, while the number of children attending zoned public schools is slightly decreasing. Although any child can be home-schooled, more detailed data indicate that the typical home-schooled child is a 7-year-old European American girl living in a rural area of the South with an employed father and a stay-at-home mother.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, 2012.

Choices and Complications

Mom or Teacher? Don’t be fooled by the warm hug from a former student, congratulating Diane Palmer for winning $25,000 as an outstanding teacher. Teacher quality is more crucial for learning than whether the school is public or private.

BRIAN BRAINERD/THE DENVER POST VIA GETTY IMAGES

Charter schools are public schools funded and licensed by states or local districts. Typically, they also have private money and sponsors. They are exempt from some regulations, especially those negotiated by unions, and they have some control over admissions and expulsions. For that reason, they often are more ethnically segregated and enroll fewer children with special needs. On average, teachers are younger and work longer hours, and school size is smaller than in traditional public schools.

Some charter schools are remarkably successful; others are not (Peyser, 2011). A major criticism is that not every child who enters a charter school stays to graduate; one scholar reports that “the dropout rate for African American males is shocking” (Miron, quoted in Zehr, 2011, p. 1). Overall, children and teachers leave charter schools more often than they leave regular public schools, a disturbing statistic. However, the explanation may be that because teachers and parents actively choose charter schools, such people may be more selective, or more critical by nature, and thus more willing to leave a school if their expectations are not met.

Private schools are funded by tuition, endowments, and church sponsors. Traditionally in the United States, most private schools were parochial (church related), organized by the Catholic Church to teach religion and to resist the anti-Catholic rhetoric of many public schools. Tuition was low since teachers were nuns who earned little pay. Recently, though, many parochial schools have closed, and more independent private schools have opened. A major concern is economic: Higher tuition means that few private-school children are poor or even middle class.

To solve that problem, some U.S. jurisdictions issue vouchers, money that parents can use to pay some or all of the tuition at a private school, including a church-sponsored one. This practice is controversial, not only because it decreases public school support but also because public funds go to religious institutions. That is contrary to the U.S. principle of separation of church and state. Advocates say that vouchers increase competition and improve all schools; critics counter that they weaken public schools and are costly to taxpayers.

Home schooling occurs when parents avoid both public and private schools by educating their children at home. This solution is becoming more common, but only about 1 child in 35 (more girls than boys, more preadolescents than teenagers) is home-schooled (Snyder & Dillow, 2012). A prerequisite is an adult at home, typically the mother in a two-parent family, who is willing to teach the children. Authorities set standards for what a child must learn, but home-schooling families decide specifics of curriculum, schedules, and discipline.

The major problem with home schooling is not academic (some mothers are conscientious teachers and some home-schooled children score high on achievement tests) but social: Children have no interaction with classmates. To compensate, many home-schooling parents plan activities with other home-schooling families. This practice reflects local culture: Home schooling is more common in some parts of the United States (in the South and the Northwest more than in the Northeast or Midwest), which affects how readily parents can find other home-schooled children.

The underlying problem with all these options is that people disagree about the best education for a 6- to 11-year-old, and how to measure it. For example, many parents consider class size to be a major issue: They may choose private school, if they can afford it, because fewer students are in each class. They also insist that children have homework, beginning in the first grade. Yet many developmentalists are not convinced that small classes and daily homework are essential during middle childhood.

Mixed evidence comes from nations where children score high on international tests. Sometimes they have large student-teacher ratios (Korea’s average is 28 to 1) and sometimes small (Finland’s is 14 to 1). Fourth-graders with no homework sometimes have higher achievement scores than those with homework (Snyder & Dillow, 2010). This does not prove that small classes and extensive homework are worthless. Perhaps weaker students are assigned to smaller classes with more homework, so the data on homework or class size may be the results of low-scoring children, not vice versa. Nevertheless, these correlations raise legitimate doubts.

Who should decide what children should learn and how? Every developmental theory can lead to suggestions for teaching and learning (Farrar & Al-Qatawneh, 2010), but none endorses one curriculum or method to the exclusion of all others. Parents, politicians, and developmental experts all agree that school is vital and that some children learn much more than others, but disagreement about teachers and curriculum—hidden or overt—abound.

VISUALIZING DEVELOPMENT

Education in Middle Childhood Around the World

Only a decade ago, gender differences in education around the world were stark, with far fewer girls in school than boys. Now girls have almost caught up, but recent data finds that the best predictor of childhood health is an educated mother. Many of today’s children suffer from decades of inequality.

WORLDWIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, 2011

Enrollments in elementary school are increasing around the world, but poor countries still lag behind more wealthy ones and in all countries, more boys attend school than boys.

BARBARA DELGADO/SHUTTERSTOCK
SOURCE: THE WORLD BANK, 2013

SOURCE: THE WORLD BANK, 2013

HOW ARE U.S. FOURTH GRADERS DOING?

Primary school enrollment is high in the United States, but not every student is learning. While numbers are improving, less than half of fourth graders are proficient in math and reading.

SOURCE: ADAPTED FROM NAEP 2013, FIGURES 4 AND 5.
SOURCES & CREDITS LISTED ON P. SC-1
SOURCE: NAEP 2013, FIGURE 1.