Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

There is a general consensus that the United States education system is one of the best in the world. We have some of the best and most prestigious universities and college, even so that students from various countries all over the globe compete to attend them. However, this is not the same view people have about the United States elementary and/ or secondary education system. Education in this regard has been steadily lacking, standardized exam scores are down, immigrant students and children who come from the lower end of the socioeconomic class are not getting the attention in areas they need the most help. Also, there is a decline in adequate teachers and after-school programs, which were essentially used to help children improve their skills in area they are somewhat deficient in.

Although there are several if not many shortcomings in the United States education system, one of the most problematic areas is a lack of individual attention given to children that really need the extra help. It is understandable that there are not enough teachers in the system to help every child in need, but doing nothing about it is not helping the cause. The main focus should not be the child getting the correct answers to questions but to their performance in certain area such as learning to read and doing mathematics. Dyslexia, difficulty in learning to read, is the most frequent form of specific learning disability; another type is dyscalculia, difficulty in learning arithmetic (p 441). Some of these performance problems in reading and mathematics are not acknowledged until the child scores badly on a standardized exam.

Since some children do not get the attention they need in order to succeed or improve in school, many children become discouraged and lose interest in school, or lose the motivation to learn. Some of the reasons for this are that some children view their motivation to learn as a performance orientation; they are motivated by their level of performance, abilities, and incentives for trying. If they do not perform well, they feel that they will not be able to improve and they have reached their limit of performance; unlike those believing in mastery orientation; they are motivated to learn, try hard, and improve (p.443).

Some ways to that can help improve performance and give individual attention to the students in need of it are by providing different approaches to problem solving and understanding of reading and mathematics. There is no one way or approach to learning; different individuals learn material differently. If teachers or instructors work with the students, explaining the information using different approaches, giving students alternative ways to go about something, more students will be able to grasp the information using a way that is more comfortable or understandable to them. Instead of teachers focusing on one correct answer, they can explore why a child or student answers a question a certain way. This will also motivate students to learn and see a different perspective without feeling that they are wrong or they are not performing well. Also, teachers should try to involve parents into helping the student in understanding and different approaches. The more persons involved, the more improvement will occur.