A Report on Cognitive and Academic Development in Middle School

This report delves into the cognitive and academic development of middle school children, focusing on the transition to the concrete operational stage as described by Piaget. It explores the development of logical thinking, metacognitive abilities, and the ability to consider multiple perspectives. The report highlights the importance of encouraging logical reasoning and abstract thought through various activities, such as problem-solving exercises and nature-based activities. It emphasizes the role of teachers in fostering these cognitive skills through thought-provoking questions and activities that promote critical thinking. The report also includes a discussion on how teachers can promote logical and multidimensional thinking by incorporating activities that will challenge children to think and understand the world around them. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of creating an environment that encourages children to think and use their cognitive abilities, as well as a list of references.

Running head: MIDDLE SCHOOL COGNITIVE/ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
MIDDLE SCHOOL/COGNITIVE ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
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1MIDDLE SCHOOL COGNITIVE/ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
Cognitive Process: The stage of middle school, comprising of children within the age group of 7
to 11 years, is characterize by Jean Piaget as the ‘concrete operational stage’. Cognition in
middle school children now becomes more logical and hence, allows them to view and
understand other people’s perspectives in a situation logically, rather than viewing it egoistically.
Hence, children understand logical concepts of power, influence and responsibilities of others
(Lourenço, 2016). Children’s cognitive abilities also acquire logic at this stage – hence, resulting
in development of metacognitive abilities like questioning, reasoning and ‘thinking of thinking’.
Hence, for example, during reading a story, children will find it difficult to explain a character’s
stance hypothetically but will still try to explain the same using reasoning and logic. Cognitive
improvement in memory further allows middle school children can now focus on multiple
questions asked by the teacher or conjure multiple answers to one question (Donelly et al., 2016).
Encouraging this Process: Teachers, in order to encourage logical, metacognitive and
multidimensional thinking, can encourage students to read stories and contemplate on their
opinions of why a character acted in a particularly way. The teacher can further incorporate more
probing and thought provoking questions such as asking students to explain what they might
have done in the situation (Wigfield, Gladstone & Turci, 2016). To further hone the child’s
developing logical thinking the teacher can further incorporate problem solving arithmetic sums
(Example: Who is the tallest if X is taller than Y and Z is half the height of Y?) and encourage
them to answer the same by drawing and mathematic steps (Warshauer, 2015). To further
develop children’s ability to grasp abstract concepts regarding their surroundings and
hypothetical thinking, teachers can conduct nature based activities such as identification of
flowers, gardening or the role of trees in nature (Dietrichson et al., 2017).

2MIDDLE SCHOOL COGNITIVE/ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
References
Dietrichson, J., Bøg, M., Filges, T., & Klint Jørgensen, A. M. (2017). Academic interventions for
elementary and middle school students with low socioeconomic status: A systematic
review and meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 87(2), 243-282.
Donnelly, J. E., Hillman, C. H., Castelli, D., Etnier, J. L., Lee, S., Tomporowski, P., ... & Szabo-
Reed, A. N. (2016). Physical activity, fitness, cognitive function, and academic
achievement in children: a systematic review. Medicine and science in sports and
exercise, 48(6), 1197.
Lourenço, O. M. (2016). Developmental stages, Piagetian stages in particular: A critical
review. New Ideas in Psychology, 40, 123-137.
Warshauer, H. K. (2015). Productive struggle in middle school mathematics classrooms. Journal
of Mathematics Teacher Education, 18(4), 375-400.
Wigfield, A., Gladstone, J. R., & Turci, L. (2016). Beyond cognition: Reading motivation and
reading comprehension. Child development perspectives, 10(3), 190-195.