Chapter 1: Exploring the Convergence of Developmentalism and Cultural Responsiveness

The field of middle level education is largely based on supporting the developmental needs of young adolescents. Scales (2010) defined early adolescence as the developmental period between the ages of 10 and 15, as he believed this age range reflected a distinctive set of physical, socioemotional, psychological, moral, and cognitive changes. Outside of infancy, early adolescence marks the time that a person will go through the most developmental change (Jackson & Davis, 2000). These changes are associated with distinct traits used to make meaning of and shape the experiences of young adolescents (Lesko, 2001).

Although developmentalism has been beneficial in bringing awareness to the needs of young adolescents, there is a growing critique that middle level education does not consider the needs of young adolescents from diverse backgrounds due to the over emphasis of developmentalism in the field (Hurd, Harrison, Brinegar, & Kennedy, 2018; Kennedy, Brinegar, Hurd, & Harrison, 2016; Vagle, 2012). Gay (1994) argued that when foundational middle level education texts include ethnicity or cultural diversity, they often do so superficially, include deficit perspectives, lack context, and are void of specific applications of tangible classroom practices. Furthermore, in critiquing the use of developmentalism in middle grades education, Burns and Hall (2012) stated that designing curriculum around developmentalism is dangerous because teachers are likely to respond negatively to young adolescents whose “racial, cultural, socio-economic, and gender identities” do not conform to developmental norms (p. 177). This creates a context where researchers who have been committed to the middle school movement often need to look outside of the field for theories and best practices that specifically addresses educational inequities for young adolescents from marginalized backgrounds.