Teens and critical thinking
Adolescence
WHO has extended adolescence up to 23 y.o. (brain maturation)
When you're too young for half things you want to do and too old to do the other half
Finding balance
FREEDOM: until this age, the child is guided by what the parents want. If it stays like this, it means the child will not have their own values.
BOUNDARIES: adolescents have not yet reached social maturity; they cannot control their actions, so certain boundaries are necessary
Psychological changes and characteristics
Identity crisis
Lots of doubts
What can I do? What can't?
Sudden changes in interests and behavior
Looking for place in life (who am I?)
Adolescent egocentrism
Imaginary audience
Self-absorption
Persona fable
Hormonal changes
The limbic system (responsible for emotions) is formed earlier and faster that the prefrontal cortex (responsible for planning, self-regulation and self-control)
Impulses are strong, and regulation is only developing
Emotional changes
Emotional swings
Emotional vulnerability
Need emotional support and acceptance
Can't understand or manage emotions
What to do?
Teach them to manage emotions
Create accepting non-judgemental atmosphere
Teach empathy
Be emotionally accessible
Cognitive development
Concrete thinking – abstract thinking
Emotions can interfere with thinking
Children may be able to use logical operations in schoolwork long before they can use them for personal problems
What to do for development?
Encourage discussions on a variety of topics, issues, and current events
Encourage students to evaluate and re-evaluate the results and decisions they or other people make
Encourage to share ideas
Help your students in setting SPECIFIC SHORT-TERM goals
Prospective memory (the ability to keep in mind the intention to perform a certain action in the future)
First period of development is 6-10 years
Second – only after 20 years
Multitasking
Teens think they are good at it (really not because successful attention switching is not developed yet)
Multitasking interferes with learning
What to do?
Remove multitasking
Help them to plan
Create trackers, lists
Help prioritize and structure activities
Give clear step-by-step instructions
Teach self-control
Is adolescence that bad?
Less biased
Flexibility in reactions and openness to new things
Brain plasticity
What teenagers are seeking?
Own position
Ability to express oneself
Ability to communicate EFFECTIVELY
ability to make decisions independently
What teenagers are often lacking in?
argumentation
judgement
casual relations
understanding consequences
multitasking
prioritizing
analytical thinking
critical analysis