Kami Upton Educational Psychology 30 June 2013 Final Research Paper Imagine you are walking into school

on the first day of junior high. The summer before was just like any other summer, and you are expecting school to be the same until you walk through those doors. Suddenly it seems like everything has changed. All of your friends seem to have grown up overnight, and you do not know what happened. Adolescence is a very difficult and confusing time for most people, especially young girls. There are so many changes happening physically, mentally, socially, and academically that it can be very overwhelming for a young girl just entering and even just going through adolescence. These changes can have an overwhelming and lasting effect on a young girls learning. The type of effect on learning, whether positive or negative, depends on the type of changes, again positive or negative. It is believed that positive changes (i.e. positive relationships and positive self-esteem) has a positive effect on learning, and the same correlation with negative changes and a negative effect on learning. In a research article by Liem and Martin (2010) a study was conducted to examine the way students perceptions of their relationships and self-esteem related to their engagement in school and affected their academic performance. The study also focused on whether the results could be generalized across both genders and all ages. The study sample consisted of 1,436 high school students with the majority of the students being adolescent girls. The results yielded that same-sex peer relationships among adolescents had a direct relationship with academic

performance, and both same-sex and opposite-sex peer relationships had a direct relationship with self-esteem. The study reaffirms the proposition that positive connections with peers are critical for adolescents academic and non-academic functioning (Liem. 2010). For students to be successful in school they need to have positive relationships among their peers, especially for adolescent girls. In another study, Brown and Leaper (2008) investigated the perceptions of adolescent girls with sexism (gender-based discrimination) and feminism. The study used personal surveys to determine the experiences with sexual harassment, academic sexism, and athletics. The study consisted of about six hundred adolescent girls in ages ranging from age twelve to age eighteen. Fifty-two percent of the girls reported that they had experienced academic sexism, and seventysix percent of the girls reported that they had experienced athletic sexism at least once before. The findings also discovered that the chance of this happening increased with age. Many factors influenced the likelihood of these two factors including social influences, learning about feminism and gender-conformity pressures, individual social gender identities, and genderegalitarian attitudes. According to the article, the individual factors did have significant influences. As predicted, girls who were low in perceived gender typically reported more academic sexism than other girls; however counter to prediction, girls who were low in genderegalitarian attitudes also reported more academic sexism than others. In addition, there was a nearly significant effect for gender-role contentedness; as expected, girls who were less content with gender roles reported more academic sexism than girls high in contentedness (Brown, 2008). Basically, girls who do not have a positive attitude about their gender role or are not content with gender roles feel that they are being discriminated academically. They feel that they cannot be successful in certain subjects because they are female and interest in those certain

subjects is for males only. The results also showed that 24.8 percent of girls that reported they were discouraged in academics at least once by close male friends/brothers, 31.8 percent reported that they were discouraged by other boys, 18.4 percent reported that they were discouraged by close female friends/sisters, and 21.5 percent reported that they were discouraged by other girls (Brown, 2008). These findings also support the position that positive relationships have a positive effect on learning and negative relationships have a negative effect on learning. In the last article, LeCroy (2004) evaluated an intervention program for early adolescent girls called the Go Grrrls Program. The program is designed to help preadolescent and early adolescent girls achieve competent gender role identities, establish an acceptable body image, develop a positive self-image, form satisfactory peer relationships, achieve independence, learn to use available resources, and plan for the future. Two groups were involved in the study. One of the groups was a middle school group that received the intervention, and the other group was a no-treatment comparison group. The study found that while this program does reveal some significant differences in just three of the areas that the program addresses, the program still could use some improvements. The overall design of the program needs to be more rigorous. As a result of this study there is potential that early adolescent girls could benefit from preventive intervention programs such as this. According to the article, Peer esteem is a key variable because of its importance to this age group. Previous research has found that as peer relationships become more salient during adolescence, attachment to friends can have a positive effect on mental health. More recent research has found that adolescents with low levels of friendship had greater levels of anxiety and depression, lower self-esteem, and less effective coping styles than did adolescents with

higher friendship levels. Notaro et al. also found friendship attachment was a stronger predictor of mental health outcomes for females than males. The results of the present study suggest that peer friendship esteem can be changed during this critical adolescent developmental period for a broad group of adolescent girls (LeCroy, 2004). This means that teachers can play a huge part in the development of peer relationships among adolescent girls. Teachers and parents can help encourage positive relationships between girls. This article further supports the claim that positive peer relationships are an important part of a young girls life, and has a big effect on her learning. So what does this mean for educators, and how can educators use this in their classrooms to ensure the learning of their students? Educators of adolescent girls need to understand that this critical time in their students lives is very difficult, especially socially. Girls need positive relationships among their peers, especially with other girls, in order to focus on learning in the classroom. If there is drama among a young girls relationships with peers, then she will only focus on those problems in her life and not her schoolwork. In order to ensure that their students are learning teachers can encourage and support the development of positive relationships among their students by creating a welcoming environment in their classroom where everyone is accepted. They can also allow students to learn about each other during the first two weeks of class. The biggest way a teacher can encourage positive relationships among their students is being an example to their students. The teacher needs to model positive relationships to their students by showing their students that everyone is different in their own way, and their differences need to be accepted even when you do not agree.

In the textbook it talks about teachers encouraging and rewarding positive behaviors, and being kind and respectful to other students is part of those positive behaviors. Teachers need to discourage negative attitudes about other people, especially among girls, by first understanding the cognitive level of development each of their students is on then teaching their students the correct way to treat others by encouraging them to grow to the next cognitive level. Teachers could do this by talking to their students and getting them to see the other persons perspective of the situation or encourage the students to write notes to each other explaining their perspective on the situation. One way a teacher can encourage the growth of positive relationships among peers is having the students work in groups with other students that they do not know very well on big projects that require each student to do their own part. This will allow students to get to know each other better, and it will allow them to form strong relationships with each other. Understanding the need for positive peer relationships among adolescent girls is very important for all educators and parents. This is important because adolescence is the time where students struggle to form their own identity and peer relationships, who the adolescent surrounds themselves with, are a very important part of the process of forming ones identity. In many cases, adolescent girls identify themselves with the boyfriend they have. When they break up they are left wondering who they are. How do we change this? How can we break this cycle? Are young girls being taught to have their identity in a man or is it instinct? Girls do this because they do not have the confidence to stand out on their own. We change this by supporting positive relationships and showing young girls that they are more than just someones girlfriend.

Adolescence is a very difficult time for young girls. It is a time where their focus is on their acceptance among their peers and the formation of their identity. It is very important for teachers to understand this stage of social development. In order to ensure that their students are learning in their classrooms, teachers need to encourage and foster the development of positive relationships among their students, especially in adolescent girls.

References Brown, C. S., & Leaper, C. (2008). Percieved experiences with sexism among adolescent girls. Child Development, 79(3), 685-704. Retrieved from http://media.etbu.edu:2202/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=cef49af3-b2a6-497b-bb8a94d633249c24@sessionmgr113&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29 wZT1zaXRl LeCroy, C. W. (2004). Evaluation of an empowerment program. Adolescence, 39(155), 427-441. Retrieved from http://media.etbu.edu:2202/ehost/detail?sid=f8761bb9-4017-483f-ab379f3042587b71@sessionmgr198&vid=1&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZS ZzY29wZT1zaXRl Liem, G. A. D., & Martin, A. J. (2011). Peer relationships and adolescents academic. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(2), 183-206. Retrieved from http://media.etbu.edu:2202/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=08daaba2-0320-4db4-b19b4710cdca2f78@sessionmgr112&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29w ZT1zaXRl Woolfolk, A. (2011). Educational psychology. (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.