Since it was first published in 1982, This We Believe has grown from a single document into a comprehensive program that educators, schools, and districts can adopt to help support student success. With the publication of the newest edition, The Successful Middle School: This We Believe (2021), this special issue of Middle School Journal (MSJ) highlights research that demonstrates how educators operationalize the essential attributes outlined in this edition. The 18 characteristics presented in The Successful Middle School are divided into three categories: Culture and Community; Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; and Leadership and Organization. In this special issue we feature research on innovative practices centering multiple characteristics related to these three categories.
As you read this issue, our hope is that it serves as a starting, or for some, a continuing point of engagement with the essential attributes and characteristics outlined in The Successful Middle School. More so, we hope that you fully embrace one of the major goals of this latest edition, which is to center equity as an anchoring component of the middle school concept. Harrison and Bishop (Citation2021) stated when describing the changes found in the newest edition that
The Successful Middle School intentionally weaves equitable education practices throughout all characteristics of an effective middle school, acknowledging that equity, diversity, and inclusion are not isolated concepts, but rather commitments that middle level educators must reflect upon in all aspects of teaching and learning. (p. 2)
The powerful and brave words of Angela Rivera found in the featured student column of this issue highlight the need for this work within the middle grades. In her writing she articulates how society views her based on her intersecting identities as a Hispanic, queer, girl. She stated, “Society is wrong for just looking at me as an idiot, an object, and someone who doesn’t deserve respect.” She went on to state that “People must let go of their outdated ways of thinking and realize we live in a new day and age.” As editors, we urge middle grades educators, advocates, and policy makers to hold on to two important points from her words.
The first is Angela’s keen awareness of how she is positioned within society because of her identities. As policy makers continue to debate on whether ethnic studies or Critical Race Theory should be taught in schools, a major reality that Angela highlights is that young adolescents experience, feel, and internalize the ramifications of systemic oppression, stereotyping, and discrimination every day. If we carefully analyze the words of Angela, we understand that the principles of Critical Race Theory and ideas found in ethnic studies are already within schools because they are found in the lived experiences that students bring to schools. Just as successful educators build on the multitude of literacies, mathematical understandings, and scientific knowledge that students bring into the classroom, successful middle grades educators help students to make sense of the multitude of cultures, privileges, and oppressions that they bring into the classroom. Furthermore, they help mitigate the inequities that students may experience through the creation and implementation of just school policies and a culturally sustaining curriculum (Caldwell, Citation2012; Carter Andrews & Gutwein, Citation2020; Nojan, Citation2020).
Another point of reflection garnered from Angela’s writing is her acknowledgment of and demand for transformation. While society often frames middle schoolers as irrational, self absorbed, and disengaged, Angela’s words provide insight into young adolescents as being full of hope and at an ideal time to engage in civic action. Angela’s proclamation that “people must let go of their outdated ways of thinking and realize we live in a new day and age” aligns with the actions of youth who historically have always been at the forefront of progressive social movements. For example, at the age of 15, Claudette Colvin was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her bus seat to a White woman. This occurred nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing leading to the Montgomery bus boycott. Successful middle school educators view young adolescents’ growing understanding of the world and desire to change the world as a prime opportunity to engage them in learning that is active and purposeful.
Though this issue highlights work that is aligned with The Successful Middle School, we firmly believe that the starting point for middle level education is not in reading the text, but rather authentically listening to young adolescents. This is one of the major reasons why we incorporated a student column when we became editors of Middle School Journal. Designing successful middle schools requires that educators are tuned in to the people in which schools are designed to serve. The Successful Middle School then becomes a useful tool in helping to implement practices and structures that consider and are responsive to the needs of young adolescents. By coupling middle grades research that is found in outlets such as Middle School Journal with the voices of students such as Angela, educators can ensure they are responding to the full humanity of young adolescents and the diversity of their lived experiences. Doing so makes learning relevant to students as such a curriculum helps them to develop the skills and proficiencies needed to transform the world for the better.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Lisa M. Harrison
Middle School Journal highlights the voices and perspectives of young adolescents through a student column each issue. For information on how to submit please view the link below: https://www.amle.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MSJ-Call-for-Student-Submissions.pdf.
References
- Caldwell, M. (2012). Inquiry into identity: Teaching critical thinking through a study of race, class, and gender: Students learn important lessons about themselves through the critical exploration of race, class, and gender. Middle School Journal, 43(4), 6–15.
- Carter Andrews, D. J. & Gutwein, M. (2020). Middle school students’ experiences with inequitable discipline practices in school: The elusive quest for cultural responsiveness. Middle School Journal, 51(1), 29–38.
- Harrison, L. M., & Bishop, P. A. (2021). The evolving middle school concept: This we (still) believe. Current Issues in Middle Level Education, 25(2), 2–5. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.20429/cimle.2021.250202
- Nojan, S. (2020). Why ethnic studies? Building critical consciousness among middle school students. Middle School Journal, 51(2), 25–35.