Chapter 3 case study

Ch. 3 Analysis Questions:

1. From a social development standpoint, how might we explain Laura's preoccupation with her appearance? In particular, consider this statement by Laura: "I don't want people to think I'm a geek!" Include information from Erikson's theory and social development in general in your response.
She is probably in the identity vs. role confusion stage. During adolescence kids usually focus a lot on others perceptions of themselves, because they are now able to think about things from others perspectives. They have what is called an imaginary audience. This is a time in their lives that they are trying o figure out where they fit in and she doesn’t want classified in the geek group because of the negativity the name takes with it.

2. In suggesting that Laura join the debating class, Ms. Watkins is hoping to pique an interest in classroom subject matter by capitalizing on Laura's desire to be the center of attention. What two other strategies might the school faculty use to motivate students who seem to be more interested in social matters than in academic pursuits?
One way I think would be is to talk about careers in the content area. To be able to talk about the perks of them and to let students know what type of work environment they have and the types of people they get to work with. And to be able to let them try out a little bit of what they might end up doing in the classroom.
Another way would be to have competitions in classroom with some recognition at the end. These would be done in groups where they have to work together to get it done. Another way that might work but might not be what we are looking for is the extracurricular activities and sports. Encourage students to be part of them because they are required to maintain a minimum standard of academic excellence to be able to participate.

3. From the perspective of Kohlberg's theory, in which stage of moral development is Laura? Justify your response. How might Mr. Marcalescu help Laura to advance her moral reasoning?
She is in a pre-conventional morality stage, because her decision making if only dealing with what she thinks is best for her and not taking into consideration all the extra work, time and strain that her idea would cause on people. She hasn’t really been able to internalize why pollution is bad but it is hard to get rid of because necessary things that we have cause it. Mr. Marcalescu could help her by asking her to put herself in those other peoples’ shoes, and see if she would like to have to run to the dump that is miles away and move away and go to a different school with no friends because it takes too much time to walk to school.

4. In what ways might a debating class contribute to students' cognitive, linguistic, social, and moral development?
Debate classes can be really good because it makes you have to have a reason for all the things you think and believe. It also makes you have to think of it from other people’s perspectives by having to defend a point of view you might not agree with. It helps students to be able to calmly take through disagreements. They have to be able to communicate the things they are thinking through words clearly enough to convince someone of their point. They learn how to deal with people that have different views than they might have.