ABSTRACT
Teaching adolescent development to students in training to be teachers of adolescents presents a host of special opportunities, as well as a few challenges. Throughout the course, students’ own school experiences can serve as a hook, and encouraging students to consider how they might apply course concepts as teachers of adolescents provides the bait to draw them into reflective analysis. In courses on adolescent development, the notions of setting, role, relationship, activity, connections among settings, and developmental trajectory can be illustrated readily using students’ experiences in schools, family, jobs, summer camps, and so forth. It is difficult to imagine teaching adolescent development without emphasizing major sources of social diversity, including gender, ethnicity, race, and social class. Cognitive development is the heart and soul of education. Teachers of adolescent development have the opportunity to ensure that future educators have a solid grasp of cognitive processes.
