ABSTRACT
Gravitas is hard to explain, but easy to recognize, veteran teachers express it through their words, body language, and interactions with students. Simply put, experienced teachers possess gravitas, a combination of authority and expertise that preempts many of the classroom conflicts that can derail novices. To new teacher and others still struggling to control student conduct, the best way forward may be to focus on the actual learners and not on abstract management strategies. In the English language arts, this begins with knowing more about adolescent literacy, an umbrella concept that includes adolescent identity and the variety of literacies that adolescents practice and still need to practice. Grounding the traditional view, the cognitive psychologist Piaget theorized that adolescents are entering the formal operational stage. Taking a sociocultural perspective, scholars such as Lesko have argued that young people like all of us, exist in unique social and culture environments, and are shaped by forces that go beyond psychological and biological growth.
