Junior high schools were started around 1910 in order to relieve overcrowded conditions and to reduce the dropout rate in high schools. As both elementary and secondary schools recognized a need for more room, the solution appeared to be to build schools or additions to existing schools for the students in the middle, where they would be separated from the innocent younger children and also from the attitudes and problems associated with older students. It was hoped that if students were better prepared for high school, the dropout rate would decrease.

The curriculum and organization of the junior high school tended to imitate the curriculum and organization of the high school, with little attention paid to the educational needs of the pre- and early adolescent student. Activities such as varsity athletics, cheerleading, marching bands, and even cap-and-gown graduation exercises helped to encourage the attitude that the school was truly a "junior" high school. Competition in academics, athletics, and social relationships accentuated the kind of egocentrism unique to this age group, often resulting in an uncaring atmosphere. In smaller schools, where grades seven and eight were viewed as the upper extension of the elementary school, many of the attitudes characteristic of the junior high school were found.

The early name, "junior high school," was an unfortunate one in that it allowed teachers, administrators, and parents to think of schooling at that level as primarily the lower part of the secondary school. But it is no more appropriate to plan curriculum and instruction along such lines than to see grades six through eight as merely an expansion of the elementary school.

Although the junior high school came under attack from its conception for failing to respond to the developmental needs of the students it was designed to serve, no proposal for an alternative captured the interest of the educational community until the middle school concept came into being in the 1960s. At that time, there was a renewed effort to design a program of education particularly for the needs of students at this age level. Table I illustrates the unique, transitional nature of this design.

Elementary Middle High

Teacher-Student Parental Advisor Instructor

Relationship

Teacher Self-contained Interdisciplinary Department

Organization Team

Curricular Skills Exploration Depth

Emphasis

Schedule Self-contained Block Periods

Instruction Student-directed Balance Teacher-directed

Student Groups Chronological Multi-age Subject

Building Plan Classroom Areas Team Areas Department Areas

Psychomotor

Development Skills & Games Skills & Intramurals Skills &

Interscholastics

Utilization of Media Classroom Groups Balance Individual Study

Guidance Diagnostic/Development Teacher Helper Career-Vocational

Teacher

Preparation Child-oriented Generalist Disciplines specialist

Table I from Wiles & Bondi, 1981, p. 9

The challenge of the "middle school" was to understand unique characteristics of the learner and the learning task at particular stage of life, drawing its philosophy and rationale from this understanding.

Table 2, on the following page, describes the changes in philosophy, curriculum, and instruction brought about by the move from junior high to middle school.

One can recognize the child-centered nature of the middle school in contrast to the junior high school, which is knowledge-centered. However, even though the motivation behind designing curriculum and instruction in keeping with the way students at this age learn is good, a problem has arisen in some schools. Too many teachers have emphasized personalizing instruction and opening up classrooms to such extent that they have neglected one of their Important tasks, that of teaching the basic learning skills which must be part of the central focus of schooling at that level.

The Junior High School The Middle School

Emphasis on knowledge, group Emphasis on positive self-concept

learning, and societal norms. and the importance of the individ-

Views the learner as an adoles- ual. Stresses the uniqueness of

cent and tries to determine how to the transescent learner. Stresses

overcome the problems presented learning how to learn.

by adolescence.

Stresses teaching a body of Involves the learner in explo-

knowledge, using competition in ration, creativity, interdisciplinary

emphasizing the mastery of facts, instruction by means of an inte-

skills, and concepts, and goals grated curriculum. In athletics

which have been predetermined only intramural sports are recom-

for the group. In athletics, both mended.

intramural and interscholastic

sports are recommended with a

strong emphasis on interscholas

tic.

Emphasis is on a teacher-cen- Emphasis is on a variety of teach-

tered and controlled instruction, ing techniques, allowing for plan-

textbook learning, and lecture ning time on the part of teachers

classrooms with some discussion. to ensure an integrated curricu-

Commonly employs group-paced lum. Student involvement in

Table 2 from Klingele, 1979, p. 5

Many Christian school parents and teachers, on the other hand, have equated a child-centered approach to schooling with humanism, forgetting that a knowledge -centered approach borrowed from the junior high school grows out of a behavioristic "let's fill them all up with knowledge and they will all be ready for high school" view. Christian educators have often adopted the curriculum of the public junior high schools and have overlooked the effect of this curriculum on the spirit of the school. Too often they have been afraid to make significant changes in curriculum or in instructional techniques because they have been uncertain how, in light of a Christian theory of instruction, to apply new findings concerning human development to the classroom.

It doesn't really matter what name we give to this level of schooling. Neither the traditional junior high school concept of school nor the middle school concept provides the direction to adequately fulfill the goals of Christian education for students at this age level. Christian schools are driven by a conviction that our world is a creation brought into existence by God and, as such, is a world of laws and things satisfying those laws (Wolterstorff, 1980). We have a fundamental belief in the dignity and worth of each person as an image- bearer of God. We believe God has given us responsibilities to ourselves, our fellow human beings, and the world around us. We have a vision of a just social world. Thus, the spirit that drives these schools, their curriculum, the type of instruction and students' and teachers' responses to others must reflect our beliefs.

Christian schools must reflect our convictions not only in what is taught but in the way it is taught. The structure of the school, the planning of curriculum, and the way instruction is carried out must all reflect our basic beliefs so that the students will grow into the vision, will live it, and will carry it forward throughout their lives. Our schools need to adopt an explicit agenda for helping children and young people learn to be and become responsible disciples of Jesus Christ. We have never believed that it is sufficient for Christian schools to limit their job to the teaching of basic academic skills, and we must make certain that we do not allow the present reform movement to force us into such a direction.

Using Klingele's format for comparing junior high schools and middle schools I have developed an outline to show how a Christian middle school might be different from the other two. This is presented in Table 3 (page 17).

We need to ask ourselves questions such as: How do students learn about the dignity and worth of their fellow humans? How do they learn what accepting their responsibilities to themselves and to fellow human beings really means for their lives? What kind of school environment will promote that learning? What curriculum and what kinds of activities will promote the concept that justice is needed not only for the poor and downtrodden in society but that justice must also be part of the everyday life in the school community? How can we make certain that our Christian schools have an ethos of caring?

We can only answer such questions when we have a clear understanding of how learning occurs at each level of development. The next chapter will describe the learner characteristics of students In grades six, seven, and eight.

Emphasis is on learning to take responsibility for self, for others, and for the world around them as image bearers of God. Stresses the uniqueness of the learner at this stage of development.

Stresses the responsibilities of Christians living and working in a community of servants of Jesus Christ. Emphasis is on learning how to learn and live and how to help others learn and live. Involves the learner in exploration, creativity, and interdisciplinary instruction by means of an integrated curriculum. In athletics only intramural sports are recommended.

Emphasis is on a variety of teaching techniques, allowing for planning time on the part of teachers to ensure an integrated curriculum. Student involvement is necessary in determining how to accomplish goals. Instructional strategies are selected for promoting responsibility for one's own learning and for helping each other learn. Activities for learning servanthood will be integrated with the rest of the curriculum.

Table 3