Puberty and Multicultural Educators

In chapter two this week, we read about the “Role of the Pubertal Process.” Puberty is the end of childhood and the beginning of adult hood. Lots of scary changes happen to adolescents during puberty. For instance, increasing amounts of public hair, menstruation, growth spurts and changes in the voice just to name a few. Due to the fact that we are going to be multicultural teachers in a diverse society, we need to examine the role puberty plays in different cultures!

In the mainstream white middle class society, for instance, many adult women reported they were upset by their first menarche. They were afraid to tell there mother and most never told their father about it. Many boys are just as uneasy talking to there parents. They do not inform their parents about their first ejaculation or wet dream. However, both boys and girls begin to develop an interest in the opposite sex. The bottom line is that this is a very scary time because the Endocrine system is causing all these changes. White-Middle Class mainstream culture is not the only culture that has to contend with the onset of puberty, all cultures and all people do! For instance, in Liberia puberty is viewed as a right of passage from childhood into adulthood. In New Guinea, the onset of puberty is viewed as a rite of passage with various celebrations that involve the community.

Multicultural educators need to understand children go through puberty and cultures have different ways of celebrating the changes. Studying adolescence shows that Middle School students must be treated differently; they are not quiet adults but not quiet children. They are going through a lot of changes, which teachers must be sensitive to. It can sometimes explain why students become so moody! We all go through things that scare us in life. Some children will be more open and embrace the experience. Others are scared while in some cultures the whole community celebrates puberty which teachers must learn to accept because no culture or person is the same in the world and it is the differences that must be embraced.