Running head: THEORIES COMPARISON

Theories Comparison
Daniel Coffin
EDUC 526 Overview of Adolescent Psychology
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Theories Comparison

Adolescents are subject to a number of different influences as they navigate the process

of maturation from children to young adults, including, but not limited to, education, family,

peers, their culture, and even their own changing bodies. Which of these effects is greatest? What

follows is a review of some of these influences on young people and how they are treated in

some theories of adolescent development.

The Influence of Education, Safety, Technology, and Family on Adolescent Development

One of the most profound developments in technology over the last several decades is the

creation of the Internet. Adolescents now have the freedom to learn, collaborate, and

communicate with people from around the world, which contributes to the development of a

global youth culture (Dolgin, 2011, p. 10).

Unfortunately, the Internet can also expose young people to information which might be

harmful to their well-being, including pornography, radical and extremist political ideologies,

instructions on self-harm, eating disorders, and destructive devices. Some young people find

themselves exposed to this information without even intending to look for it (Dolgin, 2011, p.

11).

Just as technology has changed the world, so too has it changed education. Technology-

driven education enables a greater degree of creativity of expression on the part of both the

learner and teacher (Henriksen, Mishra, & Fisher, 2016). The greater technical complexity of the

world today calls for education that is longer, more rigorous, and designed to expose students to

specialized technical skills they will require in the work force (Dolgin, 2011, p. 14-15).
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School has also changed recently in that there has been a greater consciousness of the

danger of violence affecting students, both from high-profile shooting incidents in schools as

well as from bullying, harassment, and intimidation on the part of school peers. While violent

crime rates continue to fall, adolescents are still more like to suffer from violent crime than any

other age group, and the stress of fearing for ones safety can have profound and lingering effects

on the psyche (Dolgin, 2011, p. 20-22).

The longer period of adolescence is also changing how people act upon attaining

adulthood. Young people are less likely to marry and have children, and those who do are

marrying and having children later in life than their parents and grandparents, due to a greater

societal acceptance of cohabitation, premarital sex, and the need for educational and work

achievement in order to establish a family (Dolgin, 2011, p. 16-17).

Vygotsky and Bandura: Two Theories of Adolescent Development

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who viewed the development of cognition as

something that took place within a social context; that is, we learn to think not just because we

explore our environments by ourselves (as Piaget might have said), but because we explore them

with others and share what we perceive (Dolgin, 2011, p. 40). Similarly, Albert Bandura,

theorized that children learn through observation and imitation, a process he calls modeling

(Dolgin, 2011, p. 41).

Vygotskys theory goes into greater detail about how one more experienced learner can

help a less experienced learner through the provision of scaffolding, or assistance, at a task. It is

this provision of scaffolding that helps a learner to remain within the zone of proximal

development while working, being forced to exert some effort in order to grow but not so much
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that the learner is frustrated in his or her efforts (Dolgin, 2011, p. 40). In todays teacher

preparation courses, novice educators are taught a I do, we do, you do lesson structure. First, a

teacher demonstrates a skill (modeling), then works with the student to practice the skill,

gradually releasing control to the student (scaffolding), before the student demonstrates mastery

on his or her own.

My Views on Adolescent Development

My views on adolescent development could be described as current rather than

traditional. Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological systems student theory most closely corresponds

with how I would have described the process of maturation before I started this class. As an

educator, I see students as standing within the scope of multiple systems faith communities,

parents, peers, teachers and all of us trying to exert our influence (Dolgin, 2011, p. 45).
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References

Dolgin, K.G. (2011). The adolescent: Development, relationships, and culture (13th Ed.).

Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Henriksen, D., Mishra, P., & Fisher, P. (2016). Infusing creativity and technology in 21st century

education: A systemic view for change. Educational Technology & Society 19(3), 27-37.