Why the Term 'Junior High School' Changed to 'Middle School' in the USA
The term 'junior high school' (JHS) is one that many are familiar with, but why was this term replaced with 'middle school'? The reasons are multifaceted and deeply rooted in pedagogical approaches designed to better accommodate the developmental needs of early adolescents.
The Structure and Pedagogical Approaches of Junior High School
Junior high school, in its original incarnation, was structured very similarly to high school. This student-centered approach emphasized subject matter and allowed students to have different teachers for each subject they were studying. Such a system was more common in school districts that fully embraced the JHS model, which typically encompassed grades seven through nine. This model was a significant educational reform that began to emerge in the early 20th century. The primary ideas behind it were firstly, to provide a different campus experience from elementary school, and secondly, to prepare early adolescents for the subject-oriented challenge of high school.
The Decline of Junior High School
The main JHS model began to fall out of favor in the mid-20th century. One of the reasons for this was that ninth grade, still considered part of high school, was often taken lightly by students, especially by boys, who still viewed it as an extension of their earlier grades. Another issue was that the subject matter orientation did not seem to work effectively for early adolescents. Educators realized that children at that age needed a more holistic approach to learning that accounted for individual differences. This led to a shift towards middle school education.
The Emergence of Middle School
Middle school became the preferred term as it better reflected these new pedagogical approaches. School districts began to restructure, with some moving ninth grade back into high school, while others created a middle school system that included seventh, eighth, and sometimes sixth grades. In my personal experience, the Glendale Unified School District in southern California, where I spent all of my K-12 education, was one such district that made changes after 1983, the year I graduated from JHS.
My old JHS is now a two-year middle school, reflecting this shift. Interestingly, in another city where my son attended private schools, the concept of middle school was slightly different. They had formal middle school grades six through eight, but they also referred to fifth grade as 'middle school lite.' Pupils in these programs had different teachers for different subjects, similar to grades 6-8, but did not switch classrooms. Instead, teachers rotated in and out of a single classroom, and beginning in sixth grade, the pupils moved as a complete class between classrooms.
The term 'middle school' thus encapsulates both the structure and pedagogical approach, which is designed to better support the developmental needs of early adolescents. It combines the sense of middle position between elementary and high school while emphasizing a more unified and tailored learning experience.
In conclusion, the shift from 'junior high school' to 'middle school' in the USA was not just a matter of terminology. It was an educational reform that aimed to better suit the needs of young adolescents by providing a more holistic and individualized approach to education.