{"id":6663752,"date":"2025-08-27T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/?p=6663752"},"modified":"2025-09-01T08:16:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T13:16:25","slug":"book-review-10-to-25-by-david-yeager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/book-review-10-to-25-by-david-yeager\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: 10 to 25, by David Yeager"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As long as humans have lived into their teens, adults have complained about their behavior. Aristotle famously described this age cohort as \u201cfickle, passionate, irascible, and apt to be carried away by their impulses.\u201d If your experience aligns with mine, you’ve seen your share of grouchy selfishness and demotivation in your classroom — especially before 10 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although complaints about adolescents have been around as long as adolescence, those gripes have grown sharper in recent months. PANDEMIC this and CELL PHONE that and AI CHEATING to boot \u2013 all these additional concerns have ramped up adult exhaustion with teenage too-muchness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given this bleak outlook \u2013 both historic and contemporary \u2013 what\u2019s a middle-school or high-school teacher to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happily, noted researcher Dr. David Yeager has wise thoughts \u2013 and LOTS of research \u2013 to give us hope. His recent book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People<\/em> will guide and inspire teachers and school leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

START HERE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before getting to specific suggestions, Yeager wants us to rethink our starting point. Whereas Plato and others start with a \u201cdeficit mindset\u201d \u2013 seeing only bad behavior and gloomy prognosis \u2013 Yeager wants us to see the strengths and potentials in humans between the ages of 10 and 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, for instance: you\u2019ll often hear that \u201cthe human pre-frontal cortex isn\u2019t fully wired until people reach their mid to late 20s!\u201d The implication of this claim: without this \u201cself-control center\u201d fully developed, young \u2018uns are doomed to erratic and immature behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeager, however, has a different perspective. This additional time for important brain regions to develop gives growing youth the chance to adapt to the ever-changing world. As the computer people say: the drawn-out schedule of brain development \u201cisn\u2019t a bug, it\u2019s a feature!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Yeager\u2019s analysis, most adults respond to this time period with some blend of expectations<\/em> and support<\/em>. But most of us get that blend wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Some of us default to HIGH expectations \u2013 but don\u2019t offer much by way of support. It\u2019s my way or the highway \u2013 and teens often find themselves out on that road. Yeager calls this blend the \u201cenforcer\u201d mindset.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Others offer HIGH support \u2013 and don\u2019t worry too much about expectations. Not wanting to make a difficult time even harder, we soften standards when they seem too onerous. Yeager thinks of these folks as having a \u201cprotector\u201d mindset.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Perhaps you can anticipate Yeager\u2019s next move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Adults with a \u201cmentor\u201d mindset balance HIGH expectations with HIGH support. This combination, in Yeager\u2019s view, offers the best path to help adolescents navigate the 10-to-25 stage with optimal growth and development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      One of Yeager\u2019s many strengths in this book: he doesn\u2019t claim to be the only person to advocate for this \u201cmentor mindset\u201d balance. In fact, he carefully and respectfully charts the terminology that other scholars \u2013 Lewin, Baumrind, Scott \u2013 have used to describe these perspectives. I myself am likelier to take advice from scholars who conspicuously acknowledge their debts to others in the field; Yeager does just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      WHAT TO DO<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      To help us translate this mentor\u2019s mindset into specific action, Yeager outlines five broad approaches to help teens through these years: transparency, questioning, stress, purpose, and belonging. He devotes a chapter to each, offering both uplifting stories and scrupulous research to specify and support his case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For instance, looks at the problem of stress \u2013 familiar to anyone dealing with emerging adults. We might, by way of shorthand, define stress as a situation where the DEMANDS of the moment exceed a student\u2019s RESOURCES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      How might we respond?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Those with an enforcer mindset say: \u201cDeal with it. The demands are the demands, so get the job done \u2013 with whatever resources you have.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Those with a protector mindset say: \u201cWell, that looks stressful. Let\u2019s reduce the demands until the align with the resources you\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • A mentor\u2019s mindset would encourage a different approach: \u201cLet me help you increase your resources so that they match the demands that you face.\u201d The mentor doesn\u2019t reduce the requirements of the moment, but helps develop the skills or knowledge necessary to face it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Yeager then explores a body of research (by Jameison and others) showing how to boost resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Specifically, students who understand the evolutionary history of stress responses recognize that all those seemingly unpleasant symptoms \u2013 the sweaty palms, the stomach butterflies \u2013 signal helpful physiological responses<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Once students have this additional resource \u2013 the knowledge to reframe their physiological responses to stress \u2013 they can face the demands of the current situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Voila: a mentor\u2019s mindset, combined with research, helps us coach and support a student through an age-appropriate challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        HESITATIONS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        I always think a book review should include a caveat or two, but 10 to 25<\/em> makes this belief something of a challenge. Yeager writes conversationally, keeps the jargon to a minimum, and modestly acknowledges the difficulties of applying research-based ideas to real-life situations. He even includes a chapter of guided practice to ensure the book\u2019s suggestions take root.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        My only consistent concern: as noted above, the book draws on both research and \u201cuplifting\u201d stories. More than most readers, perhaps, I find myself reacting to uplift with suspicion. An uplifting story is \u2013 from another perspective \u2013 simply an anecdote. I don\u2019t think we should rely on anecdotes to make teaching decisions. And I especially resist stories about life far outside of school \u2013 say, in Microsoft training programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        (I should say: I’m probably an outlier here. Many people find anecdotes a helpful way to translate research-y principles into real-life situations.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        This modest critique aside, Yeager\u2019s book both explains and organizes lots of research. In this way, it helps teachers think differently<\/em> about real challenges in our work, and gives us clear guidance about what to do<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If you wish you had a clearer set of principles to help motivate and support an emerging adult, Yeager\u2019s book is for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        As long as humans have lived into their teens, adults have complained about their behavior. Aristotle famously described this age cohort as \u201cfickle, passionate, irascible, and apt to be carried away by their impulses.\u201d If your experience aligns with mine, you’ve seen your share of grouchy selfishness and demotivation in your classroom — especially before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":6664098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-6663752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-lb-blog","tag-motivation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6663752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6663752"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6663752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6664099,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6663752\/revisions\/6664099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6664098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6663752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6663752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6663752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}