Dealing with 7th graders has given me a greater appreciation for identity crisis. These students are at an age where everyone expects them to act as though they are adults and make decisions but they are still kids. When it comes to Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial development I think that the students are mostly in the conflict of identity vs. confusion, they are worried about their social interactions and are using them to find their identity. In Mrs. D's AP class I have seen her addressing the students needs in this area more then in her regular classes. This may because they are still so young and may still be experiencing industry vs inferiority but I feel like she could challenge all of her students more. If she exposed her students to different things so that they could be searching for their identity and not just assume that they are still children this could push them father on their path.
In reading about James Marcia's identity states I noticed something about the students that I have been observing. These 7th graders are out of the identity diffusion stage but I have noticed that many of them are in the identity foreclosure stage on everything. Most of the students have been told by their parents what they believe, what they should want to do when they grow up, even who they should be friends with. Mrs. D even seems to fall into this area of telling students who they are instead of letting them find out for themselves. There are many clubs in the school that I am observing at but students seem to be involved in the clubs that their parents have chosen for them. Mrs. D does not talk to them about career or life or how ELA applies to job prospects. I think that in English it is especially important for teachers to talk to their students about the importance of research. Research is how we find out who we are during identity moratorium. Research is how we get from a moratorium to identity achievement. The students that I have observed either have no use for finding out who they are or have been told by all the adults in their lives that they have to be a certain thing in order to be loved.
I wear many different hats in my life and one of those hats is mom. I have never thought about the fact that I may have put my identity on my children. Letting kids research things that do not go along with what we believe is right as adults is hard, it will be hard as a teacher to watch kids struggle to find their identity and I am sure this is why some teachers try not to let students go to far in that direction in their classrooms. In an English classroom I feel like identity crisis is something that can be worked through with literature, writing, and a good classroom community.
Research for identity foreclosure done at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/identity-foreclosure-3288333
In reading about James Marcia's identity states I noticed something about the students that I have been observing. These 7th graders are out of the identity diffusion stage but I have noticed that many of them are in the identity foreclosure stage on everything. Most of the students have been told by their parents what they believe, what they should want to do when they grow up, even who they should be friends with. Mrs. D even seems to fall into this area of telling students who they are instead of letting them find out for themselves. There are many clubs in the school that I am observing at but students seem to be involved in the clubs that their parents have chosen for them. Mrs. D does not talk to them about career or life or how ELA applies to job prospects. I think that in English it is especially important for teachers to talk to their students about the importance of research. Research is how we find out who we are during identity moratorium. Research is how we get from a moratorium to identity achievement. The students that I have observed either have no use for finding out who they are or have been told by all the adults in their lives that they have to be a certain thing in order to be loved.
I wear many different hats in my life and one of those hats is mom. I have never thought about the fact that I may have put my identity on my children. Letting kids research things that do not go along with what we believe is right as adults is hard, it will be hard as a teacher to watch kids struggle to find their identity and I am sure this is why some teachers try not to let students go to far in that direction in their classrooms. In an English classroom I feel like identity crisis is something that can be worked through with literature, writing, and a good classroom community.
Research for identity foreclosure done at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/identity-foreclosure-3288333
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