Identity TIPR

Current Teacher Behaviors

1. (one paragraph) Which of Erikson's psychosocial crises are the children in the class facing (may be more than one)? Which of Marcia's identity states seem(s) to be most prevalent? What specific teacher behaviors do you observe that either help or hinder the students to successfully navigate their identities? Cite specific examples.

In my opinion, I think the Erikson psychosocial crisis that the children in the class are facing the most is Industry vs Inferiority. I think this because the students are given heart rate monitors during the 45 minute workout portion of the course. All of the heart rate monitors are preprogrammed to a specific max heart rate goal for each student. It is the same specific heart rate goal for every single student. There is no variation. Because of this, many of the students do not reach or maintain the heart rate goal for the majority of the workout. This causes many of the students to become very discouraged and frustrated. Obviously, it would be very difficult to program the heart rate monitors to be specific to each individual student since all of the students in each class share the heart rate monitors, but I think that if there were even ten of the heart rate monitors that had a slightly lower heart rate goal, it would be more beneficial. Those students will then be physically able to hit their heart rate goal and maintain it. They will be able to see that their hard work pays off and that it just isn't all for nothing. This relates to Industry vs Inferiority because the some of the students are frustrated and they want to learn to be successful, but because of the way that these are preprogrammed, they do not feel like they are successful. Although, I do think that the teacher does a good job continuing to encourage the students even though they don't hit the goal. 

The Marcia identity state that seems to be the most prevalent in this class is identity moratorium. During this state, "the status in which the adolescent is currently in a crisis, exploring various commitments and is ready to make choices, but has not made a commitment to these choices yet." https://www.learning-theories.com/identity-status-theory-marcia.html. The reason why I think this is because I can tell that a lot of the students are overwhelmed with all of their responsibilities and life in general. One student in particular expressed his feelings towards the teacher about how he was so overwhelmed with the stress of the upcoming soccer tryouts. The students are ready to make major life choices--college, career, etc... but they just have not exactly figured it out yet. 

In the example that I gave above, the teacher then responded to the soccer student by saying that you may feel less stressed if you work out and put in lots of effort into the workout because it will release endorphins which can help him release his stress.  He also said that by doing this workout, he is a step above some of the competition because he is focusing on being in shape and putting in the work. Another example of how the teacher helps his students achieve their identity is by encouraging them that failure is inevitable and is going to happen, but if you continue to strive and overcome it, then you did not fail. He also builds trust in the classroom. 

Student Needs

2. What are the students' needs with regard to identity development in this class? What more could or should be done?

The students and teacher discussions have never alluded to identity and identity development in class. I think that this is something that should be changed. I think that having conversations with the students about identity is something that is extremely important and beneficial. Being able to discuss this in an appropriate manner is also crucial. I think that the teacher could have created an identity chart at the beginning of the year which every student would fill out. It could give the teacher a better understanding of who the students are.

Plans for your Lesson

3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?

Honestly, I think that this is something that is going to be difficult to teach in just one lesson. When I start teaching, this is something that I will be able to address more because I think that it is something that needs to be addressed throughout the semester, not just in one lesson. Also, I do not really know how to address identity in my mini lesson. I will collaborate with other peers that are in my content area.