Trying on different hats...

Chapter two of Nakkula, "Identity in Context," talks about the different ways that young people come to know who they are, and the different ways that they get there. This chapter reminded me of playing dress up or deciding which outfit looks the best in the dressing room. When I was a freshman in college, I began volunteering at a youth center in Cranston. My volunteering led to me leading retreats for Confirmation students on Saturdays and Sundays, and in the retreat program there is a section that is entitled, "Who Am I?" This section of the retreat asks young people to identify the different masks that they wear when they are with certain people, or the masks that they are wearing that cover up who they really are on the inside. We talk about why we wear these masks at all, because as Nakkula says on page 18, "the question of "Who am I?" is asked with great passion and urgency." If we are covering up who we really are with masks to hide ourselves, then we are probably working through one of Marcia's identity statuses. In the retreat program we also talk about removing the masks and letting our  true self be seen. This takes a lot of vulnerability, especially if we are not sure who we really are under the masks yet. There is a great song from the movie Mulan that I like to use during this section for some mediation. I have done this activity with my students, and I learn so much about them in the process, but I also learn so much about myself. On page 20 Nakkula writes, "identity formation, then, is the dynamic process of testing, selecting, and integrating self-images and personal ideologies into an integrated and consistent whole." I have to admit that I think this a process that never truly ends. I am learning new things about myself all the time, and parts of me change as a result of events and people that I encounter. I'm not sure why this would be any different for young people. I also am not sure why this would seem foreign for adults.

There is a great section on page 24 that asks about thinking about why students make certain decisions. It ties directly into our observation of an adolescent. "Why they chose that shirt, why that music, why that book, why these friends, why this hair, why that movie, why that food" it reminded me that it does matter, after all, what shoes they are wearing. Because those shoes are most likely a very planned part of the identity that they are trying to shape. That might seem silly to us now as adults, because we do it in a little different way. (Or maybe we don't) I felt as though Nakkula was writing about me on page 30 when talking about identity as a Red Sox fan. It has always been a big thing in my family to watch baseball, and to love the Red Sox, I could have challenged this within my family (as I have challenged many, many other things) but I enjoy this foreclosed part of myself. It brings me in community with my family, and its something that we can talk about, follow, and enjoy together. I think that when young people start to form their own thoughts/feelings/view points that differ from their previous foreclosed status is when they start to have conflict with their parents, guardians, or other people in authority. I talk a lot about this in morality class with my students. I ask them to think about when a lot of their problems or fights started with their parents and almost every time they identify it as when they started to challenge the things that they had previously accepted as 'true' or 'fact' or the 'right way.'

On page 33, Nakkula asks us to imagine what it would be like to negotiate the expectations of different groups of people...I do not think that we really have to sit and imagine this...we do this everyday already. The expectations of the people we encounter vary based on the setting and company that we are in. I do not think it is unreasonable for their to be different expectations of behavior in different settings. It does not mean that you as a person are different, it means that adapt to the situation that you are in appropriately. Part of this is learned behavior, and part of this is 'on the fly.' For example, when I was growing up and with a group of friends many people would be swearing in the group. I, too, would swear every once in awhile to "try on that hat" while with those friends. But when I was at home with my parents or at school talking to teachers I knew that "hat" was inappropriate and there would be consequences for that behavior. I am not sure that means that I changed by identity-maybe just a small piece of who I was deciding if I was going to be or not. I do not think that this was a difficult switch, and to be honest, I don't think its unreasonable for us to teach young people that sometimes you have to act a certain way in certain places...its not always anything goes.

"One cannot be all things to all people."(page 37) This is not really anything that spoke to me about teaching, but it is something that spoke to me about my own life. It is something that a friend said to me recently because I try to do everything for everyone all the time. I needed to be reminded that its ok to not be all things to all people.

Overall, I think that what the statues have taught me is that if my students are approaching me at all different statues and going from one status to another that their learning styles are probably also changing as rapidly as their statuses. Also, teaching in different learning styles could work complimentary or negatively with a a student depending on the status that they are in. I think its important to note that we also are always "in the process of becoming"(39).

On page 57, Nakkula writes, "students make clear and profound distinctions between those teachers who are committed to them and those who seem interested in the schoolwork only. Teacher commitment to the students as human beings and as learners seems to earn a reciprocal commitment from the students." I have found that this to be overwhelmingly true for me as a teacher. I have had teachers that only care about the schoolwork, they are the ones that I have always said were really smart, but I am not sure they like kids. I may not be the smartest person in my classroom at any given time during the day, but my students know that I am committed to them as human beings and as learners.