Identity in Context

 

 

After reading Identity in Context by Nakkula Context Mapping is who you are depending on where you’re at; as in school, work, home, etc. In each one of those locations your personality dictates how you act and interact in those situations. For example, you would not exhibit personality traits in the workplace the same way you would at home. It is the way that you interact in the proper place. The people that you interact with in these places expect your content to be appropriate. In the reading Mitch asked Julian to compile a list of the areas and relationships he must confront throughout his day and what is expected of him from those people and places. This was a way for Mitch to have Julian analyze the different ways he conducts himself depending on the people he is interacting with, along with the places he finds himself in. By doing this, it allows Julian to see how he changes his inner self to accommodate those people and places.

My context map:

RIC: Youth Development, other students, professors

Home: I am a Daughter, cousin, niece, granddaughter, and girlfriend

Social:  Facebook, twitter, blogger, text.

Four Identities:

 

Foreclosed Identity:  An identity that has be imposed upon an individual without questioning it. An example would be if everyone in your family liked the Patriots but hated the Giants. Rather than form your own opinion so that no one would question you, you conform to liking the Patriots.

Diffuse Identity: When there is little consideration of exploring one’s identity. This person is easily influenced by others and will flip-flop to fit his or her changing content. It is a way to blend in and avoid confrontation. It is also said that they are willing to live moment for moment in different situations.

Moratorium Identity: This is the process where one explores beliefs and relationships without making a commitment to either.

Achieved Identity: This is when the identity crisis is resolved and the individual has successfully made a commitment to the change and strengthens the inner person. It is a way that the individual is able to resolve his content.

*To get a better look at the Context Map at the top of this page click here

 

Nakkula Chapter 1

After reading The Construction of Adolescence by Nakkula (2010), the impression Ms. Petersen gives is that she is giving up on Antwon. Granted there is no excuse for Antwon’s attitude towards her and to state that his other teachers are showing no interest in his academics, is not a reason for him to do the same to Ms. Petersen. Ms. Petersen interjects her personal feelings towards African American adolescents as a reason for her not to approach Antwon. High school adolescents have a great deal to deal with, from peer pressure, to testing, to what is expected of them when they graduate. Both school and home play a great deal of burden on their shoulders. As a youth worker, we must put aside our cultural differences and feelings, and approach these individuals to discuss their feelings and what is expected of them. We must give them an opportunity to discuss their feelings and burdens with an open mind without being judgmental. We as the adults form their impressions of other adults that they come in contact with and we must present ourselves in such a way that these adolescents are capable to express their feelings throughout their lives. As a youth worker, we must form this ball of clay (our youth), to be prepared for what the world may throw at them. When you think about it, we as youth workers spend most of our day with our youth and the impressions we leave on them, is life lasting.

Advising Event

               

Going to the Youth Development advising meeting on Wednesday was definitely helpful when taking the stress away for the coming semesters before graduation. This advising meeting was to help me plan my next semester schedule so I can graduate on time from Rhode Island College. Before going into the advising session, I had so many questions after finishing my Plan of Study. I was extremely nervous about not being able to graduate in Spring 2015. While sitting and working on the Plan of Study with my advisors I was able to see all the students who were going for the same major in Youth Development as me. We were all on the same paths and mission.  Because some students like myself completed most of the courses in the program, we were able to trade information about different classes and the best professors to have in the courses. By having this plan of study, I am allowed to look at the requirements needed to graduate, the courses I have completed, and the courses I still need to complete. I am able to take control of my own education and advising. I was able to click in to what Marc Prensky (2001) was talking about in his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants when it comes to us as youth workers using our knowledge of the internet and technology in our work. We were sitting as a group of youth workers working on our Plan of Studies through an internet program (google docs). We would be able to take what we are learning in our advising and use it towards working with the youth in our future careers.

                When in our class on Thursday I was able to use my knowledge of putting together my plan of studies and help out my fellow students put their next semester classes together. I felt very confident in helping my classmates just because I went through the same confusion as them the other day. Looking at how I am able to help them through planning their classes on google doc, it makes it understandable and easier to work with. Students in our different school systems should use advising and their class planning in this same manner. This is the closest way to start having teachers bring technology into their students’ academic works.

**If you'd like more information on the Youth Development Program to see what it entails click here. Also if you would like to learn more about bringing technology into academic advising here is a Power Point that gives you some key points about bringing it into the classrooms.

Egg Drop...Budget Cut...SMASH!

How does one protect an egg from breaking after it has been dropped from a second floor window? Make a parachute with a plastic bag and make sure the cup the egg is sitting in is protected and light weight…sounds like a plan. But now what happens after there has been a budget cut and all the plastic bags you had are taken away? Now that is harder to work with. When my group received our box for the egg drop experiment, we instantly knew what we had to do to win.  We were completely prepared to watch our egg safely survive the drop. But after we were told the bags need to be confiscated…that changed everything in a matter of seconds. Our confidence level declined fast and now we were scrounging for anything to have our egg survive.  The time came for our egg to drop and like we thought, it didn’t survive but rather crashed and burned. While we were watching everyone else’s eggs drop, we saw items that were in their boxes (marshmallows, tape, boxes, etc.) that we didn’t have. They had a lot more access to items then my group did.

 I have realized after looking at this experiment; this is reality for most of our children today. Our children are living in poverty and going to lower class school systems with barely any resources to help them succeed. Ullucci (2014) talks about in her article how children are no less capable or intelligent in succeeding. She is absolutely right! To help these youth of tomorrow, we must help them receive access when we know they have the capability. The youth in poverty have to fight more and more to get to where they want to be in their adult lives while other students who are given access easily, don’t have to fight as hard to get where they want to be. As a child growing up in a school system with limited access, I can say yes I worked hard to get to where I want to be as an adult, but with working hard, I believe I gained more knowledge and more experience than the children who were given more access to succeed in school. And personally I am completely fine with that. But because I experienced this in my own life, as a youth worker, I want to change that for the future generations so that all our children can have equal access and capability to succeed in their education. It will just take one day at a time and a lot more people than just me to help out our communities.