Healthy Identity

"Identities are about quesnos of using hre resources of history, language, and culture in the process of becoming rather than being: not "who we are" or "where we came from," so much as what we might become, how we have been represented and how that bears on how we might represent ourselves...Identities are constructed within, not outside, discourse..." (B&S, p. 237)

Erik Erikson asserts in his writing that "identity formation has been deemed the pivotal developmental task for adolescents, as they traverse the path from childhood to adulthood." (B&S, p. 238)

The catch phrase that has come up time and time again for me is, "I need to find myself." If we, as adults, are still learning about/trying to figure out ourselves, how much more would a 12-14 year old person be confused about his/her own identity.

The words of the text above that jump out at me are "how we represent ourselves." This answers the big question of why middle school age children are notorious for being difficult to communicate with/guide. Middle school age kids are trying to figure out how to represent himself/herself. That said, how can educators nurture the process of helping kids find themselves while at the very same time, teaching them what they need to know? What are the most effective methods that teachers can use to help a student tap into his/her unique potential? How can we as educators help students develop a comfort level with themselves and who they want to be?

Awareness of Others as Relates to Conflict Resolution

"Before endeavoring to develop cultural knowledge and awareness about others, we must first uncover and examine personal social and cultural identities. Guided self-reflection allows us to better understand how social group memberships inform who we are." (www.tolerance.org)

The foundation of getting along with others is awareness of others. Each of us has his/her own impression of what is socially normal. Our impression is formed from the time we are born. Our environment is the biggest influencer upon our view of normal. That said, we mix with others who do not share the same norms and we are expected to live and work with them successfully. I often think of the old saying that one should not judge another until he/she has walked in his/her shoes. This awareness of others is key to getting along with others and resolving interpersonal conflicts. We must make every effort to explore the feelings of others. When we do this, we empower ourselves to understand another viewpoint. By seeing others from his/her own perspective, we can better understand why he/she feels the way he/she does. The key to successful relationships is awareness and consideration of others. No matter how convinced that we are that we are right about any given subject, we must accept that another person may see things through different glasses.

Successful School for Adolescents

Therefore, successful schools for young adolescents provide:

1) Curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative and exploratory, 2) multiple learning and teaching approaches that respond to their diversity, 3) assessment and evaluation programs that promote quality learning, 4) organizational structures that support meaningful relationships and learning, 5) school-wide efforts and policies that foster health, wellness, and safety, and 6) multifaceted guidance and support services. (National Middle School Association, 2003, p. 7). B&S, p. 152

What strikes me about this excerpt is that it carefully addresses each part of a whole, a whole process of successfully providing a balanced environment for students to both feel accepted, yet challenged to do his/her best. Each of the above five steps requires careful planning and research. One principal or one great teacher cannot accomplish these goals. It would take the entire learning community to make these five steps happen. That learning community would need to be broken down into committees. These cannot simply be accomplished by a vote of a governing body or the school board. Task forces would need to be assigned these tasks and each task force would need to form a plan of action and take the steps to ensure that steps are implemented to reach each of these goals. Finally, after each of these tasks is implemented, there needs to be an assessment plan to monitor the progress and/or suggestions made to solve any conflicts and tweak the process for success.