Identity Development

I just learned that according to Erik Erikson, a peer of Freud, my students will be right in the middle of the Identity versus Role Confusion Stage of their psychoscocial development. That means I can be influential in helping them develop their personal identity! What an exciting and daunting responsibility!

Our text Educational Psychology Active Learning Edition by Anita Woolfolk gives several great ideas that I can and will use in my classroom to help my students develop and decide who they want to be.

First, the book recommends that I  expose my students to lots of models from history and literature for adult roles and career choices. I REALLY like this idea! And I think I can make it fit very well with my Spanish curriculum! I can research and find out who some of the important and noteworthy people are from the many Spanish speaking countries and I can  briefly introduce these people and their accomplishments to my students. As the first unit of Spanish 1 is about making introductions, right from the start these cultural and role/identity mini-lessons can be largely in Spanish.

I can schedule these introductions of eminent people around a birthday or important historical dates calendar. Using a calendar in this way will give students the opportunity to practice on a regular basis the vocabulary involved with calendars.   

Woolfolk suggests I invite guest speakers into my classroom to describe how and why they chose their professions. I like this idea, too. I think I will vary it just a little by making video clips of different professionals speaking in simple Spanish about their professions. When we have our unit on school I can interview teachers and students. When we have a unit on food I can interview a chef. When we have a unit on the body I can interview a doctor.

Woolfolk also states I should be tolerant of teenage fads as long as they don't offend others and interfere with learning. When we have a unit on clothing we can discuss fads and I can teach my students the vocabulary to talk about their choice of clothes and accessories.

Something else that Woolfolk suggests that I think is very important is to give constructive feedback to my students about their work and lots of support for improvement. I will give them "second chances" being careful when necessary to criticize the behavior without criticizing the student.

When I see students struggling with their identities I can always lend an understanding and listening ear and I can help them find the resources they need to work out their personal problems.

I am really excited that I will have the privilege of being able to help my students not only learn Spanish but develop positive self identities, too!