Adolescent development
Aditya Roy
DS502WeekFiveMultipleIdentities.pptxWeek Five: Multiple Identities
Theoretical Foundations
Erikson
Vygotsky
Erikson and Identity Development
Stage theory
Successful resolution of “crises”
Self-deprecating instead of self-appreciating
Ego syntonic vs. ego dystonic
Critique of Erikson
Mastering a crisis is not an all or nothing event
Does not consider the notion of multiple identities
Vygotsky
Sociocultural Theory
Shifts the focus of developmental influences to include the social and cultural environment
Human behavior cannot be understood without understanding culture
Dissertation on Hamlet: Narrative approach
Connections to Child Life
Influence of socialism
The hand creates the mind (theory of activity)
Shared cognition (zone of proximal development)
Development happens as children resolve conflicting elements (equilibration)
The Cultural Context of Learning
Enculturation is not something that happens to children; it is something they do (“We do culture”)
Culture = customs, symbols, social settings, physical settings, and objects (for example, cell phones)
Culture organizes experience (We can’t understand learning without understanding the high school)
Becomes the foundation for Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model
The Zone of Proximal Development
The zone is collective, not individual
Interactions in the zone do not need to be verbal
Most learning happens at the child-society border
Learning drives development (in contrast to Piaget who believed development drives learning)
Gender Role Overview
Sex=biological identity, or better yet “assigned gender”. People may be less binary than we previously believed
Gender= social and cultural identity. Created by expectations and cultural norms
Gender Differences
Males and females are far more psychologically similar than they are different
Cultural and social practices account for most of the differences
Gender role stereotypes becomes cognitive filters that confirm pre-existing belief systems
Ex. Parents attribute son’s successes in math to ability but credits daughter’s success to hard work
Ex. Teachers steer girls toward humanities but conclude that girls are less interested in STEM subjects
Gender Socialization
By ages 2-3, kids seem to know a lot about gender expectations. Gender segregation occurs by age 2 and continues into adulthood.
By ages 3-7, gender transgressions are not easily accepted. Increased tolerance after age 8.
Adolescence often is a period of gender intensification with a strong affiliation with one’s reference group.
Learning About Gender
Preschoolers learn about positive traits of their assigned gender and the negative traits of “the other” gender
Binary assumptions go unexamined
Parents set expectations for gender conformity
Parents set corrections for gender non-conformity
Gender segregation reinforces perceived differences (categorical dynamics)
Learning About Gender
Reward Learning: Children are rewarded for gender conforming actions
Observational Learning: Children watch others and develop role models
Construct Learning: Children develop internalized constructs of what it means to be male or female, and also learn what is not male or female
Discussion
Is there a case to be made for all girl schools? All boy schools? All girl camps? All girl camps? All girl sports? All boy sports?
Can or should teachers contradict parental messages about gender?
How can we address bullying, teasing, or social isolation of students who do not fit neatly into gender categories?
Racial Identity Development
Erikson and Racial Identity: A Psychoanalytical View
Young people can be remarkably clannish, and cruel in their exclusion of all those who are different in skin color of cultural background. It is important to understand (which does not mean condone or participate in) such intolerance as a defense against a sense of identity confusion
Erik Erikson, Identity, Youth, and Crisis, 1950
Tatum and Racial Identity: A Societal View
Beverly Tatum Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (Excellent example of a question-based inquiry)
Immersion = finding a cultural secure base (Bowlby). Claiming a “racial center” from which one can make judgements about the world and others
Integrative Awareness = Being aware of various identities and integrating them into a less-fragmented whole
Racial Affinity
Cultural affiliation provides safety, especially in new situations or situations where one is not in the majority
Multiple identities are a necessity for kids navigating both dominant and non-dominant cultures. Multiple identities are a choice for kids who navigate only dominant cultures
The Null Hypothesis
Starts with the assumption that there is no normal
Minimizes the starting point of asking about those who deviate from normal
Increased acceptance of diversity
Rethinking Categories
Categorical differences exist in the real world
Categorical meanings are socially constructed
Two categories are not enough to reflect gender diversity
A gender spectrum vs. gender categories
Racism is Not the Same as Prejudice
Prejudice is a preconceived judgement based on limited information
Racism is a system of advantage based on race
Tatum’s View of Immersion
We need to understand that in racially mixed settings, racial grouping is a developmental process in response to an environmental stressor: racism. Joining with one’s peers for support in the face of stress is a positive coping strategy
Beverly Tatum Why Are All the Black Kids?....
Black, Brown, Caucasian, Asian Categories
The trap of all categorical thinking to minimize in-group differences and to maximize between group differences
Does the difference make a difference?
Whites tend to answer this question “no”
Persons of color tend to answer this question “yes”
Why is this is?
Differential Power and Access Dynamics
Deficit-based model sets up power differentials
Privilege-based model sets up access differentials
Identity Integration?
The need to navigate two cultures
The need to deal with how others define me
The need to deal with negative stereotyping
The need to deal with unequal opportunity
Discussion
How can secondary education settings foster affinity groups?
How do most whites understand the term “racism”? How do most members of non-dominant groups hear this word?
What are the challenges of our current language set about race?
“White privilege” for example
What does school busing achieve?
