Identity Status

    Having an identity is an important part of everyone's lives. However, finding one's identity isn't necessarily an easy task and as teachers we need to understand what our students go through on a daily basis and create a safe, healthy and supportive learning environment that encourages all students' sense of belonging (Standard 5.1). James Marcia says that people go through a stage of an "identity crisis", where there is a period of identity development during which, an adolescent for example, chooses among different types of identity exploration (James Marcia 1987). There are four different ways of resolving an identity crisis. These four terms are identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium and identity achievement. Marcia also uses the term "commitment". What he means by commitment is a person who is exploring his or her identity's personal investment in what they are going to do.

    Identity diffusion is when the adolescent has not yet experienced an identity crisis and have not made any commitments to an identity. Not only are adolescents in this status undecided about their future goals or beliefs but they usually don't show interest in such matters. Identity status is not restricted to what kind of career an adolescent wants to have but includes their beliefs about religion, politics, life etc.. Having a student in identity diffusion can be challenging especially in a foreign language class. Most students are required to take a foreign language so there can be a lack of interest in the subject area. A student in identity diffusion may not feel like learning a foreign language pertains to them or their future simply because they do not know what they want to do and do not care. It is important to stress the importance of the subject matter to the students. What I could do is use real life examples where this student would needs to know a foreign language. By emphasizing importance of the subject matter, it engages the student and makes him or her feel the need to explore and learn further.

    Identity foreclosure is when an adolescent has already made a commitment but has not yet experienced an identity crisis. For example, a parent may pass down commitments to another occupation or belief etc. to an adolescent. Adolescents in this stage have not yet had the opportunities to explore what they want to do with their lives and identity. Students in identity foreclosure may not choose to take a class based on his or her preference. For example, if a parent wants their child to become a translator, he or she may major in French or take many foreign language classes. Like identity diffusion, identity foreclosure can cause students to become uninterested and bored with the subject matter. It is important as a teacher to keep these students interested and for them to feel like what they are learning is relevant. Students seem to respond and learn better when they feel like the things that they are learning is relevant and important to their lives. What I could do as a teacher is maybe bring in a speaker who can tell how important and relevant the subject matter really is. For example a person who is wanted to become a doctor but was not necessarily interested in French, but as they grew older and became a doctor, they realized that understanding French helped them treat a French patient. By showing this example to students it shows them that just because they may already have made a commitment to something else, they can use different life experienced to accomplish their identity.

    Identity moratorium is when adolescents are in the middle of an identity crisis. These people have not made a clear commitment to an identity. These students are the ones who are exploring new things and looking to find their interests and identity. As a teacher these students are easy to work with, they seem to have more interests in new things because they do not necessarily know if they like it or not. However, these students should not be ignored. It is important to understand that they are the most impressionable of all students. In my future classroom I will give these students the opportunity to explore French in different ways. I will give them different assignments showing them the different dynamics of learning French. For example, one assignment could be about the differences and similarities between French and English, and the other assignment could be about French culture. By doing this it gives the student an opportunity to explore different things and give them an opportunity to make commitments to either ideas.

   Lastly, Identity achievement is when someone has gone through an identity crisis and has made a complete commitment. Not many adolescents have achieved Identity achievement, however, there are some who have and they are an important part of the classroom as well. Adolescents in identity achievement are very motivated and are inspired to learn. These students are great to teach and work with. It is important to challenge these students in the classroom. For example, I could continuously challenge these students by assigning more and more advanced projects and assignments. This way the student gets the most out of the class that he or she can get.