The high school seniors that I am working with are in Erikson’s identity vs. role confusion stage. I’ve noticed that Mrs. McDonald enjoys checking in with them about their post-graduation plans. For example, when I said where I was from and that there was a college there, she asked the students if the University of Northern Iowa was on any of their college lists. When she chats with students before class, she’ll often ask what they’re thinking about for next year. She always treats their answers with respect and will empathize with them if they say they have no idea. In doing this, she sets herself up as a trusted individual if these students experience a crisis in this area. Even if it is only a few students who turn to her as a resource, the fact that there is someone in these students’ lives who is interested in what they do next and is there to give advice or guidance, can hopefully help them in this phase of identity development. While I feel like the students can turn to Mrs. McDonald personally for identity help, I think the course content could be better tailored to students in this stage. So much of the material in a global studies class could be helpful and interesting to these students as they begin to question the political and religious values instilled in them by their families, but the course content is usually so dry that it gives little opportunity for introspection.

While I would say that I am in moratorium right now, I think my current crisis is coming to terms with a lot of things that I was arguably foreclosed in and am only starting to question now as graduation looms. I knew I wanted to be a political science major since my sophomore year of high school and I knew I wanted to work on campaigns after graduation since my freshman year of college. However, as I start the comps process for poli sci, I am continually questioning whether that was actually the right choice. As for post-graduation plans, I keep adding new ideas to the list without taking any off. Maybe I want to work in education policy, or be a high school social studies teacher, or go into urban planning, or just stick to my original plan. I feel like I am in moratorium because I am actively exploring all of these options, but in a crisis over which decision to make. I feel like I am achieved in some areas, particularly my political and religious affiliations, but I have yet to overcome the hurdle of graduating college and deciding what to do next.

I observed an interesting phenomenon in the global studies class last week. The students were participating in a Socratic seminar (an activity that I am thankful has not continued in college) over whether the United States should support less wealthy nations with foreign aid. The first part of the seminar was a bit of a disaster, with one student who was far more knowledgeable about the topic than the rest of the class dominating the discussion. While Mrs. McDonald eventually cut him off, the other students could clearly tell that they did not know as much as him and were reluctant to speak (a little bit of late-stage industry vs. inferiority coming into play). Therefore, she switched up the structure for the second part of the discussion, breaking the students up into smaller groups and handing them note cards that said “agree” “disagree” and “unsure”, before asking them some more specific questions about the topic. With only a few exceptions, in each of the smaller groups, whichever student confidently held up an answer first, almost everyone else in the group would hold up the same answer.

It shows the way that students do not yet feel fully confident in their identity development. Their opinions are malleable and can be easily influenced by others. I would be curious at how many students were purposefully conforming and how many of them were doing it subconsciously. It was not that all students had the same opinions, one table would be full of agrees and the other unsures or disagrees. The groups were randomly assigned, so the students were not sitting with their friends who may be more likely to have the same opinions. I pointed this out to Mrs. McDonald after the class and she said it was unsurprising. She hypothesized that by the end of the semester, the students would be confident in standing by their opinions. I hope that there is another similar activity I can observe later on in the term to see how true this is.