Erikson/Marcia

In the high school I've been observing it, I have seen Identity v. Role Confusion. Where the teenager must achieve identity in occupation, gender roles, politics, and religion. I've seen this come through in one of two major ways, where the student believes what they have been taught from their parents, or where they do the opposite of what their parents have taught them, just to do something different or to be someone different.

The best way to see this is through their papers I've seen them write. During my observations, the students worked on a paper titled "Who I Am" where they explained who they are and why they are the way they are. It was an identification paper, where they can explain what they are proud of in themselves, a positive look on their own lives. Through reading these papers, I could get a vibe from the students on who they think they are, who they want to be, and what they like most about themselves. The teacher spent time in the prep for this assignment by talking/teaching about what is important about yourself, how to rejoice and celebrate your own self. She used examples from  The Greatest Showman the song "This is Me" and by doing this, she showed the students how relevant the topic is to everyday life and even pop culture. 

For Marcia, the one I find most prevalent in my classroom I was observing, is identity foreclosure, where students are what their parents are, they believe what their parents believe, and they do and follow the example of their parents. This is usually prevalent in strong religious cultures. However, this is not always bad, religion is passed through parents on most occasions, so this isn't a bad thing, but can cause problems with self-identity in life, but again, does not have to.