Erikson/Marcia

Which of Erikson's psychosocial crises are the children in the class facing (may be more than one)? Which of Marcia's identity states seem(s) to be most prevalent? What specific teacher behaviors do you observe that either help or hinder the students to successfully navigate this crisis? What more could or should be done? Be sure to include a reference in your response. 

I'm having a really hard time deciding which of Erikson's stages seem to be most prevalent in the class I've been observing because there are a few different options. But I think the one that is most prevalent would be "Initiative vs Guilt". I say this because the students aren't given a ton of opportunities to take initiative. They are given an assignment, and told to do it by following the instructions-they aren't really given an power, or control over the situation. It had never occurred to me until now that this isn't an ideal situation. The assignments and games played in class are often times fun. But, there is definitely a lot of reluctance from the students in getting started, or staying on task. I think if they had more control over the activities, they would be more engaged and more willing to learn. (This is the article I was using to develop my definition of "initiative" https://www.verywell.com/initiative-versus-guilt-2795737). The other stage that seems really apparent in the classroom is "Intimacy vs Isolation" because they students are so social! With every assignment, at least one person will ask if they can work with a partner, to which Mrs. Harmon almost always says "yes". It's interesting to see how most of the students have friends they want to work with, but are content to work with the person sitting next to them if told to do so. But, there is one girl who does not seem to be a fan of working with others. One of the assignments was to read an article with a partner, and then answer a few questions together. As I walked past, her partner started to read aloud, but she responded to him by saying in a rather unfriendly tone, "read it in your head". I'm not sure if that means she needs to develop her intimacy, or if she just is not crazy about her deskmate. Either way, it was funny to see how different the responses to groupwork and socializing was. Another stage that I've heard in the classroom (although it has always been about a different teacher, not my cooperating teacher) has been the "Trust vs Mistrust" stage. I've frequently heard students complaining about how "Teacher So-and-so docked me points because they hate me" or something like that. I would be really surprised if any of the students in Mrs. Harmon's class said anything like that about her because she seems to be really fair with all of her students, and has a really good relationship with each of them. She knows all of their names, and can mentally keep track of how they are doing in her class, it's very impressive! 
I would like to say that the "Moratorium" state is most prevalent in the classroom, but that probably wouldn't be entirely accurate. Although the students are learning and exploring, and still developing ideas, there is also a lot of apathy. At least when it comes to content material, a lot of the kids seem to just be going through the motions, and not caring at all about what they are supposed to be learning. It's tricky to say this for certain though, since I really only know the students in the context of the science classroom. I'm sure outside the classroom, they all have different areas where they are in different states of identity. I think Mrs. Harmon does a good job about getting the students engaged in the classroom activities, but not so much in the actual information. It's more like she is sneakily teaching the kids something they don't want to learn. I think it would be helpful to give more real-life examples and explanations of how the content connects to the real world. Otherwise, it is just going to be passed off as useless information.