This week, we focused on two texts that introduced ideas surrounding transition in youth. The first piece I will discuss is called Stepping stones: A resource on youth development. This is a document provided by the government of Ontario that gives critical information regarding different changes and life stages one can expect young individuals to go through during adolescence. While reading the first section of this text, I became more aware of the specific types of changes a person goes through during their time at school. The domains of youth development are categorized as cognitive, emotional, social and physical. This literary piece provides amazing information on the actual scientifically described physical and emotional causations for change, but also provides an interesting understanding of how context and individuality affects one’s development. I found it very helpful that the authors made clear to the reader how changes each person goes through is dependent on personal experiences and is not the same for everyone (even though there are some changes that can be expected in the majority of students at different ages).
While reading, I found myself re-thinking the experiences I had gone through as a teenager, and how I often feel I am still in a moment of transition myself. Looking back at 14 year old me, I tend to find myself apologizing to my parents – I was extremely emotional and often did not know how to express myself in a positive way, making life at home a bit tense to say the least. It’s somewhat relieving to know that my experience was common, and that I wasn’t a freak for having an array of troubles during my transitions as a teenager. I also see myself now, as a 22 year old, reflected in a lot of the transitional expectations for youth. The transition from a degree in biology to education has definitely been rewarding and challenging. I spent the last four years learning so much, but the way I learned varies greatly from how I am expected to learn in this program. For example, I think I have done more reading in the past week than I did for my entire science degree. There is little self-reflection in biology, so having to really question myself, who I think I am and what I expect from myself has definitely been interesting and challenging. Also, the social aspect of this program has taken a bit of getting used to. I have had the same best friends since grade 9, and did not participate as much as I would have liked to during my undergrad. Not only talking to new people, but being able to make a personal friendship-based connection has, quite honestly, frightened me a bit. I almost feel more confident trying to bond with students than with my peers. I just hope that over the next few months I am able to break out of my shell and hopefully exit out of my transition stage as a more well-rounded and approachable individual. This text has not only allowed for self-reflection of my transitions, but it also made me question how I will approach my students when they are having difficulties in transitioning through youth (much as I did). I hope I will be seen as an understanding ally, but I still wonder about situations that will occur where I will not know how to respond or help. I want to be approachable, but what if I don’t know how to handle questions or difficult situations my students are experiencing? Also, I wonder how my students will vary from the cookie-cutter developmental maps presented in the paper, especially being in an urban school setting where life experiences of some students may be particularly impacting or hard to deal with. Will I be ready when the transitions do not perfectly align with what is expected? These questions lead me to discuss the next piece we examined this week, a video titled The Before Project by Terrence Brown. In this video, a small group of 11 year olds were asked a series of questions that allowed them to reflect on their lives, many of which were related to the developmental events presented in Stepping Stones. An array of the questions asked were related to what it’s like to be an 11 year old, personal experiences and different types of relationships. First and foremost, I found watching this video so intriguing because I personally have no recollection of what I thought about the world when I was 11 years old. I loved that the creators of the video made the voice of these young people a priority. Often, the voices of youth (especially pre-teens) are hushed – there is an overwhelming social idea that if you’re young, you don’t know about the world. Well, within the first minute of this video, I could tell that was not the case. It was amazing to me how much these kids knew. They weren’t just concerned with the facts like knowing their ABCs or how to multiply; they were forming opinions and feelings regarding serious world issues and were reflecting upon themselves, their beliefs and their place in the world with incredible insight. A lot of the things that stuck out to me relate to the different domains of youth development presented in Stepping Stones in one way or another. Many of the questions were reflective of changes that could be occurring for these kids at this point in their lives. For example, questions around relationships (whether they be romantic, familial or friendship-based) were asked and discussed. Through the children’s responses, we get a better understanding of the life stage each individual finds themselves in. Also, one can see that relationships, and how the kids experience them, change as they transition from child to teen. I could also see how emotions are altered as individuals reach a certain point in their lives. One thing I noticed in particular was how each child reacted when being asked questions around the topics of bullying or fitting in. It seems that all the students, regardless if they were perceived as “popular”, are concerned about not fitting in or being picked on. It just goes to show how fragile youth can be during stages of transition and how issues surrounding self-esteem and peer relations are critical to address in any classroom or community setting. Issues of inclusiveness affect all individuals and should be priority in a classroom regardless of the subject being taught. Moreover, I noticed a strong interconnectedness between different developmental domains. Certain responses in the video helped me realize that the changes individuals go through in one aspect of their life are always somehow connected to other changes in that person’s life. One example that stuck was when a very funny 11 year old boy was talking about how girls have become obsessed with guys being able to grow mustaches. In this situation, it can be clearly seen how the physical changes of an individual can be linked to relationships or social changes. I found the video also demonstrated how the self/spirit and the environment really play into the lives of individuals. All of the kids seemed very similar in some ways, but were all also very individual. Each was at a different stage of emotional, social and physical development, and each had different ideas to share. This is due, at least in part, to the difference in their spirits and their environments. References Brown, T. (2014). The Before Project. [Documentary short]. Retrieve from http://terrance-brown-hl8j.squarespace.com Government of Ontario, Youth Development Committee. Stepping Stones: A Resource on Youth Development
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