"The only way to be totally free is through education" - Jose Marti
Topic 1: What is Adolescence?
Defining adolescence in modern times is not an easy task. The qualifiers of the average adolescent have changed dramatically from generation to generation since the term was first applied in the early 20th Century. While there are some characteristics that have prevailed throughout the ages, there are many others that are newly onset and are specific to today's youth.
As a class we discussed the roles of puberty, social media, identity, mood swings, and peer groups in adolescent development. Each of these characteristics can stand alone as a representative marker of adolescence in North America, but they also interact and influence each other: the psychological developments underway due to puberty may invoke mood swings which can affect peer relations and shape individual identity which is then broadcast on social media platforms.
As a result of our classroom discussion and research, I feel that puberty is the most defining characteristic of adolescents today. Puberty is a pervasive, normative characteristic, generally experienced by all youth at a similar period in their development worldwide, regardless of their surroundings or resources. Puberty influences the development of identity and individuality, self-confidence and peer relationships, as well as how the rest of society views the individual in terms of maturity. Puberty can bring with it a range of emotions from feeling awkward and withdrawn to feeling confident and attention-seeking.
As a pre-service teacher, I recognize that I will be interacting with students who will be going through some stage of puberty. I will have to ensure that information that I am teaching has both meaning to the students and elicits some kind of emotional response in order to register with the competing changes going on within and around the students (as described in Spots Learning Strategies). When possible, I will include some aspect of physical exercise or movement in my lessons to provide a reprieve from stationary sitting in a time of growth and development. I will also act as a supportive, strong adult role model who encourages making positive, future-focused goals, and fosters open communication so that students will know they have an ally in what can be a tumultuous time.
Additional Resources:
Adolescence: Healthy Lifestyle - The Adolescent Learner
One aspect that our class grappled with is the bell curve of inclusivity in selecting a single defining characteristic for adolescence. For this reason we steered away from concrete definitions such as an age bracket since this kind of restriction is not completely inclusive (for example, not everyone begins adolescence at age 11). Towards the end of the class discussion on the defining marker of adolescence we, as a class, came to the conclusion that adolescence can only be described as a mosaic of developmental markers, some acting as "umbrella" factors that influence other levels of development, and some are culturally or socio-economically specific.
Image from the British Council