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EDUC 5420 UNIT 5 Written Assignment Identity Development

The document discusses identity development over a person's lifetime, from childhood through adulthood. As a child, the author was greatly impacted by losing his father and then his mother. This affected his self-esteem and social interactions as a teenager. He found solace in music but is now an adult with his own family continuing the Catholic faith tradition.

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Jakuma Mike
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39 views

EDUC 5420 UNIT 5 Written Assignment Identity Development

The document discusses identity development over a person's lifetime, from childhood through adulthood. As a child, the author was greatly impacted by losing his father and then his mother. This affected his self-esteem and social interactions as a teenager. He found solace in music but is now an adult with his own family continuing the Catholic faith tradition.

Uploaded by

Jakuma Mike
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

EDUC 5420 UNIT 5: Identity Development

Dickie, (2014), in this week's reading introduces us to the fact that identity development is driven

by the desire to matter to others in life. It can also be viewed as the development of one’s strong

and stable sense of self. Since identity development takes place throughout an individual’s

lifetime, the adolescences period or stage gives one the initial sense of how one’s identity may

affect one’s life ( Steinberg, 2008, as cited in Butler, 2010). That means identity can be

understood as a concept that one has towards oneself that progresses over the recurrent years of

one's lifetime. Several factors definitely will affect different aspects of one’s identity

development. In this paper, I will review the various adolescent and adult identities that shift

over the years together with the implication of education.

As a child growing up, my life was completely impacted by my family and especially my mother

whom I was so close to. My father passed on when I was 9 years old and this greatly affected my

development as a child. I guess I really needed a father figure in life. Nevertheless, my mother

played an excellent role in filling the void that was left by my father. She influenced my life as a

Christian boy in the Catholic faith and she groomed me together with my siblings to be good

Catholic practicing children something that has never left us till today. As a son my mother

taught me to be fully responsible as a big brother to my two brothers. When she passed on the

following few years later I was completely devastated together with my brothers about how to

make it in life. Her passing affected us emotionally and psychologically because we found it

difficult to express ourselves.


My self-esteem as a child was affected by my mother’s passing. I became a quiet boy who could

not say much when among others. I could not ask for something in case I needed it from my

guardian because I was an orphan. Even when I proceeded to secondary school I had to play

second fiddle given the fact that I had no parent to provide for me. I found it had to ask for basic

necessities like clothes or shoes when I needed them. This limited my active interaction with my

fellow teens. I could not ask for a girl out because I was naturally shy and scared of the girls.

This was also partly due to the fact that I was ashamed of how I looked in the eyes of my

colleagues and the opposite sex. This trend of being shy and fearful grew with me towards A-

level. I could not express myself even in debates. I started finding solace in music because I

knew that I had a voice and I could sing. My mother had earlier engrossed us in Christian

practice and one of the most outstanding practices was singing in the choir. This practice made

me realize that I could sing. So over the years, as a teenager, I developed a passion for singing

and this enabled me to follow the music artists and also practice karaoke as a way of appealing to

my inner self.

Given the fact that the development of self-identity is a process that begins from childhood and

progresses into adulthood, one is bound to experiences different changes as one matures (Sokol,

2009). They evolve beginning from the early years in one’s childhood and into one’s adulthood.

The changes that one experiences range from cognitive to emotional changes. Some of these will

be influenced by one’s social surroundings, education, peers, beliefs, relationships to mention but

a few.

So a newfound love with hip-hop started to crop in while influencing my actions and choices. I

started dressing like my preferred musician with a dream of becoming a musician. This could not

be possible because of my fearful and shy nature.


Now as an adult I am married with children and I am still engrossed in the Catholic faith that I

was brought in something that has become a family tradition. My prayer is to make sure my

children do not go through a life that I experienced as a teenager who lacked. I pride myself in

making sure that my children grow up to be respectful of others and honest because these are the

values that have stood out for me and I learned them through the practicing of the Catholic faith.

As I was growing up going to church was a must, the fear of God was taught to us and we have

realized how important it is. This is a value and a practice that I am instilling in my children. I

want them to understand that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This should

influence their character and how they relate with others.

The identity that no longer defines who I am is the solace I was seeking in music so that I would

escape from the fact that I was a shy fearful person. I was helped to conquer my fear leading me

into the field of education where I can ably reach out to the youth.

The assistance I had as an adolescent growing up was when I attended a youth conference that

helped me realize the notion of youth in this challenging world. I was taught how the decisions

we make impact our lives. This turned out to be one of the most beneficial behavioral change

programs that helped me realize how I should not waste my life as a youth. After the university, I

decided to also become a youth educator so that I could also impact the lives of the other youth

just like my life was impacted by others. This led me into joining a youth ministry that was

reaching out to the different young people in secondary schools and universities as we helped

them to be focused on what they do and who they want to become.

REFERENCES
Butler, A. (2010). Adolescent Identity Development. Adolescence—ACT for Youth.

http://actforyouth.net/adolescence/identity.cfm

Dickie, T. (2014, February 1). Marcia’s States of Adolescent Identity Development.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8HIY_bqrVo

Sokol, J. T. (2009). Identity Development Throughout the Lifetime: An Examination of

Eriksonian Theory. 1, 12.

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