Nakkula Chapter 2

My understanding about context mapping is that it is how you act in different settings of your life. It made me think of the roles you have that I learned about in introduction to social work. When you have a role of being a student you act differently than you would as the role of being a friend. When you take on a specific role you do not use that role in a different environment. Context mapping is similar. The way you act at school, work, or your home will not be the same.

 

My context map:

RIC- Student, Youth Development

Social- Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

Work-Customer, Manger, Associate

Family- Daughter, Sister, Granddaughter, Niece, Cousin, Friend

 

  Foreclosed Identity: This identity is when one doesn’t really explore other ones. It can be imposed or what you are used to being around so you take on the same without exploring other options.

Diffuse Identity: This is when one is not sure of their own identity so they will often change their opinions to fit in better and avoid confrontation.

Moratorium Identity: This is when one does explore beliefs and relationships but doesn’t commitment to either.

Achieved Identity: This identity is when the identity crisis is resolved. This is when a person has found their own identity.

Nakkulat Article

I really enjoyed the reading by Nakkulat Toshalis, I love that there was the story about Antwon and Ms. Petersen and how the reading refers to it throughout. One section that really stood out to me was when Nakkulat wrote about how Antwon and Ms. Petersen already had in their mind how each other were going to be based on past experiences. I remember back in middle school when my English teacher found out who my older brother was and was completely shocked. Seeing how he didn’t do his work and rowdy in class and I did all my homework and was very quiet in class she couldn’t believe we were related. If this teacher new ahead of time we were related she would have had a preconceived idea in her mind that I was going to be just like my brother and treat me differently.

Another aspect of Nakkulats writing that stood out to me was the idea of tested knowledge. The example of Antwon and Ms. Petersen was a perfect example that I have witnessed in many classes over the years. Students tend to push the boundaries in the classroom to see how much they can get away with. In Antwon’s case I never thought of it as a student testing a preconceived theory they thought up. Keeping this in mind as a youth worker, instead of jumping to the conclusion that a child is bad because they are acting out you have to remember it might mean something more.

Youth In Action

On Thursday the nonprofit organization Youth in Action came to class. During class, this organization conducted our lesson which included an egg drop. The class was separated into a few different groups and all received a box of supplies. The group I was in had a lot of options in our box. At the end of the lesson we learned that our group was one of the privileged ones. We had three eggs and abundance of items to help protect our eggs in the drop. These items included marshmallows, paper, tape, boxes, bubble wrap, paper, and scissors. Other groups did not get nearly as much. One group had as little as a couple of bags and tape. While making different ways to protect our eggs, this thing called a budget cut happened. This meant that even though you needed an item it was going to be taken away. For my group it wasn’t so bad because we had other items. However for other groups who didn’t have a lot to begin with found this to be problematic.  

As Ullucci discussed youth are struggling more in school. If students are having trouble in school and do not have a lot of resources to begin with it will be harder for them to succeed. However like Ullucci also talked about this does not mean that these youth won’t be able to succeed in school or everyday life. Giving these youth the support they need in order to succeed needs to be a priority. Having teachers and educators understanding this and using new perspectives to teach youth from poverty will have a positive impact.