THE MENTOR'S IDENTITY FORMATION INVENTORY
The Mentor's Identity Formation Inventory
The Theory of Identity Engagement. According to Julio Garcia and Geoffrey Cohen, two prominent social psychologists, it is important to those of us who work on the front lines of education and youth development that we understand that students often go through a number of developmental stages stages before they’re ready to fully engage in learning. For students of color especially, two prominent stages are “vigilance” and “threat appraisal.”
Stage One: “Vigilance.” Vigilance is a self-protecting inner mechanism that any young person employs when encountering a new situation. For Aurelio, who had experienced a pattern of prejudice and low-expectations, more often than not he found himself on guard. On one level, this was healthy and adaptive, even though it could on occasion cloud his judgment. For, before he could allow himself to jump into a new situation, he needed to be reasonably assured that would be safe. If so and with his fears “disconfirmed,” he could go about his business with confidence. If his fears were “confirmed,” then he would proceed into the second stage into “threat appraisal.”
Stage Two: “Threat Appraisal.” If vigilance is “confirmed” and prejudice is validated, a second stage kicks in: “threat appraisal.” At this stage the young person has three major decisions to make: 1.) retreating into a shell and avoiding all such encounters; 2.) speaking out and confronting the perpetrator; and 3.) getting the assistance or intervention of a trusted adult.
In middle school Aurelio experienced many actual threats. As a result, he became quite skilled in appraising them, trusting those pangs of anxiety within him that would prevent him from fully engaging. The sheer number of such appraisals kept him on the sidelines, a logical and expected adaptation. But this process of adaptation in the aggregate left him feeling insecure and disengaged. It also set off within him higher levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which would eat away at him—literally—over months and years—leaving him in a state of near exhaustion and forming in him a negative self-image that would eventually become his identity.
Often it takes an intervention of some kind—from a talk with a school counselor to formal counseling and therapy—for a student to be able to work through this overly defensive mindset to feel free enough to take an active and open approach to learning.
This is when the student has suspicions verified, that the student accurately was picking up real cues. To overcome the hurdles associated with this stage, help the student to:
The key moment = when their grades begin to suffer and they reveal an “academic slide”
This is where a student is suspicious or not trusting. To overcome this tendency is to help the student:
The Five Situations:
Identity Formation: Identify any of the relevant conditions and events:
Identity Influencers: Identify the roads and their on-ramps (approaches) that play a role in identity formation
Approaches. Identify the most promising “approaches” to change. To make this more vivid, think channels that connect intentions with results:
The Theory of Identity Engagement. According to Julio Garcia and Geoffrey Cohen, two prominent social psychologists, it is important to those of us who work on the front lines of education and youth development that we understand that students often go through a number of developmental stages stages before they’re ready to fully engage in learning. For students of color especially, two prominent stages are “vigilance” and “threat appraisal.”
Stage One: “Vigilance.” Vigilance is a self-protecting inner mechanism that any young person employs when encountering a new situation. For Aurelio, who had experienced a pattern of prejudice and low-expectations, more often than not he found himself on guard. On one level, this was healthy and adaptive, even though it could on occasion cloud his judgment. For, before he could allow himself to jump into a new situation, he needed to be reasonably assured that would be safe. If so and with his fears “disconfirmed,” he could go about his business with confidence. If his fears were “confirmed,” then he would proceed into the second stage into “threat appraisal.”
Stage Two: “Threat Appraisal.” If vigilance is “confirmed” and prejudice is validated, a second stage kicks in: “threat appraisal.” At this stage the young person has three major decisions to make: 1.) retreating into a shell and avoiding all such encounters; 2.) speaking out and confronting the perpetrator; and 3.) getting the assistance or intervention of a trusted adult.
In middle school Aurelio experienced many actual threats. As a result, he became quite skilled in appraising them, trusting those pangs of anxiety within him that would prevent him from fully engaging. The sheer number of such appraisals kept him on the sidelines, a logical and expected adaptation. But this process of adaptation in the aggregate left him feeling insecure and disengaged. It also set off within him higher levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which would eat away at him—literally—over months and years—leaving him in a state of near exhaustion and forming in him a negative self-image that would eventually become his identity.
Often it takes an intervention of some kind—from a talk with a school counselor to formal counseling and therapy—for a student to be able to work through this overly defensive mindset to feel free enough to take an active and open approach to learning.
This is when the student has suspicions verified, that the student accurately was picking up real cues. To overcome the hurdles associated with this stage, help the student to:
- Bring in role models
- Develop a growth mindset (metacognition)
- Affirm authentic values (true to oneself)
- Uncover an authentic sense of purpose
The key moment = when their grades begin to suffer and they reveal an “academic slide”
This is where a student is suspicious or not trusting. To overcome this tendency is to help the student:
- Shift the focus from one’s self to the situation (overcome the fundamental attribution error). This involves attributional retraining. It’s not that I’m stupid; it’s just that the situation is difficult (normal stress)
- Normalize difficult situations by showing that ALL students experience adjusting
- Off a “growth mindset”
The Five Situations:
- The Inner Situation—a student’s inner life
- The Intimate Situation—where unvarnished experiences are shared
- The Local Situation—the entities through which a student participates routinely
- The Peripheral Situation—the environments that affect a student indirectly
- On-line Situation
- Other
Identity Formation: Identify any of the relevant conditions and events:
- Patterns of being on guard (vigilance)
- Accumulated Stress—from a constant state of being on guard
- Marker Events—perceived and actual threats
- Resilience—examples of bouncing back from being knocked down
- Accumulated levels of stress and exhaustion (perceived ACE’s)—accumulated
Identity Influencers: Identify the roads and their on-ramps (approaches) that play a role in identity formation
- Direct— Mindsets (fixed), inner and core values, and perceptions of belonging.
- Environmental (indirect influences)
- Groups (peer, formal, informal, etc.)
Approaches. Identify the most promising “approaches” to change. To make this more vivid, think channels that connect intentions with results:
- Role Models and Mentors (the conventional approach)
- Social and Emotional Interventions (needs on-line tech support)
- Groups to Join (group approaches)
- Situational (Time and Place)