Sara Tinney

Self-concept and identity are linked, and since the self-concept of adolescents becomes more complex, differentiated, abstract, and integrated, it is important that adolescents develop these understandings in meaningful and thoughtful ways (McMahan and Thompson, 2015, p. 303). There are many factors that influence an adolescent's development, and since adolescents spend a large portion of their time in classrooms, teachers have a significant impact on their development. Being a positive and caring role model in an adolescents life can have a huge impact on the development of an adolescents identity. Helping them to think about the world and themselves critically is important as reflection is a vital skill. Teaching them to make identity charts is one way to get them thinking about what makes up a persons identity and how those aspects interact. Students could analyze the identity of a character or another person, discussing their motivation, personality, reasoning and other more complex aspects. In other words you eant to challenge adolescents to think beyond simple lists of favorite foods and other "likes" or "brands".