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Answering the Questions…Who Am I? What’s my Place in the World? Dr. Candy Beal Life is full of questions and not all of them are easy to answer. Two of the trickiest ones are the most important because they anchor the quests we undertake for our lifetime. Each question influences the answer of the other. These questions are:
 * Who am I?
 * What is my place in the world?

As we grow, we change how we think about ourselves and others. There are many development theories to explain how we evolve into who we are. The more we know about the theories and the stages they predict we will go through, the better we can understand what’s happening to us throughout our life. Self-knowledge gives us the power to make wiser choices. So why aren’t we taught about these theories as we grow up? Who wouldn’t want to know that when we are in middle school and shifting membership from one peer group to another, that what we are really doing is trying on different identities (Erik Erikson)? In one type of group we behave one way, and in another type of group we behave another way. Which group makes us feel the most comfortable? Which group seems to be the most like us? In other words, which identity fits us best? Wouldn’t it be useful to know how we learn best so we could retrofit a project or lesson to match our learning style (Howard Gardner)? When we face moral dilemmas, and have to make tough choices, surely it would be helpful to understand what each possible choice represents. Are we acting out of selfish motives or trying to consider what’s the best for others as well as what’s best for us (Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan)? Knowing and understanding how development theories work gives you the power to know yourself and others better. You can __predict__ with some certainty what’s coming next, and not just __hope__ for the best. You have much greater control over your life and future, and as a student you are able to make much wiser choices, both academic and social. Check out the table at the end of the article. It contains some of the most influential theorists and a brief look at the theories they developed. Can you consider how knowing more about all of them, or some of them, might help inform your choices for your life and your pathway to the future? Outside influences play a role in shaping who we are. James Garbarino’s theory, The Ecology of Adolescent Development, is especially useful in explaining the influences and pressures we all face as we interact in the many “worlds” in which we live. Garbarino believes that adolescents live in four worlds (microsystems) - home, school, peers and community. Think about drawing lines among and between these four words. The more interconnected (mesosystems) our four worlds are, the more support we have for what we do and who we will become. Influence also plays a role. The more connected we are the more influence others have on us and we on them.

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Around these interconnected “worlds” is another circle or world (exosystem). Things that happen in this sphere are those over which adolescents, in particular, have no control, such as a family moving to a new location, parents changing/losing jobs, schools redistricting attendance areas resulting in a shift to a new school, etc. Finally, an outer circle or world (macrosystem) surrounds all of the worlds. That circle represents the values of a culture or of a society. This might be represented by the spiritual leaders, artists, athletes, governmental leaders, etc., who play a role in influencing our culture and our lives. They may be people whom we seek to fashion ourselves after, thus they have a role in helping us build our identity. Or, it may be the form of government or types of religion that strongly influence a region or a country. We broaden our frame of reference………… In our early years we all very ME focused. As we grow older and start to figure ourselves out (determine our identity) we move from it’s all about me (Who am I?) to how can I fit into the world and make a difference (What’s my place in the world?). We start to think more of others, other cultures, countries, people and the problems in our world. We realize that we are all part of the family of man. This doesn’t mean that we do not still worry about what’s in it for me and how will the solution to the problem affect me. What it means is that we begin to realize that sometimes the good of all must come before our own interests and wishes. That’s a hard concept for some organizations and nations to support. The progression of questions from you- focused to others-oriented is easy to follow. A you-focused question might be, “How can I get along with my peers?” An others-oriented approach to the same type of issue, but on a global scale, would be, “Why can’t countries get along with one another?” Can we make a difference? The *GLIP project will give you the chance to make your voice heard as you work with others around the world to investigate problems and suggest possible solutions. Phase One is all about YOU! Who are you? Give this question some serious thought. Sure, there are the outer trappings of you, your clothes, your school, your family, but who are you, really? What’s your sense of place? Where are you the most comfortable within yourself? What centers you? Are there some beliefs that you strongly hold? What really makes you who you are? Craft your personal profile to tell us all about who you think you are right now. Phase Two will enable us to know more about your sense of place. How do you see your “world”? Think about your block, neighborhood, shopping area, city, etc. Select and share a picture of your sense of place and then tell us about the picture you have selected. Why does this picture represent you and who you are? Your picture selection will help your group’s participants learn about your “world.” After group members look at the picture and listen to the VoiceThread that you have recorded telling us about the picture, we’ll pair up to do research on each other’s home place. This research will allow us to better understand where you are coming from, your thoughts and beliefs, your perspective. We’ll exchange questions, comments and information about each other’s regions through the VoiceThread. Google Maps Street View is just one source that will help us learn about your locale. By exploring where you live, country, state, city or region we can come to know the essence of you, “your spirit” so to speak. You’ll do the same about your partner’s world and then we’ll see how closely our research and Google Map’s Street View matches the “view on the street.” We’ll all learn a lot about differing perspectives about the world from Phase Two lens switching. Perusing Pskov, Rediscovering Raleigh, Hunting for Facts in Hawaii, Chatting with China, Inquiring about Ireland and Taking a Look at Turkey should give us a chance to lens switch with many other parts of the world. Phase Three is “making a difference.” Wait! That’s not to say that we don’t think that getting to know one another and looking at another’s home place from the eyes of the person who really knows it, isn’t going to make a difference in all of us. It certainly will, because that gives us all a baseline of who is in our group, what they are like and where they come from. With all of that insight we are going to be very well prepared to dig in and help our group members try to find solutions to problems that they have identified as ones that need solving in their “world.” Here’s where we’ll go back to the beginning and look at the issues that each identified in Phase One as the local, regional or country problems that need to be addressed. We may see that problems across the ocean are very much like ones that are right next door. So, we’ve come full circle and we are back to you. But now you are no longer alone with this concern you have identified. You now have group members from all over the world who know you and your perspective better. Because they know and understand your “world,” they can help suggest actions and solutions to your problem. It’s the old “two heads are better than one.” Let’s not wait and pass these problems on to another generation. That’s what’s been done in the past. It’s time to step up. Let’s work together and bring our new understanding of each other’s “worlds” to our global table to help look for answers to problems we believe matter. We hope that you will want to join us in adding a new facet to your identity as a global citizen. It’s important to get beyond the stereotypical views of others and their states/countries. Stereotypes are destructive things. They prejudice your views and can make meaningful work with world neighbors impossible. We have big problems all over this planet and we all need to be part of the discussion to find solutions. Won’t you be part of the conversation? Mother Earth needs YOUR input and would appreciate your help. Next Steps Build your Wiki page, and after you do, please post on your page the answers to these questions so we can learn more about you:
 * What __really__ makes up your identity?
 * What __really__ makes up your sense of place?
 * What roles do your identity and sense of place play when you work with others in a group project?
 * What are the qualities that you bring to the GLIP conversation that will help you make a contribution to your global group?
 * What is one local problem (where you live) that you believe needs to be addressed? Suggest some steps could you take to try to solve it?
 * Finally, some problems have been around for a long time. What qualities do you think a person must have to step up and try to solve them?