Working With Adolescents: Constructing Identity (Master Classes in Education Series)

134 Pages·1997·0.97 MB·English

by  Dr John Head

Working with Adolescents
Master Classes in Education Series
Series Editors: John Head, School of Education, Kings College, University of
London and Ruth Merttens, School of Teaching Studies, University of North
London
Working with Adolescents: Constructing Identity
John Head Kings College, University of London
Testing: Friend or Foe? The Theory and Practice of Assessment and Testing
Paul Black Kings College, University of London
Doing Research/Reading Research: A Mode of Interrogation for Education
Andrew Brown and Paul Dowling both of the Institute of Education, University of London
Educating the Other: Gender, Power and Schooling
Carrie Paechter School of Education, The Open University
Master Classes in Education Series
Working with Adolescents:
Constr ucting Identity

John Head

The Falmer Press
(A member of the Taylor & Francis Group)
London • Washington, D.C.
UK Falmer Press, 1 Gunpowder Square, London EC4A 3DE
USA Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol,
PA 19007

© J.Head, 1997

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
permission in writing from the Publisher.
First published in 1997
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available on
request

ISBN 0 7507 0730 5 cased
ISBN 0 7507 0643 0 paper

Cover design by Caroline Archer
Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for their
permission to reprint material in this book. The publishers would
be grateful to hear from any copyright holder who is not here acknowledged
and will undertake to rectify any errors or omissions in future editions of
this book.
ISBN 0-203-13758-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-18018-6 (Glassbook Format)
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction: Perspectives on Adolescence 1
2 Acquiring a Sense of Identity 7
3 The Social World of Adolescents 25
4 Diversity Among Adolescents: The Case of Gender 38
5 Sexual Behaviour and Relationships 57
6 Entering the World of Work 70
7 Beliefs and Values 85
8 The Schooling of Adolescents 99
9 Conclusion: Adolescence Today 111
Bibliography 113
Index of Names 121
Subject Index 123
v

Preface

It has become a feature of our times that an initial qualification is no longer seen
to be adequate for life-long work within a profession and programmes of
professional development are needed. Nowhere is the need more clear than with
respect to education, where changes in the national schooling and assessment
system, combined with changes in the social and economic context, have
transformed our professional lives.
The series, Master Classes in Education, is intended to address the needs of
professional development, essentially at the level of taught masters degrees.
Although aimed primarily at teachers and lecturers, it is envisaged that the books
will appeal to a wider readership, including those involved in professional
educational management, health promotion and youth work. For some, the texts
will serve to up-date their knowledge. For others, they may facilitate career
reorientation by introducing, in an accessible form, new areas of expertise or
knowledge.
The books are overtly pedagogical, providing a clear track through the topic
by means which make it possible to gain a sound grasp of the whole field. Each
book familiarizes the reader with the vocabulary and the terms of discussion and
provides a concise overview of recent research and current debates in the area.
While it is obviously not possible to deal with every aspect in depth, a
professional who has read the book should be able to feel confident that they
have covered the major areas of content, and discussed the different issues at
stake. The books are also intended to convey a sense of the future direction of
the subject and its points of growth or change.
In each subject area the reader is introduced to different perspectives and to
a variety of readings of the subject under consideration. Some of the readings
may conflict, others may be compatible but distant. Different perspectives may
well give rise to different lexicons and different bibliographies, and the reader is
always alerted to these differences. The variety of frameworks within which each
topic can be construed is then a further source of reflective analysis.
The authors in this series have been carefully selected. Each person is an
experienced professional, who has worked in that area of education as a
practitioner and also addressed the subject as both a researcher and theoretician.
Drawing upon both pragmatic and the theoretical aspects of their experience,
they are able to take a reflective view while preserving a sense of what occurs, and
what is possible, at the level of practice.
vii
Working with Adolescents
Working with Adolescents: Constructing Identity
This book, the first in the series, takes a broad view of the field, providing a
theoretical overview, reviewing the findings of recent and relevant research
and dealing with some of the practical issues of living and working with
adolescents. It is interdisciplinary, using notions derived from psychology,
notably that of personal identity, but at the same time recognizing the
importance of the social context within which identity comes to be
constructed. The author is aware of the dangers of producing a unified
subject, a universal ‘adolescent’. The diversity of adolescent experience and
practice is addressed through a consistent awareness of the actual and
specific differences, including gender, which divide adolescents from each
other as well as from the ‘adult’ world.
It is often the case that those writing in a reflective capacity about a
field as diverse and as riven by dispute as this one, take up a particular
position and read all research and practice from this perspective. John Head
avoids such particularity, displaying unswerving faithfulness to the intentions
of those writers which he discusses. The text, accompanied by suggestions
for further reading, provides a good understanding of theorists such as
Freud, Erikson, Marcia and Gilligan. The treatment provides the reader with
the opportunity to engage with different perspectives in the confidence that
the inevitable simplification does not lead to distortion.
Adolescence may be defined as that period of our lives in which the
question of identity assumes momentous proportions. As the writer Annie
Dillard (1987) puts it,

So this was adolescence. Is this how the people around me had
died on their feet—inevitably, helplessly? Perhaps their own selves
had eclipsed the sun for so many years the world shriveled around
them, and when at last their inescapable orbits had passed through
these dark egoistic years it was too late, they had adjusted.

Adolescence is a complex and important construction, about which we
learn not only through reflection but through our own experiences. Always
aware of these pragmatic considerations, John Head never lets us forget what
we do, as well as why we do it, is theoretically grounded.
Ruth Merttens
Joint Series Editor
viii
Acknowledgments
Three people read a complete draft of the manuscript and made most useful
suggestions for improvements. Professor Ruth Merttens of North London
University is the Joint Editor of the series Master Classes in Education and she
looked at how well the draft fitted in with the aims for the series. I have had
the good fortune of having Dr. Krzysztof Blusz of the University of Lodz in
Poland working alongside me in London and have benefitted from his
detailed knowledge of identity theory. Ms Lynette Rentoul, of the
Department of Nursing Studies in King’s College, London, has had
experience of working with adolescents within institutions for family reasons
or because of physical or mental problems, and she provided me with insights
gained from such work. In addition, Dr. Carrie Paechter of The Open
University has read and commented on part of the manuscript. Ms Jane
Jones, of the School of Education at King’s College, London, gave me
valuable help with respect to counselling issues.
There are many others who I cannot name individually. The need for
this book became clear to me through teaching on a variety of taught master
degree courses. I gained immensely from the discussions which I have had
with the students coming from different backgrounds such as teachers, clergy
and those working in health promotion and education. My understanding of
adolescence has been enriched through undertaking empirical work in schools
and I must thank the teachers and students who had to put up with me
interrupting their routines.
ix