You are about to start your first teaching job as a fourth grade teacher

Your sister teaches tenth grade social studies. Using Erikson's theory, describe the psychosocial dilemmas that most of the students will be facing in your class and in your sister's. In addition, explain the problems that may be faced by the adolescents of ethnic descent in your sister's class.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer will include that the elementary school years are a child's "entrance into life." In your classroom as in the other elementary classrooms, your students are learning skills valued by society with success or failure affecting their feelings of adequacy. Children learn a sense of industry if they win praise for productive activities, such as reading, studying, art work, etc. If a child's efforts are regarded as messy, childish, or inadequate, feelings of inferiority result. For the first time, teachers and classmates will be as important as the parents in shaping each student's attitude toward him or herself. Your sister will be teaching adolescents, who will be experiencing a rather turbulent time in their lives. Erikson considers the need to answer the question "Who am I?" the primary task during adolescence. Like other adolescents, they will need to build a consistent identity out of their talents, values, life history, relationships, and the demands of their culture. Their conflicting experiences as a student, friend, athlete, worker, daughter, lover, and so forth must be integrated
into a unified sense of self. Persons who fail to develop a sense of identity suffer from role confusion, an uncertainty about who they are and where they are going. Ethnic heritage can have a powerful influence on personal identity. At a time when teens are trying to find their place in society, they may feel rejected or excluded because of their ethnic heritage. Ethnic adolescents often face degrading stereotypes concerning their intelligence, sexuality, social status, manners, and so forth. The result can be lowered self-esteem and confusion about roles, values, and personal identity. In forming an identity, adolescents of ethnic descent face the question of how they should think of themselves. Are they American or Chinese-American or both, etc.?
The answer typically depends on how strongly adolescents identify with their family and ethnic community. Teens who take pride in their ethnic heritage have higher self- esteem, a better self-image, and a stronger sense of personal identity. They are also less likely to engage in drug use or violent behavior.