Our bodies are made to survive. We have a variety of internal processes that help us with this as well. Our polyvagal nervous system transitions us from feeling safe and secure to our fight/flight response and potentially to our immobilization phase in the event of a stressor. Our body has mechanisms in place to help […]
All that Glimmers is Gold Read More »
“Writing” is sometimes a word we hear and associate with dread. The phrases “please write a 10 page essay,” or “please submit this 15 page brief by Tuesday,” do not always bring out joy in people. Other people enjoy writing. They like to journal or note the highlights of the day. Regardless, writing can also
Writing: A Useful Skill or a Tool to Heal? Read More »
A huge part of our job as educators is to instill a healthy sense of identity in our students. This results in higher self-esteem and engagement in academic content as well as activities outside of school. We do this by helping students build skills that support an exploratory orientation to their relationship with self, and
Identity in Education – Learning Differences and Neurodiversity Read More »
Psychologists have gone to wits end to describe what motivates people. This can be seen in the drive theories of Freud and the psychoanalysts, the operant conditioning of Skinner in behavioral psychology, and the work on self-determination theory by social psychologists Deci and Ryan, to name a few. So what do identity theorists have to say about what motivates us in life? In the Handbook of Identity Theory and Research, Vivian Vignoles reveals research about how your identity has a major influence on your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. In this post I will give a brief background on identity from a developmental perspective, explain the key points of Vignoles’ research, and then ground it in some real-world examples to show why identity motivations should matter to all of us.
How Does Your Identity Determine Your Motivation? Read More »
