“Our primary goal of understanding adolescence as a developmental period in its own right should come with a complementary goal of connecting insights about adolescence and its developmental processes to other life periods. These dual goals serve both our understanding of adolescence itself as well as the life course more generally.”

As a prospective teacher of adolescents, this quote is very important to me. Understanding the complicated developmental period of adolescence is crucial if I want to reach and support students in their learning and development as human beings. While this period can be looked at on its own, failing to consider the past would limit my scope and understanding of my students thereby limiting my ability to serve them. The same is true for the future. Understanding the students and their development, past, present and future, can help me tailor my instruction according to their personal needs. Also critical is the need to be aware of what it means to be an adolescent today, which has changed drastically in the last couple of decades. Once again, by being more aware of the reality that students face, I will be in a much better position to understand, support and teach them according to their personal needs.