culture influence our personal identity
Identity, Teaching, and Learning
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Our self-identity has a lot to do with how we are perceived and treated by both significant and nonsignificant others.
O
ur identity is the very core of who we are as human beings. From birth, we are subject to how we are thought about, treated, and cared for by the significant persons in our lives as well as by others in multiple environments. Our ideas about self are largely a reflection of others’ ideas about us, good and bad or in between.
Schools have an enormous influence on how we come to see ourselves, the hopes and dreams we acquire, and our achievement motivation.
KWL EXERCISE
1. Based on your earliest memories as a young child and then as a student in your first 3 years of school, how would you describe your sense of self then and the things that influenced you most during that time?
2. What would be most helpful for you to know about factors influencing one’s personal identity and how identity relates to school success?
3. Draw several symbols or pictures that capture some of the major ways your time in K–12 schools has impacted how you define yourself today.
INFLUENCES ON IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Prejudice and institutional racism are common factors influencing the personal identities of both those who have benefited from White privilege as well as those who have been historically underserved in the United States. Although the concept of
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Identity, Teaching, and Learning • 13
race is not an accepted anthropological or biological concept, it is a very powerful cultural and political concept throughout the world. Given the history of race relations and a very mixed record of social justice in this country (Marable, 1997;
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968), this guide begins by focusing on the relationship between school community stakeholders’ racial identities and student educational outcomes.
What are the stages persons of diverse ethnicities and
1
Our self-identity has a lot to do with how we are perceived and treated by both significant and nonsignificant others.
O
ur identity is the very core of who we are as human beings. From birth, we are subject to how we are thought about, treated, and cared for by the significant persons in our lives as well as by others in multiple environments. Our ideas about self are largely a reflection of others’ ideas about us, good and bad or in between.
Schools have an enormous influence on how we come to see ourselves, the hopes and dreams we acquire, and our achievement motivation.
KWL EXERCISE
1. Based on your earliest memories as a young child and then as a student in your first 3 years of school, how would you describe your sense of self then and the things that influenced you most during that time?
2. What would be most helpful for you to know about factors influencing one’s personal identity and how identity relates to school success?
3. Draw several symbols or pictures that capture some of the major ways your time in K–12 schools has impacted how you define yourself today.
INFLUENCES ON IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Prejudice and institutional racism are common factors influencing the personal identities of both those who have benefited from White privilege as well as those who have been historically underserved in the United States. Although the concept of
12
Identity, Teaching, and Learning • 13
race is not an accepted anthropological or biological concept, it is a very powerful cultural and political concept throughout the world. Given the history of race relations and a very mixed record of social justice in this country (Marable, 1997;
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968), this guide begins by focusing on the relationship between school community stakeholders’ racial identities and student educational outcomes.
What are the stages persons of diverse ethnicities and