Literature, Life-Writing, and Identity

Identity

Every August I start my choice-based classroom off on the big idea of identity. I do this for several reasons: First, the topic of “me” or “what I like” is easily tangible for my students, as it allows for inward thinking, rather than the projection of ideas. I advance their thinking by asking questions about their past or future. Secondly, working with my students from year to year has stocked my brain with their personalities, families, hobbies, and interests. Identity as a starter topic is an easy way for me, as the teacher of 650 students, to rekindle my relationship with each student. To my new students in kindergarten and the several others throughout the school, this topic allows me to sincerely explain my artwork and examples to them, laying rails for their production of sincere and personal artwork, as well as a truth based relationship between us.

Identity is not one aspect of an individual, but rather all the parts that make that individual.

Our identity is every part of us, our experiences, desires, families, communities, cultures. As we go through life our identities change and develop. In the childhood years, our students are taking in new ideas and experiences, analyzing them into parts of themselves. In school my students exhibit several identities, sometimes all at once. The main facets of these multiple aspects of identity that I wish to focus on are: internal identity, external identity, narrative identity, and expression of identity.

I use the term internal identity to describe the idea we all have of ourselves. This identity is owned by the person, and is subject to change only as the owner wishes. Through this internal identity students express themselves in their true form, unhindered by others. External identity is a person’s identity that is assigned to them by others. The external identity can match up with the internal, but the individual does not own the identity, as it is owned by others’ interpretations and projections. When addressing our external identity, we are forced to consider how people view us and their expectations.

Both internal and external identities are parts of our narrative identity. A narrative identity is the story of ourselves, it is the assemblage of all we have gone through. This story of ourselves can be accepted or countered by others. The idea of a “counter story” surfaces as we experience backlash from the world. In the book, Citizen: An American Lyric, author Claudia Rankine discusses these same ideas, calling them the “historical-self” and the “self-self”.⁵ Rankine’s book is a collection of different writing styles, assembled together to express the agony of experiencing racism on a daily basis. The book continues to illustrate different forms of racism as experienced by Rankine and her peers, as well as public figures. The text weighs heavy on racial identity and raises the question of where to classify it. To use Rankine’s categories, is racial identity part of the historical-self or the self-self? This question prompts me to ask who really owns my identity– myself, or the world in which I live? These questions are crucial to consider when thinking about my students.

The ownership of identity is interesting to consider in respect to students. In school, students are part of a community and subscribe, by choice or sometimes by force, to the expectations of society in respect to that community. When I witness my students change their behavior as they move from one class to another I wonder, what persona is their favorite? Which one is best for them to learn? In my classroom, I work hard to keep a relaxed and safe atmosphere. Upon another teacher entering my classroom, most likely their own, I sometimes see the actions and behavior of my students change. This instance of what we can call a situational identity is caused by our external identity gaining dominance over our internal identity as situations change. We all exhibit this type of behavior, bending ourselves into the shape of what is expected. To curate an authentic identity, students need to feel welcomed to express themselves and their ideas.

In children, the first true sense of individual identity is developing in the elementary years as they spend less time with their parents and more time in schools being socially and academically engaged. The process of generating an identity is a social process where the interactions have an impact on the individual.⁶ In school, children are exposed to a multitude of identities that they may or may not enjoy.

Getting students thinking about identity

The above image is the character Red, from Michael Hall’s book Red, A Crayon’s Story.⁷ The story introduces us to him as Red. To the viewer, he is clearly a blue crayon mislabeled with a red wrapper. As the story progresses Red is challenged by all the other art supplies as they only see him by his label. The character and story relate to identity in several ways: gender, being true to one’s self, expected identity versus true identity, and more. The story continues to follow Red through his daily life, trying to do his job of coloring things red, or making orange with his friend Yellow. The constant pressure of others’ expectations, and his failure to meet them, causes him much distress. This simple story is easily understood by young students, who can clearly see the issues the character faced, making a great introduction to talking about themselves and their identity.

Taking on the broad topic of identity can seem daunting to educators. I worry that I will not be able to cull the right type of identity definition from my students. To get authentic work from my students I first need to buttress their own ideas and definitions of identity and themselves. In the book Identity Texts, Cummins and Early with help from Stille, lay out a pedagogical approach to craft an idea of identity in their students. The authors break down how to create student engagement into several categories.  Scaffolding meaning refers to providing temporary supports which allow learners to achieve at a greater level than they could without support. Supports can range from discussion, demonstrations, visual aids, dramatizations, and others. Activating prior experience/build background knowledge is described in the text as using the learner's previous knowledge as a comfortable starting point and building upon it. Affirming identity, the crucial process of ensuring that all student feel that their personal identity is validated and respected.  Make certain students are comfortable in the situation. Share some commonalities with them, or allow students to take in small groups. Extend language as student progress through their understanding of identity it becomes time to increase the academic level of thinking about and discussing identity. This can be achieved by providing vocabulary and changing the way the subject is viewed in the classroom.⁸

The text largely discusses the idea of an identity text and focuses mainly on the use of literature in the classroom. However, in the book an identity text is defined as “describ[ing] the products of students’ creative work or performances carried out within the pedagogical space orchestrated by the classroom teacher. Students invest their identities in the creation of these texts - which can be written, spoken, signed, visual, musical, dramatic, or combinations in multimodal form. The identity text holds a mirror up to students in which their identities are reflected back in a positive light.” ⁹ In definition, an identity text does not necessarily need to be a work of writing, just as an artwork does not need to adhere to a strictly visual form. Assimilating the multiple genres together allows for more comfort and choice within the challenge of responding to identity.