Implications of Socially Situated Identities

Do you have an image of each? Note that these descriptors seem to apply to individuals as they participate in each and every situation. The descriptors seem to name peoples’ core identities, their fixed traits, to be expected during all school and nonschool activities.

Now form an image of the same four individuals according to each of these descriptors:

1. a student who works diligently in history class but not in math
2. a learner who acts distracted only in Mr. Blanchard’s class
3. a researcher who willingly conducts biology labs but avoids language arts projects
4. a reader who participates reluctantly during school time set aside for free reading but who avidly reads about music outside of school

Did the new sentences modify your view of the individuals? Did our putting the person first (e.g., a learner) and then characterizing him or her according to a specific situation (e.g., who acts distracted in Mr. Blanchard’s class) refine your image of the person, pinpointing your view of him or her?

This demonstration shows how putting the person first then describing that person’s actions in particular situations maintains his or her individuality. It guards against labeling students with negative descriptors such as distracted or reluctant, equating the person with the condition (the distracted students, the reluctant readers), then acting according to stereotypes associated with the label. It guards against overgeneralizing students’ behavior to all situations and to forming misguided opinions.

Putting people first means initially thinking of each student as a human being who is subject to the power of situations rather than as a group member who always acts the same. Knowing that a student acts like a distracted learner in one class does not necessarily mean he or she should be classified as a member of a group of distractible people. This student might be an engaged learner in another class, so you might examine what the engaging class offers. Knowing that a student displays reluctant-reader behaviors inside of school does not mean he or she should be classified as a reluctant reader. This student might be an avid reader outside of school, so you might examine the circumstances of his or her reading outside of school (Alvermann, 2001; Knobel, 2001).

Adjust classroom instruction to accommodate students’ identities. Teachers who recognize youths’ multiple identities adjust classroom instruction to accommodate those identities. One way teachers make such adjustments is by linking their classrooms with what students bring to them, regularly inviting students to connect experiences and knowledge from their outside-of-school lives with their inside-of-school instruction. During the first day or two of school, many teachers have students record their outside-of-school interests and accomplishments on getting to know you cards. Teachers then refer to these cards when planning and delivering instruction, explicitly connecting parts of the class to students’ lives. Math teachers might pose geometry problems associated with skateboarding ramps and halfpipes; science teachers might address the physical and chemical processes of cooking; literature teachers might highlight books they think certain students would appreciate; and social studies teachers might show how political and social issues affect people of different ethnicities.

In multicultural settings, teachers honor different patterns of speech and styles of conversation, knowing that cultural groups often differ along these lines. They address examples from students’ different ethnic heritages when addressing topics like heroes, historical settlements, and popular literature. They provide culturally relevant materials such as ones presenting African-American, Native-American, and Hispanic groups’ experiences with and perceptions of subject-matter topics. They adorn their classrooms with positive inclusive images. Teachers do all this so students can see themselves as members of a classroom community, as insiders to formal education.

Teachers also adjust their classroom instruction to accommodate students’ identities by offering instructional voice and choice. These teachers offer a variety of print materials, realizing that students will find some materials more suitable than others. They present multimedia CDs, pamphlets, brochures, periodicals, alternative textbooks, and online encyclopedias. Finally, they provide multiple response options, enabling students to produce PowerPoint presentations, videos, and dramatic presentations, to name a few.