“An alternative conceptualization of identity relevant for our purposes is that proposed by McAdams, who has argued that the development of identity is an ongoing and fluid process, during which identity is adapted to current postmodern conditions (McAdams, 1997). Identity is never ‘established’, but instead is a process of narration that occurs in the context of several multiple selves. According to McAdams individuals on the brink of adulthood construct narrative or dynamical life stories about themselves and these stories form the basis of their identity. These identity narratives draw from the adolescents’ past, present and future and contain themes related to agency (or achievement and mastery) and communion…”(Subrahmanyam, K. & Smahel, D., 2011, pg. 61)

The introduction of the article lays out a few definitions of identity development in adolescence. This definition in particular, next to the other fixed ideas of identity, really peaked my curiosity. The fixed ideas of identity development, perhaps, made sense in an analog age due to social, cultural, religious and familial ‘bubbles’ that were relatively small. The models also make sense for a time when adolescents weren’t expected to travel far from home.

However now, in the digital age, the idea of narrative identity makes so much sense considering the access to different worlds or ‘bubbles’ given by internet and social media. Additionally, in many cultures in the U.S. adolescents are expected to leave home for a period of time to either go to school or start work/career. Fluid narrative identity theory compliments these expectations of adolescents as identity formation matches whichever scenario or niche the adolescent is in. Narrative identity works for self-generated digital identities, as young people may choose to identify differently within various online spaces. One example is that of ‘finstas’ or ‘fun-instagram’ accounts where young people choose to keep specific accounts private and accessible only to a few friends. These accounts let them be goofy or silly, while their public accounts act as curated and carefully constructed versions of self. While this may seem odd, Narrative theory of identity development leaves room for agency. ‘Finstas’ demonstrate the awareness and choice young people have online, and in real life, about how they represent themselves or where they choose to find community. Narrative and evolving identity formation allows adolescents to be multi-dimensional, and represents social media and digital worlds more broadly.

Teachers of English need not sacrifice the mature literacy practices of adults to the informal literacies of youth. Conversely, they need not sacrifice the literacies of youth to the formal literacies of adulthood. (Mills, 2010, pg. 38)

I thought deeply about this passage: how true it is, how I can relate to it, and how it inspires me. First thing that came to mind is how teachers set routines in their classrooms, which is great. It helps our youth create good habits that they carry on into adulthood, hopefully. But, looking deeper, there are other routines that teachers put in place that adolescents don’t see connection with or relation to and that’s when we lose their interest in school. In other words, the traditional pedagogy theories that teachers don’t let go of completely, and therefore make it hard for students to find that link between that and their lives, is basically: “Here’s the rule, this is the strategy, learn it, study it, and good luck applying it outside of class.” So, how do we change this? Well, this article is trying to tell us that we shouldn’t sacrifice mature lectures and then only teach what the students are into nowadays, instead we must bridge the two spectrums in order for students to naturally make connections from their “informal experiences” to what is being taught in class. This inspires me to always keep in mind that I shouldn’t have to sacrifice anyone’s interests, the school’s and student’s, to be able to teach effectively.

“History for many students is often a boring exercise in the classroom primarily due to many standardized and sanitized textbooks that strip away the interesting dramas and contradictions that constitute our histories. As a result, these textbooks tend to discourage critical reflection and thinking in their presentation. In contrast, a graphic novel like Maus can engage students’ attention and activate their imagination through the author’s use of multi modalities in presenting visually arresting narratives that feature the multilayered emotions and contradictions of the characters” (Chun, 147).

This passage got my attention, as someone going into teaching history, because of how accurate it is. Even though I’m passionate about studying history and am finishing up my history major, a lot of the assigned reading is very dry and boring. Particularly in high school, much of the textbook readings were boring to the average student. The way our public schools tend to structure the curriculum focuses on wars and centers around white men. We don’t typically focus on interesting personal stories, music, art, women, minorities, etc. The assigned readings felt repetitive and cyclical. I and other students at my school would have loved to learn history through graphic novels, and I’m sure it would have encouraged discussion in the classroom. I recall one history class I had in high school which I loved, but because of the dry reading material, class discussion was nearly nonexistent.

(Goodman, pg. 5, 2018) 

Many students have faced changes in their lives that are hard to overcome to be successful in school. Luis, as Goodman narrated his story, is another one of many who also had circumstances out of their social and emotional control. In this case, immigration laws affected greatly the family dynamics of Luis’s home by not having a father to provide emotional and economic support. A family is broken, and those barriers prevent Luis to just take care of school and persevere. I also know of a student whose parent passed away or another who has repeated a year in school, leaving heavy emotional distress and a feeling of not belonging with your friends anymore. This prevents them to be successful in school and continue to fail. It’s not just teachers, but also society teaches us to instill a grit mentality to push students and people in general to be successful, graduate, go to college, and have a job that you are passionate about. It’s look down upon when a person fails given that we have a free public education, and supposedly all of these great jobs, etc. However, emotional trauma, access to resources, and information to get those resources—economic or social—aren’t distributed equally to all of the neighborhoods in New York City. You can also think of any other city in the United States, they have similar problems. A lot of times, we as teachers feel powerless because we can’t probably bring every parent who has been deported or feel helpless because we cannot help every student that is struggling. How do we navigate these circumstances when creating safe spaces of learning in the classroom  or having programs that helps students use storytelling to retell their traumas to overcome them isn’t enough? How do we bring outside resources like professional therapy when school counseling isn’t enough?

“Ours is a power of transformative teaching that works to counter these dehumanizing experiences with lessons of compassion, dignity, empowerment, and “critical hope” (Duncan-Anrade, 2009) that helps students critically analyze the systems that oppress them and create new possibilities for social justice” Goodman (2018).

Through my student teaching and my education so far I have been confronted with my fair share of “highs” and “lows”. Most of them “high” in the sense that I am working in a field that intrinsically drives me daily, from the topics this profession requires education on to the discussions and realities it hits. Continue reading “Pedagogy anchored in social justice” →