IDENTITY IN THE CLASSROOM

Starting with a simple question, I asked students to think about their identity and what made them unique. Next, they drew concentric circles branching off of their names. In those circles they wrote words that identified who they were. The task was fairly open ended as I did not want to lead students into the way I personally thought of identity. It was supposed to be natural and organic. Some students clearly struggled with the process. Belaboring over each word they struggled to identify exactly who they were. Others saw the task as limitless. Their barrage of words was a testament to the close relationship they had with their given identity.
After five minutes of writing I gave each student in the class a number. There were two sets of numbers (1 through 12). Set A (numbers one through 12) would make up the inner circle, while set B (numbers one through 12) made up the outer circle. To ease the process of organizing, I took groups one at a time and aligned them in their designated areas. Ultimately, every student had a partner in the parallel circle with whom they would share.



Each dyad consisted of a listener and a speaker. The listeners’ role was to give their undivided attention to the speakers while restraining from giving their own input. The speakers’ role was to speak for one minute regarding the three words that best described them. These were the norms:
1. The listener had to remain silent for the duration of the conversation
2. The dyad had to spend one full minute either listening or speaking
3. Information shared between the pair was to remain anonymous
4. After one minute, the pair would change roles and repeat the process
The conversations started out fairly safe as each pair could determine what information they felt most comfortable sharing. After having those in the outer circle rotate two spaces to the left however, I moved the conversation into a less safe realm. I asked students to share the words they felt least attached to in their brainstorm on identity.
After two rounds of such conversation, we debriefed the process as a whole group. I was AMAZED with what they shared. I simply asked what “struck them” about this activity. These are some statements they made in response: “I felt very comfortable sharing because of the people I was partnered with.” “ I felt weird sharing a negative word about myself.” “I learned something about someone that I didn’t know before.” After hearing these comments I felt that the activity already achieved its objectives. They were celebrating their diversity! However, I wanted to push them. I asked the class if they wrote any of their words because another student/ person saw them as such. For example, one student said they wrote “happy” even though they oftentimes did not feel happy. They wrote the word simply because it was a label given to them by other students. One student began to share a word given to another student and then caught herself, knowing that disclosing such information was in strict violation to the norms we set before the discussion. In essence, nearly every student agreed they had been given some kind of label that they wished wasn’t a part of their identity.



Finally, we closed with a discussion of “diversity.” I asked them to share with a neighbor what they thought the word meant. Most agreed that it had something to do with culture, religion and personality traits. We were reminded that diversity is complex and that individuals could not be confined to a couple of catch phrases or labels.
The culminating activity saw the students creating a “Paper Chain of Diversity.” Each student comprised a link. Some of the words they included were: “sneaky, awesome, athletic, photographer, dance, funny, different, nice, skater.” These words truly embodied the diverse interests /identities of a very unique class.
There were so many great ideas I took from this experience. I saw students truly appreciating each other- giving them the attention they deserved. I observed individuals stepping outside of their comfort zones and sharing information they usually kept hidden. I watched learners put together a complex chain and acknowledge their prolific differences. This class truly amazed me!

If I had it to do over again, I might challenge them to go a step further. I may ask them to include ways in which others have identified them. This is of course a more unsafe realm, but paradoxically I feel it is crucial in helping students develop their own autonomous identity.I feel a new sense of camaraderie amongst my students and can already see them developing as a class!