"By acknowledging your students' literacy practices, you are acknowledging their identities. These identities will then become more visible in the classroom. The space of the classroom and the walls and the physical environment can support your students' identities in practice. They can be encouraged to bring in from outside the classroom the identity markers they feel close to." (Pahl)
Comment:
I really liked this chapter, and have been contemplating the importance of the identity of the students. As teachers it is vital that we consider each student's identity and work with them. We need to use our classrooms to help the children share their identities so that the space can be filled with all their identities. I like the idea of bringing something from home, or something they treasure and share with the class and classroom. I think that when students feel a part of and connected to the classroom their learning will increase and become more interesting and important for them.
Question:
How can we deal with a student's identity that we clash with or cannot connect with?
Great question, Lene. I think this is something we all need to contemplate before we start teaching. It is inevitable that we will not get along with every single student we teach. I think it's important that we put our personal biases aside and try our best to just treat them like everyone else. If we view each student, especially the ones we clash with, as a beloved child of our Heavenly Father, I think we will have a little easier time treating them like the others. I think it is also something that we can pray for help with because it is a matter that is important to Heavenly Father. Because of our religious beliefs, I think we can handle these situations better than teachers without an eternal perspective.
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