Identity

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

Are you - Nobody - too?

Then there's a pair of us! 

Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know!

How dreary - to be - Somebody!

How public - like a Frog - 

To tell one's name - the livelong June - 

To an admiring Bog

Emily Dickinson

One of the major strands in the school's Strategic Plan focuses on diversity. More specifically, we intend to "diversify and enhance access to all programs and will build a community that appropriately represents our region and the world." The language of the strategic plan explicitly points to more external aspects of diversity and inclusion programming, such as ensuring that the demographics of the school reflects the demographics of the region and enhancing access to programming, but in order to attract and retain a diverse population, the first step is on the inside. If our students and teachers do not first start by exploring and understanding their own identities and the cultures that shaped them, they will not be able to effectively engage others' perspectives and fully realize the vision articulated by the strategic plan.

Over the course of this year, the Middle School will explore the topics of identity, culture, and inclusivity from various perspectives - this is our Division's contribution to the important work of this strand of the Strategic Plan. To get the conversation started, we introduced three key terms: identity, identifiers, and intersectionality. 

"Identity" emerged as a word in English around 1600 CE, and it comes from Medieval Latin roots, meaning "sameness." Today, the word is used to refer to the fact of being who or what a person or thing is or to indicate close similarity or affinity. Interestingly, in Europe the idea found its way into its own word among the late-Medieval/early-Renaissance vocabulary alongside the notion of classification. Apparently, Europeans were not only interested in categorizing the observable world - they were also interested in categorizing the self and the series of relationships that make up society.

In recent years, "identifier" has emerged as a referent that indicates a shared identity. In August, faculty and staff participated in a workshop by Rosetta Lee that focused on developing cultural competence, and she introduced three types of identifiers. Internal identifiers point to the core self of the person - one's ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. These are identities that people are largely born into and come to understand in relationship with other people and different environments. External identifiers point to those elements of one's identity that can, depending on one's access and privilege (how one's internal identities help or hinder one's navigation of relationships), be attained or adapted, including one's appearance, educational attainment, geographic location, and language. Institutional identifiers point to one's status or affiliation in a group or organization, such as one's grade level in school, one's role at work, one's seniority, and one's membership in teams, clubs, or political parties. Being able to use common identifiers facilitates personal and dialogical reflection and understanding of how people are affected by and effect the shared culture. 

Finally, we introduced the term "intersectionality." No single identifier fully reflects a person's capacities, quirks, and limitations - in short, a person's personality. The term intersectionality refers to the ways that different identities intersect in ways that either enhance privilege or compound disadvantages and oppression. To explore this term a little more, watch this short video from Teaching Tolerance. 

Once we introduced these terms, we asked students to reflect on which parts of their identities they actually thought about, guided by questions from the Social Justice Tool Box. 

1. The part of my identity that I am most aware of on a daily basis is _____.
2. The part of my identity that I am the least aware of on a daily basis is _____.
3. The part of my identity that was most emphasized or important in my family growing up was _____.
4. The part of my identity that I wish I knew more about is _____.
5. The part of my identity that garners me the most privilege is _____.
6. The part of my identity that I believe is the most misunderstood by others is _____.
7. The part of my identity that I feel is difficult to discuss with others who identify differently _____.
8. The part of my identity that makes me feel discriminated against is _____.

Consider reflecting on these questions for yourself! There's no "right answer" - only a starting point for deeper self-understanding and engagement with others.