The Real: Identity and the Educator

An educator finds fulfillment in believing that he or she will make an impact on the students they teach. Without this feeling of fulfillment an educator would find very little gratification in their labor. Bracher states, “All of us who teach have such a desire for immediate recognition and affirmation from our students, and this desire can produce many pedagogical practices and reactions that undermine our efforts to facilitate student learning and development (RadicalPedagogy).” Bracher feels that desire for personal recognition, often gets in the way of what is truly important; the identity of the student.

Bracher believes, “…our most profound identity support comes in the form of recognition from the real: evidence that we have made a significant contribution to the lives of others" (Radical Pedagogy). To be “real”, is to recognize what is truly important. Bracher insinuates that an educator’s unseen motive is to validate their own identity and believes that, “Our own identity needs, whether in collusion with students’ identity needs or in conflict with them, are thus significant factors in pedagogical failures and, through such failures, in social problems” (Radical Pedagogy).  

In accordance with Bracher’s statements, I believe that the majority of educators have a true concern for the advancement of their pupils and genuinely intend to have a positive impact on the students they teach. I believe that most teachers enter into the profession with the belief that they will be helping or improving other people in one way or another. Although at times I am sure educators can create learning environments that may not be inclusive to all learners, I believe that an educator should be proud of their overall academic and social contributions.  

Initially, I was opposed to Bracher’s assumptions that our own need for recognition can actually undermine our intended goal to make a difference in the lives of our students. For me teaching has never been about being “smart” or “brilliant” as Tompkins felt. These are not qualities that have ever been part of my self-concept, nor have they been labels I have sought to achieve. They are not assets that I feel can validate my teaching ability. Maybe this is because I knew that these were labels that would never be used to refer to me. My aspirations have always been to guide students on the right path. In hopes that some of these students will become, “brilliant”, however, more so to become confident, insightful, good citizens who follow their own aspirations and passions in life.

In time I realized that my opposition to Bracher’s statements could be seen as an act of self-defense for my own identity needs, in considering myself as an effective teacher. If we are to consider Bracher’s assumptions as valid, than we as teachers need to spend much time reflecting on our motives and our teaching processes, in order to recognize when our actions are counterproductive. In Bracher’s terms we must come to a “Rectification with the Real”. “Rectification with the Real, as Bracher implies, is to recognize that one’s own actions has unconsciously produced an unintended result (Radical  Pedagogy).”

 On “The Real”; as a teacher, I feel that educators should be continually changing pedagogies to better support the needs of students. If met with obstacles that impede the advancement of learners, than we should alter teaching strategies and pedagogies to suit student’s needs. In turn, rectifying our ineffective attempts at transmitting intended information and modifying methods in order to assume a successful outcome. This is an ever-changing cycle that should be on-going throughout our teaching careers. In altering our teaching philosophies to better suit the needs of our students; we will find a more holistic form of success within all areas of teaching outcomes.  Bracher implies that educators must rid themselves of pride and understand that, “…some of our pedagogical practices are unproductive or counterproductive …” Understanding pedagogical shortfalls as an educator, Bracher suggests, will modify teaching practices and motivate educators to alter their thoughts and ideas for the betterment of their students (Radical Pedagogy).

Strong Identity Builds Strong Individuals

As Bracher states, “a strong identity is a valuable and even essential basis for the development of intelligence and the capacity and motivation to learn.” (Radical Pedagogy)  In contrast, a negative view of one’s own identity can in turn affect ones social and educational progress. In the follow blog I would like to examine how Bracher’s notions about the influence of a strong identity on educational progress and goals, is defeating for the Black learner for many reasons. Firstly, because identity is largely influenced by the external ideas of society, which are often misinformed and portray a negative image of people of African descent.  Secondly, because of the omission of our true history from classrooms, textbooks, and most human understanding, Black learner’s as a whole do not have a strong or accurate sense of identity.

Identity formation is twofold; it encompasses a personal understanding of self as well as the societal understanding of self. A person’s identity is formed by their own idea of who they are, and, maybe even more so, societal ideas of who they are. At times, societal identity views can misconstrue or even replace internal ideological views (becoming the norm).  Often times, identity is constructed and internalized through the outsiders view, whether positive or negativity, thus replacing a peoples identity with the outsiders ideological concept of their identity.  Cooley (1902)’s concept of the “looking glass self” highlights the influential role that the external environment plays in the development of identity. (Identity developmentacross the lifespan: a biracial model)

When I think about societal views of people of African descent, the following portrayals come to mind, lazy, unmotivated, criminal, uneducated, athletic, musical, hypersexual, unreliable, aggressive, and intimidating.  When I think about characteristics that are never used to describe people of African descent the following depictions come to mind; highly educated, professional, intelligent, motivated and reliable. If these are the images of Black people that are bombarding our youth as they are constructing their identities, than, these are the images our black youth will, at least in part, have of themselves. These images become part of our youth’s fractured and inaccurate sense of self. Under these circumstances, African Nova Scotian youth will not construct a strong sense of identity. And the identity that they do construct will not include signifiers such as intellengent, which as Bracher implies “is a valuable and even essential basis for the development of intelligence and the capacity and motivation to learn.” (Radical Pedagogy) 

Another factor that is impeding the development of a strong identity in our black youth is actually the education system that is responsible to educate them. Akbar highlights the idea that “the first function of education is to provide identity” (Radical Pedagogy). Akbar contends that African-Americans have been “miseducated” as we have not received adequate knowledge of ourselves. Bracher supports this statement when he asserts that “learning can threaten student’s identities in numerous ways, most of which are invisible to educators and students alike” (Radical Pedagogy).

In the past and even today, students are confronted with the predicament of finding themselves left out and devalued in the textbooks and furthermore, left out of the curriculum that they are being taught. This conjugates the feelings of disconnect and disinterest with what is being taught. Even more importantly, it leads to the feeling of low self-worth, low self-esteem and a negative self-identity.  As the BLAC Report states, “the suppression, destruction, distortion of a group’s history and culture by others, and the surrender of one’s culture results in low self-esteem" (BLAC Report).

African Nova Scotian students have long been excluded from the textbooks and from the curriculum that is exposed to them.  Even today many classrooms around the province exclude and undermine African Nova Scotian identity and only present a Eurocentric perspective of our culture and history.  This cultural and historical distortion, or worse, omission of identity connectors leaves African Nova Scotian students oblivious of their past. This distortion, in turn, may lead them on a path of identity confusion, not knowing the difference between the societal concept of their identity and their true self. In turn creating, what Bracher terms a “vulnerable identity” (Radical Pedagogy). 

As I have hoped to illuminate in this blog, the combination of negative societal views of African descent people, combined with the misinterpretation and omission of African Nova scotia history in our classrooms, make it a difficult task for our black youth to construct a strong identity, which Bracher views as an essential piece in the development of intelligence and motivation for learning. It is vital for us as educators to provide our students with an Afrocentric education, which will place them at the center of all learning about themselves and the world around them. This would be the first and most important step for us as educators and an education system to take to begin to counteract the damage that has been done to our youth in terms of identity construction. If education can play a pivotal role in aiding our youth in their construction of a strong identity, than according to Bracher it will also have a positive impact on their development of intelligence as well. 

Identity and Education: Part 2

I have decided to write this blog in response to questions posed to me concerning my educational background while also linking my experiences to Bracher’s notion of identity.  When Bracher speaks of Identity-bearing affective-physiological states and how it affects learning, I can make a number of connections to my own personal learning endeavors. Bracher  explains that “maintaining ones identity is the most basic human need and thus the ultimate motive underlying all human behaviour” (Radical Pedagogy).  Identity and recognition play a vital role in one’s education and encompasses a multitude of factors. By exploring education, identity and recognition, I hope to shed light on how despite my learning adversities, I was able to find success through education while finding balance between my identity within mainstream society and that of a young black man.

I was born into a middleclass bi-racial home; my mother being white and my father black.  Growing up in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, there were very few black people to identify with.  I grew up in the church were my father later become the pastor of our congregation.  Education and faith are two main values within my family structure.  When looking through my eyes as a child and growing up in a predominantly white community I believe race placed little bearing on my perception of self.  I do not remember realizing that I was different or that I understood that I was black until I was approximately seven years old.  In grades primary and one I attended a school in Lawrencetown where there were not many children of color then later began school at Ross Road Elementary/ Jr. High where there was a large number of black students.  It was in this transition to Ross Rd. that I realized that I was a struggling learner.  It was also at this time that I began to identify myself as being black and started encompassing what I believed to be identifiable qualities of blackness. 

In Junior High it became apparent to me that I was facing a dilemma constructing my identity. I realized that I didn’t so easily fit into the social framework of my white peers or of my black peers. Now analyzing the shifts in my identity I recognize that I felt as though I was dancing between the margins. On one hand I had to live up to my families expectations of me in terms of education, personal beliefs and overall character. On the other I sought recognition to validate my identity as a black man. It was not until high school that I was able to form a balanced sense of identity and be comfortable with who I viewed myself to be.

As I began to come into my own, things began to click in my life. Athletics and music were two identifiable, “commodities” that I possessed. These, “commodities” mapped out many avenues within my life. I enjoyed and excelled in these two areas which validated my personal status on many different levels. I began to have expectations of myself similar to the expectations that my family, community teachers and peers had had of me. I believe that these things were a saving grace for me because they helped build the confidence in all areas of my life.  

High School graduation came and went as this was something that was expected of me.  The unexpected was that I graduated High School being almost illiterate.   This follows the, ‘Black Learners Advisory Committees’ statement, “The next anticipated result of education described as basic literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge cannot even be anticipated by the African Nova Scotian learner, as black students are represented in disproportionate amounts in resource or lower track classes, many even graduate illiterate”(BLAC Report).   My literacy levels were apparent after completing my first year of university which ended with me being placed on academic probation.  As a result of my poor academic achievements it was suggested that I be retested for learning differentiation, which reaffirmed the struggle that I faced learning in conventional learning environments.  

As I fell through the cracks of the High School education system, University was able to help me address my learning needs and assisted me in my quest for higher education.  This reaffirmation led me to beneficial resources that provided me with the ability to succeed despite my setbacks and learning environment.   Once again as confidence grew I was able to find educational success.  My friends and family always gave me positive encouragement throughout my battles with education and because of their unwavering belief in my abilities. They always held the expectation that I would graduate from University which eventually came true.

Bracher says that, “the most fundamental identity need is the need for recognition; the need to have one’s being appreciated and validated by others” (Radical Pedagogy). When reflecting on my life, and my struggle to educate myself despite the many disadvantages that could have easily held me back, I realize how true this quote from Bracher really is. I believe that it was the pressing expectation, validation and appreciation that my family and community had for me, that allowed me to create and reach goals that I may not have even dreamed of achieving without their support.