Just like our identities are influenced by the media, our identities are also shaped by what people say about us. As author Donna E Alvermann outlines in her article, Reading Adolescents' Reading Identities: Looking Back to See Ahead, all readers are different, but this fact doesn't necessarily mean we should classify them as struggling. Alvermann goes on to explain how it is our very promotion of "normative ways" within the schools that contribute to the "cultural construction of struggling readers." In other words, all students learn differently and at their own pace. When we try to make students fit into our mold, we create problems. We force definitions upon these students lives, in effect, creating disabilities that should not be a part of what makes these students who they are.
Implications
Alvermann focuses on the effect of imposing norms on adolescents, but I have seen this imposition have an effect even at a very young age. Kids are a lot more perceptive than people give them credit for, and they are able to perceive these norms as well as their own ability or inability to meet these norms - even in Pre-K. I would take this a step further and say it is not only the norms set forth by society which place expectations and limitations on our students/children, but also our own words and actions.
My son has always had trouble with literacy since he was in Pre-K. He wasn't learning his letters fast enough, he wasn't writing his name the way other children were, etc, etc. I heard "he's not" from his Pre-K teacher, and his Kindergarten teacher, and his First grade teacher. What I didn't realize was he was hearing it too. I didn't realize he was taking these words and creating an identity for himself - this very identity of a struggling reader that Alvermann focuses on. But it was a combination of things which helped to create this identity.
I know I've told this story before, but there's always a different aspect of it that I need to talk about. That's because the whole process of creating identity is complicated - there are SO many factors involved! Even our actions affect how children create their identity.
I was in my son's classroom for back-to-school night last year and they had goals for themselves as readers posted in the room. My son's read: "My goal is to be a faster reader." I could have kicked myself. I would always read with my son, but I would read fast because I had my own reading/homework to do. So, naturally, my son assumed that since I'm going to be a teacher and I get good grades, I must be a good reader. I read fast, so good readers must read fast. Therefore, he was not a good reader because he didn't read fast. What!?
Suggestions
Now how to undo the box we have put around our children in creating their identities? It is a long, difficult task to change how students view themselves. But it CAN be done with conscious effort. Alvermann makes some suggestions on how to go about this in light of reading identities:
We need to show children that literacy is not inaccessible just because they need more time or different strategies in order to learn how to read. And we need to do this at a young age. We also need to show children that there are multiple ways of being a reader. This is easier than ever with all the technology we have these days. If we help students figure out what counts as reading, it can empower them to be advocates for themselves in the classroom.
These suggestions can even be generalized to other areas where kids have defined themselves as lacking. We need to show children that it is ok to learn differently and/or at a different pace than other students. We need to empower them to think out of the box - to consider their strengths and weaknesses as suggestions for how they should approach their learning. And this begins by modeling it through our choices in how we teach material.
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