Inspiring Positive Self Identity

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a massive fan of Neuroscience Educator Nathan Wallis. One of the first seminars I ever attended was delivered by Nathan and The Brainwave Trust. ?

In this seminar back in 2009, I was introduced to the concept of Learner Identity.?

Learner identity refers to?the attitudes and habits that influence the learning process, and the many ways in which children come to understand themselves as learners (Carr et al., 2008). ?

Nathan began the seminar by sharing that “research shows that we can confidently predict how successful a child will be by the time they are 32 by measuring the child’s perception of themselves and how they feel about themselves as learners under the age of 7.” ?

This really stuck with me. I began to reflect on my role as a teacher of infants and young children, “do our interactions with children and the way in which we enculture their learning and play spaces have the potential to shape children’s?entire learner trajectory?” ?

It was this critical question that immediately shifted my mindset from my previous three years of academic focused, primary teacher training toward a more holistic and appropriate priority, Te Whariki ,our unique social and emotional framework which?envisions?that all children grow up in New Zealand as competent and confident learners, strong in their identity, language and culture.?

I quickly became aware that our impact?as teachers was far greater than simply having an effect on a child's learner trajectory, we have the potential to shape a child’s entire perception of themselves, for life! The realisation of this responsibility became instantaneously daunting. Luckily Nathan Wallis elaborated a little further, offering some key starting points. ?

Nathan shared that a child’s positive Identity is dependent on three key factors:?

1) A positive view of their culture?

2) A positive view of their gender?

3) A positive view on themselves as a learner. ?

This led to some further reflective questions for me to unpack?

• How do?my everyday messages I share through my conversations, interactions and physical play and learning spaces?inspire children's positive view of themselves??
• How am I creating a climate of positive self and group identity development, through which every child will achieve her or his fullest potential??

Te Whariki defines safe, stable and responsive environments as places which support the development of self-worth, identity, confidence and enjoyment. ?

There are many ways we share messages with children and families in our learning environment that gives powerful feedback to children contributing to the building of their?identity (MacPherson, 2017).?

It is not just about ensuring representation and enculturing an environment that positively reflects diversity and each child as a unique individual, it is about continuous?reflection of practice. ?

With National 'Sorry Day' and 'Reconciliation Week' having just passed and the month of June being 'Pride Month', I have seen the Aboriginal resources and rainbow flag reemerge for their yearly appearance. A practice I myself am guilty of repeating more than once.?A practice that only shifted after some serious critical reflection.

Whilst I believe this reflects the good intentions of educators and education settings to include diversity?and build positivity around various identities,?it is not indicative of genuine understanding, and therefore, responsiveness to reconciliation or pride. This tokenistic approach reduces elements of these broad, complex and important concepts of identity to a set of resources reviewed once a year. So I began to ponder...?

• What messages are we conveying to children when their gender, culture and identity or the gender, culture and identity of others is only visible once a year??
• What would or could our environments look like if they consistently reflected the unique identity of all children within that space in a positive and inspiring way??
• What if this approach extended beyond the boundaries of our care and education settings??
• What impact would this have on children??

The EYLF tells us that Children learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the context of their families and communities. This includes their relationships with people, places and things and the actions and responses of others.

Identity is also shaped by how other people define the young child, how he or she is understood (or not) and shown respect (or not). In these ways social experiences serve as a ‘mirror’ for their identities (Vandenbroech, 2008)

This tells us that children's early experiences and exposure shape what they imagine to be possible. Children determine what they can (or can't) be based on the examples around them.?So, what are you doing today, tomorrow and for the rest of your teaching and learning journey to set an example and provide a mirror??

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Links:?

https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/earlyyears/IdentityPG2020.pdf ?

https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/earlyyears/EYLitReviewIdentity.pdf?

https://kooricurriculum.com/?

https://education.nsw.gov.au/early-childhood-education/whats-happening-in-the-early-childhood-education-sector/news/embedding-aboriginal-perspectives?

Seejane.org If She Can See It, She Can Be It?

https://www.slj.com/story/eleven-year-old-new-jersey-girl-assembles-1000-books-with-black-girl-protagonists?

https://education.nsw.gov.au/early-childhood-education/whats-happening-in-the-early-childhood-education-sector/news/embedding-indigenous-perspectives-in-early-childhood-education-a?

https://theartofeducation.edu/2020/07/20/july-100-childrens-books-about-diversity-and-inclusion/?

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/summer-2013/the-gender-spectrum?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2595176/what-3-to-7-year-olds-need-to-learn-nathan-mikaere-wallis ?

https://www.teachingforchange.org/educator-resources/anti-bias-education#:~:text=Anti%2Dbias%20curriculum%20is%20an,by%20both%20children%20and%20adults.?

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References:?

Claxton, G. (2005) Building Learning Power. Helping young people become better learners. BLP. Bristol: Henleaze House.?

DEEWR, (2009) Belonging, Being & Becoming - The early years learning framework for Australia.

MacPherson, M. (2017). Learner Identity; the ways we contribute to shaping this through the messages we share accessed through: https://www.elp.co.nz/articles_by_elp.cfm?

Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki. He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.?

Vandenbroech, M. (2008) in Developing Positive Identities: Diversity and Young Children, in Early Childhood in Focus series Woodhead, M. & Brooker, L, The Open University.?