Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Socially Constructing Identity

In a gesture similar to patting a child on a back, I once patted a child's head in the classroom.

"The spirit lives in the head," said the young boy.  He let me know clearly, kindly and with reasonable explanation why he was not comfortable with me touching his head. Every year, I learned more from students.  Every year my cultural literacy expanded. Every year, my understanding of ability grew.  Every year, I realized the limitations more of the expectations I put on students.

Learning is a socially constructed activity.

Identity is socially constructed. 

We construct what we know and are able to do...

from books

from our teachers

from other students

from our families

from our friends

from our learning environments



When an identity is suppressed, suffering happens.

Suffering whimpers.

Suffering cries.

Suffering yells.

Suffering suppresses.

Suffering denies.

Suffering gets angry.

Suffering admits defeat.

Suffering kills.

When an identity is freed, life happens.

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