Week 1 - Identity
Narrative identity as described by McAdams (2011), is the internal sense of self that makes sense of your life, justifies who you are and where you might be going. It is shaped by the encounters and events throughout your life and can change over time dependent on those. Changes in narrative identity occur naturally through developmental phases as we age or through specific events. Early drafts of personal identity are more mythical or can be grandiose but get grounded in reality as people reach adulthood. During later life narrative identity takes on a softer glow as life stories become more general with less emphasis on specific events (McAdams, 2011) Negative experiences can sometimes lead to a redemptive change of narrative where people go through a process of altering their own narrative identity after a period of atonement or recovery. While narrative identity is an internal discourse it can also be affected by social elements leading to a performance of narrative identity in different situations (McAdams, 2011).
I am now starting to see the significant influence that I have on an individual’s narrative identity as an educator. In schools, students are immersed in different perspectives, values, and beliefs, which can shape their own narrative identity. They are a glimpse into the broader workings of society and an opportunity for students to reflect on where they sit within it. Schools can perpetuate or diminish the dominant narratives that exist around marginalised communities. In the context of Aotearoa, educators need to ensure that Māori and Pasifika students feel acknowledged and valued so they are empowered to develop a positive narrative identity linked to their culture. As Adichie (2009) shares, stereotypes empahsise how we are different not how we are similar and it is important to hear all of the stories of a person or to learn all of the aspects of their culture to build a counter-narrative.
In terms of my own personal narrative identity, I have started to look back and think about how it was shaped and the implications it has on my life and others, particularly in the area of education. From a very early age having a tertiary education was an expectation for the members of my family – nuclear and wider. My grandparents were all well educated, as were my parents. I lived in an affluent area of Auckland, attended good schools and then a private school for my secondary schooling. My family, my wider circle and all of the people that I had contact with talked from early on about what university you might go to and what degree you might do. To me this was a completely normal and achievable aspiration for the future. Alongside this, I also had very positive experiences throughout all of my schooling and mostly had supportive and encouraging teachers who maintained this narrative that a tertiary qualification was not only desirable, but was easily obtainable through hard work.
After this week’s reading and some reflecting, I can see that I held the assumption that everyone has an equal opportunity to access education in Aotearoa and that tertiary education is achievable for all. This assumption has come about from the dominant narrative of my upbringing and is one that I look forward to critically reflecting on over the coming weeks. For me, there have been great benefits to this dominant narrative. I have been what is considered by myself and my family to be well educated, have travelled, bought my own home, and had a successful career. I have been privileged. The questions for me to ponder next are; what are the wider implications of this dominant narrative? Who has it harmed? How do I/we go about addressing the barriers to equitable access in education and to bolster the counter-narrative?
References:
Adichie, C. (2009, July). The danger of a single story [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?subtitle=en
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