Identity, Agency, and Empowerment As for agency in the classroom, I tend to agree with Accardi’s summary as identity resembling authority as well as power (Hailer, P., & Vandenberg, P., p. 1). In the classroom, I see this as students having authority/responsibility over their assignments/papers and the power to push back with ideas they don’t agree with. On one of the first days of class I told my students to write about topics that interest them, and not necessarily topics I agree with. I tell them I’ve read a bunch of articles that I agree with, and I relish the opportunity to see other viewpoints. As a teacher, I’ve seen this approach stretch and help me grow as well as letting students feel comfortable to write about subjects that interest them. Bean mentions that when students enjoy a topic they tend to write better and more fluidly, and that is something I’ve noticed as well. It also makes grading 40 different papers more enjoyable. When we first read the Kopelson and Identity article, I looked at identity from the lens of the students. The identity definition that I resonated with was that it is “changeable depending on the social context” (Hailer, P., & Vandenberg, P., p. 89). As students, I don’t expect them to want to act the same in class as they act with their best friends, and at the same time, I don’t want them to act the same as they would for a funeral. I believe each of us has a unique identity that shifts based on what context we find ourselves in. That being said, I don’t want any of my students to feel stifled or afraid in the classroom if they are a minority (or sometimes the majority) to show core parts of their identity that are present in almost all contexts. What I mean is I don’t want my students, for example who say is a gay, to feel like he/she can’t express that side of his/her identity if it is important to them. This was a topic that wasn’t mentioned much in the Kopelson article of how to address a marginalized group if it is one of the students. Is a teacher seen as pushing an agenda to help the student, and thus some students won’t be receptive of it? I’m not sure, but at the end of the day, I’d rather be an advocate for that student and let him/her embrace their identity rather than try to hide it, and then teach the class how to respect one another’s ideas and differences.
As for me…I’m a young, female instructor. I really struggle with what Kopleson is saying that we should teach in a traditional mode and try to hide our perceived marginalized aspects to make the unmarginalized students feel comfortable. Like several people mentioned I think it is about setting your class up in a welcoming and warm environment so students feel like their opinion (regardless of what side of the argument they stand with) matters and is respected. I also think it a job as an advocate for marginalized groups, to point out how these opinions can be harmful to others or that they might have holes. And I let my students use that sense of agency and identity to push back with me.
Since the election is so close, my classes are really heated on the matter. There seems to be a very clear divide, and recently we’ve had several conversations about Tomi Lahren. I had never heard of her before this semester, and several students were talking about her when we were discussing ethos, pathos, and logos. They were saying she used ethos and pathos and that she “was still PC and took down the liberals”. YIKES. Well, to say the least this was a discussion that I had them write about because a lot of my marginalized students, and even myself, were offended by what she says. When we came back we discussed a lot of thoughts on both sides, and I tended to speak up for the marginalized students; this discussion brought up a lot that couldn’t be addressed in the 15 minutes we had left, but I keep going back to Kopleson. What do we do in those moments? Do we let our authority be questioned in order to advocate for others who are marginalized, or do we keep our authority and remain neutral and let students figure it out themselves? I think it’s pretty clear where I stand, but I really appreciated the Kopleson article for making us as teachers, or future teachers reflect on this very real issue.
As for me…I’m a young, female instructor. I really struggle with what Kopleson is saying that we should teach in a traditional mode and try to hide our perceived marginalized aspects to make the unmarginalized students feel comfortable. Like several people mentioned I think it is about setting your class up in a welcoming and warm environment so students feel like their opinion (regardless of what side of the argument they stand with) matters and is respected. I also think it a job as an advocate for marginalized groups, to point out how these opinions can be harmful to others or that they might have holes. And I let my students use that sense of agency and identity to push back with me.
Since the election is so close, my classes are really heated on the matter. There seems to be a very clear divide, and recently we’ve had several conversations about Tomi Lahren. I had never heard of her before this semester, and several students were talking about her when we were discussing ethos, pathos, and logos. They were saying she used ethos and pathos and that she “was still PC and took down the liberals”. YIKES. Well, to say the least this was a discussion that I had them write about because a lot of my marginalized students, and even myself, were offended by what she says. When we came back we discussed a lot of thoughts on both sides, and I tended to speak up for the marginalized students; this discussion brought up a lot that couldn’t be addressed in the 15 minutes we had left, but I keep going back to Kopleson. What do we do in those moments? Do we let our authority be questioned in order to advocate for others who are marginalized, or do we keep our authority and remain neutral and let students figure it out themselves? I think it’s pretty clear where I stand, but I really appreciated the Kopleson article for making us as teachers, or future teachers reflect on this very real issue.
Katie Rieger, Portfolio 