Essay On Identity In Schools

Schools are a wonderful place for children to start to figure out their own identity. As they go through each year of school, they will learn more about themselves and who they want to become. However, there are many school that can harm the way a child sees themselves and can cause them to question their identity. Lake and Alexie’s articles help to support Reay’s work by supporting the idea that schools have a way to affect a child’s identity. They provide examples of how the differences between all children should not affect the way they are treated at school. They each show how norms also affect how a child is treated. This come to play when the child is compared to another because of their differences. In the works by Reay, Alexie …show more content…
She explains how many factors can go into a child’s identity. Reay states that “categories of race, ethnicity, dis/ability, social class and gender” all are very important aspects of a child and their identity (Reay 279). They allow every child to relate to others in some way. Whether they fit in or not can affect their learning styles also. If they are a slower learner, others, including students and teachers, with think that this means that they are just dumb. Most times this is not the case. The students may just need a little bit more time to process the information. Schools should be a safe place for people to go without being judged for who they are, however, it’s the complete opposite. In Reay’s article, Youdell “argues that identity categories- of ‘race’, ethnicity, disability, class, gender, sexuality-become meaningful through interaction with other categories, and that these ‘constellations of categorizations’ may be seen as shifting and not necessary” (Reay 279). Interactions between children are important if they have something in common. The can help their identity to grow as they notice they are not alone and have others to relate