3.5.2 How might individual students' negotiations of their cultural identities be contributing to the puzzling situation?

Spindler and Spindler (1994b) presented a broad framework for thinking about students' negotiations and constructions of their identities. They distinguish between the enduring self and the situated self. The enduring self "is that sense of continuity one has with one's own past--a personal continuity in experience, meaning, and social identity (Hallowell, 1995)" (p. 13). The situated self encompasses "those aspects of the person as he or she copes with the everyday exigencies of life" (p. 13). "If this sense of self (the enduring self) is violated too often and too strongly by the requirements of the situated self that is constructed as an adaptive response to situational contexts, the enduring self will be damaged or even endangered" (p. 14).

Davidson's (1996) approach to identity ("presentation of self in a matrix of social relationships" [p. 2]) seems to focus on what Spindler and Spindler (1994b) call the situated self. Although she saw students as constructing and negotiating identities in contexts created by the interrelationships among the larger society, community, home, peer and school, Davidson's (1996) study focused primarily on the influences of school contexts on students' identity formation and academic engagement. She used data from the Students' Multiple Worlds Study and interviewed teachers in classrooms that students identified as places they were most likely or least likely to engage academically.

Davidson (1996) identified three patterns of identity construction, which were related to features of school contexts. Students with "unconventional" identities "sought to challenge the social categories and stereotypes" (p. 12) in their school environment; those with "conformist" identities "embraced definitions they saw as relevant to their backgrounds, thus reproducing social categories" (p. 12); those with "transcultural" identities were supported in the school environment to move beyond the stereotypes associated with their backgrounds. Her book (Davidson, 1996) presented detailed cases illustrating each pattern.

Davidson (1996) found three school-level features that were relevant to students' identity construction. "These included disciplinary technologies [practices that isolate and order students in relation to one another], which divide and thereby marginalize, bureaucratized relationships and practices, which silence and thereby disempower, and speech acts, which serve to label groups positively or negatively" (p. 214).

Looking beyond the school context, Heath and McLaughlin (1993a, 1993b) found that neighborhood-based programs successfully supported youth in developing identities that allowed them to succeed in school even though their inner-city contexts would have suggested otherwise. For these youth "[a] sense of worth came from being a member of a group or team noted for accomplishment; a sense of belonging came from being needed within the organization--to teach younger members, help take care of the facility, plan and govern activities, and promote the group to outsiders" (1993b, p.24). As one example, Ball and Heath (1993) described how dance groups successfully supported inner-city youth.

The role of race and ethnicity in students' identities varied in these two projects. Davidson (1996) found that students frequently referred to race and ethnicity as important factors in their identities and in their academic engagement. In contrast, Heath and McLaughlin (1993a, 1993b) found that race, ethnicity and gender were generally not central to the identity construction of the inner city youth they studied. These contrasting findings point to the need to examine, rather than assume, which demographic characteristics are important in particular students' identity constructions.

For a broad discussion of students' construction of their identities see Sleeter (2001, Difference>Identity> Ideas>Becoming somebody).

Note: This is the last CIP question in Step 3 about cultural influences on education. After you decide which cultural influences you will examine in your CIP study, you should read the relevant Step 4 pages in the CIP Guidebook before collecting more information. In particular, you should read the main Step 4 page and the Step 4 pages for the CIP question(s) associated with the cultural influence(s) you will be examining. See the Guide for Reading Step 4 and Step 5 Pages for more specific guidance.

Success Stories & CIP Studies Related to Individual Students' Cultural Negotiations

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