Tip: Thinking about Student Identities

Happy Friday! I had a great conversation with a colleague this morning about students and respecting their identity(-ies). We were specifically talking about gender identities, but it got me thinking about show we show respect for all aspects of our students' identities. To me, this feels like a key part of making our teaching more student-centered, and I'm interested to hear what you all think.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project has a publication called "Critical Practices for Anti-Bias Education" which shares 4 ways to "exercise sensitivity" by bringing to the classroom...

• An asset-based view of youth and unfamiliar identity groups

• A commitment to avoiding and challenging stereotypes

• A sense of openness and cultural humility

• A willingness to let students define their own identities

What do you think? How much importance - and time/space - do you place on acknowledging identity in your classroom? Do issues of identity form part of your course work? (ex: do student…