Identity Construction in the Margins: A Case Study Involving Non-Conforming Youth

Lauren I don't fit in here. Like I literally do not belong here. It's my own way; you can dress however you want, but don't criticize me. Austin Be yourself even if other people judge you for it. I get judged for dressing like this. I just say whatever back and then they shut up. My favorite lyric is: we will never sleep, 'cause sleep is for the weak! And we will never rest, 'till we're all dead! I like this because I always refuse to give up, or be silent when I'm told. Sheina Yeah, if you want me to respect you, then respect me first. And rules tend to get me in trouble. The above quotations were from eighth grade members of a suburban alternative education program. Although research efforts frequently center on the significant needs of traditionally marginalized American students, few studies address those of a smaller group of youth--those failing in suburban schools determined by the state to be "successful." (1) The label "at-risk" is commonly utilized when referring to a student population such as the one at the center of this effort. While this term generally refers to students who are determined to be at a high risk for dropping out of formal schooling, the exact meaning of its connotative usage differs in separate institutions--academically failing, behaviorally challenging, Special Education designated, students, etc. I contend this determination additionally infers that youth are in danger of not achieving the preferred goals of local schools and the greater society. Thus, this term also works to legitimize and mask the complicity of larger systems in its construction. Although the school comprising this study's setting labeled my participants as being at-risk, I choose to refer to them as "non-conforming students" in this paper, in order to trouble the usual construction of youths at-risk. Students who are failing in schools that are otherwise successful comprise a research worthy, yet frequently overlooked, population. While their numbers may be small per individual institution, repercussions from this determination are significant to individual youth and, when multiplied across state and national levels, reverberate across societal levels. This study advocates for an inclusive consideration of this population by educators, school administrators, and larger policy decision makers. Optimal research efforts should strive to ensure the educational human rights of all young people, even those who are not traditionally included among more frequently recognized marginalized groups. Kumashiro (2000) advocated that we continuously search for unrecognized "othered" (2) populations. This study complies with this author's charge, as it explores the identity construction and related school engagement and understanding of a lesser recognized group of non-conforming students in relation to school practices--both to practices that are hegemonically determined within schools and others that attempt to be alternative. (3) Additionally, it strives to address a gap in literature related specifically to alternative education, as it answers Pifer's (2000) challenge to utilize the actual voices of the youth who are involved in alternative systems. As this effort fulfills its postmodern goal to explore participant students' multiplicity of subject positions, it focuses on these students' identities as they are constructed throughout their experiences in school, and seeks knowledge of their daily lives being lived in the "margins" (Kumashiro, 2000, p. 30) of a general educational system. I purport that a clearer understanding of how this mostly unrecognized group of youth are constructed as being different, and how, in relation they construct themselves, will lead to fuller realizations of the process of marginalization, and to our better understanding of practices in both the general and alternative educational systems. Literature Review Many current studies (Gable, et al. …