Positionality and Identity
By: T W Chirara, Bsc Hons, Pgce Ma
Tags: Teachers, Growth, Development, Identity, Education

Positionality and Identity

Becoming me!

I aim to reflect and reflexively explore factors within my personal and professional development which have influenced not only who I am, but furthermore my positionality and world view (Takacs, 2003). In doing this, I intend to draw forth suppositions and presumptions influencing my subjectivity and core value.

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Having been born in and spending all of my primary school years in newly independent Zimbabwe, I had a middle-class upbringing, even attending private school. Even from a young age, the significant economic divide within the nation was evident; there was a disproportionate number of young people to whom the quality of education I had received was inaccessible (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2018). In a bid to support me in having an appreciation towards the role education could play in further keeping me from becoming a victim of the socio-economic climate, but rather be the one to shape my future. The teaching within my primary school seemed didactic and traditional, contextually speaking. Whilst differing to the traditional approaches to teaching in the UK, it provided a curriculum which drew on the economic, political and cultural needs of the society within which it was set (Higgs, 2012). Although the government had initially made a significant investment towards education during this time from 12 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 1990 to 44 per cent by 1994; low attendance levels of 50 per cent at secondary school nationally fuelled an understanding that education had become a commodity for those who could afford it and it was not a right for all. Academic success within this society which had commodified education was significantly revered. Corporal punishment, as a socially acceptable method of discipline, was utilised within schools to reinforce the importance of educational compliance. There was a bid to instil behaviour, and educational prowess which could be deemed socially acceptable through varying efforts from the regimental approaches used by educators here seemed to significantly align Foucauldian concepts of thought (Foucault, 2012).

Arguably my primary school experience was a crucial factor to actively shape my ontological security whilst seemingly being at odds with the nature of physical security (Mitzen, 2006). Reflecting on the use of negative reinforcement methods for discipline and getting students to learn, factual recall was highly regarded, though seemingly, this was not the case for knowledge understanding and application. This was particularly noticeable when deadlines would come around, as there was an understanding that missing deadlines would mean sanctions. The relationship between students and teachers seemed unilateral, aligning with the banking concept in which Freire (1970) explains professional authority as being mistakenly taken as the authority of knowledge. Retrospectively, the power dynamic above suggested the teacher be an oppressor, who would impose his worldview on the students and further utilising corporate punishment to exert conformity. Whilst the primary schooling and its use of corporal punishment did not initially instil an intrinsic love for learning and education, had they approached the teaching and discipline technique differently, I may have developed a passion for learning much earlier in my life.

When my family relocated to England in 2001, this profoundly affected my epistemology; much in that, it provided a contrasting educational and socio-economic to that which I had experienced to this point. During 2001 a mere 0.8 per cent of the United Kingdom’s (UK) population and further Bhattacharyya, Ison and Blair (2003) outline the poor academic attainment from black African males during these times. My academic achievements, once I had started education in the UK, differed from the findings of their study. While I had barely been above average as a primary school student, I found myself as one of the highest attainers during my first few years, at the West Midlands secondary school I attended. A growing passion for sports overshadowed my academic success; this came particularly as I feel I had never really had the opportunity to pursue sport when I was still back home.

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My foci as I developed as a teen started shifting towards sports and my social interactions (social acceptance). These passions had a somewhat detrimental effect on my education. I believed I had been successfully attaining acceptable grades; this came in spite of neglecting studies to focus on other priorities. I feel that individuals such as Osbourne (2002) had articulated quite well the identity struggles young black males had been facing within the educational system. Osbourne (2002) had shown, how like me, a lot of other things young black males had become disidentified with the educational system though they identified well with sport. My perceptions at the time, viewed the society within which I was living held a differing socio-economic divide to that of my preteens; political instability had been replaced by an ethnocultural divide.

Tensions within my life at these times had been shifting away from education towards sports. It took the completion of my GCSEs to realise that whilst the grades I had attained were significantly above the national average; I had not performed to my full potential. This resulted in the epiphany prompting me to focus more on my education. The attainment of good grades had stopped being the main aim of my studies but rather the development of myself as an individual. This aligned with the notion portrayed by Maslow (1954) regarding the importance of basic gratification in self-actualisation.

Social research, in this case, educational research utilises reflective practice as an essential facet. Inquirers such as Dewey, Schön, Brookfield and Freire have spent some time exploring these notions. Reflective practice provides the possibility not only to learn how roles or a task could be done better based on past and present events. It further provides a means by which to explore where I may position myself reflexively. Further to his discussions regarding the contrast between purposeful reflection and causal thought, Dewey (1938) explains the role experience plays in shaping my understanding of the world. The suggestion from Dewey is that while I must take time to reflect in and on action actively; I can never know truth instead only interpretations of my experiences. In alignment with this, Lynch (2017, quoted in Shieber, J. H., 2019) expresses,

‘There just is no way of escaping your perspective or biases. Every time you try to get outside of your own perspective, you just get more information filtered through your own perspective.’ (Pg. 14).

Understanding that it would be particularly challenging to unburden myself of biases which I hold. An essential factor in embarking on any research effort is a greater understanding of what these biases might be. The purpose, as mentioned above, is not only for myself; but also, for those who would explore research which I may produce, to have a clear understanding of influences underpinning my thoughts during the research. The development of my ontological and epistemological position hinged initially on my interpretation of experiences which had transpired during my early childhood, especially those pertaining to my social and educational upbringing.

Conclusion

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The path into teaching was not a straight forward one for me; however, it was one which depicted a development in my positioning and the values I regarded highly. Though having studied a degree in architectural visualisation, sport had drawn me in as a socio-economic bridge. I initially embarked on working in varying social and economic settings. I worked as a; sports coach in local schools; project worker in a gang deterrent unit; safeguarding ambassador, with a particular focus on gangs; and youth violence before finally becoming a teacher. This decision had been inspired by my own experiences within the educational system, and I have a great deal of appreciation for the incalculable influence that my educational experience played on my lives. There were vast amounts of skills and a great depth of understanding which I gained while at school and go on to use throughout life. In a similar fashion to that expressed by Osterman and Kottkamp (1993), in order to develop a higher level of self-awareness within my teaching capacity, I have had to engage in reflective practice. In a bid to aid young people to understand better, as well as overcome social and cultural barriers, I have strived to be a mentor to the young people. Having risen through some adversity, I believe I my for some students, provide a source of inspiration. I work towards supporting students in unlocking the potential within their young minds to have a love for learning through having a creative and understanding outlook of the world.

My experiences and the exploration of literature have consolidated my belief that the works of some theories better resonates with me than others. Particularly Foucault (2012) who challenges us to consider how power operates through dominant ideologies and how truth is often significantly influenced by this. Regimes of truth, expressed in Foucauldian philosophy, discusses implications of authority in determining what is deemed to be ‘truth’. There are several dominant ideologies in education. These belief systems influence a range of practices including policymakers, governing bodies, institutional leadership and educators. The dominant ideologies influence an assortment of elements within education including, policy, pedagogical approach and practical approaches. I believe as, with other industries, education is not immune to ideologies and policymakers. In my own settings, I have observed pedagogical approaches and ‘best practice’ being blindly implemented without any exploration into how it fits our unique sector. I would, therefore, like to conduct an investigation into how technologies available within my setting might be utilised to mitigate barriers to learning.

As part of my proposed study, I intend on employing a range of methodological viewpoints. This will be done in order to explore complexities found in schools, along with those surrounding technology use. The study will find its grounding on notions surrounding digital sociology as it approaches technologies as being problematic, especially; the potential imbalances which may be influenced by power differentials, Ideologies advocating use of digital technologies in education as a precursor future societal, technological developments; the role the ‘human experience’ plays in shaping schools and digital technologies (Selwyn, Nemorin, Bulfin and Johnson, 2016). The study will seek out to draw meaning from the experience of the participant, thereby, utilising socio-cultural tenets (Asch, 1952; Vygotsky, 1978). Methodological approaches that may be used within this research will be those best cohering with connectivism, along with, interpretivisim or transformative theories (Siemens, 2004). The study may utilise the transformative worldview principles in order to draw on the thread of political entanglement through which the research may be influenced (Creswell, 2014).

I have through this paper, attempted to express the notion that all knowledge is underpinned by a set of beliefs through which it may be demonstrated during the enquiry. Interestingly as with other social research, we are all influenced by experiences which shape our values and beliefs. Therefore, articulating your positioning prior to, inferring, the influence your viewpoint will have on the beliefs. Sheiber posits the notion that