Author:
Critical Assessment and Multimodality
Society has a big part to play when it comes to identity, literacy, and education- they aren’t just personal things conceived by students argued Hazard (2019). He is saying that the way society is made up all play a big role in shaping who we are, how we communicate, and what we learn, and it also gives us a sense of how we want our lives to be. It’s also saying identity, literacy and education cannot be fixed, it is fluid constantly being shaped by the world around us.
This idea connects to the idea of “social constructivism,” which tell us that we create knowledge and meaning together through our interactions with others- the world (Nickerson, 2024). If identity is socially constructed, then how students see themselves in school is heavily influenced by what society thinks is “normal” or “valuable” or “wrong and right”. Students from marginalized groups might not see their own experiences and backgrounds reflected in what they’re taught, which can be really discouraging.
Literacy isn’t just about being able to read and write; it’s also about what kinds of reading and writing are given priority. If a school only focuses on traditional academic writing, it might ignore other forms of literacy, like storytelling, digital literacy and communication. If education is mainly about preparing people for jobs, it might not focus enough on critical thinking or helping students develop as individuals.
Thinking about identity, literacy, and education as social constructs means we need to be more inclusive in how teaching is done. We need to recognize that students come from different backgrounds and have different ways of learning. We need to create a learning environment where everyone feels valued and empowered. This means looking at the curriculum, how we teach, and how we assess student learning to make sure they are fair and inclusive.
References
Hazard, S. (2019). Two Ways of Thinking About New Materialism. Material Religion, 15(5), 629–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432200.2019.1666585.
Nickerson, C. (2024, February, 14th) Social constructivism theory: definition and examples. https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-constructionism.html.
Hi Ria
I would commend you on your ideas about identity, literacy, and education as social constructs. You’ve done well linking these concepts to broader societal influences and explaining their significance. Your discussion of marginalized students and the limitation of traditional literacy is insightful, and I appreciate your emphasis on inclusivity in education.
However, here are some areas where you could have written a deeper analysis; like
strengthening the connection between theories and real-world implications.
Note; your discussion of social constructivism is a good start, but it would be stronger with specific examples of how these ideas manifest in education. For instance:
How does social constructivism shape classroom dynamics?
How do teachers unknowingly reinforce dominant societal norms?
How can constructivist approaches support marginalized students? Just in two sentences.
Also, your critics of marginalization could go deeper into the role of power and privilege in shaping literacy and education.
I would like to know your takes in addressing why traditional forms still dominate based on your argument that focusing on traditional academic writing can exclude other forms of literacy.
Hi, Ria, your statement that school should not only teach traditional academic reading and writing is really inspiring to me. As we know, each individual is unique and different from all aspects so our curriculum should attempt to respect and cultivate students’ uniqueness and diversity. Reading is a so important way for young people to learn and to explore the world around us. In this case, our curriculum should include a lot of reading activities to help students form a good reading habit when they were young. If they can read a lot, they will naturally acquire the ability to think outside the box and to judge right or wrong. In addition, there is an old saying in eastern culture that no schools can teach students to be a creative writer but can teach students how to read and what to read. If any school can help students inspire their reading interest, these students will read as much as they can. To some extent, after they get enough input of information about literature, history and humanity, they will have the motivation to express their ideas, which is a big step to become a real writer. Therefore, school education should be flexible and dynamic rather than only focusing on a single goal.