Schooling the Possible Self

Abstract

From a social perspective, one's identity is entirely the product of interaction with others. As children participate in the vast range of social situations, they collect impressions of themselves that coalesce to form a sense of who they are, as well as a narrative framework that helps explain the world and their place within it. These insights create a dynamic identity that is stimulated by one's sense of potential and possibility. The social perspective provides a way to understand how school situations offer the substance from which children develop a sense of self. Literacy is a particularly powerful conduit for the development of self. An understanding of language and literacy, and how these processes are taken up by the child as means to shape his or her social connections and, by extension, his or her social reality, demands an understanding of self and how it evolves through interaction in a range of contexts. The purpose of this article is to describe how "self" plays out through literacy situations at home and school. Borrowing from social and cultural descriptions of the development of self, this article illustrates how these situations provide contexts for the expression and development of self, and offers implications for curriculum and classroom practice.For three nights in a row, my son, Packie, who was nine years old at the time, sat at the dining room table rewriting an essay about the death of his pet cat, which he planned to read to his teacher and classmates at their upcoming publishing party. On the eve of the publishing party, Packie labored over diagrams depicting how he would like the classroom arranged for the publishing party. In his diagram the writer sits under a spotlight reading his writing to the audience. His own nightlight, Packie explained, would serve as the spotlight. On the morning of the party he wore his special-occasion corduroys and set off with his nightlight packed in newspaper in his book bag. "Cat" is proclaimed by Packie to be one of the best pieces he has ever written.Packie told us that the publishing party was a success. The kids liked his "Cat" piece, and he even forgot to go to recess because he was so busy helping his teacher set up the room for the publishing party. His father and I were amazed by Packie's enthusiasm. With the exception of this

Urban Literacy Leadership: Examining One Principal’s Vision and Practice

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“…Sociocultural perspectives suggest that a continual exploration of the texts, readers, and contexts better explains readers' experience, more than focusing on individual traits alone (Galda & Beach, 2001). Sociocultural perspectives offer that the act of reading is a moment when young people negotiate who they are, both individual and group-based, both familiar and possible (McCallister, 2004;McCarthey & Moje, 2002). Therefore, though reading presents as a private act, it allows individuals to connect to others and imagine possible identities (Bartlett, 2007).…”

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“…Timmy's brother's successful experiences with reading added a layer to how Timmy might have imagined Grade 2. Drawing on McCallister (2004), who points out that the "self emerges in part through imitative behaviour....We look to others to gain both a broader and keener sense of what is acceptable and possible" (p. 438). I wonder about how Timmy might have imagined his Grade 1 experience in regards to learning to read, as he followed in his brother's footsteps.…”