Designing Clothes and Cars: Second Grade Students Using Multiple Forms of Literacy to Try on and Perform Identity

Abstract

Children of elementary school age are in the process of discovering and establishing their self-identity through talk, gesture, writing, and, especially, the arts. While they can sometimes find room to exert their individuality in their daily classroom assignments, it is more often in the spaces open to social interaction in school in which this work is done. However, as the act of schooling is often considered as an act of social reproduction as well as that of education in skills and knowledge, students can struggle when their personal and cultural backgrounds differ from the expected norms. This article reflects various instances of second-grade children working on their self-identity in various spaces in the school day, and offers rationale and suggestions for supporting this process in an open and safe way.