As a step toward understanding the impact of social issues such as race, culture, class, and gender, etc., in the classroom and workplace, this activity is designed to help you think about and explore your own identities as a member of multiple social groups. In the formal research paper you must discuss and critically analyze your social identity development with regard to your racial/ethnic, socioeconomic class, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious/spiritual orientation, ability/exceptionality, language identities (you may identify others) in terms of how these influence who you are today. All of these factors become aspects of one’s labor as a teacher/educator, consciously or unconsciously.
Use Harro’s (2013) reading, “Cycle of Socialization,” to conceptualize and ground your paper. This is not a genealogical review. It is a critical analysis of your socialization “story.” As such, it is a formal intellectual endeavor.