This essay investigates what identity politics may have to contribute to the reformation of Marxist theories of education through considering how it would theorize the practice of explicitly critical pedagogy. (IAH)

Discusses the difficulties that high-ability black college students face in blending their academic interest and racial affiliation into their sense of self. Student narratives show how a strong peer community and positive student-faculty interactions can overcome these obstacles and promote healthy identity development. (Author/DB)

Discusses the effect early-childhood educators have on children's identity development--their stories of themselves. Examines children's abilities to produce narratives, and considers the role of nonverbal expression in the making of children's identities. Notes the social context of these stories. (JPB)

Discusses student criticism of higher education. Responds in the context of moral questions. Argues that education is about the development of a moral imagination. Suggests that students be encouraged to locate their own questions in material to be studied. Concludes that through storytelling teachers and students can find common ground as well as…

Reflects on stories educators tell about culture, identity, and education. If stories of self are to help educators reform institutions or build new communities, they must be reinvented to embrace others rather than to defend against contact with others. (SLD)

The question of how to theorize the subjective side of work within a life history perspective was explored. The findings of a study on engineers' subjective recognition of their lives, their education and jobs, and their life perspectives and the findings of a study of continuing education within a number of white-collar and semiprofessional work…

For a composition teacher--comparing a passage from his Caucasian grandmother's (May Blossom Gould's) diary with the autobiographical narrative dictated by an African-American student's great-great grandmother (Violet McNeil) to a literate member of her family--racial politics and the privileges afforded by literacy irrevocably separate the two…

The current changes in the economy and the superstructure associated with postmodernity pose particular perils and promises for the world of education. In particular, identity is no longer an ascribed status or place in an established order. Rather, identity is an ongoing project, most commonly an ongoing narrative project.The use of personal…

Explores the relationship between life histories, identities, and the act of writing through two students' experiences with academic writing. Diagrams how a writer's experiences shape opinions, voice, and self-concept, which are brought to bear on the act of writing. (SK)

Explores the use of introspective writing by others as a means of understanding two characteristics of intrapersonal communication: the process of selective memory which defines and redefines personal history and the pattern of habitual thinking which confirms self-identity. Recommends the classroom use of memoirs and journals. (PD)

The writer, an individual with progressive hearing loss, describes the isolation and powerlessness experienced by people with hearing loss and comments on the great value that participation in the arts and art education can have in moderating this isolation and empowering individuals to find their own identity. (DB)

A female outdoor educator who had recovered from anorexia nervosa reflects on the boundaries between her personal and professional identity as she anticipates taking on a research role in adventure-therapy programs. Gender issues in outdoor education are discussed in relation to women's body image and eating disorders. (SV)

Awareness of how perceived roles shape how people see themselves and how others see them prompted Cheryl McLean to question how her new label of "teaching assistant" helped or hurt the teaching and learning process. As a teaching assistant, she moved into the dual role of teacher and student. She believes that the labels she adopts…

Outlines the function of the "signifying monkey" in African American oral traditions. Focuses on vernacular discourse and African American personal narratives to discover linguistic and cultural features of African American students. Argues that these identity features be placed at the center of writing instruction for African Americans.…

Societal expectations often teach women to separate their identities from their bodies, which distorts their self-image, resulting in shame and alienation. Adventure programs can create an environment of unconditional acceptance and trust where people can speak their inner fears. Two women who had negative body images relate how adventure…