Identities and Writing or Written Expression
My understanding of identity theory is very unclear, and as I provide this reflection I am pondering and questioning what it actually is. So I begin with a definition. Whenever I am unclear about what something means, I look it up. I begin with habitus. Habitus as presented by Bordieu (1990) is believed to be an evolving set of schema that develop through relationships as people adjust, adapt, and negotiate within and across multiple contexts (Compton-Lilly, 2014; Roswell & Pahl, 2007). Social Theory Re-Wired (http://routledgesoc.com/category/profile-tags/habitus) states that "habitus is one of Bordieu's most influential yet ambiguous concepts [and] refers to the physical embodiment of cultural capital, to the deeply ingrained habits, skills, and dispositions that we possess due to our life experiences." Much like Marxist theory, habitus is very socially heirarchical. People can adapt their habitus to accommodate new situations; however, these changes tend to be incorporated slowly and unconsciously as elaborations rather than drastic changes to existing dispositions (Bordieu & Passeron, 1977; Compton-Lilly, 2014, p. 375). As I think of this description of habitus I am reminded of the phrase, "you can take a kid out of the ghetto/hood, but you can't take the ghetto/hood out of the kid." There is a history - learned behavior, actions, and interactions that exist within habitus that make-up the person. As a person grows, so too does their habitus; hence the need for longitudinal study of persons, their habitus, and emergent identities.
Compton-Lilly (2014) examined the process of becoming a writer through a close and longitudinal study of her student, Peter. Looking at his "becoming" as a writer across time. Compton-Lilly's description of becoming is much like what Bartlett (2007) describes as "doing" literacy as opposed to "being literate." Both approach literacy as an action that is progressive and enables the person to use it in such a way as to benefit them. Compton-Lilly (2014) speaks of the process of becoming a writer existing within a longitudinal set of social and contextual relationships related to home, school, and peers (p. 372). The act of becoming exists within a given field or context that emerges out of the habitus. It is at the intersection of habitus and field that the cultural artifacts are birth in a sense. Bartlett (2007) shares about how adult learners employ cultural artifacts to "seem" literate, or to be seen as literate by others, and eventually to "feel" literate; that is, to develop a sense of themselves as literate. Which leads back to Bordieu and his Marxist-like view of socially situated identity. Compton-Lilly (2014) shared about persons having appropriate interaction within a given field and "strategically competing for resources, positions, and opportunities" (p. 376). Those who are of higher socio-economic standing don't have as much trouble getting into higher academic institutions because their habitus prepares them for such and the transition from high school to college is less daunting an experience. Peter is literate and even takes honor's English courses, but yet he lacks the history - the experiences, his family is unable to assist him as they too lack the resources. Compton-Lilly (2014) says it best when she states, "Peter didn't lack talent; he lacked access" (p. 400).
One's position can place demands on them that require them to employ artifacts to "seem" literate. Eva (Bartlett, 2007) wants to "seem" literate. She wants to position herself in such a way that others see her as literate, as "regular", "normal", "someone with a little knowledge," so she employs cultural artifacts to assume such a position. Bartlett (2007) demonstrates through multiple examples that "people can and do use cultural resources to contest social positioning" (p. 64). Different fields made differing demands on Peter (Compton-Lilly, 2014, p. 381). The interaction between field and habitus helps to inform the social worlds available to individuals.
Thinking about this intersection or interaction, and looking at textual practice and identity construction, I am drawn to Roswell & Pahl (2007) who state that, "the way in which life was lived shaped particular textual practices and resulted in identity constructions that shaped text making" ( Compton-Lilly, 2014, p. 391). Peter's identification as a writer within his social setting, with his girlfriend who was a writer and several of his other friends were writers too. "Becoming a writer involves social dispositions of self that focus on purpose and belonging rather than grammar and main idea" (Compton-Lilly, 2014, p. 399). Peter identifies as a writer and creative person just as his circle of friends do too. Within cultural ways of learning and sedimented identities, Roswell and Pahl (2007) share Gutierrez and Rogoff (2003) findings of "how individuals' background experiences, together with their interests, may prepare them for knowing how to engage in particular forms of language and literacy activities" (p. 23). Peter, who grew up in a household full of books and with family members who read voraciously and emphasized the importance of reading, writing, and literacy (even technological literacy) serve as an example of sedimenting home in school and literary practice as part of identity (Roswell & Pahl, 2007).
However, even though Peter had the best foundation and education, I can't help but to think back to his lack of access and almost feeling of inability to move beyond his socio-positioning. Certainly, the women Bartlett (2007) shares about - Graça, Eunisa, and Eva used their cultural artifacts to reposition themselves as literate persons and move beyond the socio-economic constraints. But how does a teacher work to aid students like Peter to make a shift like that? It almost seems like the shift has to be made by the individual.
Christina,
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! When you called habitus "ambiguous", I jumped for joy, I feel as though the term habitus has a breathability factor that allows it to be a broader or narrower concept depending on how a specific writer uses it, which deepens the need to explain how I might be using it as a researcher.
Your line: "People can adapt their habitus to accommodate new situations; however, these changes tend to be incorporated slowly and unconsciously as elaborations rather than drastic changes to existing dispositions (Bordieu & Passeron, 1977; Compton-Lilly, 2014, p. 375)"...seems a great definition for lamination as I understand it from our readings. This call from both Compton-Lilly and Lammers and Marsh for longitudinal study is both daunting and exciting. It is also worrisome as I hope identity to play a huge role in my dissertation research. Our readings this week left me wondering how researchers study (and if researchers can study) the concepts of habitus and lamination within short-term projects.
At the end of your post, when you talk about Peter, it becomes very personal for me in both my own journey as a student and that of my own students. When you consider that the shift to move beyond socio-positioning might lie with the individual, I cannot help but want to argue the role habitus plays in this, but as you point out, the relationship between an individual and habitus is not one directional. I think your post will have me thinking for a long time, and I look forward to tonight's discussion.
Christina-
ReplyDeleteYou did a really nice job of weaving all of the people (participants) that we read about this week. Something I'm really thinking about related to the Compton-Lilly piece is the habitus that Peter occupied across the school system. Peter was continuous in his process of becoming literate, using many literacies outside of classroom spaces. However, the habitus that exists in schools; perhaps in specific classrooms; maybe in school districts and at the more macro level, prevented him from having his literacies valued. For example, I recall his teacher saying that Peter's assignments were late or missing and this would restrict his acceptance into the universities he wished to attend. I guess, for me, this habitus thing is getting me to think about the hegemonic ways we "are" in spaces, places and systems and to think about how shifts (like in the figure we looked at last week) might begin to chip away at oppressive habitus features.
Christina,
ReplyDeleteI think habitus is a challenging concept to understand well. I began to have a better understanding of it after reading Street (2003) last week when he defined habitus as "history brought to the present in person" (p. 81). Keeping that description in mind helped me this week think about what "literacy history" each person had in each of the articles. Thinking of it this way helped me see how researchers conceptualize sedimented identities and how a person's literacy history layers on top of each other. I liked how you discussed the lack of cultural capital in Bartlett's Brazilian participants' lives and in Peter's life kept them from being considered "literate" despite their attempts. It made me reflect upon whether there was cultural capital in my classroom that prevented my students from "doing literacy" that I wasn't aware of.
~Sarah
Christina,
ReplyDeleteI do like your question you left us with-"But how does a teacher work to aid students like Peter to make a shift like that? It almost seems like the shift has to be made by the individual." In the Compton-Lilly article she states, "Becoming a writer did not simply emerge during formal writing instruction; becoming a writer was a longitudinal journey that entailed dispositions that extended across home, school, and peer community involving both writing practices and a broader set of tangential dispositions." This connects to my reading of Heath, that we must be aware of the lives of students outside the classroom. But in addition, to be aware that a teacher, in my opinion, doesn't have the power to do this-the power is within the individual based on what social aspects are surrounding them. What do you think?