Teacher Identity: it’s personal

“BE WHO YOU ARE”

Outside of my classroom, you will find a sticker on my nameplate that says just that with white and rainbow lettering. It is a sticker I have kept for years since I went to my first PRIDE festival in Kansas City way back in college. I never knew what to do with it and, while I wasn’t afraid to put it up somewhere, I didn’t want to waste it. I knew I could always get more of the same or similar sticker, but this one was special to me and I wanted to make sure I used it in way someday that would make it special for someone else.

I finally put it up this year, SY #5, and I never felt more at peace than the moment it went up. Above it is my classroom number and below it, I inserted a gold paper with my name written in all caps followed by an exclamation mark, which is meant to commemorate the first teacher sign I ever made for my classroom above my door, which had an exclamation point.

The other day, I was leaving my classroom after school and noticed that I had new bright white signs by my door that had my name a colleges that I graduated from. They had the school symbol and that was it. It’s not a new concept for teachers to post their colleges outside of their room; in fact, my previous campus required us to have it and I even put up my high school to show my pride, even though I teach in a different state than I grew up in. My undergraduate school symbol is a church spire because it is a catholic university; however, our mascot is Spiro the Dragon. As tacky as it sounds, and as tacky as I thought it was when I was in college, I love the youthfulness and humor behind it. Needless to say, there is a lot more to my undergraduate and graduate school than the symbol you find when you Google it.

I love my colleges but I felt empty when I looked at those signs–they didn’t represent the experiences I had there. I shrugged it off because, as we all know, teachers have more to worry about. Then, I looked back down at my nameplate that I have always taken such pride in and saw a white strip of paper — S. Porchia — and was taken aback for a moment. Surely they had seen that I already had a bright gold paper with my name written — MS. PORCHIA! — but still, they chose to cover up mine with their perfectly printed and centered name.

I couldn’t seem to shrug this one off. What was wrong with my name the way I had written it? Was it too bright? Too colorful? Too personal? My sticker still said “BE WHO YOU ARE” and, when I looked at the newly printed card stock with my name printed out, I thought… “That’s not who I am–why would they cover it up?”

I told myself, “It’s just a paper. Chill. You have more important things to worry about.” But, I knew that it wasn’t just a paper. It was a message. It is my name and my handwriting. And, there is nothing more personal.

What is the responsibility of a school leader when it comes to protecting and improving teacher identity? In what ways do we, as colleagues and educators, either add to or chip away at another educator’s identity? This isn’t about curriculum or faculty meetings. It’s about how a teacher feels when they walk into a school, about the way a teacher dresses, and whether or not they are wearing that dress for themselves or because they believe it is expected of them to wear something widely accepted as professional. It’s about doing the same for teachers that we strive to do for students every day, making sure they are seen, heard, and loved.

When it comes down to it, teaching and education is personal. Celebrating what makes us different is what helps us reach students and helps educators know they belong. We all have our own baggage and past issues. We bring them with us to school everyday, like students, and, although we know we have to keep it together, our uniqueness should never be covered up with clean, white, card stock.