Reformulating Identities in the face of fluid modernity, by Castanheira et al.

As I was reading this article, I thought about poststructuralist approaches to understanding identity and how they very much agree with Castanheira et al's "concept of multiple identities, or identities as constructed and mutable" (p. 173). Post-structuralists conceive identity as an unstable, multilayered entity, which is constructed and reconstructed by social structures (such as family, friends, classroom, schools, etc.)

Similarly, the study conducted by the authors revealed the ways in which "ethnolinguistically" "diverse 5th graders in a small southern California town learned to become students in a local group, both in the class and in the school community as a whole". This is significant as it demonstrates how different circumstances may require individuals to take up different roles, which are constructed "in and through" individuals' interaction with their social environment.

What this means is that identity is not something individuals create on their own. As pointed out by the authors, "individual-collective relationships are central to constructing an identity within a local group...and [as such] identity is a social construct that is negotiated for and by the members of the group" (p. 175).

The authors also point to "the pattern of action developed by the teacher--inviting students to use their prior knowledge and experiences to participate in classroom activities, which help define ways of being in that classroom."