Self-Awareness and Positionality

There is a reason self-awareness is often a focal point in books regarding individual growth and self-development. Self-awareness is simply the skill of being conscious of your own motivations, desires, actions, emotions and what shapes them. Being able to identify why you view the world the way you do and recognize that your view is not ubiquitous is integral to personal growth and to positionality. 

Positionality encourages the self-identification and critical reflection of an individual’s social standing and the power dynamics that come along with that social standing. Recognizing positionality allows for the highlighting of alternative perspectives and power dynamics. Understanding the position of students relative to instructors, and the inevitable gaps in shared experience, allows for the possibility of meeting students where they are and creating a more equitable path to success. 

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• RESEARCH

  Examine selected research on self-awareness and positionality. 

  Harrington, C. (2022, January 25). Reflect on your positionality to ensure student success. Inside Higher Education. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2022/01/26/successful-instructors-understand-their-own-biases-and-beliefs-opinion(opens in new window)

  Taylor, E., Tisdell, E. J., & Stone Hanley, M. (2000). The role of positionality in teaching for critical consciousness: Implications for adult education. Adult education research conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2000/papers/89/(opens in new window)

  Liegeot, J. P. (2020). My positionality as a teacher: my testimony as educator with a global perspective. Trayectorias humanas trascontinentales, 8.https://doi.org/10.25965/trahs.2978(opens in new window)

  Hamilton, E. R. (2012). Video as a Metaphorical Eye: Images of Positionality, Pedagogy, and Practice. College Teaching, 60(1), 10–16.https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2011.604803(opens in new window)

  Webb, K. Positionality. The University of British Columbia. https://intheclass.arts.ubc.ca/renewed-project/discussion-topics-prompts/discussion-prompts-positionality/(opens in new window)

  Ortiz, A. P., Tarasawa, B., Al-Musaifry, N., Trimble, A., & Straton, J. (2018). Positionality in Teaching: Implications for Advancing Social Justice. The Journal of General Education (University Park, Pa.), 67(1–2), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.5325/jgeneeduc.67.1-2.0109(opens in new window)

• APPLICATION

  Ready to apply self-awareness and positionality to your teaching? Here are some ideas and strategies to get you started:

  An individual’s positionality is often difficult to recognize without direct and meaningful self-reflection. Here are some things to consider in order help elucidate your positionality:

  1. What groups do I identify with and how do those identifications shape my perspective and approach to the world and my instruction of my course(s)?
  2. What professional and academic experiences have I had, and how might they shape my impact on my students?
  3. How might my experiences be reflected in, or compared to those of my students?
  4. Do I engage in practices that hinder the success and sense of belonging of my students?
  5. How might I make students aware of my positionality in order to highlight experiences that may be similar and disparate with theirs?

  How can I create a space that allows for students to comfortably identify differences in perspective and understanding?