Identity Interruptions

When a person becomes injured at work, there are a number of factors that will come into play allowing a person to rehabilitate and successfully return to work.  Many of the insurance industries across Canada work feverously to develop work place safety and education programs to prevent injuries; however, even with this attitude of “an ounce of prevention” we still struggle with workplace injury as a nation.  We only need to look to statistics from the Association of Workers Compensations Boards of Canada to realize that workplace injury is still a concern in Canada.  http://awcbc.org/common/assets/nwisptables/table36-fat-ind-jur.pdf

There are various tools used to determine how long it will take before an injured worker can return to work.  As well, there are considerations such as the amount of time it will take for the injury to heal, a persons age and the physical nature of the persons occupation. The ultimate goal of a workplace insurance board is a person’s successfully and safe return to work. However, there are some pitfalls that can hinder a person’s return to work goal, and “identity” can play a role.

Klenk noted (as cited by Crossman, 1997) that athletes who have a “strong self identity or sense of worth through the single social role of sport may experience a particularly difficult time adjusting to being injured.”  The same can be said for individuals who have a strong identity attachment or sense of worth thorough their employment.   Brewls stated  “A stronger connection between athletes and self identity is created as the athlete invests more time in the sport, for this reason emotional disturbance may be greater..” In relating this statement to employment, if you are a workaholic and have no life outside of work, you will have a particularly hard time adjusting to an injury because this injury is a threat to your very identity. 

When an injury takes longer than expected to heal this may further threaten a person’s identity and increase emotional disturbance.  For example, if a person is told that an injury will take 4 weeks to heal, and there is little improvement after 4 weeks, that persons anxiety level may increase because the  worker fears that they will not be able to return to work.  Bracker’s statement that “individuals with more complex identity structures have fewer depressive symptoms and less stress than individuals with less complex structures” (Bracher, 2006) seems to support that a person who sees their identity in a single social role, such as that of “athlete” or “nurse”, will have more stress if they sustain an injury.  

If a person is deemed not capable of returning to work, due to the physical nature of their employment, they may have to seek other employment within their physical limitations.  This can be difficult for most individuals; however, if your identity is entrenched in your work this can be devastating.  “In a real sense, job loss marks an interruption in the natural process of reaffirming identity that is essential to maintaining mental health (Burke, 1991; Thoits, 1991).” When we work, we are constantly seeking to reaffirm our identities through recognition.  If a person is unable to return to this environment they  may feel a loss of identity.  “These identity interruptions are stressful, and the key to preventing their negative consequences is to allow a new identity to be affirmed. If people are able to negotiate new identities that are satisfactory, the negative effects of job loss may be minimized”  

Allowing someone time to negotiate a new identity may not always be possible. Factors such as family responsibility, employers, doctors and insurance companies control and direct timelines with regards to how much time you have to negotiate a new identity.  If a person’s identity is entrenched in their pre injury employment / community of practice, the process of negotiating a new identity can take years. If an individual is not provided with the time necessary to negotiate a new identity, they can adopt the one that is the easiest to relate to which is often that of injured worker or victim. This would be especially prevalent in those individuals who’s identity is that of a single social role. Once the new identity of “injured worker” has been established the person will fight hard to maintain that identity as this has become their newly defined self.        

References

Klenk, C.A., (2006). Psychological Response to Injury, Recovery, and Social Support: A Survey of Athletes at an NCAA Division 1 University. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=srhonorsprog

Price, R.H., Friedland, D.S., & Vinokur, A.D. (1998). Job loss: Hard times and eroded identity.

 In J.H. Harvey (Ed.) Perspectives on loss: A sourcebook (pp. 303-316). Philadelphia,  23

PA: Taylor & Francis. Retrieved from http://www.isr.umich.edu/src/seh/mprc/Job%20Loss%20Hard%20times%20and%20eroded%20identity.pdf

Bracher, M (2006). Radical Pedagogy: Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan

Identity Formation

When I think of my early education, I can recall several bad experiences which had a lasting effect on my identity as a student. Without a doubt, I had positive experiences in school but; the bad experiences are the first ones that invade my memory. I want to share 2 personal stories with you that I will later relate to our assigned readings: Situated Learning, Legitimate peripheral participation( Lave & Wenger, 1991) and Radical Pedagogy, Identity Generativity, and Social Transformation (Bracher, 2006).  

Story 1

When I was in grade primary, our day began by reciting the “Our Father” prayer. One morning, I did not stand with everyone else to recite the prayer.  I was in the middle of something that I wanted to complete, and I must have felt that task was of more importance than standing up to pray.  I only recall the teacher marching toward me, pulling me out of my desk by my arm and smacking me across the face.  I can still recall the sting of the tears rolling down my face.  I was humiliated.

Story 2

I struggled with math in grade 9.  I was very shy and didn’t like to ask questions.  I did not like attention of any kind. One day in math class, I mustered up enough courage to ask the teacher a question. I asked him to please explain the math equation a second time, as I didn’t understand what he was doing.   The teacher replied “of course you don’t, you’re a girl and all girls are stupid”.  The entire class laughed.  I was humiliated.  I avoided asking this teacher question’s but continued to endure the humiliation of other female students who dared to ask for assistance.  

   

As I continue to read Radical Pedagogy, Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation, (Bracher, 2006) I am fascinated by the idea that identity vulnerability is the common root cause in impediments to learning and personal well being.  As I stated in my last blog, I find myself soul searching and analyzing some of the decisions I have made in my previous jobs, and in life. I find this book has encouraged me to learn more about the subject matter of identity, and to learn more about myself.  

I have searched online for information on identity and learning, and I came across several postings that discussed Communities of Practice. One posting was titled Communities of Practice a Brief Introduction (Wenger 2009), provided an excellent summary of Communities of Practice.  This posting discussed what Communities of Practice looked like, and where the concept of Communities of Practice is applied.  As well, I read an online post titled Identity and learning by Catherine Lombardozzi that discussed the formation of identity within a community of practice.  In her post Lombardozzi (2011) states;

  “The community of practice literature especially focuses on the idea that learning is a process of learning to be. As we take on various roles in our lives, and become part of many different communities, they all influence who we are in that context. We don’t simply learn how to play, we learn how to be a child. We don’t simply learn math and geography, we learn to be a student. We don’t just learn to process claims or manage people, we learn to be an individual contributor or a leader.”

I thought about this statement and wondered, what type of a student did I “learn to be”? What types of experiences did I have that encouraged my learning, and what types of experiences did I have that threatened my identity impeding my learning?  I feel the stories I have shared with you did have an impact on my learning.  The fear of humiliation was definitely a threat to my identity, because the last label I wanted was that of “stupid”. As well, I learned at a very early age to do what I was told or suffer the embarrassment of punishment in front of my peers.   Within this Community of Practice, I was learning to be an obedient and uninspired student.

In Lombardozzi’s (2011) on line post, Identity and Learning, she further states “what we do with our working lives is part of who we are.  That sounds obvious and uninteresting until you think about it for a while. We who are in the business of helping people learn in the context of their jobs or their professional pursuits are in the business of identity formation” This statement provided me with much food for thought.  As educators in the workplace, or in the school system, we have the ability to make a positive lasting impression on a student or colleague that could be life changing for them. Equally, as in my experience, we can have a negative effect on the formation of one’s identity that can have lasting effects. This “business of identity formation” is a thought that I will try to remember, because I want to be the type of educator that will contribute in a positive way to the development and growth of one’s identity.   

References:

C Lombardozzi (2011, September 24) Identity and Learning (web blog). Retrieved from http://learningjournal.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/identity-and-learning/

E. Wenger (2006, June) Communities of Practice; A Brief Introduction. Retrieved from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/).

Bracher, M (2006). Radical Pedagogy: Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press