Document Type
Honors Thesis
Major
Elementary Education
Advisor(s)
Dominick Varney
Committee Members
Rebecca Buchanan, Margaret Killinger, Franziska Petersen
Graduation Year
May 2022
Publication Date
Spring 5-2022
Abstract
Education can be a dehumanizing experience for both students and teachers. Teachers hold a great responsibility to ensure that student identities are validated in school and to this end, must create a safe and welcoming learning environment. This thesis analyzes common dehumanizing practices in schools and ways in which teachers may unconsciously invalidate their students or be invalidated themselves. In a personal reflective manner, this thesis focuses especially on the text Opening the Classroom Door (Chapter 1 of Teaching Towards Democracy) by Ayers et. al (2017) as I evaluate my experiences in the classroom both as a student and teacher, and reflecting on my changing knowledge and understanding of others through three different lenses: race, identity, and online learning.
Recommended Citation
Overturf, Maija, "Identity in the Classroom: How Opening the Classroom Door Opened My Eyes to Keeping Humanity in Education" (2022). Honors College. 765.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/765