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SELF AS KNOWLEDGE LESSON 2:

INTERSECTIONALITY AND BREAKING BINARIES



Designed by Jasmin Hoo

Description:
In this lesson students will explore who they are in within a socio-political context. Students will
start with their own definitions of the self in the Who are you? exercise. Students will then learn about the
Iceberg theory of Identity and the Big 8 Socio-Political Identifiers and reflect on their own socio-political
identities. Students will learn about the theory of Intersectionality and will use the articles as a discussion
point to challenge the dualistic and fixed ways in which identity is often framed.

Guiding Question: What is identity?

Purpose/Aim:
1. Students to recognize and reflect on their own socio-political identities.
2. Students to understand the theory of intersectionality to critically explore the concept of identity.
3. Students to learn more about themselves and their classmates.

Lesson Plan Materials:
Laptop and projectors
Paper
Markers
I am poetry worksheet


Lesson Plan
CRITICAL
VOCABULARY


Definition and Rationale for choosing this word, phrase, or concept

INTERSECTIONALITY
THEORY


The theory that our identities are the intersection of our social identities (such as race, class, gender,
religion), and that our race cannot be isolated from our gender (for example), but that these parts
influence each other and the whole identity experience.

BIG 8 IDENTIFIERS

The major socio-political identifiers that shape our experiences in the world:
Race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental
ability.


Pre-requisites: Students should have some familiarity with the concept of socio-political identity and have
the ability to be self reflective and critical.

Modifications: The challenge is to ensure students who have learned about socio-political identity and
intersectionality already are not bored, while students who are new to this information are not lost. I will
encourage students with prior knowledge of these topics to share and help lead the conversation. The lesson
will also include self-reflective time in order for people to focus on where they are in the learning process.


PART 1: CULTURAL ENERGIZER

Who are you? Activity:
In this opening activity students will pair up with a person and take turns asking each other Who are
you?, allowing each person one minute to answer the question any way they wish. Students will again ask
this question of one another, taking turns to share, but in the second round students cannot answer with a
label such as student or female. For the final round, students will ask the same question and take turns
sharing, but this round they cannot repeat anything they have already said. Afterwards students will have
time to reflect and discuss the activity.


STEP
DESCRIPTION TIME (20 min)
Step 1

Facilitator asks students to stand up and pair up with someone across the room from them. Pairs
should pick a partner A and a partner B.

2 minutes
Step 2

Facilitator explains that Partner A will ask partner B Who are you? and partner B has one
minute to answer. If Partner B becomes silent, partner A is supposed to ask the question again,
and partner B has to keep answering the question. After this one minute, partner A and B will
switch roles and partner B will be asking partner A Who are you?

5 minutes
Step 3

For the second round of this activity, the same question will be asked, but the person answering
the question cannot use any labels, such as student, male, Asian American, etc. The
directions are repeated from the 1
st
round, with this one alteration of how to answer the question.

3 minutes
Step 4
For the third round of this activity, again the same question and procedures will be repeated as
before, however the person answering cannot say anything they have already said in their
previous answers.

3 minutes
Step 5
After the activity, the facilitator will ask students to share with the group what that was like for
them.

5 minutes


PART 2: CRITICAL CONCEPTS

Identity and Intersectionality Discussion Lecture:
In this discussion lecture, students will explore the concept of identity, starting with the Iceberg Theory of
Identity that reveals there are aspects of identity that are visible and aspects that are invisible. Students will learn
about the Big 8 Identifiers and reflect on and discuss these different aspects of their own socio-political identities.
Students will also learn about the theory of Intersectionality which emphasizes how the various aspects of our identity
intersect and impact and shape our experiences and will be challenged to discuss how identity may not be fixed or fit
the binary system of thinking. Students will apply these concepts around identity to the readings.

STEP
DESCRIPTION TIME
(1 hr and 10 min)
Slide/
Step 1
Pose to the class:
What is identity?

5 minutes
Slide/
Step 2
Show Brook Grahams Iceberg of Identity visual that shows there are aspects of our identity
that are visible and aspects that invisible.

Pose to the class:
How does this theory relate to your identity?
Are all aspects of identity either visible or invisible?
How does the world identify you, versus how do you identify?
10 minutes
Slide/
Step 3
Show the Big 8 Identifiers: Race, gender, class, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion,
ability.

Take a moment and write down how you identity for each aspect of identity listed above.

Discuss with the person next to you:
Which ones do you more strongly identify with?
Which ones do you not think about often?
What aspects of identity are missing?
Why do you think these are seen as the most important aspects of socio-political
identity?

15 minutes
Slide/
Step 4
Intersectionality Theory:
The theory that our identities are the intersection of our social identities, and that our race
cannot be isolated from our gender (for example), but that these parts influence each other and
the whole identity experience.

What does this theory mean?
Why do we often think of identity in isolated or binary ways? How does this relate to
our discussions around the production of knowledge?
In what ways do your identities intersect? In what ways does your identity not fit into
fixed categories?
Why might this theory be important in understanding identity?

15 minutes
Slide/
Step 5
Readings Discussion: Anzalda, Museus, Kumashiro, Buenavista & Chen.

Please pick the article that either resonated with your own identity the most, or was the most
foreign from your identity experience.

In these groups discuss:
How does the author socially/politically identify?
How does the author define identity?
How does the author challenge fixed notions of identity?
How does intersectionality show up in these articles?
Did you relate to this article, if so, why or how?

20 minutes
Slide/
Step 6
Group share:
What did you discuss in your small group about intersectionality and identity?

5 minutes


PART 3: COMMUNITY COLLABORATION AND CULTURAL PRODUCTION

I am Poetry Activity:
In this activity students will use poetry to apply the concepts of identity discussed in this lesson. This will
start with showing a video clip example of a slam poem on identity. Students will then be asked to fill out the I am
poetry worksheet to generate content for their own identity poem. Students will use this worksheet to write a poem
using either a simple line poem method or creating their own original structure. Students will share and discuss their
poems with the group and relate the poetry back to the concepts of identity and intersectionality.

STEP
DESCRIPTION TIME (1 hr)
Step 1
Facilitator will share a video clip of a slam poem on identity (such as Alex Dangs What Kind
of Asian Are You?)
Afterwards the facilitator will ask the students:
What did you notice in this poem?
How did this poem make you feel?
How do you relate to this poem? How is your experience different from the poets
experience (based on what you heard in the poem)?
15 minutes
Step 2
Facilitator asks students to fill out the I am poetry worksheet that asks:
What are your socio-political identities?
Who are your people?
What places do you identify with?
What languages or words do you identity with?
What kind of music and art do you identify with?
What sights, smells, sounds, textures, and tastes do you identify with?

10 minutes
Step 3
Facilitator asks students to use the words under each question on the I am poetry worksheet to
create a poem about their identity. They can create a simple list poem in which they write I
am and plug in the words from their lists, such as:

I am a queer woman, I am a fast-talking/fast walking East Coaster, I am the smell of freshly
baked pork buns on Sunday morning.

Or they can be more creative and play around with the structure while still addressing identity.

15 minutes
Step 4
Facilitator will ask students to share their poem with the class if they feel comfortable. After
each poem, the facilitator will ask:
What did you notice in this poem?
How did this poem make you feel?
How do you relate to this poem? How is your experience different from the poets
experience (based on what you heard in the poem)?

10 minutes
Step 5
Final questions for group discussion:
What is identity?
How is it defined, or who defines it?
What does identity mean to you?
Is it fixed or fluid?
10 minutes


PART 4: CONCLUSIVE DIALOGUE/CRITICAL CIRCULAR EXCHANGE

Connection: This lesson is relevant to the students because it explore their own personal identities. It is
relevant to the unit in acknowledges that context and individual experience matter in how we understand the
world.

Assessment: Students will be assessed by what they write in their poem as well as in their Self Portrait
project and reflection paper due at the end of this unit.

Evaluation: This activity will be evaluated through discussion and an anonymous student feedback form at
the end of this course.

RESOURCES AND NOTES
Resources
Anzalda, Gloria. (1987). Towards a new consciousness/La conciencia de la mestiza. In Borderlands/La Frontera:
The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
Buenavista, T. and Chen, A. (2010). Intersections and Crossroads: A Case Study of an Undocumented Asian
American College Student.
Kumashiro, K. (2001). Queer Students of Color and Antiracist, Antiheterosexist Education: Paradoxes of Identity and
Activism. In Kumashiro, K. (Ed.) Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality: Queer Students of Color and Anti-
Oppressive Education. (pp. 1-25). Lantham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield.
Museus, S. D., Yee, A. L., & Lambe, S. A. (2011). Multiracial in a monoracial world: Student stories of racial
dissolution on the colorblind campus. About Campus, 16(4), pp. 20-25. doi:10.1002/abc.2007

Iceberg Theory of Identity: (Source: Brook Graham)






I am Poetry Worksheet (designed by Jasmin Hoo)

Answer each question with as many words, phrases, or sentences as you can. Dont think too hard about it and dont think
about grammar or spelling.


What are your socio-political identities?







Who are your people?







What places do you identify with?








What languages or words do you identity with?









What kind of music and art do you identify with?









What sights, smells, sounds, textures, and tastes do you identify with?

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