Understanding the Complexities of Self-Image in an EFL Rural Setting
Описание книги
In this book, we looked at self-image from a humanistic perspective. We see it as a dynamic and complex process that compromises self-respect and self-confidence. The protagonists of this story come from a rural area. They were a group of eleventh graders from a high school in Samacá, one of the 123 towns in the state of Boyacá, Colombia. As narrators of the story, we wanted to explore, analyze, and interpret how these adolescents perceived their self-image through their life stories under a narrative inquiry method. By telling their narratives, the students could reconstruct and re-signify their reality, while showing us who they are in relation to other people and their contexts. Therefore, life stories offered us the possibility to explore students' inner and social worlds. This research study helped us increase our sensitivity to how the adolescents saw themselves as part of their rural contexts, as well as how this might affect their futures. Resumen En este libro comprendimos la auto-imagen desde una perspectiva humana. Es decir, como un proceso dinámico y complejo que se relaciona con el auto-respeto y la auto-confianza. Los protagonistas de esta historia provienen de una zona rural. Ellos son un grupo de estudiantes de grado once de un colegio localizado en Samacá, uno de los 123 municipios que conforman el departamento de Boyacá en Colombia. Como narradores de esta historia, quisimos explorar, analizar e interpretar como estos adolescentes percibían su auto-imagen a través de sus historias de vida, enmarcadas en un método narrativo. Al narrar sus historias, los estudiantes reconstruyeron y resignificaron su realidad mientras nos mostraban su relación con otras personas y su propio contexto. Estas historias de vida nos dieron la posibilidad de explorar su mundo interno y social. Incrementamos nuestra sensibilidad como investigadores y entendimos como los adolescentes se percibían en un contexto rural y las implicaciones que esto tiene para sus vidas futuras.
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WHAT WE CARRY IN OUR LUGGAGE
Twelve years ago, when we created the research group TONGUE (Teaching on New Grounds Unexplored English Possibilities), we were interested in exploring students’ identities and self-images. We firmly believe that individuals, as human beings, are the most valuable part of society. Likewise, each student represents a whole world. One which is independent and unique. As teachers, we have strived to understand, interpret, see, and live our students’ worlds. In other words, we believe that we are called not only to teach, but to also to interpret our students’ contexts to better understand who they are as people. It is only after exploring our students’ lives that we can proceed to teach and learn.
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In this book, we looked at self-image from a humanistic approach. We see it as a dynamic and complex process that compromises self-respect and self-confidence. As a complex process, self-image is influenced by the community in which the individual interacts (school, neighborhood, home, etc.). All in all, self-image is a continuous process that begins from childhood (Rijavec, 1997; Bognar, 1999; Yahaya & Ramli, 2009; Simel, 2013). Furthermore, a positive self-image can generate many benefits. Heatherton and Wagner (2011) mentioned that having a high self-esteem helps people cope with cognitive and social challenges to live a better life.
We were also aware of the fact that the protagonists of this story were adolescents, who are in search of their selves and identities as human beings. As narrators of the story, we wanted to explore, analyze, and interpret how these adolescents perceived their self-image through their life stories. By telling their narratives, the students could reconstruct and re-signify their reality, while showing us who they are in relation to other people and their contexts. Therefore, life stories offered us the possibility to explore students’ inner and social worlds.
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