Session 1: Positionality – what it is and why it matters

Introduction

Every person occupies a particular place in the world. Daily experiences, the communities you belong to, the challenges you face, and the opportunities available to you are shaped by who you are and where you come from. What feels ‘normal’ to you is actually your lived experience, a unique combination of circumstances, relationships and social realities that we’ve encountered throughout our lives.

Positionality refers to the recognition of how identities, shaped by factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and ability affect understandings of the world. It is the acknowledgement that your perspectives are influenced by your unique social positions and experiences. When discussing positionality, it means considering how who you are influences what you see and how you interact with others, along with the biases and assumptions that naturally develop from your lived experience.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

• understand how your position in the world affects your worldview
• recognise the ways in which your worldview may lead to assumptions and biases about other people, particularly children and young people
• identify ways to develop your worldview to create fairer and more inclusive interactions with children and young people from diverse backgrounds.