2 How positionality influences your worldview

Figure 4 Our worldview is shaped by our unique position and perspective, just as our view of Earth depends on where you stand to observe it.

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Satellite image of Earth from space showing North America, with blue oceans, white cloud formations, and green and brown landmasses visible against the black background of space.

Figure 4 Our worldview is shaped by our unique position and perspective, just as our view of Earth depends on where you stand to observe it.

As illustrated in Figure 4, our positionality includes our identity, culture and context. After examining your own lens in Activity 1, you may understand better how your own perspectives are formed and how they may affect your interactions with children and young people.

Your identity includes aspects like race, gender and class and profoundly influences your perspectives and interactions. For example, a teacher’s own background and lived experience might shape their expectations and responses to children’s behaviour. Recognising this influence allows us to appreciate the diverse perspectives that children bring into educational settings. You might have noticed in your responses to the activity that certain aspects of your identity influence how you perceive and interact with others.

Culture refers to the shared beliefs, values and practices of the communities you belong to. Cultural norms are the implicit rules that guide your social behaviour, influencing our perceptions of acceptable behaviour, communication styles, and learning approaches. For example, in some cultures, children are expected to make direct eye contact with adults as a sign of respect, while in others, this might be considered disrespectful. During the activity, you might have considered how your assumptions are based on your own cultural understanding of the world. Recognising that the norms you place on children are linked to your own upbringing can help you adapt your practices to be more culturally responsive. This ensures that all children feel valued and understood, regardless of their background.

Context also plays a significant role. It refers to the circumstances you find yourselves in and our past experiences. Understanding the context of both yourself and the children you work with enhances your ability to relate to them. Undertaking the activity may have led you to notice how your personal context influences your interactions and expectations. For example, someone who grew up in a single-parent household might have different assumptions about family structures than someone from a traditional nuclear family, which could affect how they interpret a child’s home situation.

So, having discussed how your positionality affects our thinking, you can see that it clearly influences your worldview.