Negotiating Critical Literacies with Young Children (2nd Edition)

Critical Literacy Takeaways

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Hello My Names Are...

This activity makes use of the “Hello my name is” name badge we are often made to wear to identify ourselves in various settings. The activity creates space for taking up the notion that we do not have an identity but rather multiple identities. Each of these identities results in our being able to do and say certain things or our hesitation to do or act in certain ways. This is just as true for young children as it is for adults. Sometimes we choose these identities, and other times, they are imposed upon us for different reasons.

Paulo Freire (1970) noted that once named, the world reappears as a problem that requires a new naming. Janks (2010) reminds us, the power to name one’s world breaks the silence. This activity is one opportunity for learners to play with notions regarding naming practices, specifically the names, which we choose for ourselves, and the names, which are given to us or imposed upon us. This gets at the politics of our own location and the position(s) from which we speak, act, do and so forth as well as the ways in which we have been positioned and in what ways.

What to Do
This activity would work best in small groups although I have done this with whole groups and pairs of children as well. Using a blank index card or the template supplied, at the top write “Hello my names are.” Have the children write different names by which they are known or draw representations of those names. These are names to which they would respond.

Following this have the children begin to talk about the origins of each name.

• Where did the name come from?
• Who calls you by that name?
• Is this a name you like?
• Does being called that name cause you to react in a certain way?
• What are some places or times when you might hear someone calling you by that name?
• Why do you answer when someone calls you that name?

On a second index card, at the top, write “Hello my names are not,” then follow the same procedures as noted previously.
To end the activity, have children create their own name badges for use somewhere in the classroom that includes the name(s) they would like used in the classroom.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. Bergman Ramos, Trans.). New York, NY: Herder and Herder.
Janks, H. (2010). Literacy and power. New York, NY: Routledge.