Imagine introducing a group of young kids to a large playground bursting with swings, seesaws, monkey bars, spinners, and climbers. . . and asking them not to play. That’s what it’s like to teach a classroom full of promising, eager students and yet ask them not to talk about who they are.

Too often, schools focus on skill development without inviting students to explore who they are as learners.

Open discussion about student identity — their perspectives, interests, cultural background, gender, race, religion, and yes, their dyslexic identity — is foundational to learning potential in the same way play is foundational to recess. 

It’s why the words “embracing identities” appear in the second sentence of our mission statement. Acknowledging and nurturing identity isn’t just an after-thought at Carroll, it’s central to our very purpose.

Who Am I and What Do I Bring to This Classroom?

What might happen if every classroom treated identity as a core subject — not a side conversation?

When conversations around student identity don’t take place in the classroom, kids — especially those with learning differences — question who they are, how they fit in, and what they have to offer. They often internalize struggle, lose motivation, and disengage.

When identity work is intentionally talked about and integrated into curriculum, students are able to bring their whole selves to school. They feel grounded in who they are and how they relate to others. Instead of working to “fit in,” which suggests a pressure to shed some part of their identity, they fully belong. As a result, students engage in deeper, more meaningful learning.

Renowned social psychologist Claude Steele and his late wife and educator Dorothy Steele refer to this work as identity safety. Their collaborator, Becki Cohn-Vargas, Ed.D., put it this way:

Everyone in school needs to feel that they matter — not in spite of, but because of who they are.

Elevating Student Voices in the Classroom and Beyond

Helping students understand who they are as learners — and encouraging them to express it — gives them agency in their own educational journey. Research shows that when students feel their perspectives matter, their motivation and engagement grow. This approach could serve as a model for any school striving to build an authentic student voice, whether or not their students have learning differences.

When students are empowered to use their voices, they gain the confidence to advocate for themselves — a skill that serves them for life.

Educators are key to building brave spaces in which students can be their whole selves, and therefore access learning more deeply. At Carroll, we start by talking about the identity that unites our students: Having a language-based learning difference.

For example, when we launch a new curriculum unit, our teachers — who are inherently curious about students’ perspective and seek to optimize learning for every student — check in with them: 

→ What is your experience? 

→ How are you connecting with the content? 

→ What is working for you? Why? 

Most importantly, identity work at Carroll isn’t a single program — it’s a lens through which every experience, from academics to the arts to athletics, is designed.

Here are a few other ways identity work is woven into daily life at Carroll:

• Student leadership opportunities — Activities such as student council, clubs, sports, volunteerism, and community service groups allow kids to explore their interests and build a solid foundation of identity and perspective-taking beyond their shared learning differences.
   
• Pedagogy and classroom practices — like the Responsive Classroom approach — are designed to build trust, belonging, and encourage student reflection.
   
• Social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum — like classroom restorative circles and Bounders, allows kids to collaborate, communicate, take healthy risks, and learn coping skills and resilience.
   
• Community awareness & advocacy — like our recent celebration of Dyslexia Awareness Month in October, during which students and teachers wear the color red and families post Carroll lawn signs that celebrate dyslexia. An entire school community coming together to acknowledge, talk about, and celebrate learning differences reinforces a powerful identity-safe space.

Carroll CARES: A Longitudinal Study of Confidence, Advocacy, Resilience, and Emotions

We wouldn’t be Carroll if we did not dig into student data to understand how our identity work shapes confident, lifelong learners. That’s why I’m proud that, as part of our commitment to advancing research, we’re centering student voices in our work.

After a pilot study last year, we formally launched a longitudinal study: Carroll CARES (the Confidence, Advocacy, Resilience, and Emotions Survey). In collaboration with two of our research partners, Dr. Joanna Christodoulou and Dr. John Gabrieli, the goal of the study is to invite our students in grades 4 to 9 to shed light on how their confidence and advocacy skills build over time at Carroll and beyond. We also want to learn what variables are enabling kids to develop these skills.

My hunch is that our explicit instruction around identity work is a powerful factor and could be a missing link in how schools build student confidence. If we can understand how identity work shapes advocacy and confidence in dyslexic students, the implications could reach far beyond Carroll — to every classroom seeking to nurture resilience and belonging.

The voices of students with dyslexia are not just stories of overcoming challenge — they offer a roadmap for how all schools can rethink learning itself. We just have to listen.

For more on building resilience — a key component of identity work — listen to our recent Speaker Series on “Building Resilience in Children with Dyslexia” with Alex Hirshberg, Psy.D.

** Two books, Identity-Safe Classrooms and Identity-Safe Spaces at Home and School, both co-authored by Becki Cohn-Vargas, share more about this topic.