Stella Maris College, Manly – my catholic, all-girls, private school – contributed to many students’ identities, including my own. Student identity can be understood as the importance of one’s self-identity (Bowman & Felix, 2017). High school for many people including myself, was a pivotal point in our lives, during this time you are transforming from a teenager to an adult. During high school, it’s not just hormonal or physical changes that a student goes through, it's social and emotional changes too. Your environment throughout high school changes with new and old friends, classrooms, and teachers this impacts your overall emotional, mental, and physical well-being. My school in particular focused on developing student identity through our relation to race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.
Multiculturalism in an educational environment has the opportunity to influence students as it introduces them to the realities of the wider world around them. Race and ethnicity even though used synonymously are not inherently the same thing. Tait explains that race refers to the physical characteristics of a person, whereas ethnicity indicates cultural factors such as nationality, ancestry, and language (2012). The topic of race and ethnicity is a very sensitive subject to broach for a lot of schools, students inherently are not allowed to understand other cultures and traditions until they get to high school. I know in my case, coming from an ethnic background I was at an advantage in a lot of ways compared to my classmates that had an Anglo-Celtic background. However, when discussed in a classroom setting they are touchy subjects even though they are a vital part in the construction of some student self-identities (Tait, 2012). Students, like myself who categorize themselves as being half Australian and half something else, do feel greater importance of being identified with their ethnic identity too (e.g. Italian Australian) rather than their social class-based identity (Tait, 2012). To us – children of immigrants – having that ethnic identity is of great importance, so when in the classroom the teacher discusses a past event or current issue about our families’ countries of origin, we feel a great sense of pride in being acknowledged, of being seen. At my high school, at the beginning of the year assembly, students were invited to welcome everyone at Stella Maris in our ‘native’ languages. I did participate a few times and always received a few questions afterward on what language I was speaking. I felt that even though I did speak a Slavic language the actual interest in understanding my ethnicity and the history of my culture wasn’t there when I felt like it should be since I felt my culture and history could be of benefit to the learning environment of my peers and the wider school community. The school was pleased they had students from different ethnicities attending an all-girls, catholic, private school rather than understanding what our backgrounds and cultures meant to us. Some teachers also believe and are committed to the idea of broaching the “ ‘identity as ethnicity’ ” approach (Siteine, 2017). Tait says as much as in his Myth 2, where he discusses that we do not discriminate based on race or ethnicity (2012). In my particular case, even though there was not an overt sense of acceptance for being the only Slavic girl in my year, I wasn’t given any fewer opportunities than the other students. But I was seen as a marvel amongst the predominantly Anglo-Celtic girls in the school since I speak another language besides English fluently and I was always asked to speak it for the merriment of other students and teachers. At times I felt like a test subject in a tube, but looking at the wider picture and looking back, I was never afraid to be who I was nor shy away from a chance to show off my ethnicity. Even so, the multiculturalism that I knew was at my school wasn’t used to its full potential in giving the wider school community a chance to gain insight and respect for a person from another race and/or ethnicity.
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The basis of sex and gender in an educational atmosphere plays an integral role in personal growth and social understanding. Fundamentally gender and sex need to be understood as two different concepts. Sex should be understood as the biological grouping that is dependent on reproductive organs, hormones, and chromosomes (Tait, 2012). Gender is then described as not the measure of what sexual organs you have but rather it’s an amalgamation of social factors, that are not directed by our genetics (Tait, 2012). Your schooling years are perhaps the most formidable and mouldable times of a person’s life due not only to the biological changes but also the formation of one's identity. This personal evolution was evident by watching a couple of girls in my year at my all-girls Catholic school transition into the opposite gender. The internal battle of gender identity faced by these students is not a unique story as their schooling environment was directly correlated with their mental health. Robert Davies and Barbara Kessel (2017) amplify this through their article breaking down the environmental development experienced by a transgender student named “Jamie” in his high school and the overall effect it had on his mental wellbeing. They go on to describe that while Jamie received support from the school administration, he was still bullied by his peers for his transition consequently receiving several diagnoses’ including depression and anxiety (Davies & Kessel, 2017). This experience was somewhat highlighted in my school as I watched my deputy principal invalidate a student’s self through their own notoriously conservative beliefs which involved the suppression of identity through the ultimatum posed to the student whereby, they must keep their hair long and of a natural color or risk expulsion, which I believe was amplified by the same-sex Catholic schooling system. The reaction by the school administration negatively affected this student both mentally and academically. Subsequently, this peer was continuously missing from class, and their overall presentation in person portrayed a human being visibly uncomfortable with their surroundings. Within my school environment, my peers were far more respectful of our fellow student's individuality and tried our best to include them, even though we didn’t know their full ongoing negative experience with the school board. Conversely, another transgender student suddenly left in Year 10 and began work, further showing the impact that a schooling environment can have on a person’s gender identity and mental health. Upon reflection, it is heavily suggested that the student’s continued alienation from their peers and environment stemmed from their intolerant experiences by others and an overwhelming sense of rejection.
Sexuality is an ongoing and evolving conversation for the world. Human beings tend to need to fit the world and its actions into an aptly labeled box to accept and understand it. Many factors influence individual or cultural views on sexuality including religion, family beliefs, and available information. These factors were evident in my school system about sexuality through the experiences of students in the education presented. My school’s all-female Catholic foundation did not give much room to explore the complex world of sexuality in an accepting environment. This was highlighted by the syllabus we received in which we were informed about the biological process of sexual relations and consequently the journey through pregnancy with a heavy and constant encouragement of abstinence throughout Years 7 to 9. In religion in Year 7, sex was directed towards the pleasure and anatomy of men in juxtaposition to the school of female students. Biological sexual education was required however there was no room left for social understanding in the form of anything outside heterosexual relations and the importance of consent. Kathleen O’Elliott further highlights this in her article following a group of students at an American public high school and their activism surrounding sexuality. The importance of this study is conveyed through my high school's focus on rape prevention in the form of modesty, and the shame and cover-up associated with the catholic faith through underground intimidation of non-heterosexual relationships. This was evidenced by a peer’s relationship and the response from the administration to keep it private at all times. Subsequently, O’Elliott’s work highlights a deep and ongoing issue through a group of students within the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) who observed the lack of understanding and decided to step up and use activism to achieve their desired outcomes through education and empathy as well as personal stories to connect emotionally to other individuals (2016). The discrimination and hurt caused upon people deemed too different or a second-class citizen is evident in all aspects of race, gender, and sexuality in this world. It must be combatted with empathy, education, understanding, and patience to achieve an accepting world where equality is simply never questioned.
Throughout my Catholic, private, all-girls college, I believe that even though the school attempted to contribute to my student identity, it did so in a way that left much to be desired about the mainly conservative and at times liberal approach staff used in dealing with students. Our society today thankfully has many resources for students who are questioning their identities can access safely. However, in my opinion since high school for many people is such a fundamental area in our lives, there should be more done to help students who are questioning their identities, in terms of safe spaces that they can access and information that should have access to without the ire of the school administration. My experience at Stella Maris College did have its drawbacks, but my school usually chose to highlight race and ethnicity in a good light but did not teach us about gender and sexuality in a constructive way that didn’t feel critical of students who did not fit their predetermined mold of a straight, cis-gender girl.
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