School History and Identity in Troubled Youth: A Narrative Approach to Understanding Identity Development in Context

Abstract

Drawing from theoretical frameworks linking self and narrative, the present study uses a collective case study design to investigate the link between self-concept and school experience in youth receiving special education services for emotional and behavioral difficulties. This study aimed to provide a better understanding of the messages special education students receive about themselves in school settings, such as messages about disability and limitations, and the ways in which these messages shape the students' self-concepts. In-depth interviews about experiences in school were conducted with 4 high-school students of a day-treatment school for special education students. Interviews with 8 school staff members and school records were used to assess the school-level perceptions of each student. Recurrent themes in the interview and school record data were identified using accepted qualitative analytic techniques. The data supports the conclusion that the students received many direct and indirect messages about disability and ability within school settings. The ways in which the students resist and internalize these messages in the construction of personal identity are highlighted. The results of this study underscore the importance of school settings as contexts of development. It is argued that the stories told about and around students can dramatically inform how they learn to think about themselves. Further, it is argued that schools should consciously foster the development of positive self-concepts in students by communicating messages to students about their strengths, rather than about disability and deficit.