Principle 03 of 07 · Social Needs
Positive Identity.
Students see themselves — language, history, community — reflected in the work.
Students are fully embraced for who they are and develop a sense of positive identity and belonging.
What it asks of a school
Students see themselves — language, history, family, community — reflected in the curriculum, the adults, the walls, the work.
Identity is not a unit you teach in March. It's woven through every classroom decision: who's centered in the story, whose name is on the rubric, whose holiday is on the calendar, whose voice gets cited.
What it looks like
Texts that reflect students' identities without tokenizing them. Staff who reflect the student body, or who at least have credibility with the communities they serve. Visible policies against identity-based harm — race, gender, ability, class — that the students themselves can name.
Space for students to bring their full selves into the room. Languages other than English on the walls. Dress, hair, and naming conventions that the school doesn't fight.
Why it matters
Identity is the difference between a student who feels school is happening to them and a student who feels school is happening with them. The Strength-Indicator surfaces this gap directly — adults often think positive identity is solved long before students do.
Resources for going deeper.
A curated set of research, articles, books, videos, and talks the MLCN network leans on for this principle. External links — opens in a new tab.
Sesame Workshop Releases Major New Study on the Role of Social Identities in Children’s Lives.
Stages of Racial Identity Development
Getting to Know Students Deeply
Like Myself: Fostering Positive Identities
In My Skin
Stand Out and Be Unique
Equity in Student Centered Learning Guide
The Social Needs cluster.
What every student needs in order to be in school and ready to learn.
Explore further.
Resources, student projects, and member schools tagged with this principle.
Resources tagged with this principle
Lesson designs, planning tools, readings, and templates shared by member schools.
OpenProjects in this principle
Real work from MLCN classrooms — defended in public, archived for the network.
OpenMember schools
Minnesota schools doing the work — browse the directory and filter by location, grade band, or principle.
Open