Culture and Identity
by Steve Goodman


One refrain we hear over and over from our students is: “EVC doesn’t feel like school.” Why do students who struggle at school feel so engaged at EVC? Why do they work so hard, and feel such accomplishment? What is it about this place?

With that question, we welcome you to our first EVC In Focus. Every six weeks, we’ll be sending you ruminations on our work—a chronicle of the ideas that have been bubbling up for us; the questions that keep us up at night; the creative and intellectual journeys taken by our students; and the conversations with mentors, colleagues, and students that have inspired new ways to see and think about our work. We share these stories, experiences, and lessons learned as a contribution towards the re-imagining of new possibilities for transforming the lives of youth in under-served communities.

And so, that question: even though students attend our documentary workshop three hours a day, four days a week, for a full semester, even though they conduct research, keep journals, and learn about social issues, even though they earn credit after successfully presenting final portfolios, they still say it doesn’t feel like school. Why?

I believe our students are talking about an experience of a different culture and identity—the culture we create at EVC and the new identity that culture allows them to develop. By ‘culture’ I mean an amalgam of things including (but not limited to): the everyday habits and rituals of social interaction and power distribution—both among students and between the students and adults--the configuration, decoration and use of classroom and non-classroom space, the size and composition of classes, the access to and use of technology, the choice of subject to study, and the use of community as source of knowledge and as an audience for the end product. This culture is created and recreated on a daily basis.

The connection between culture and identity is complex and nuanced. At risk of oversimplifying, I propose: Once the culture makes it possible for students to connect on an emotional level, once they have agency and a sense of ownership in developing the purpose and reason for their own learning, then they come to care about and become engaged in their work. Then they shed their old identity as bored and failing student and begin to create a new identity, not as a student, but as a media professional in the making. This shift is natural since the end result of the EVC students’ time in class is not a grade, but a product that has real use value and an impact on public audiences.

This notion of an alternative organizational culture and a new youth identity is a common aspect of all successful youth programs and schools. The particular features will vary, but the end result is much the same. Here are a few sound bites from students, clustered around themes I saw emerging at EVC:

Treated as Adults/High Expectations
When students arrive at our offices they see the awards won by previous EVC documentaries. “It made me feel prideful to be part of an organization to have so many achievements. All these awards -- they are not playing around. If I make a video, maybe it will win awards. That could be mine up on the wall one day.”

Student Ownership of Learning
Students determine the subject, direction and final shape of their inquiry.
“You don’t just read something and regurgitate it for a teacher to look at… Here you get to decide what you’re learning and where you’re going with it. It makes so much of a difference to me…”

Making a Difference
Through their documentaries, students explore social issues in their community that will then be presented to public audiences. “Homeless youth… was an important topic for us to learn and research about because it will change not only the way we think about it, but whoever watches the video will also change their way of thinking about it. And it’s gonna make a difference in people’s lives.”

Real Work for Real Audiences
Involving EVC staff, professional documentary makers, and older students in the ongoing reflection and critique of new students’ work is built into the process. “Knowing that professionals from TV are watching your stuff, it’s really helpful. I didn’t feel I knew what I was doing. Like, was I going in the right direction? They ask to hear what your thoughts are, your plans.”

Working in Groups
Students work collaboratively to research, shoot and edit their documentaries. “I learned about what Gilbert was researching, and Gilbert learned about what I was researching and I would teach him. You didn’t have to learn about everything on your own. It’s less intimidating. You’re becoming a researcher and a teacher. You feel empowered and proud – everyone is looking at you for the information. Usually the students are looking at the teacher. But here the students -- and even the teacher -- are looking at you.”

Small Class Size
Students work in l groups of 12-15. “Small is better. Everyone can know each other. The teachers got to know every student. It never felt like school. … It’s more intimidating if it’s a big school and a big class.”

Learning in and from the Community
“Overall, what I’ve learned from EVC and what I will take with me, is basically not only working with the camera and things like that and making a documentary, but all in all, how to go out and meet people. And how talk to people. We had to do research; we had to find people to talk to. We had to find expert interviews. We had to actually go there, call them and set up the interviews. Things like that. It was a real professionalism. You had to carry yourself in a certain way”


Here’s an interesting exercise: observe the habits and rituals that make up the culture of the school or community youth center in your neighborhood. See what identities the youth are practicing as a result. If you listen to the kids, over time I’m sure they will tell you.


(For a study on the impact of culture on student identity in school settings, see D. Bruce Jackson, “Education Reform as if Student Agency Mattered: Academic Microcultures And Student Identity”, Phi Delta Kappan, April 2003)