by Trisha Law
Hi, my name is Trisha Law.”Patricia? Do you go by Pat?” “Wait, how do you spell that? Like Tricia?” “Hi Triksha, I hope this email finds you well.” “Lau? With a u? Are you Chinese?”
Our name is the first thing we use to identify ourselves. It is what our government information is tied to, our identification cards, our degrees, our reputation. Yet, I have had so many individuals misspell or misname me.Names as HistoryWhen we are born, our parent(s) give a lot of thought about naming us. They think about the name, the meaning, the spelling, nicknames, and so much more.
Originally, my name was supposed to be Travis, my mom was convinced they were having a boy. The story of my name as it was told by me is when I was born, my parents decided that the girl names that they had picked out didn’t quite fit (I later found out they had Marsha for a girl…). So, they took a T.V. guide and flipped through, coming across “Trisha” and decided this was meant to be. When I was in primary school, I looked up what this meant, and it stemmed from the Latin word “patricius” meaning of noble birth, and I liked that meaning. Since then, when I have travelled, I have been told that it is a popular name in India and they have a star named “Trisha”. All of these pieces of information have helped me to own my name. It was not popular growing up, and that set me apart, but I enjoyed that. Furthermore, my middle name is a flourished version of the name passed down through my maternal side to all eldest daughters.
My name holds meaning, my name holds history, and my name is important.
Names as Respect
I have been in jobs where emails sent have had my name horrendously misspelt, and I just want to retaliate with “It’s in the email! Open your eyes!” Even after correcting someone quite a few times, they have continued to misspell it, and this person was part of the leadership team. It feels like a lack of respect was given to getting to know the team under them, and taking the time to at least get my name correct.When I confronted this leader, politely about my name, I was told “I’m so busy, I can’t always be correct”. While I understand time constraints, I also understand that making sure that someone’s name is correct will take two seconds, this is such a small way to demonstrate that everyone whom you interact with is seen and valued.
As educators and leaders, we work with individuals from diverse cultures, languages, and locations and we need to ensure we are not taking power and voice away from those we are interacting with. We need to acknowledge that something as simple as a name, is one of the most powerful identifiers we have. When we don’t spend the proper time to have respect for it, the person on the other end loses respect for us. Names as CultureLet me take you back to my first year in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2019. I had just come from two years in the UK with quite a diverse set of kids, and I thought I was great with names and making students feel included and safe in my classroom. I arrived in Hanoi, and I felt anxious, it was a brand-new language and brand-new context. I had visited a couple of years prior but only for a couple of weeks. When I accepted the job, I immediately began on Duolingo trying to get some basics for language and sound- I severely underestimated the language and tones- it is quite difficult. I came into the Bilingual school, and as always, I introduced myself, and quickly learned my name is difficult to pronounce here – the Vietnamese language doesn’t have a “SH” sound and the “TR” is more of a “CH” sound. So, I tackled the problem, I went slowly and taught the students how to say my name, as teachers go by their first name, and for those who really struggled, I told them they could call me Miss Law if they felt more comfortable.
First hurdle conquered.Then I tackled learning the 217 names of my students, asking them to correct me if I was saying it incorrectly, and most of them did. They were quite patient with me. I thought I was rocking it and I had learned all the names and faces, then I get to my first observation at the end of my first month. Everything went well, I walk into the vice principal’s office and the first thing she says to me is “Why were you calling Vũ by Vu?” I asked if there was a problem as I thought I was pronouncing it correct. “You are calling him bra.”
My heart sank. I immediately went to the student, grade 8 at the time, and apologized.He responded with “You were trying so hard with the language, I thought I would help by just responding, I just wanted you to feel comfortable.” I explained that he did nothing wrong, but I wanted to do justice to the culture and their language, and furthermore, their identity, so he needed to correct me from now on.Once the other students saw this, they tried teaching me more words and pronunciations. They saw how I appreciated them and their culture and wanted to help. This is what I want from a safe classroom, a place where everyone feels like they can speak up and share their truth and have discussions without judgement, and they can own their identities and discover themselves.
By talking to my students and asking for the pronunciation, the meaning, and the story behind their name; I can connect to their culture and their family. I can see what their family wished for them on the day they were born- the traits or future. I can connect with the spirituality of Vietnam. Here are just a couple of examples: An means peace, Dung means generous, Phươngmeans destiny, Hiếu means respectful, Tài means prosperous or talented, and much more. At the heart of it, these families want the best lives and futures for their children, they are no different than parents in other countries, but they express themselves in ways that we don’t always understand coming from a Western context. The family is the core of society, and respect for elders is an overarching value in Vietnam, but parents do not necessarily value social-emotional feelings and issues in the same way. Names are just an introduction to the culture that I am living in, but it has helped me to understand the families that I am dealing with more.
Names as Identity and Voice
For me, identity and voice are something I have always seen as important. Growing up, I didn’t often feel like I was seen or heard, that I was valued, and I saw others that felt the same. Going into teaching, I wanted to be the teacher that students came to, whom they felt safe with, the person who saw all of them and still made them feel valued and wanted. The impact of this has been that I have owned more of myself, my identity, and I want people to know who I am and what I can do.
Names are such a small but impactful part of this, if you can own your name, if you can advocate for yourself, then you can start to own who you are to the World. This is by no means an easy task, but if we can first conquer respect and understanding for a name, we can expand this into many other identifying spheres.
I was telling this story to someone who worked in an English center and the response I got, and I have gotten multiple times since was, “well just force them to choose an English name, I do. Makes my life easier.” My jaw dropped, and then I became heated.
In education, when we are setting the building blocks and holistically developing them to be meaningful members of a global society, what kind of message is being sent when they are told their name isn’t important and that convenience overrides culturally responsiveness? Are we teaching them tolerance? Are we teaching them respect?
In my classroom, at the start of each year, I get my students to fill out an about me sheet. I ask their names, their preferred names (if any)- they may choose if they wish to go by an English name, their pronouns, and information about them that I should have an idea of- like if they attend after school clubs, etc. This information gives me a jumping off point to understand more about them.
If there is a name I am unfamiliar with or they put information about pronouns that I need to be aware of, I take the student aside and I have a chat- how do I say your name? What culture is that from? What does it mean? How do you want me to support you in your journey- what does that look like in the classroom and outside of it? This allows me to have a chance to give the students their voice and power back and be able to advocate for themselves and tell me how I can best serve them.
As teachers, we strive to make everyone feel included, wanted, and heard in our classrooms, but what happens outside of the classroom?
Names as Relationships
This is not an uncommon story. I have seen my colleagues not bothering to learn the support staffs’ names or co-teachers’ names and thus they don’t know who to go to for help and the staff isn’t as willing to help them. I have seen canteen workers and cleaners seen as less than, no one bothering to say hello, much less learn their name.
This “hierarchy” of individuals leads to animosity and does not show value in other people. We need every type of worker for schools and society as a larger picture to function. Knowing someone’s name is the bare minimum with individuals we interact with daily.
Furthermore, as individuals who have come as guests into the countries and cultures that we are teaching in or leading in, it is our responsibility to ensure that we are educating ourselves on who we are serving, what values of the culture come through with stakeholders, and who are we working with? Only by examining these attributes will we be able to lead with respect for everyone, and to examine how we are communicating to ensure that we are the most effective in our roles.
We are responsible for ensuring we are culturally responsive educators and leaders, and we need to take ownership of that with our words and actions.
Names as Leadership
Looking beyond, what can we do as leaders? Where does our responsibility lie?
As leaders, we set the tone and the culture of the school. We can push for what is important, and while the values and mission are a guiding force; are we acknowledging the various names, cultures, traditions, and voices within our school? Are we ensuring that we have a place where everyone feels valued, seen, and heard?
What does that look like and if it happens, what kinds of opportunities would that bring?
In an environment where the students, the teachers, and the staff feel like they have input, they see themselves in the materials taught and the decorations or events held, where they can truly be themselves and own their identity- would that not be a powerful place?
When students, staff, teachers, and leaders find themselves in a powerful place, what are the limitations?Further Explorations:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QrGsxeEq8
2.https://padlet.com/cgomezgalvez1/our-names-our-identities-tw0vgfuj1vp7i57p
3.https://www.fairplaytalks.com/2021/11/11/mynameis-why-correct-name-pronunciation-is-key-to-inclusion-at-work/
Trisha Law, Secondary Mathematics Teacher, Special Education Needs Coordinator, The International School @ ParkCity Hanoi (ISPH)
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