The Identity Iceberg and Me

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School

Overview

There are many aspects to a person’s identity, including the social identity groups to which they belong (race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.). Some parts of identity are clearly visible, and many are not. When you first meet a person, you may think you can clearly see aspects of their identity, but in fact, many aspects of one’s identity are not visible when you first see a person. An iceberg is a helpful metaphor when exploring identity. You can only see a small part of an iceberg (about 13%) that is above the waterline. Like an iceberg, only a few aspects of one’s identity are immediately visible and apparent. We must go below the waterline to see people in their full complexity.

In this activity, students will:

• Explore the various parts of identity, especially social identity, that make up who the person is.
• Understand that when you first meet someone, what’s visible is only a small part of their identity.
• Reflect on their own identity and create an identity iceberg that convey aspects of their identity at different places in the iceberg.