“Identity” carries leverage in current social and educational contexts. It is included as a category under MEXT’s “four powers,” which educators are must refer to when drawing up syllabi and curriculum. Identity is both personal and social (Drew, 2023), and students gain strong senses of self when reflecting on it. “Who am I?” is a question felt keenly by first year university students.

This presentation looks at ways that students can safely explore their identity, beginning with rapport established through the learning of names (Cooper et. al, 2017). Year after year in end of semester feedback, students highlight this as a positive and useful undertaking. As semesters progress, students can become aware of differences they may have and can begin to self-advocate once they gain confidence. Both instructors and students can adapt tasks and approaches to a variety of learner and teaching needs. The initial step is acknowledgment of who students are—not only from the teacher, but from their classmates. This presentation will show how learning names affects the class for the whole of the semester, and how it helps facilitate a general openness among students to instructors, classwork and to each other.