“What Does Patriotism Look Like?”: Exploring National Identity Discourses in a Fifth Grade Classroom

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Abstract

This study examines how national identity is constructed and contested in a fifth-grade U.S. classroom. Drawing from a year-long ethnographic case study, this paper analyzes students’ responses to the prompt “What does patriotism look like?” using poststructural theories of identity and nationalism. Findings reveal three dominant orientations—symbolic performance, moral conduct, and political alignment—shaped by school routines, space, and institutional norms. Rather than fixed expressions of civic virtue, these acts are framed as performative and contingent. These insights highlight how elementary schooling naturalizes certain visions of patriotism while marginalizing others, calling for civic education that fosters inquiry, pluralism, and ethical engagement in national belonging.

Author

• Seunghoon Han, University of Northern Iowa