Theidentityformation: The Experienceofsocio-Pedagogical Analysis

Abstract

This article presents the experience of socio-pedagogical analysis of the process of identity formation. It is shown that from the point of view of pedagogy, the semantic division of the concepts of "development" and "formation" on the basis of the leading source of qualitative changes is important: the dominance of internal autonomous sources, internal mechanisms (development) and the predominant influence of external forces, external conditions and mechanisms (formation). The formation of identity is secondary to being and socio-educational by nature process of stimulating, directing, guiding and correcting the underlying process of identity development. Attention is drawn to the role of indirect socio-pedagogical influences, which are associated primarily with the variety of environmental influences and the ability of teachers to use their capabilities as socio-pedagogical means, as well as – with the effectiveness of practices of prevention and correction of negative environmental influences. The priority role is played by the cultural and educational environment, which accumulates a rich experience of self-determination of the individual, group, community and stimulates its use, and in hidden forms can provoke negative socio-pedagogical practices. Transformation of the environment in the context of the educational system of the educational organization is possible through the creation of situations of events and co-existence. It is argued the importance of taking into account the combination of necessity and objective limitations of pedagogical influences on the process of identity formation; socio-cultural conditionality of identity formation; taking into account the peculiarities of the socio-cultural situation of the development of a modern child.

Keywords: Identityidentity development,identity formation,child" identitysocio-cultural situation of developmentRussian civil identity

Introduction

The development of scientific knowledge about the phenomenon of identity has specifically-historical and interdisciplinary nature. The scientific tradition of studying identity is formed in the twentieth century and currently remains relevant ( Emelin, 2017; Petrash, 2017; Fedotova, 2013; Shakurova, 2016, etc.). Research is conducted both within the framework of individual branches of scientific knowledge and at the interdisciplinary level. Pedagogy has been involved in this process relatively recently and, as a result, is experiencing a significant influence of already formed traditions of philosophical, sociological, cultural, political, psychological analysis. On the one hand, this situation is positive, because it is possible to comprehend and interpret a significant amount of scientific knowledge. On the other hand, it is obvious the complexity in the preservation of their own subject of study, retention of pedagogical context.

Concerning the problem of identity, pedagogy is compelled to justify the possibility and necessity of identity formation as a relatively controlled process, since the generally accepted view is the establishment and development of identity in the process of socialization. Controlled (deliberate) use of external determinants in this case may lead to a variety of disorders (imposed identity; hypoidentity; hyperidentity, etc.). It is also obvious that the construct "formation of identity" is usually used in relation to the analysis of the phenomenon at the macro-levels of manifestation (national and civil identity in the state; ethnic identity of large communities; legal identity, territorial identity of society, etc.) ( Ivanov, 2013; “A Conceptual Framework”, 2012; Risse & Grabowsky, 2008, etc.), while the dynamics of personal and group identity is considered mainly using the terms of "forming" and "development" ( Malyutina, 2017; McKenzie, 2015 and others).

Problem Statement

The research problem is determined by the contradiction between the need for a comprehensive scientific and pedagogical understanding of the essence and the determinants of identity formation and the lack of elaboration of the socio-pedagogical aspects of this process. In this regard, the socio-pedagogical analysis of identity formation is necessary.

Research Questions

The logic of the analysis of the socio-pedagogical process as a companion not only makes to carefully consider the basic process and metamorphosis of the relationship and interaction of the basic and complementary processes, but also to rethink the conventional pedagogical tools, to set priorities in teaching activities in a different way.

It should be noted that in the foreign tradition of identity study the aspect of formation is actively used. Indicative in this regard, the study by Thulin, Miller, Secher, and Coulson (2016), performed under the guidance of U. Renz. The authors note that the study of the process of creating identity is now much more interesting than deepening the understanding of its essence. The basis of ideas about the formation of identity is a set of theories built on the recognition of the fact that personal identity is largely dependent on social influences. In this case, it is important the conclusion of G. Mead (George Herbert Mead) that for the development of identity through the environment, the latter must be filled with the prerequisites for this development.

The prerequisites include:

  • conditions for the development of empathy, ensuring the adoption of the role of the Other, the similarity in the understanding of different kinds of symbols. In this case, the ideas of hermeneutics become especially important for pedagogy: the essential meanings must be understood in a similar way "for the sender and the receiver»;

  • game tests, which, in turn, should develop from games without rules to games with rules, from single games to pair, group and collective games. The value of the game for the formation of identity, which specifically drew the attention of G. Mead – in the opportunity of making images of Other (originally concrete and then generalized), which is more important for a child than an adult;

  • readiness of the person to the social act as entering into social interaction. The leading role is played by the level of reflection (according to G. Mead, "involving reflective intelligence service" or reflexive consciousness);

  • choice, directly associated with reflexive behavior.

From the point of view of identity formation, the modern socio-cultural situation of the child's development is also significant, which sets a number of features of the basic process of identity development and makes its own adjustments to the set of external conditions through which it is possible to influence this process.

One of the leading features is identified and described by A. Giddens (Anthony Giddens): all human action is subject to constant influences coming from the outside of the new, which is often at odds with actions that are based on tradition or the norm. As a result, a person's actions are tied to his or her reflexive assessments and judgments of the changing reality, to interests and needs, rather than to the established experience of the implementation of these actions.

An interesting interpretation of this postulate is in a study carried out under the guidance of U. Renz ( Thulin et al., 2016). The authors note: "Since the formation of human identity cannot be separated from social interaction, changes in society find a response in identity" ( Grechko, 2009). But although identity is dependent on social changes, it does not change dramatically every time, its integrity is somehow preserved. An important role in this is played by the nature and level of ontological security. Social and identity changes are interdependent. The following features of modern society play an important role:

  • "rapprochement" of communication subjects (the distance between them is minimized in both tem-poral and spatial sense);

  • decrease in the activity of family communication, which is replaced by business and communication of interests. "Giddens calls this 'disembedding', describing a social activity or relationship previously attached to the family but now divided between institutions outside the family" ( Thulin et al., 2009);

  • the orientation of public life to the previously established rules and methods is gradually being destroyed, which is typical, first of all, for local communities;

  • another fixed new property of the space-time coordinates of the life of modern man is the gap, the destruction of the traditional arenas of life and communication. For example, "parents still influence the child, but now almost exclusively in relation to mores and relationships, while institutions influence interaction regarding the rules of daily life" ( Thulin et al., 2016);

  • decrease in the value of traditions and norms determines the increasing responsibility of people for themselves and the environment;

  • increasing the number of self-reflections due to the intensification of communications.

An essential factor in the formation of identity, according to the Guide, is education (poor education leads to unstable identity), built on trust (the higher the confidence, the more stable the sense of security, the easier it is to accept new images and patterns that stimulate the development of identity). The foundations of trust are formed in early childhood by the family and parents. "Children with a safe and secure childhood could develop more fundamental trust than children with dangerous or disturbed conditions" ( Thulin et al., 2016). The idea of trust is closely linked to the idea of ontological security, which implies protection against future dangers and threats, in particular those threats and dangers that entail instability, information overload and situations of choice.

All of the above allows us to proceed to the analysis of modern projects of the formation of a particular type of identity. The basis of the analysis and evaluation judgments will be three groups of criteria: a combination of necessity and objective limitations of pedagogical influences; socio-cultural conditionality; taking into account the peculiarities of the socio-cultural situation of the development of the modern child.

Recently, the number of projects devoted to the formation of Russian civil identity has been growing. It should be noted that in the understanding of this type of identity, we proceed from the fact that the image of "Russian", "citizen", defining the corresponding identity, can be considered as:

  • the image of a resident of a particular territory (territorial identity);

  • the image of a citizen of Russia, the heir to traditions, memory, history of a certain state (civil identity);

  • the image of a representative of a certain ethnic group, the heir to the traditions of a certain people or community consisting of representatives of different peoples and nationalities, but united by a single state (ethnic, state-national identity).

The identification potential for the formation of Russian identity has:

  • ethno-national communities (ethnic and / or national identity is considered as the core);

  • state-civil communities (civil and geopolitical identity is considered as the core);

  • regional communities (regional or territorial identity is considered as the core);

  • local communities associated with direct spheres of communication (for example, school community, where the identity of a "school citizen" can be formed, described by Grigoriev (2012).

Progress from one community to another has its own age characteristics, proceeds, as a rule, from the "narrow" (microsocial) to "wide" (macro-social) correlation. "The subject naturally begins its correlation with the small and fragmented structures of the micro-social environment, gradually reaching the social characteristics, when there is a projection and formation of "self" already in a "wider" context, where the dominant concepts by which the subject describes its involvement are cultural, ethnopsychological, political" - said Berendeev ( 2007). At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the effect of "translational overlay": smaller communities in the filmed form are translated, inevitably interpreting and supplementing with their own meanings, the basic constructs of wider communities.

In 2013, the process of creating the Concept of regional identity formation in the Ulyanovsk region was initiated in the Ulyanovsk region. The project has an interdepartmental character, pedagogical means are considered in a wide context in relation to various departments, including the sphere of education. In assessing the prerequisites and resources, the authors proceeded from the established stereotype of reference to what distinguishes the region: "Cultural resources for the formation of regional identity: literary, folklore, religious, educational and scientific experience that distinguishes the Ulyanovsk region from other territories and forms the cultural and territorial integrity of the regional community" (Expert discussion..., 2013). It should be noted that from the psychological and pedagogical point of view, the setting on the separation of one community from another, on the one hand, naturally accelerates and simplifies the process of identity formation, but based on the age characteristics and modern features of the socio-cultural situation of children's development, such practices can be far ambiguous in consequences. Fixed separation, as a rule, passes in the opposition and as usual for national education competition, the ratings. The identity built with the use of this mechanism can be dependent on the search for an opponent: to assert and strengthen identity, it is necessary to isolate oneself, to oppose oneself, one's community to Another, to Others. "As a tool acts, in particular, an attempt to distinguish "mine" from" not mine". And here for teachers lies one of the serious difficulties. Thinking of the child for a long time remains syncretic, highlighting and articulating "his" at the level of local territory, the teacher will not be easy to go to the formation of more extensive "We", including, above all, the Russian community as a whole (and territorial, and state, and national). But it is the last task in the end for the education system is leading. Methodologists and researchers are faced with the task of understanding this problem and developing methods for the formation of regional identities in the context of national identity at different age stages of child development" ( Shakurova, 2016). Socio-pedagogical practices, built on the definition of themselves against the background of others, joining rather than isolating fragmentary and insufficiently methodically developed.

The analysis of the text of the project taking into account the allocated criteria allows to allocate also other disputable provisions of this document constructed, as well as many others, without taking into account features of a children's stage of development and formation of identity. In particular, we can note the inattention to anthropo-images (examples of people are not separately identified in the list of the main markers of community, but they are close and understandable to children, while a number of these markers need a special pedagogical arrangement taking into account the age and interests of children); not enough attention is paid to the activity component of identity, which is also typical for developments that consider identity as a given.

At the same time, this project is distinguished by the depth of study of the main parameters, the availability of technical specifications with a wide list of events that can be supplemented and interpreted by teachers taking into account the needs and capabilities of modern children.

In 2015, the government of the Rostov region developed and approved the Concept of formation of the all-Russian civil identity of children and young people of the Rostov region. This document is distinguished by a large pedagogical and methodical study. At the same time, there is still a vague idea of, for example, how the transition from a regional (built on isolation) to a national level of identity will be carried out. We believe that this task will be set before teachers, in our opinion, theoretically and methodically unprepared for such a delicate and complex work. In addition, a major emphasis is placed on tradition: "the tradition of the Rostov region allows to form the children and youth of the all-Russian civil identity through the development of regional identity – consciousness of residents of the Rostov region, with the prevailing view of local peculiarities, which, first of all, it must be attributed to the presence in the Rostov region the Cossack component, a well-established state-Patriotic mentality, multinational, and multi-confessional population" (the Concept of formation..., 2015). Also, we emphasized the ambiguity of addressing traditions in the context of the current socio-cultural situation of the development of modern children. We believe that this problem will also have to be solved by methodists and teachers. The Concept specifies the tasks, principles, subjects ("conductors"), the main directions of formation of "all-Russian civil identity". They are to a certain extent pedagogical. But the main pedagogical way to achieve the expected results is essentially not detailed, direct, cognitive-oriented: "the development of a complex of pedagogical training and special programs, the introduction and testing of innovative forms, methods and techniques of organization of work<...>, the generalization of the results of educational and methodological developments, informing about innovations in this area<...>; regular publication of relevant literature covering this sphere of activity taking into account the best domestic and foreign experience; examination of humanitarian and educational programs" (Concept of formation..., 2015).

In educational organizations, pedagogical collectives and individual teachers develop programs and projects, one way or another connected with the formation of civil identity. Sampling analysis based on the above criteria leads to the conclusion that delegated to regional governments of powers to educational organizations, instructional services, and teachers in detail, interpretation of concepts, executed with considerable difficulties. Among them: the reduction of civil identity to citizenship and patriotism, which indicates a lack of understanding of the essence of identity; the search for new innovative methods of work, which indicates a lack of awareness of the essence of the process and mechanisms of development and formation of identity; the development of mainly cognitive programs to the detriment of the relational and activity components; insufficient attention to the circle of significant communications of children, reference Others, ways of working with them and through them; insufficient consideration of age peculiarities, transfer of" adult " characteristics of identity and its authentic forms and methods of work to preschool and primary school children, etc..

Purpose of the Study

Purpose of the research: socio-pedagogical substantiation of the essence and socio-pedagogical determinants of the identity formation process; selection of criteria for socio-pedagogical analysis of the identity formation pro-cess and its approbation.

The methodological basis of the research is socio-cultural, socio-pedagogical and complex approaches. The process of identity formation is considered in the context of sociocultural conditionality, determinism by the peculiarities of the environment and dominant socio-pedagogical practices. At the same time social and pedagogical influences and forming influences should be considered as actual, but not unconditional determinants. .

Research Methods

Used research methods: analysis, synthesis, interpretation philosophical, psychological, sociological, education-al research, copyright and mass practice regulations.

Findings

A distinctive feature of the approach of pedagogy to the study of identity of various "subjects of identification transit" ( Grechko, 2009), in our opinion, is a pronounced personal-activity component associated primarily with the aspect of socio-pedagogical support of identity development. At the same time, from the point of view of pedagogy, the semantic division of the concepts of "development" and "formation" on the basis of the leading source of qualitative changes is important: the dominance of internal autonomous sources, internal mechanisms (development) and the predominant influence of external control forces, external conditions and mechanisms (formation).

The identity formation is the secondary by the essence and socio-educational by nature process, stimulating, directing, guiding and correcting the base process of identity development. The interdependence and mutual influence of the main and accompanying processes in this case determines the objective limitations of socio-pedagogical interventions:

  • not all components of the process of identity development are directly dependent on organized socio-pedagogical influences (primarily and to a greater extent this is obvious when referring to the process of development of self-identity and partly personal identity);

  • in this case, much more often we are talking about delayed, mediated results that require special tools for studying;

  • the possibility of formation is determined by the measure of the importance of the subjects of socio-pedagogical interaction for the individual, group, community; insignificant subject only to a small extent can affect the developing identity or at any degree of activity, aspiration, objective and subjective necessity does not have any significant impact;

  • achieved socio-pedagogical goals, based on the nature of identity, are unstable and quite mobile, including the result may not have positive but negative values (identity is formed, but " from the opposite»);

  • more productive and personally consistent are indirect socio-pedagogical influences; preference for direct socio-pedagogical influences can lead to the formation of imposed identity;

  • the dependence on the measure and objects of selectivity (choice, self-determination, interest, hobbies, etc.) of the subject is obvious; the imposition of "correct" samples, examples, as a rule, not only does not lead to positive pedagogical results, but also provokes the growth of negative manifestations (loss of significance, the formation of negative identity);

  • using traditional for modern pedagogical research a triad of elements of the structure of pedagogical process (cognitive, motivational-value, activity), note the greater sensitivity of identity is not so much to the informative as to the attitudinal and active sides of the socio-pedagogical interaction;

  • an important role is played by age restrictions that determine the probability of formation of the imposed identity in preschool and primary school children, crisis manifestations associated with the transition from "child" (non-reflexive) to "adult" (reflexive) identity in adolescents, the priority of identity development over the processes of identity formation in youth;

  • identity formation is closely related to the provision of supportive social and socio-pedagogical assistance in situations of self-determination (Devi, 2016);

  • indirect socio-pedagogical determinants of the process of identity formation are connected, first of all, with the variety of environmental influences and the ability of teachers to use their capabilities as a means of influence, as well as with the effectiveness of practices of prevention and correction of negative environmental influences. The priority role is played by the cultural and educational environment, which accumulates a rich experience of self-determination of the individual, group, community and stimulates its use, and in hidden forms can provoke negative socio-pedagogical practices;

  • transformation of the environment in the context of the educational system of the educational organization is possible through the creation of situations of events and co-existence. The resulting educational space has a number of features that can be used in the process of identity formation. Among them are: formability and communicative nature as a source of consistency and certainty of influences; fullness of educational meanings that have the character of relatively stable selected, tested, approved samples, attitudes, patterns of behavior, experience of relations that affect self-determination and determine the formation of identity; volume, allowing to build a unique, individually justified trajectory. The socio-cultural balance of the educational space is ensured by the balance of social and cultural characteristics of relations, including the "basic set of identity".

Outside of formation, the process of development of identity becomes poorly managed and almost uncontrollable.

As a result, specific practices of identity formation can be analyzed on the basis of three basic criteria: a combination of necessity and objective limitations of pedagogical influences; socio-cultural conditionality; taking into account the peculiarities of the socio-cultural situation of the development of the modern child.

Conclusion

The formation of identity becomes an urgent research and practical pedagogical task.

Taking into account the specifics of the forming influences on the development of identity allows us to identify and competently equip the management practices, most of which are socio-pedagogical in nature. The pedagogical component includes the traditional mechanisms of controlled and guided progress in the assimilation of socio-cultural experience, orientation in the environment, the choice of the circle of communication, the adoption of the demonstrated images and samples. The social component, on the one hand, expands the range of subjects involved in the formation, allowing it to include a wide range of important agents of socialization. On the other hand, it draws attention of subjects to the possibilities of socialization, inculturation, development of social roles.

It is obvious that the introduction into practical use of the concept of "identity" (Russian civil, national, territorial, gender, etc.) as a goal-result-indicator of personal growth of pupils is much ahead of scientific and pedagogical understanding and scientific and methodological equipment of this activity. As a result, there is a high probability of distortion and discredit of the phenomenon, substitution of real results, changes in the active pedagogical dictionary while maintaining traditional practices, fixing the simulation activity of teachers and other deformations of personal and professional position. In this regard, the activation of pedagogical and interdisciplinary study of children's identity, support of its development and formation is of particular relevance.

Acknowledgments

The article was prepared with the financial support of RFBR, project 18-013-00613a "Socio-pedagogical determinants of the formation of integrative properties of educational systems."

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28 February 2019

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Cite this article as:

Shakurova, M. V., Dyuzhakova, M. V., & Belozercev, E. P. (2019). Theidentityformation: The Experienceofsocio-Pedagogical Analysis. In S. Ivanova, & I. Elkina (Eds.), Cognitive - Social, and Behavioural Sciences - icCSBs 2018, vol 56. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 609-618). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.02.02.66