The Construction of Identity as an Aim of Education: Psychosocial Development and Practices in the Contemporary School

Abstract

Although identity is a central component of human experience in the contemporary world, it does not appear in the curricular organization of most schools as a formative objective, despite the emergence and wide dissemination of socioemotional education and life-project approaches in educational debate. Moreover, few studies have examined the role of the school in identity development. The objective of this theoretical article is to define a conceptual framework for identity in the field of formal education, positioning it as both an object and a central objective of schools' pedagogical practices. To this end, the article conceptually delimits the construct and traces its developmental process in childhood and adolescence, discussing, at each stage, how schools can contribute to the autonomous and active construction of identities that take the figure of the other into account and integrate values such as social justice, sustainability, democracy, and the common good. It also addresses the challenges and possible interventions schools face in a context of significant social media influence on adolescents' sociability and identity. Situated at the interface between education and psychology, the article articulates theories and research from different fields and perspectives in order to broaden the understanding of the construction and functioning of this complex and multidimensional phenomenon, from which implications for school practices are drawn.