Essay On Self And Identity

2.1.1 Self and identity

The connectivity between the self and identity is the primary attention in many of the current literature, as they attempt to determine the complex interplay of both. In contrast to seeing self as a separate, stable entity in isolation of contexts, the growing studies consider the self as ‘maker of meaning’ (Rodgers & Scott, 2008). In defining identity, Gee (2000) expresses that self as “core identity that holds more uniformly, for ourselves and others, across contexts” (p. 99). It could be understood then, the coherence in meaning made from different contextual experiences are held together by self to make the identity. Beauchamp & Thomas (2009) noted that many studies deem that gaining insights of self is essentially contribute to teacher development which in turn associate with construction of identity. A distinctive connotation

In the study of exploring the role of self in identity construction, Rodgers & Scott (2008) mentioned that the self is ‘as the meaning maker’ and the identity is the ‘meaning made’ (p.739). Further, the study elaborated on two different attributes of teacher identity formation such as, external and internal aspects, where contexts and relationships, describes the external features that influence identity formation while, self being the internal quality. The existing research shows teacher perceptions of who they are as teachers is determined by how their interactions and experiences are interpreted based on the system of beliefs one has, as such, these qualities are intertwoven and determine an individual’s identity (Beijaard et al., 2004; Kelchtermans, 2009; Lasky, 2005; as cited in Pajares, 1992). Rokeach (as cited in Pajares, 1992) elaborates the beliefs connected to an individual’s identity are focal which are “functionally connected or in communication with other beliefs” (p.318) and as a result determine the meaning making of the