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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Wanting to be ‘known’
T2 - re-defining self-awareness through an understanding of self-narration processes in educational transitions.
AU - Warin, Jo
AU - Muldoon, Janine
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - The aim of this paper is to initiate discussion about the pursuit of self-awareness – a concept embedded in recent policy – as an educational goal. We argue that complex theoretical questions need to be addressed if improvements in policy and practice relating to personal, social and emotional education are to ensue. Such questions relate to possible interpretations of ‘self-awareness’, a term that may be linked to out-dated theories, implying a ‘self’ to be discovered and the possibility that people can sustain a ‘sense of self’ across time and place. From this perspective, self-awareness may seem overly individualistic, obscuring more pro-social goals (e.g., empathy, compassion, citizenship). Drawing on sociological and social psychological literature, as well as data from an empirical study of identity construction, we hope to contribute to the provision of firm foundations for personal, social and emotional education through a stronger theoretical exposition of ‘self-awareness’. Our re-conceptualised version highlights the importance of an expanded and flexible story of self, which we view as an invaluable tool for learning, fostering an openness to change.
AB - The aim of this paper is to initiate discussion about the pursuit of self-awareness – a concept embedded in recent policy – as an educational goal. We argue that complex theoretical questions need to be addressed if improvements in policy and practice relating to personal, social and emotional education are to ensue. Such questions relate to possible interpretations of ‘self-awareness’, a term that may be linked to out-dated theories, implying a ‘self’ to be discovered and the possibility that people can sustain a ‘sense of self’ across time and place. From this perspective, self-awareness may seem overly individualistic, obscuring more pro-social goals (e.g., empathy, compassion, citizenship). Drawing on sociological and social psychological literature, as well as data from an empirical study of identity construction, we hope to contribute to the provision of firm foundations for personal, social and emotional education through a stronger theoretical exposition of ‘self-awareness’. Our re-conceptualised version highlights the importance of an expanded and flexible story of self, which we view as an invaluable tool for learning, fostering an openness to change.
U2 - 10.1080/01411920802043000
DO - 10.1080/01411920802043000
M3 - Journal article
VL - 35
SP - 289
EP - 304
JO - British Educational Research Journal
JF - British Educational Research Journal
SN - 0141-1926
IS - 2
ER -