This study investigates the literature of the Creative Pedagogy of Play to examine the potential for this pedagogy to support cultural identity development of immigrant preschoolers in the Swedish context. Twelve articles were reviewed in order to characterize outcomes of the Creative Pedagogy of Play potentially relevant for this support. Identified outcomes included: recognizing and promoting children’s agency, co-creation of an imaginary world through diverse forms of expression, emotional involvement (“perezhivanie” as lived through experience), building peer relationships, valuing ambivalence, narrative teaching and narrative learning.  In this thesis, we argue that these outcomes of Creative Pedagogy of Play have the potential to create supportive conditions associated with the development of cultural identity (such as: social inclusion, respect for diversity, care, guidance and teaching offered by adults, recognizing children’s agency, and building relationships with friends and peers). The combination of these conditions creates a potential for the cultural identity formation through the Pedagogy of Play. Implications of this systematic review for early childhood education research and practice are discussed with particular focus on implications for engaging with questions of culture in preschool pedagogy.

The deseg regation of schools in the post-1994 era in South Africa has led to an exodus of African children from township schools to multicultural suburban and inner city schools. This migration places African children in a multicultural school environment where the dynamics pose challenges for coping and adaptation if these children are to succeed academically. The challenge is even greater for adolescents who are also wrestling with critical developmental issues of adolescence in their quest for identity development and consolidation. Goleman (1995: 34) asserts that in order to succeed in any aspect of living, an individual requires emotional intelligence. Likewise, African adolescents who attend school in multicultural environments need to be emotionally literate to cope successfully and to adapt to the demands of the new schooling environment. In the light of this assertion, this study aimed to determine the extent to which emotional intelligence mediates the identity development of African adolescents in multicultural schools. The five domains of emotional intelligence investigated in this respect were: self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy and effective relationships. Six schools were selected for the empirical investigation: three from the townships and three from the suburbs. 226 African adolescents from suburban and 240 from township schools participated: a total of 466 participants. The findings revealed that self-awareness, empathy and effective relationships play stronger mediating roles in the identity development of African adolescents in township schools while self-regulation plays a stronger mediating role for African adolescents in suburban multicultural schools. The two groups did not, however, differ significantly regarding the mediating role of self-regulation in their identity development. Further mediating roles of emotional intelligence to the identity development of African adolescents were investigated according to gender, stage of adolescence and a preferred language for learning and teaching. Finally, a model was proposed for developing empathy among African adolescents who attend schools in suburbs. / (D.Ed. (Psychology of Education))

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur identiteten hos unga vuxna som vuxit upp inom Jehovas Vittnen påverkas av en uteslutning. Detta utifrån den sociala identitetsteorin och Marcia´s teori om identitetstatusarna i en identitetsutveckling. Studien var kvalitativ med semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta unga vuxna fd. Jehovas Vittnen som vuxit upp i organisationen. Den induktiva tematiska analysen gav tre huvudteman; In- och utgrupps tänkande; underordnande och lydnad samt begynnande distansering och uppvaknande. Ett av resultaten var att deltagarna hade lärt sig redan som barn ett in- och utgruppstänk. och att utifrån denna sociala identifiering begränsades deltagarnas umgänge, till att endast umgås med ingruppen och undvika att umgås med personer i utgruppen. Detta fick effekter vid uteslutning i uppbyggandet av nya sociala relationer, där de saknade referensramar om hur de skulle agera i vissa sammanhang, de visste inte vad som förväntades av dem i samhället, de saknade helhetsbilden av samhället och dess sociala samspel. / The purpose of the study was to examine how the identity of young adults raised within Jehovah's Witnesses is affected by exclusion. This is based on the social identity theory and Marcia’s theory of the identity statuses in an identity development. The study was qualitative with semi-structured interviews with eight young adults formerly. Jehovah's Witnesses who grew up in the organization. The inductive thematic analysis yielded three main themes; In- and out-group thinking; subordination and obedience as well as incipient distancing and awakening. One of the results was that the participants had already learned an in- and out-group thinking as children. and that on the basis of this social identification, the participants' contact was limited to only spending time with the ingroup and avoiding contact with people in the outgroup. This had the effect of exclusion in the building of new social relationships, where they lacked a frame of reference on how to act in certain contexts, they did not know what was expected of them in society, they lacked the overall picture of society and its social interaction.

Black Same-Gender Loving Men (BSGLM) are a population at the juncture of multiple marginalized identities, which may make it difficult to successfully form their identity due to experienced racism and heterosexism from communities to which they belong. Current paradigms of racial/ethnic and sexual identity do not fully capture the complexities of identity development among BSGLM. Moreover, there is scant literature available detailing what the process of identity development looks like among this population and which factors influence identity development among BSGLM. As such, the current study used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to first discover what healthy identity looks like among BSGLM and which factors influence the process of developing a healthy identity. The study then empirically tested the elucidated factors in order to understand which of them influence identity development among BSGLM. First, a sample of BSGLM living in the U.S. (n = 19) were recruited via online and interviewed for the qualitative phase of the study about their identity development process. Using a Grounded Theory approach, the qualitative data revealed three unique components of healthy identity among BSGLM (e.g., self-affirmation, freedom from social conventions, having unconditional acceptance) and 13 factors that either inhibited or facilitated their identity development process. Qualitative findings were subsequently used to create a survey battery to quantitatively explore the relationships between the identified factors and components of healthy identity among another sample of BSGLM. The generated survey battery was administered to another sample of BSGLM living in the U.S. (n = 54) recruited from social media and organizations that service BSGLM. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses examined inhibiting and facilitating factors as predictors of healthy identity. Findings revealed that minority stress-related factors were robust predictors of healthy identity. Specifically, rejection sensitivity from one’s family negatively predicted self-affirmation, frustration with concealing one’s sexual identity positively predicted freedom from social conventions, and experiencing threats/violence positively predicted unconditional acceptance. Results from the study may contribute to the refinement of identity development models among BSGLM and inform clinical interventions that bolster identity development among BSGLM such as transdiagnostic interventions that target minority stress and identity-related concerns.

Die Schwarze Szene oder Gothic-Kultur bezeichnet eine Jugend- und Musikkultur-Szene, deren Wurzeln in die 1980er Jahre zu­rückreichen. Neben Einflüssen von Independent und Dark Wave sind auch frühere jugendkulturelle Strömungen wie Punk, New Wave, New Romantic, Gothic u.a. festzustellen, wobei durch die Überlagerungen verschiedener Szenen und Musikstile und mehr­fache Generationswechsel eine subkulturelle Einordnung zuneh­mend schwierig wird. Dazu trägt auch bei, dass Indivi­dualität und Individualitätsausdruck für die Mitglieder der Szene von besonde­rer Bedeutung sind. Während die musikalische Eindeutigkeit der Szene inzwischen an Bedeutung verliert, gibt es doch einen Kern an Lebenseinstellungen und Werthaltungen sowie auf stilistischer Ebene einen Kanon an geteilten Symbolen, unter denen die Farbe Schwarz als überdeterminiertes Einheits­symbol herausragt, das gleichwohl sehr unterschiedlich mit Bedeutungen aufgefüllt sein kann. In dieser Ausgabe von Medienwelten werden zwei Studien vorgestellt, die sich dem Thema Gothics aus unter­schied­lichen Perspektiven nähern und damit dazu beitragen, ein viel­schichtigeres Bild der Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung der Schwarzen Szene zu zeichnen. Dabei geht es sowohl um mediale Berichterstattung als auch um Fantum und Aspekte der Identitäts­ent­wicklung in der Adoleszenz.

Sociala medier har på flera sätt förändrat vårt sätt att umgås med varandra. Barn och ungdomar är idag stora konsumenter av sociala medier och detta har med stor sannolikhet påverkan på deras identitet och självbild. Syftet med studien är att utifrån Erik Homburger Eriksons psykosociala utvecklingsteori öka kunskap om hur undervisningen kring identitet och livsfrågor kan vara ett identitetsfrämjande element i religionskunskap för årskurs 4–6, och framförallt hur sociala medier kan nyttjas. För att uppfylla syftet har fyra undervisande lärare i religionskunskap intervjuats där de fått delge sina tankar om möjligheten att använda sig av sociala medier i identitetsfrämjande syfte. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats där den hermeneutiska cirkeln har använts som metod för analys av materialet.   Resultatet visar att de undervisande lärarna ser både behov och möjligheter med att använda sig av sociala medier i undervisningen, trots att ingen av dem ännu gjort det. Flera tar upp hur olika värderingar och livsåskådningar kan lyftas genom att exempelvis utgå ifrån ett klipp på sociala medier där en person pratar om hur hen ser på identitet och livsfrågor. Det finns generellt sätt en positiv attityd gentemot sociala medier, men några beskriver hur de upplever att ungdomars mående påverkas i en negativ riktning på grund av den stress och press som sociala medier kan innebära. Den största utmaningen som framkommer är att lärarna i fråga inte anser sig ha tillräckligt mycket kunskap om just de medier som eleverna konsumerar eller de förebilder som de följer. Tidsbristen blir således ett återkommande dilemma, då de tycker att de inte har tillräckligt mycket tid vid sidan av lektionerna för att sätta sig in i detta. Avslutningsvis kan det konstateras att det finns behov av fortsatt forskning inom ämnet. / Social media has in many ways changed how we socially interact with each other. The youth of today are big consumers of social media, and this might have great impact upon their identity and self-image. The aim of this study is to increase knowledge of how social media can be used in identity and existential questions in religious education in grades 4–6 to promote their identity development. It is based on Erik Homburger Erikson’s psychological development theory. To fulfil the purpose, interviews were conducted with four religious education teachers where they discuss the possibility to use social media in order to promote their students´ identity development. The study has a qualitative approach and the hermeneutic circle has been used as method for analysing the material.   The result shows that the teachers acknowledge the need and potential to use social media in their teaching, even though none of them has done so yet. Some of them talk about how different values and conceptions of life can be brought up for example by watching a clip where a youtuber or influencer talks about what he or she thinks about identity and existential questions. There is generally a positive attitude towards social media. However, some of the teachers describe how they see that the students are affected in a negative way due to stress and pressure from being constantly connected with others through the phone. The greatest challenge that emerges is that the teachers do not consider themselves to have enough knowledge about the media that the students are consuming or about the role models they follow. Lack of time is a recurring dilemma, since they do not think they have enough time for anything else but planning their classes. Finally, it is possible to establish that further research is necessary in this area.

Världen blir på många sätt allt mer globaliserad och multikulturella möten har blivit ett vanligt inslag i många människors liv. Att forma den kulturella identiteten handlar om att bestämma vilken kultur som individen vill tillhöra, en uppgift som blir mer komplex i och med ökad kulturell exponering. Att ha en multikulturell identitet innebär att knyta an till och känna samhörighet med flera kulturer, något som i studier visats sig ha både positiva och negativa effekter för individen. Identitet kan ses som en internaliserad livsberättelse, ett narrativ, med funktion att ge en känsla av mening och koherens till livet. Narrativet kan avslöja hur en individ konstruerat mening av sitt liv genom valet av tillagda händelser. Vår studie syftar till att undersöka vad individer med multikulturell identitet lyfter som betydelsefullt för sin identitetsutveckling. Sex deltagare intervjuades och resultatet sammanställdes med en narrativ analysmetod för att försöka förstå hur identiteten tar sig uttryck och skapas genom berättandet. Resultatet presenterades genom enskilt sammanställda narrativ och tillhörande analyser. Språket visade sig ha en stor betydelse för deltagarnas möjlighet att knyta an och känna tillhörighet till kulturer. Resultatet visade också att deltagarna uppmärksammar skillnader och likheter mellan sig själv och andra i sitt skapande av identitet, vilket går i linje med forskning om identitet som kollektiv tillhörighet. Ingen identitetsteori kunde däremot ensamt förklara kulturers påverkan på identitetsutvecklingen. Resultatet visar på identitetens komplexitet och därmed även behovet av vidare forskning för att förstå den unika upplevelsen av identitet. / The world is more globalized than ever and more people are being exposed to multiple cultures on a daily basis. The formation of the cultural identity requires that the individual decides what culture to belong to, a task that becomes more complex with increased cultural exposure. A multicultural identity requires attachment and a feeling of belonging with multiple cultures. Which in studies has shown both positive and negative effects for the individual. Identity can be seen as an internalized life story, a narrative, which functions is to give life a sense of meaning and coherence. The narrative can reveal how an individual construct meaning in life by the choice of added stories. This study aims to examine what individuals with multicultural identity emphasizes as meaningful for their identity development. Six participants were interviewed, and a narrative analysis method was used to try to understand how identity is formed and performed through storytelling. The result was presented in separate narratives along with their analysis. Language shown to be important for the individuals feeling of cultural attachment and belonging. The results also show that the participants notice differences and similarities between themselves and others as part of their identity development, which aligns with research showing identity as a sense of collective belonging. No identity theory could single handedly explain cultural impact on identity formation. The result shows the complexity of identity and the need for further research to fully understand the unique experience of identity.

Identity development primarily occurs the most throughout the adolescent and emerging adulthood years (Arnett, 2000), which can be facilitated through gap years. Previous research has shown gap years to be beneficial (Heath, 2007; King, 2010; O’Shea, 2014). However, research has not addressed the personal perspective of gap year alumni on their own identity formation through structured gap year programs. This qualitative, phenomenological study sought to explore the impact of structured gap years on emerging adults’ identity development as well as identify the types of experiences that were effective for personal growth. The study examined the experiences of 15 participants, both gap year alumni and professionals employed by a gap year program. The findings revealed three common themes concerning identity development and four types of experiences that were beneficial for identity formation. Based on the findings and the limitations of the study, the researcher made recommendations for further research.

Ett av skolans uppdrag är att undervisningen ska bidra till att elever utvecklar sin identitet. Inom svenskämnet lyfts skönlitteraturen fram som en möjlig utgångspunkt för lärare i detta arbete. Tidigare forskning har dock visat att lärare upplever denna del av sitt arbete som svårt. Syftet med denna studie är därför att öka kunskapen om hur ett urval av svensklärare ser på identitetsutveckling, och hur de arbetar med skönlitteratur på ett identitetsutvecklande sätt i årskurs 4–6. Syftet uppnås genom tre frågeställningar. Hur definierar lärarna begreppet identitetsutveckling? Hur beskriver lärarna att de arbetar med skönlitteratur och samtal kopplat till identitetsutveckling? Vilka svårigheter och möjligheter beskriver lärarna att det finns i arbetet med elevers identitetsutveckling? Studien är kvalitativt inriktad, och baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem lärare. Resultaten, som har tolkats utifrån ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv, visar bland annat att lärarna såg identitetsutveckling som nära sammankopplat med skolans värdegrundsuppdrag, och att diskussionen kring skönlitteratur är central för identitetsutvecklingen. / Students developing their identity is one of the school's missions. In the Swedish subject, fiction is highlighted as a possible starting point for teachers regarding this work. However, previous research has shown that teachers find this part of their work difficult. The purpose of this study is therefore to increase knowledge about how a selection of Swedish teachers view identity development, and how they work with fiction as a means of identity development in grades 4-6. The purpose is achieved through three questions. How do teachers define the concept of identity development? How do the teachers describe that they work with fiction and conversations linked to identity development? What difficulties and opportunities do the teachers describe in the work with students' identity development? The study is based on semi-structured interviews with five teachers. The results, which have been interpreted from a social constructivist perspective, show that the teachers saw identity development as closely linked to the school's values, and that discussion about fiction is central to identity development.

This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of introverts who were involved in two or more passive or active extracurricular involvement opportunities during their undergraduate experience at a four-year college or university. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom video conferencing with self-identified introverts who attended public, four-year universities in the South, West, and Midwest regions of the United States. Participants represented both medium and large institutions. The analysis of the data indicated common themes from the participants including personality traits and common misconceptions of introversion, cultural focus of extraversion, personal and professional development, opportunities granted, and individual preferences for involvement and engagement on campus. The findings of this study revealed the need for further research on the areas of personality and extracurricular involvement. Additionally, the findings of this research study may be used to assist higher educational professionals tasked with the creation and implementation of extracurricular opportunities in creating a variety of offerings for students of all temperament and personality types, including introverts.