Identity introduction

The concept of identity will be used to account for how students construct and make sense of the changes and transformations that they undergo when embarking on a programme of study such as the Foundation Degree in Early Years. Identity is described as formed and shaped in the social context and through relationships with others (Biesta et al., 2011; Merrill, 1999; Schuller et al., 2004), but it is a term that needs clarity as there are multiple definitions.

Like Burr (2003), I favour the term identity rather than personality and use this as a tool to discuss how women perceive themselves. The essentialist view sees identity as an internal essence of a person flowing from an aspect of a person’s nature rather than located in social relationships (Lawler, 2014). Instead I view identity from a sociological perspective. Identity is not seen as fixed or a final matter (Jenkins, 2008; Lawler, 2014), but as a fluid and continuous process (Taylor and Spencer, 2004), that is constantly changing and adapting in the context of social relationships. Taking a sociological viewpoint, identity can be seen as a ‘collective approach’, created alongside of others, rather than as an individualistic process (Lawler , 2014:3).

Learning to define who we are in relation to others is a vital part of identity formation;

accordingly sameness and difference are key factors in identity construction (Woodward, 2004). Sameness would allude to the fact that we share common identities with others (Lawler, 2014) such as ‘woman’, or ‘student’. There are many variations contained in these common identities

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as we are all individuals with unique features and behaviours. Identification is another feature of identity, as we then identify with others such as ‘I am a student now’, and assume ways of being and behaving (Lawler, 2014). This is useful in accounting for the changes that a person

undergoes in how they view themselves when they embark on a programme of HE. Their concepts of themselves as mothers, wives3 _{and early years professionals may change in the}

climate and ethos of a student environment and educational institution. Or in contrast their perceptions of themselves as a mother or wife may influence how they develop their identity as a student. Through participating in HE they may modify their views, and change their

perceptions of themselves; this then widens the possibilities and parameters of the duties they adopt, or behaviours that they may play out as part of their identity. However, considering identity in the boundaries of identification labels alone can be restrictive, as it does not fully recognise the tensions between different identities or construes it as lacking fluidity (Lawler, 2014).

Burr (2003) describes identity in terms of strands woven together. Brown (2006) portrays identity as a patchwork quilt, evolving and borrowing narratives from different social episodes that when woven together create the person. This is similar to Lawler’s definition of being created through ‘raw materials available – notably memories, understandings, experiences and interpretations’, (Lawler, 2014; 24). Hence, the formation of these strands are based on social encounters, perceiving similarities and differences to others and assigning a label or

identification to themselves e.g. mother, woman, wife, or early years professional. In the studies presented in Chapter 2, some of the different strands that could make up identity are

motherhood, marital status gender, class (Edwards, 1993a), race and ethnicity (Parr, 2000). For a women student, these strands might be as illustrated in Figure 1. These strands will be

constructed differently by each individual based on their perspective of the important aspects of their roles and how they describe themselves. The concept of identity strands is useful as it

3 _{The term wife or husband was used as all the participants in couples were married (other than 1 who got}

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enables me to visualise how the women perceive their identity and the strands that are of importance to them.

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When considering the identity strand of being a mother it is necessary to define the difference between identity and role. Identity is a better framework because role theory does not look at the complexities and intricacies of the individual but at the tasks element and definition of the role. It can offer a stereotypical reality or job description and does not allow for lived in experiences of feelings (Edwards, 1993a). It is criticised as an inflexible and static concept (Harré and van Lagenhove, 1999), which shows normative roles (Jackson, 1998). It does not demonstrate the uniqueness or realities of motherhood for each participant. In this study, women use the terms role and identity interchangeably as they find it difficult to separate between the two. I will use the term identity to describe how the woman views herself and the dispositions she shows, for example for the strand of mother she may see her identity as being a financial provider

(Williams, 2004), being a consistent caring figure (Reynolds, Callender and Edwards, 2003) or both. In contrast, the term role will be used to define the patterns of behaviour, routines and duties that she may perform (i.e. household tasks, childcare) (Woodward, 2004). The patterns of behaviour may be deemed as socially constructed expectations of the fulfilment of that

particular role (Scott, 2014).

mother mature HE student Early Years Practitioner or volunteer daughter wife

Figure 1 Example of strands of identity for a woman student (Rope image source: Hyatt Verrill, 2014)

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Constructing what it is to be a HE student is a new identity strand for the women and may be difficult for them to make sense of with new discourses that are unfamiliar to them, such as self development and mental prowess (Burr, 2003). Identity change is often seen to be prevalent in times of trouble (Lawler, 2014), or extreme negative situations change such as through bereavement or relationship changes (Parr, 2000). I argue that identity change does occur through day to day life experiences and this is also significant and worthy of scrutiny (Lawler, 2014). Women would also experience identity change through the different stages of being a mother, as their child grows and develops so does their construction of motherhood.