ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to present ideas and re-. search findings on self and identity processes that are relevant to the study of students' motivation, learning, and achievement in school. Towards the pragmatic end of initiating intellectual dialogue concerning self and identity processes in education, we pursue five basic aims. First, we discuss differing approaches to the study of self and identity in social science. Second, we clarify the meaning of the terms self and identity as used historically in the works of William James and Erik Erikson. Third, we update our understanding of these bodies of work in relation to developments in social-personality psychology and the learning, developmental, and brain-behavioral sciences. Fourth, we provide an integrative framework that may be useful to educational researchers who wish to
study self and identity processes in educational settings. Fifth, we discuss the implications of these first four aims for contemporary educational research and practice.
