ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the modifying effects that norms and group-based social influence processes have on the role of social identity in education. It discusses the way norms and social identity apply to the role of social influence in determining the learning approaches used by students. The chapter draws together the emerging literature on social identification and learning approaches and existing literature on the self-categorisation theory analyses of social influence. Challenges to effective teaching have arisen in tertiary education in response to the ever-increasing number of students and the ever-broadening range of student ability, background and prior knowledge. Using the self-categorisation theory analysis of social influence as an organising framework, the chapter suggests that the effect of group social identification on learning behaviour should be partially determined by the norms perceived to apply to the group in question. The normative processes open up a rich set of possibilities for future research examining identity-based referent social influence.