Connecting Learning and Identity Development through a Transformative Activist Stance:Application in Adolescent Development in a Child Welfare Program

摘要

This paper addresses the relationship between identity and learning and how their integration in adolescence is an important part of short- and long-term developmental dynamics. We discuss how social practice theories can be expanded from a position termed 'transformative activist stance' that puts emphasis on collaborative practice aimed at changing the world and enacted by individual activist contributions as the grounding for both identity and learning. We furtherfocus on critical-theoretical knowledge as a tool for identity development and a catalyst for merging identity and learning. The developmental trajectory of an adolescent boy living in a group home and participating in a collaborative transformative project showcases a dramatic personal transformation from a victim of oppressive circumstances to an agent of social change with a meaningful life agenda resulting from a merger of his evolving commitment to contribute to transforming his present community practice and of his growing immersion in critical-theoretical learning.