Art and Identity Formation: Discovering Inner Self in a Social World through Art is an

important topic because it encourages students to explore these psychological issues they often

struggle with but have no outlet for. It also increases student visual literacy and understanding of

personal contexts which inform the way they make and view art. Allowing students to freely ask

these questions that are often posed in adolescence, “Who am I? What makes me unique? What is

important to me? What do I want to do with my life?” (Meece and Daniels, 2008, p. 336)

students will avoid having an “identity crisis” which Erikson describes often happens at this

stage in development. There are many aspects to understanding identity at this stage, but Erikson

refers to the sense of “inner identity” (p. 364) as the foundation for identity formation. This inner

identity, that continues to form into adult life, supports and forms your morals, values, and

beliefs as a person. The foundation created for inner identity impacts identity for the rest of your

life, and the ripple effect impacts your culture, community, and those in your inner schema. The

use of art as an outlet for this psychological process is essential as it gives a voice and language

to students when there may not be words to process the experiences. Also, much of the identity

formation that students are experiencing is connected to visual culture, so using art and media

connected to those visuals will allow for better processing of both themselves and the materials.

Art is an essential way to approach this topic because students are heavily influenced by

imagery and visual culture at this stage in their lives. In a study of identity formation through art

by Steven Drouin (2015) he notes that:

Modern adolescent identity formation no longer takes place in “uncomplex and uniform”
contexts (Mead 1928/1961, p. 11). Jensen (2003) reminds us technology and globalization has
granted modern young persons exposure to many cultural communities from which they derive
answers to identity related questions (p. 1).
In this study, Drouin is exploring inner identity with his high school students through an art

assemblage activity. After having students explore their cultures and personal contexts, he notes,

“Helping raise students’ cognizance of how they and other factors influence their identity

formation process is an important albeit imperfect task” (p. 2). This emphasizes the importance

of visual literacy and critical thinking as a process to understanding inner identity. As noted

above, in this social world, students are exposed to global culture and communities, which

influence their identity as well. Allowing students to explore this complex narrative and those

inner questions through art over three units, they will begin to grasp the many layers that

accompany the formation of their identity and take ownership of it.

References:

Daniels, D. H., & Meece, J. L. (2008). Child & adolescent development for educators.

Drouin, S. D. (2015). Assemblage: Raising Awareness of Student Identity Formation through

Art. Multicultural Education, 22, 59-61.