Chapter 4 - Identity and Competence Woven Together Through Regulatory Processes

Summary

In Chapter 4, we suggest that competency be reimagined as a social identity. Social identities are inhabited or embodied representations (signs) of the values and statuses (possible roles) of a community. Social identities can be explicit or implicit. An identity of competency is an example of an implicit form of social identity that is linked to a local community’s socially shared but tacit category for competency. This category represents the values and expectations for how to be, act, or feel like a competent member of a community. In learning settings, an identity of competency is implicitly valued and highly desired because it brings recognition and status (rights/power) for regulating the behaviors of self and others as well as indicates a willingness to persist in complex learning. Understanding how this form of identity is enacted can reveal what forms of behavior regulation indicate competency in learning communities.