Who am I?:shaping young children’s identities through everyday narratives

Abstract Young children have largely been neglected in narrative identity research. This chapter is based on the premise that identity construction is a process that begins in the early years and is formed through the everyday narratives that comprise the daily interactions through which identities are constructed, negotiated, and performed. These everyday narratives provide children with the sense of who they are, who they will become, what kind of children they are expected to be, and the nature of the world in which they live. The chapter is based on research into everyday narratives produced in early education settings. I suggest that four themes frame the construction of children’s narrative identities: the possession of material items; skills and competences; peer relationships; and the child’s relation to the rules and conventions of the child care center