Writing about yourself is a matrix of feelings of identities. It creates meanings we can either deal with
personally or share with others, and it can heal inner suffering. In this way, writing becomes a space for sharing and for reconciliation.

The authors of the present article are involved in the postgraduate certificate (CAS) ‘GeFo’ in Ticino, an educational programme aimed at school leaders. Drawing on their respective research projects, they show how both reading and producing narratives centred on work-related challenges can help in the construction of professional identity. The authors also highlight the role played by literature (and by art in general) as both prompt and medium for experiencing, addressing and ultimately for overcoming challenges which arise during the course of a professional life.

Our research centres on this key question: What role does the written word have for first semester students in shaping their identity? Our study examines the written word from the perspectives of reception (reading) and production (writing). The question of the relationship between writing and identity is either touched upon or expressly addressed in response to a combined qualitative/quantitative questionnaire completed by several hundred students registered on a range of degree courses at three Belgian universities. The focus in our analysis was on student perceptions of this connection between writing and identity. A study of the student observations revealed a variety of potentially different attitudes to the written word.

This article reports on reflective writing as part of a certificate-level professional development course for school librarians in the Canton of Vaud. The case study described is based on the analysis of stu-dent-produced written records from the beginning, the middle and the end of the course. Our analysis of these reflective writings afforded us insights into how the students define their professional identity and how they imagine a career in librarianship might unfold. Our training team found in this joint analytical process new ways to strengthen the impact of this course on participants’ professional identity. More specifically, we propose a question-based resource for use in guiding librarians and adult learners in general through reflective writing as they develop their sense of professional identity.

At the heart of this article lies the concept of identity-oriented literature teaching. In order to avoid possible distortions found in language use around identity and identity politics, we start by establishing a theoretical basis. This first part of the article directs our gaze to academic discourse around identity, making clear the connections between identity, literature, and teaching. Next comes a focused reap-praisal of key points of departure in identity-oriented literature teaching: literary understanding, literary-linguistic production, and aesthetic experience. Explanations of the three-phase model central to classroom practice follows in the context of functional and personalised learning processes. A third section following this contextualisation outlines initial attempts at an empirical examination of the concept of identity-oriented literature teaching in the form of the ‘ÄSKIL’ study. A fourth and final section considers areas where further research is needed.

Fairy stories creep into our lives from childhood on. Whether they are heard, read, personally thought up or composed by others, fairy stories constitute part of our cultural fabric, both traditional and contemporary. They have ancient origins and tell us of a world beyond time and space, where entirely ordinary characters are caught up in extraordinary situations. The significance of fairy stories in all cultures has been examined from a range of angles and multiple studies point to their importance in shaping the lives not only of children but also of adults. This article explores the relevance of fairy stories – regardless of whether they are heard, read, narrated or made up – in fostering competence in reading and writing and in developing identity in adults. Insights from the literature on this subject are combined with findings resulting from the analysis of a series of biographical interviews.

Identity is shaped in a diverse web of connections, and the ways in which identity can be expressed is equally varied.
Literacy is one of the factors that contribute to identity and where identity can be expressed. Early years educators are responsible for supporting the children in their charge as they develop both their identity and their language, including their literacy skills. In preparation for this role, early years educators training at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Berlin therefore explore their own literacy, writing autobiographical texts to reflect on in this connection. In this paper, we examine student responses to the question of what and how they read and write in which language. Taking centre stage, then, are the trainee teachers’ current literacy practices. These are derived from previous literacy biographies and offer background for the trainees’ work in education.

In this article we consider how intersubjectivity in social media can support narrative identity work. We start from the assumption that autobiographical narratives account for a considerable amount of narrative work on identity, in the same way that the narrative practices play a significant role in the realm of human experience. In the context of psycholinguistics, intersubjectivity is examined here from both sociological and psychological angles, that is, narrative is seen to sit at the intersection between indi-viduals, thereby highlighting both the individual in their own social context and the individual as self. Narratives help us not just to communicate meaning but also to shape and articulate ego identity. In this article, we illustrate this negotiation of ego identity with the hermeneutic psycholinguistic analysis of a communication by chat. We show how both individual and group-specific aspects reflect ego identity in intersubjective negotiations on social media.

This piece, a reflection on writing as a way of finding identity, shares the author’s personal memories and experiences as she found her own personal language and a way of expressing herself. She asks where we gain permission and support for writing in a language entirely our own. This piece of writing also considers the approach of the Syrian author Lubna Abou Kheir. Arriving in Switzerland as an adult, she granted herself permission to begin writing in German shortly afterwards, at a stage when society was yet to accord her that same consent.
This piece also reflects on the significance of heritage languages, fragmented language, and literary language. What, the author asks, does it mean to have a language of your own? What do we understand by personal and individual narrative? This piece also addresses the role of encounters, mentoring and community in literature in sparking discussion of these questions.