Identity Development in Childhood

Dear Colleagues,

Childhood is a key time for identity building, which is understood as a dynamic and complex process that involves discovering oneself while getting to know and recognizing others, exploring one's environment, and defining and seeking a place in the world.

Accompanying children in the construction of their own identity is an educational challenge, as well as an inexcusable duty of education professionals, in the construction of a responsible, ethical, and committed citizenry in our world. In partnership with families, they are facilitators who take an attentive, patient-centric, and respectful approach to the construction of children's own identities, combining the physical and emotional dimensions, self-care, and care for others, as well as positive interactions with the environment (physical and technological–virtual) in which they grow up.

This Special Issue aims to provide knowledge and experience in relation to the importance of identity building during childhood and the pillars that support proper personal development and harmonious growth. Some elements to consider are the importance of self-knowledge and the expression of ideas; the management and regulation of emotions and feelings; interaction with the physical and social environment where children find educational agents who act as role models, models of socialization, culturalization, and support for their emotional well-being; the feeling of belonging to a group and the experience of living together in it, which provides emotional security; the achievement of progressive autonomy; and, finally, the body as a territory of identity, self-image, and self-esteem.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles, systematic literature reviews, and educational experiences with interesting and inspiring contributions. Areas of research may include (but are not limited to) the following:

- Educational experiences that promote harmonious growth in childhood.

- Narratives or stories of childhood.

- Identity in educational contexts—building a sense of “us.”

- Physical and emotional identity—developing self-image, emotional well-being, and emotional management and regulation.

- The gradual achievement of autonomy and participation.

- The body as a territory of identity, self-image, and self-esteem.

- Identity in the digital age.

- Teaching thinking on the construction of identity from childhood.

- Teacher training on the construction of identity from childhood.

- Development of environmental–ecological identity in childhood.

We encourage contributions that, from different perspectives, illuminate and support the construction of secure, unique, valued, supported, and accompanied identities.

In this Special Issue, contributions have to follow one of the following three categories of papers: article, conceptual paper, or review.

Prof. Dr. Roberto Sanz Ponce
Prof. Dr. Ana Castro Zubizarreta
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• childhood education
• construction of identity from childhood
• ecological identity in childhood