Ｒｅｆｌｅｃｔｉｏｎｓ ｏｎ Ｓｅｌｆ－ｉｄｅｎｔｉｔｙ

李雪艳

Abstrac：Self-identity is multi-dimensional instead of uni-dimensional. We can not only employ one of the facets of self-identity to measure it as a whole. Work is definitely one of the categories of self-identity but it is not the only category to identify people themselves. Even if we don't discuss the psychological elements on this issue, from the perspective of sociology, self-identity is also closely related with education, culture, ethnics and so on. In this essay, we only correlate the issue of self-identity in the context of relating education with work. Although either education or work is seen as the separate category of self-identity, in practice, self-identity is achieved through the collaboration and mutual effects of education and work due to the close relationship between the two of them. Therefore, education, as the base and threshold to work, "life long education" and cross-disciplinary knowledge education should be promoted in order to help people establish the positive self-identity.

Key Words：Self-identity education work

Ⅰ. The relationship between education and work

Work is seen by Karl Marx as the primary human activity. It tends to be an activity that transforms nature and is usually undertaken in social situations, but exactly what counts as work is dependent on the specific social circumstances under which such activities are undertaken and, critically, how these circumstances and activities are interpreted by those involved (Grint, K., 1998). Due to the great importance of work for both society (it is central to societal reproduction) and individual (it concerns the basic human needs), plus the general feature of the modern time: "knowledge driven", education overtly becomes the essential element to the development of the world. Most of the educational reforms in recent years are aiming to promote the relationship between education and work, which can be demonstrated by some descriptions of nature of education like vocational education and instrumental education. By and large, both of the two social systems of education and work reveal their affinities under the sign of the knowledge society. Currently, education and work are two activities that are not only related, similar, comparable, and interdependent as they used to be throughout their long and troubled history – but they have also become partners that are capable of playing interchangeable and complementary roles (Giarini, O., & Marlitza, M.,

2003).

Ⅱ. Work and self-identity

Work is a necessity in that paid employment ensures the individual survival in the society. Work does not simply mean that the paid employment can satisfy people's economic needs. Work is based on material and it is beyond material as well. For some people who are already very rich or who have retired (they have enough financial resource), they still insist on continuing with their work; for some people who always complain that the work hours are too long, they still work for longer hours for the job satisfaction rather than economic profit. Within the framework of work ethic, to work is good, not to work is bad. Although it sounds kind of passive or forcing, people still live comfortably in compliance with it. Work, as a category of self-identity, occupies the focal position in an individual's life. Although self-identity has been conceptualized from a range of perspectives, the key element of it is "who we are". In society, this "who we are" specifically means our social roles: what do you do to contribute to the construction of our society and which community do you belong to? The work a man performed supplied his livelihood; but the kind of work performed defined the standing a man could reasonably hope for or claim inside his immediate neighborhood and in that imagined totality calledsociety' (Bauman, Z., 1998).

Work positions people to achieve their values. Through work, people display their gifts, their abilities to gain other people's approval and to fulfill their ambitions so as to establish their career identity; work makes people own the feelings of belongings by grouping themselves to their workplaces so that they can identify themselves as the member of some communities; work provides the opportunity for people to jump out of the confinement of family or neighborhood so they can meet their friends and identify themselves when enjoying their social life. In short, work stands at the centre of the lifelong construction and defense of a person's identity. The type of work colored the totality of life; it determined not just the rights and duties directly relevant to the work process, but the expected standard of living, the pattern of the family, social life and leisure, norms of propriety and daily routine (Bauman, Z., 1998).

Ⅲ. Education and self-identity

“Self-identity” is not a uni-dimensional construct but a set of multifaceted constructs. Self-identity is dynamic and it changes correspondingly along with the development of both individual and society. Knowledge is viewed as the pivotal characteristic in modern times and it is usually measured by people in the form of education. Therefore education naturally becomes one of the categories of self-identity. Actually, education is the base of self-identity. No one is born with a self-identity and people gradually learn to establish it through family education and school education as well. Education enables people to establish their own knowledge base so they are able to have their own views on everything including the views on themselves. Whether people possess some professional knowledge or skill is the prerequisite to enter the labor market. The employability has the potential influence on identifying every facet of people's self-identity, such as social status, feelings of belongings and life styles. This phenomenon is closely correlated with a very frequently used term appeared in modern time: human capital. Education, as the basic ingredient in the creation process of human capital, naturally becomes one of the categories of self-identity. Thereby education empowers the individual with maximum responsibility for the creation of his or her own life path (Giarini, O., & Marlitza, M., 2003) and establish their self-identities.

Ⅳ. Positive self-identity and “education and work”

It seems that education and work are two separate master categories of self-identity, but in effect, self-identity is achieved in the partner relationship between education and work. The accumulation of human capital and the formation of the employability are the bridges connecting education to work. However, how to establish people's positive self-identities in the context of closely relating education with work?

First of all, positive self-identity is linked with optimal educational outcome. For abstract meaning, the optimal educational outcome refers to the professional knowledge or abilities of solving problems. For specific meaning, optimal education outcome is represented by the diploma or credential. Both the professional knowledge and the diploma are the facilitators for people's self-identities in society mainly because both of them will continue to exert their functions during the course of working.

Secondly, positive self-identity is correlated with "life long education" which states the same thing with several different names such as permanent education, continuous education and recurrent education. That is to say education does not conclude with graduation or a doctoral paper, but it remains open-ended (Giarini, O., & Marlitza, M., 2003). "Life long education" has very profound meaning in people's work. People often employ the phrase of "knowledge explosion" to emphasize either the importance of the knowledge or the speed of knowledge updating. If people can not recharge themselves as soon as possible to meet the changing needs of labor market, they will eventually be trapped in the state of unemployment. Consequently, people will not achieve the positive self-identity without the support of "life long education".

Thirdly, positive self-identity is related with the cross-disciplinary knowledge of people instead of single skill. The time we live in is filled with innovations. Innovation is the motive factor of the social development. In recent years, some traditional occupations have already been replaced by the new occupations with the innovations in every aspect of our lives. Single-skilled workers are facing the confusion of identifying themselves in the labor market. Therefore, in order to gain the positive self-identity, education should aim to develop people's multi-disciplinary skills or knowledge.

References:

[1]Bauman, Z. "The meaning of work: producing the work ethic", Work, consumerism and the new poor, Buckingham: Open University，1998.

[2]Giarini, O., & Marlitza, M.The Double Helix of Learning and Work, Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedic,2003.

[3]Grint, K.“What is work?” The sociology of work: an introduction, Cambridge: Polity Press,1998.