The main purpose of this paper is to articulate a theory of human identity from a Vygotskian perspective. In doing so, we use the term ''funds of identity'' inspired by the ''funds of knowledge'' approach. We use the term funds of identity to refer to the historically accumulated, culturally developed, and socially distributed resources that are essential for a person's self-definition, self-expression, and self-understanding. Funds of knowledge-bodies of knowledge and skills that are essential for the well-being of an entire household-become funds of identity when people actively use them to define themselves. From our point of view, identity is made up of cultural factors such as sociodemographic conditions, social institutions, artifacts, significant others, practices, and activities. Consequently, understanding identity requires an understanding of the funds of practices, beliefs, knowledge, and ideas that people make use of.
The narrative turn in social and human sciences has led us to consider identity as a narrative phenomenon. We can classify most of the approaches that have been developed by the emphasis they put on the "subject" in the analysis. For some, the subject is the first person singular, who puts into order and constructs an internalized life story so as to give purpose and coherence to different life experiences. For others, the emphasis is on the relationship between the first and second person, the I-you, in conversational situations located in time and space. Still others argue that narratives -repertoires of behaviour and identity -are shared artefacts, of historical origin and their content is social, political and cultural (i.e., "we" and "they"). However, in all these approaches there is agreement that narratives of identity are cultural products, inseparable from the social, institutional, geographic and cultural forces which comprise what I call funds of identity. The aim of this article is to suggest the need to adopt a qualitative multi-methodological approach aimed at studying these funds of identity, thus complementing the general use of in-depth interviews.
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on funds of identity. First, we emphasize the extent to which history and time are constitutive dimensions of culture and experience and the affect this has on funds of identity and meaning construction. We then go on to explore some connections between lived experience and funds of identity. We prefer to use the term lived experience-rather than emotional experience, the term used by Nogueira (2014)-in order to emphasize (i) that cognition/thinking/ meaning are inextricable from feeling/emotion/sense and (ii) that learning and experience are intrinsically situated in a matrix of life trajectories and ecological-transactional aspects throughout one's life. Finally, in light of the commentaries by Nogueira (2014) and Hviid and Villadsen (2014), we discuss the applicability of the concept of funds of identity in educational settings. Funds of identity are inscribed into artefacts-drawings, documents, images, tasks, etc.-and transported throughout the different sites connected to a person's life trajectory. In our view, these artefacts can be used as resources for establishing connections within schools and beyond them. This implies seeing the students' funds of identity as resources for learning and seeing schools as a context that must also be linked to other practices and activities in which people are involved.
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