Future-oriented identity formation among adolescents in various childhood environments, 2004

Identity and life meaning are in adolescence - particularly in the (post) modern age - a central existential challenge which should also be the welfare state's responsibility. The project considered adolescents as rational and choosing agents, constructing their own lives, with or against societal norms. Simultaneously adolescents are targeted and guided by strong social structures and influences, partly politically controlled (like school), partly controlled market (such as media, fashion, culture industry). The project asks how youth participation and projects at various venues in and outside of school is related to their future-oriented identity and learning activities. The project also asks what is attractive/repulsive at school compared to other venues, and in this context the role of outwardly focused school projects can play compared to more inwardly directed assignments and teaching. The project will follow the adolescents at up to 10 strategically selected Norwegian schools/classes in urban and rural, North and South Norway through a 5-year period, starting with year 9. We hope to reveal both variability and change, similarities and relationships between childhood environments and adolescent future-oriented learning and identity work. School actualization of school external social phenomena and venues, various venues' importance in youth identity-building, and the role of school projects can play in this context, are key questions in the survey.