A Preliminary Study on National Identity: Comparing the Piagetian and Vygotskian Perspectives

Abstract

This work's goal is the discussion, in a comparative study, of different ways of approaching the topic of national identity from two theoretical traditions: the Piagetian and the Vygotskian. In order to do so, 48 subjects (ages 7 to 14), of which 32 of whom assisted school regularly and 16 of whom did not, were interviewed following a Piagetian format. The school-attending children were also asked to write a composition about their feelings of belonging. Results obtained lead us to consider the narrative mode of thinking more favourably than logic-scientific reasoning as an adequate basis for subjects' explanations of social relationships.