Co-Regulation of Student Motivation and Emergent Identity

In this article I outline a co-regulation model of identity that is based on an emergent interaction perspective derived from Vygotskian theory. I use this model to suggest the role of motivation in identity development. The co-regulation approach is one of many modern attempts (e.g., social cognitive, social constructivist, sociocultural) to understand how social and cultural influences might impact the development of the individual or perhaps transcend the individual. This article articulates a co-regulation model of emergent identity and provides an illustration of its potential for understanding how students might make school personally meaningful.