Dialogic Identities: Teacher–Student Relationships, Identity Negotiation, and the Arts

Engagement with the arts invites students to create, negotiate, and reimagine their identities through cultural, historical, and social influences. Within visual arts classrooms, teacher–student relationships further shape this process, providing dialogic spaces where identity is continuously constructed and redefined. This arts-based qualitative study examines how racialized teacher–student dynamics influence adolescent identity development in a predominantly Black student population taught by White visual arts teachers. Grounded in critical aesthetic pedagogy and dialogic self theory, the study illuminates the complex, relational, and layered nature of identity formation through artistic and interpersonal dialogue. Findings highlight the “promoter position” as a key mechanism in teacher–student interactions, revealing how encouragement, care, and creative exchange foster identity development while also exposing the limitations of racial incongruence in deepening critical awareness. The study contributes to critical art education by demonstrating how dialogic and relational pedagogies can support identity-affirming practices in racially diverse classroom contexts.