National identity establishment for secondary school students through project activities

Relevance. The issue of national identity for teenagers becomes relevant, primarily because growing up today's teenager occurs in a situation of independent search and selection of characteristics and qualities that constitute an ideal, in this case, the ideal of a patriot of their country. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to define the conceptual approach to the notion of "identity" and to reflect methodologically on how this identity is established in students through a project-based learning approach. Methodology. The leading research method was the organisational approach, which included a comparative method and a cross-sectional method. Empirically, an innovative infrastructure for teaching national identity to students was introduced during the experimental study. Results. The authors have established recommendations for developing project activities with the overall objectives of spiritual and moral development and education for secondary school students. Key methods for teaching national identity include research-based, creative, practice-oriented, and problem-based approaches. National competence in Kazakhstan involves a blend of knowledge, skills, values, norms, and rules that gauge one's cultural identity within a diverse society. Conclusions. National identity requires time to establish itself. It is inappropriate to force the concept of belonging to a nation on students before they have established a personal understanding of themselves. The process of national identity education should be unassumingly and age-appropriate, using all the crucial components of national identity: speech, traditions, national attributes. Keywords: national identity; education system; teenagers; innovation infrastructure; personal development