The Competition Of Symbols: The Construction Of "Good Student" Identity

Identity research has always been a hot topic,mainly discussing the position relationship between individuals and other social members in the social structure,and the deep inquiry of individuals as social subjects on their own living conditions and the meaning of life.Identity by gender differences,capital possession and status gap to distinguish the factors for the existence of symbolic representation.In the process of school education,these different factors can also distinguish and shape students’ identities,thus forming groups with different identities,such as "good students" and "bad students".Based on this,the researcher selected the Class S in W School as the research object and interviewed 18 students.From the point of view of symbols,the identity of "good students" is studied.Through the data collection of the identity of students with symbols in current school education,the paper mainly discusses the identity of "good student" of the formation and the effects on the education and student identity construction,relevant suggestions are put forward.In the field investigation of Class S in W School,it is found that the main criterion for "good students" in the eyes of teachers is their grades,thus forming the groups of "good students" with excellent grades and "bad students" with poor grades,resulting in the division between the student groups.In addition,"good students" also enjoy implicit privileges such as seat arrangement,opportunity to ask questions,and participation in advanced classes,which further aggravates the gap between students,leads to the status differentiation among students and the "strong linkage" of "good students",and thus causes the symbol competition for the identity of "good students".To explore the logic of construction and generation behind it,it is mainly the result of the joint action of national evaluation system,school competition culture and individual idea.The national governments at all levels gradually refine the evaluation criteria of "good students" in the process of issuing the system level by level to construct the image of "good student" at the national ideal level.The school,by means of commendation ceremony and symbol indoctrination,makes "good students" recessive and intensifies the group division between "good students" and other students.Finally,through daily observation and group interaction,students form a group consensus that a "good student" is a student with good grades and that "teachers like students with good grades",which makes many education participants eventually fall into the swamp of symbol competition.This symbolic competition for the identity of "good students" presents an inward-rolling trend,as the main body of the competition,students and parents compete fiercely in multiple ways,such as self-pressure,family participation,remedial classes and after-school competitions,which leads to a vicious cycle of theater effect.The function behind this symbol competition is analyzed,which is mainly divided into two aspects: positive and negative.On the one hand,this kind of symbol competition builds an ideal example,creates peer groups,helps students identify themselves,and plays a positive guiding role.But on the other hand,it also leads to the generation of misconceptions,resulting in the labeling of identity,the symbolization of education and the bigotry of competition.In order to solve these problems,the guiding function of the government should be brought into play first,and the single evaluation standard should be changed to the multi-evaluation concept by reforming the entrance examination for secondary school or college system and giving play to the leading role of the educational administrative department.Secondly,the campus culture concept of humanistic care should be constructed,so as to promote students’ life growth by abandoning the traditional prejudice against students with poor performance and recognizing students.Finally,it is necessary to promote the identity construction of students’ active meaning and construct the identity of self-image constructors through the positive self-compensatory identity.