Emotional influence of teachers in the construction of the student's personal identity

Introduction: in this research we analyse the importance of lived school experiences, particularly those related to the interactive competence of the teaching staff, through memories and autobiographical episodes highlighted by old pupils. Methods: with this aim, we have selected nine persons belonging to different status of personal identity. We used the questionnaire EOMEIS-2 for this purpose. The chosen subjects subsequently completed an open questionnaire about their educational paths. From that questionnaire, we gathered information in order to be able to elaborate the interviews. The registered information was analysed by a computer programme NVIVO 8. Results: between teachers and students, different stories emerge, which are full of emotional features and directed the motivational and emotional processes shaping the subject's identity processes. Moreover, we noticed that the autobiographical memory about specific events highlights the substantive value found in the emotional performance of the teaching role. Discussion: the affect displayed by the teaching staff seems to influence significantly the guiding dynamics of the formative and shaping processes of the personal identity.