Being recognized, becoming a learner: A comparative analysis of teacher actions and student experiences in Chile

In an increasingly interconnected world where information is readily accessible and continuously evolving, schools play a vital role in equipping students to learn across diverse contexts of participation. The concept of Learner Identity has emerged as a valuable lens for fostering this competence, positioning teacher recognition as a central mechanism through which students construct meanings about themselves as learners. Existing literature suggests that a positive Learner Identity may support learning across varied contexts. Building on this line of research, this qualitative single-case study examines a primary teacher's acts of recognition toward her students during a Tutoring practice in a Chilean school. The findings indicate that many of the teacher's actions were interpreted and internalized by students as meaningful sources of recognition, shaping their self-perceptions as learners and contributing to the construction of their Learner Identities. Taken together, the findings suggest that alignment between teacher actions and students' experiences of recognition does not operate on a strict one-to-one basis, but rather tends to emerge through sustained patterns of recognition over time. Although the study focuses on a single teacher in one learner-driven school, the interpretive mechanisms of recognition identified offer cautiously transferable insights for teaching practice and teacher education. Attending to recognition-based approaches that foreground the quality and structure of classroom interaction may therefore support the development of Learner Identity as a foundational resource through which students' construct meanings about themselves as learners. • Learner Identity mediates the development of skills related to learning across contexts. • Acts of Recognition impact the construction of Learner Identity. • The teacher offered multiple Acts of Recognition, beyond students' roles as learners. • Students internalized many acts as a recognition of themselves as learners. • This case study offers guidelines for teachers to help students construct a favourable LI.