"Pushing me ahead before I was ready was a serious mistake!"- School memories and identity development

The long-term impact of teacher-student relationship on identity formation, as perceived retrospectively, was studied narratively using interview and Relational Space Maps (Josselson, 1992). A heterogeneous group of 36 Israeli adults (aged 50–60) was asked about their schooling experiences. Analysis of their narratives from a relational-developmental perspective revealed psychological “fittedness” (Erikson, 1956) as a central relational principle, having a critical impact on students' lifelong identity development, motivation, and achievement. The findings of this qualitative study lend support to Erikson's model of identity formation. The retrospection of individuals at middle-late adulthood underscores these important long-lasting developmental influences.