Self-Esteem and the Education System - Personal Statement Example

Self-Esteem and the Education System Self-esteem and the education system: A focus on primary/secondary education Introduction The contemporary primary/secondary-aged student faces a wide variety of different sociological and psychologically-related experiences during their developmental years which work toward building the child’s self-concept. Zins (2005) emphatically offers that because times are changing and there is much more push from society regarding teamwork, young people now have to cope with problems such as social isolation and depression. This is largely due to the fact that teachers and the educational environment create learning curricula which focus on social networking as a life skill necessary to succeed later in adult life. However, it is during these years where students begin to mould their own self-concept based on peer feedback and whether they perceive themselves to be part of an inclusive teaching environment. Children of this age bracket who develop low self-concept have been found to be shy, feel awkward in a multitude of social scenarios, and are unable to express themselves confidently (Reasoner, 2009). The negative consequences of developing low self-esteem during the primary/secondary years appears to create lifelong complications in terms of adult behaviours and even in decision-making. This is why it is vital to understand how modern theorists and educators are using innovative methods for improving the self-esteem of youths in the eight to 16-year-old age brackets so as to provide them with more positive self-concept well into adulthood. Failure to assist these youths in developing positive self-esteem is a failure to provide “the cardinal requirement of a fulfilling life” (Reasoner, 2009, p.2). With this statement in mind, it reinforces the importance of understanding the motivations and social/academic drivers which best reinforce positive self-esteem development in primary/secondary-aged youths and identify the most appropriate models available for this objective. The theories A child who develops poor self-esteem in their primary and secondary school years is “consistently worried about making mistakes, being embarrassed, or exposing themselves to social ridicule” (Reasoner, 2009, p.1). These students who view themselves negatively will also skirt conversation which focuses on the youth and are hyper-sensitive to any perceived signs of rejection from others and will, over time, begin creating strategies to deal with living which are both defensive and protective to the youth (Reasoner). For the educational practitioner, understanding the potential impact of minimised self-esteem should be of considerable classroom focus, as the negative outcomes of poor self-concept can lead to long-term problems adjusting later in life. This would point toward the educator as being a form of mentor so as to identify these social behaviours in low self-esteem youths and then work toward creating a more inclusive environment and one in which students begin identifying positively with their own skills and aptitudes. If students do not feel they are being accepted by their peers or the general academic environment, they are more prone toward depression and also have greater impulses for acting aggressively or resentful (Reasoner). In some modern classrooms, teachers are using self-regulation models as a means to assist primary/secondary-aged youths as a means of curbing negative behaviours which stem from low self-esteem. Reasoner (2005) clearly offers that there is a strong correlation between overt behaviours and personality functioning, both of which contribute to the development of self-esteem. Thus, self-regulation is taught as a valid psychological construct in which the student with either low or high self-esteem learns to control their personality-based impulses to act out emotionally and improve team/group performance in the classroom. Under this model, the teacher does not necessarily have to work on individual self-esteem development for all students, instead the educator focuses on assisting students in regulating negative responses so that the students are able to work both independently and within groups without causing disruption. Self-regulation was mentioned as a valid model for classroom teaching as some of the most fundamental outcomes of low self-esteem include neurosis, anxiety, depression and low academic achievement (self-esteem-international.org, 2008). Abraham Maslow, a renowned 20th Century psychologist, outlined his Hierarchy of Needs which identifies the various social and psychological needs which every human being strives to fulfil. This five-tiered model focuses on creating a sense of belonging in the classroom as a means of achieving a more satisfactory lifestyle. Belonging is characterised as being one of the most important social needs in a youth’s developmental years (Weiten and Lloyd, 2005). The evidence provided clearly indicated that youths in primary/secondary years, when they begin to perceive rejection from peers or the non-inclusive classroom environment, will begin acting out negatively as a means of coping with this difficult emotional experience. Thus, it would seem that self-regulation exercises, as a valid teaching tool for improving self-esteem in these youths, would begin working essentially backwards by shaping, first, the ability to control negative behaviours borne of low self-esteem prior to actually working to improve the cause of the low self-esteem. Since negative behaviours have been listed as outcomes to low self-esteem development, this self-regulation model would teach students to work in teams, embrace diversity in all classroom aspects, and also remind students that their peers have the same sociological and psychological needs in order to create youth connection. Again, students with low self-esteem, in the eight to 16-year-old age brackets, have much more vulnerability when it comes to being criticised and often have less faith in humanity (Reasoner). This represents a significant negative attitude toward socialisation which would likely impact the level to which the student, both currently and in the future, will treat others with respect and kindness. These are strong life skills which are vital to attaining a positive and rewarding adult life, thus teaching youths how to become more interpersonal and find reliance on peers would seem to be the most valid teaching model for self-esteem development. Regulating the negative behaviours, through self-regulation techniques, can create the fundamental social harmony necessary to allow youths to get in touch with the various catalysts which cause their self-esteem problems. The role of teachers in this scenario, then, is to help students to identify with themselves and their emotions, put these feelings into a social perspective, and begin to view the social environment as more stable and enjoyable instead of a constant threat to self-concept. Reasoner (2009) offers an unrelated model to the self-regulation model known as the Building Self-Esteem programme, which essentially involves the creation of a warm and inclusive classroom environment where students and teachers alike learn to find support in one another. This model focuses on socialisation as a key element to building a positive self-concept, by providing teachers and students with the training necessary to function positively within an existing social network. It is the role of teachers under this model to promote team-based activities and then further promote various challenges in teamworking to promote healthier peer networking and group problem-solving. The outcomes of this model, as relatively simplistic as it is, have been higher student attendance, higher academic achievement and even motivates students to become interested in being a life-long learner (Reasoner). The Building Self-Esteem programme gives students the opportunity to work dependently with others in the classroom, with the teacher providing an inclusive-minded atmosphere where the opinions and beliefs of each individual student are recognised and/or publicised. The Building Self-Esteem programme was identified as it again reinforces the importance of positive socialisation within an inclusive classroom environment as a means of helping primary and secondary-aged students develop a better view of the self. As Maslow identified that belonging is one of the most fundamental needs of the student, the Building Self-Esteem classroom model appears to be highly effective at changing the way that students view themselves at multiple levels of development. Simply creating the environment where socialisation and networking are common themes, the teacher is creating life-long learning lessons in the area of positive peer relationships that can carry the youth well into adulthood. It would seem, then, that such programmes could be considered vital to ensuring that the student between eight and 16 is equipped with the tools and learning necessary to be active contributors to various social scenarios. Standage and Gillison (2006) offer an interesting statistic regarding youth self-esteem by suggesting that autonomy and competence perceptions greatly impact the level to which a youth views themselves positively. Autonomy, in the classroom environment, is allowing the student to explore their own thoughts and ideas, or perhaps give the child opportunities to work independently of group activities, in order to explore their unique creativity and knowledge. Competence can be defined by the level to which a student is able to handle classroom or socialisation tasks effectively or simply achieve academic success as mandated by the classroom module or curriculum. Teachers which focus on developing an autonomous classroom, using an autonomy model, have found significant psychological improvements in students including better self-esteem and self-concept development. When the teacher provides opportunities for youths to publicise their unique talents through autonomous learning, the student begins to view themselves as capable and significant. Such activities under autonomy models might include providing students with individualised research objectives and then allowing students to express these findings/results in a public, inclusive environment where peer interaction is promoted. It is likely that any teacher working with primary or secondary-aged students can develop an autonomy model, also designed to build higher levels of personal task competence, to offer flexibility in the classroom. It was identified previously that students with low self-esteem tend to act more aggressively and are hyper-sensitive to personal criticism. By creating autonomous functions for each student and then allowing them to express these ideas in a creative and inclusive environment, students are given opportunities to discuss their unique contributions to class assignments and can find diminished anxieties regarding how best to network socially with in-class peers. It would seem that the focus of any quality self-esteem-developing classroom programme should be on giving students opportunities to work independently and then further express their personal findings or opinions to other students. Having other students offer positive critiques can reduce the students’ perceptions that they will be rejected or ridiculed. Outside of autonomy, it should be reinforced that during these developmental years students are exposed to a wide variety of social pressures from peers and begin to build their self-concept on the feedback and behaviours projected by other same-aged students in the classroom (and beyond the classroom). There are many more instances of bullying today where other students act out against their peers for issues of sexuality, gender, or even fashion consciousness or lack thereof. Bullying is a blend of both sociological and psychological problems in which more dominant students tend to identify a victim or series of victims to persecute or torment another child to justify their own beliefs and values. For instance, a heterosexual youth might target a homosexual youth for bullying simply because the bullier does not embrace concepts of moral diversity or ethical peer relationships. Salmon, James and Smith (1998) offer a study on bullying which discovered that youths with high anxiety scores on various logistic regression models were most likely to be bullied whilst those students with high depression scores on these same testing models were most likely to be the bulliers. Why was bullying described? High depression is often an outcome of lowered self-esteem, thus it would seem that in many instances, the bullying child is attempting to project their own self-deficiencies on others as a means to justify themselves and make themselves feel better. As an appropriate model for today’s teachers of primary/secondary students, the distribution of similar logistic regression models can be utilised to identify students who are most at risk for bullying and also for being the aggressor. Since there were correlations between high depression and the propensity to bully others, these students should be identified through teacher/testing interventions to reduce bullying on the high anxiety student as a protection. With bullying becoming such a widespread global problem in these youth groups, it is the responsibility of teachers who wish to develop more positive self-esteem in their pupils to recognise at risk groups and attempt to work individually with each student to identify their self-esteem weaknesses and develop more positive self-concept. The high depression-scoring student, who is more at risk of being a bully, could be counselled to uncover the root of their depression before behavioural problems targeted at other classroom peers begins. At the same time, high anxiety-scoring students can be segregated from at risk bully types, through careful teacher interventions, thus allowing the teacher to work with the student using relevant models for reducing anxiety. It is the responsibility of today’s educators to recognise the results of the study offered by Salmon et al. in regards to which students are most at risk for bullying or being the victim of bullying. It was identified that socialisation is one of the key factors for building better self-esteem, thus this would be an important concept when constructing an appropriate classroom curriculum. Using logistic regression models to identify these personality-based and behavioural-based characteristics of students can give an educator, early in the school year, a clearer portrait of what might be driving certain student behaviours and then work on an individual level to help students come to grips with what is driving these negative psychological attitudes. If the at risk bully maintains high depression due to events outside of school (such as poor parenting), the teacher can prevent negative attacks against weaker students in the process through early logistic regression testing. This preventative teaching model might be the catalyst necessary to reduce bullying across the globe in today’s classrooms. Students between the ages of 8 and 16 also have strong inclinations toward respect, especially in terms of being treated equally to adult authority figures. Barrow, Bradshaw and Newton (2004) suggest that one quality method for self-esteem development is to simply change the language the teacher uses during interpersonal communications with students. In many classrooms, due to administrative teacher obligations or timeframe for delivery of coursework, teachers are forced to simply give directions and expect student compliance in order to achieve the desired outcome to the study programme. However, it is during these developmental years where students begin to long for independence and the search for adulthood (Weiten and Lloyd). When students do not feel that they are being approached as equals to the instructor or given opportunities to express themselves creatively about an assignment task, there can be resistance. If these youths, who are searching for connection with adulthood, are approached in a way which threatens their autonomous search for growth and adulthood, the outcome can be disruptive behaviours or reduced self-esteem. An effective model for teaching and improving self-esteem, under this theory, would involve more intervention on behalf of the teacher to promote an equal and adult-minded curriculum which explores competence and autonomy for each student. Rather than simply giving a task direction and expecting compliance, the teacher can inquire about student thoughts or opinions about the task or assignment and give them opportunities to discuss course materials or course tasks as absolute equals to the instructor. This would also seem to create a more inclusive classroom environment and curb future negative behavioural outbursts caused by student resistance to being approached as a child. As they search toward adulthood, the teacher should be sensitive to these needs and attempt to create the environment necessary to let students explore their more sophisticated and adult-minded side. It would seem that inclusion in the classroom does not necessary have to come from peer acceptance, rather in how the instructor chooses to discuss classroom materials or instruct class coursework. Branden (2000) offers another adult transition aspect which strongly impacts self-esteem development by suggesting that the ability to regulate personal fears will determine the pace by which the student transitions into adulthood. For example, a primary or secondary student who is presented with new classroom challenges in a method which is designed to expand knowledge or personal skills might have concerns about whether they can achieve the desired outcome and keep pace with peer development at the same time. Over time, these fears can develop into long-standing anxieties and seriously jeopardise normal and healthy transition into adulthood as the youth begins to hold onto these fears. In this type of situation, an appropriate model for building better self-esteem in these youths would be to have inclusive classroom discussions, perhaps even a circle time environment where thoughts are shared in groups, about certain fears and how these fears have been conquered by different students. These sharing sessions would, theoretically, provide students with an opportunity to realise that many of their own, unique fears are shared by students, thus creating an instant social connection. A teacher can then make personal notations about which students appear to be more at risk for developing performance-based fears and target these students for more intensive interventions during the school year. Circle time activities are often thought of to be an activity used in schools for helping very young students master concepts of mutual peer respect and positive socialisation, however it seems that these concepts can be used as part of a total classroom programme which gives students the ability to learn of the more obtuse or hidden fears that many of their students share and build long-standing bonds which were triggered by like emotional expression. Plummer (2007) also heralds the merits of a circle time group, even for the secondary-aged student, as such circle activities gives students the opportunity to recognise that many of their feelings related to personal or classroom fears are normal and relatively universal among students of same age groups. These sessions can also give students, perhaps those who are at risk of developing poor self-esteem, the opportunity to build confidence about public speaking amid peer groups in a forum where their unique opinions or creative solutions are embraced and discussed positively. It might be considered, in a different light, to create a classroom programme which consistently reinforces how valuable and important the primary/secondary student is by using confidence-building techniques in-class. This would involve scenarios such as telling the student how remarkable their submitted work was in comparison to other students in the class, among many other possible teacher-student discussions. However, Hannell (2004) offers that when many teachers develop this type of self-esteem building curriculum, they run the risk of actually creating counter-productive behaviours, especially in the secondary-aged student groups, leading to long-term negative consequences later in adult life. Telling a child how smart they are, consistently, can build a distorted sense of self where they begin to actually believe they are fantastic, thus they no longer have any need to prove it to anyone. Groskop (2006) strongly supports this as a risk to today’s educators by suggesting that when parents or teachers continuously tell their students comments such as You’re so smart! or You’re so pretty!, students begin to develop a lopsided and unbalanced view of themselves where “puffed up self confidence” is the outcome rather than a healthy sense of positive self-esteem (Groskop, 2006, p.23). When teachers or even parents use this type of reinforcement about student value and competence, during these developmental years, some students will begin to distance themselves from their peers, believing themselves either cognitively or emotionally more developed than students in similar age groups. The point of academics is to challenge students to become more well-rounded and knowledgeable adults, however this type of reinforcement can make it so difficult to undo the puffed up self-confidence in order to give the youth a more balanced view of themselves. This would be highly important to today’s educators to avoid over-indulgence of positive praise and reward due to the risks that students in these developmental years maintain regarding the nature by which they develop self-concept. To avoid these scenarios, and create a type of classroom model where reinforcement is priority for self-esteem development in student groups, it is recommended that the teacher should first identify students who are at risk for or already maintain lopsided views of the self and ensure that such reinforcement is applied to the proper student who might have low self-esteem. By using puffery reinforcement, such as consistently reinforcing a child’s genius or competence, the damage is long-lasting and is also taking opportunities away from children who could use stronger reinforcement from the adult figure (the teacher). Essentially, it should be recognised that any teaching or psychological model related to self-esteem development must consider the risks of offering a child between eight and 16 too much reinforcement to avoid creating an unbalanced and unrealistic adult. Reverting back to the youth propensity to maintain negative self-esteem due to peer opinion, Cardoso, Araujo and Coquet (2008) offer how clothing brand name and fashion functionality greatly influence how a child views themselves in relation to their peers. Retailers and manufacturers of clothing very much recognise these factors when marketing their products to children in order to capitalise on their propensity to judge clothing styles against other students (Kurtz, 2007). There is a strong psychological aspect of fashion in the school environment where wealthier or more trend-conscious students stand out amid other less-fashionable student peers. It was important to identify this sociological element regarding how youths develop their self-esteem and self-concept based on fashion presence in the classroom as this is a reality for many of today’s students of many different demographic backgrounds. Though many of these values regarding clothing and fashion were developed early in life, perhaps based on parental lifestyle and reinforced values related to image, however there are models which the educator can use to lessen the impact of these peer perceptions of fashion consciousness. A recommended model is to appeal to the belonging aspect of student needs, such as what was pointed out with Maslow’s five-tiered hierarchy, by reinforcing that image and fashion are not what makes up the essence of human value. Using any method appropriate for the specific classroom curriculum, teachers would be the interveners to strongly reinforce that such peer measurements of fashion or fashion appropriateness has no place in a classroom which embraces diversity and unique student contributions. Innovative instructors would recognise that these are realistic situations in the classroom, identify students with lesser needs or less of a personal focus on fashion, and strongly publicise these students against their more fashion-trendy peers to reinforce that important adult concepts such as knowledge, skills development, and excellence in socialisation are the true measures of human value. This could be a subtle teaching model to improve the self-esteem of youths who are struggling with fashion-consciousness judgment from negative peers. Robins, Tracy and Trzesniewski (2001) offer a different model of self-esteem development by identifying what they refer to as the Big Five Dimensions of self-esteem, including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience. It is not necessary to define each of these theoretical Big Five Traits, however a recent study identified that positive emotional stability is an outcome of higher self-esteem (Robins et al). Emotional stability can best be defined as the level to which a student can manage their behavioural outbursts and regulate any anti-social behaviours in the classroom. For teachers who are dealing with a complicated classroom because of student emotional instability, such as dealing with troubled youths who are not cooperative and maintain verbal outbursts during class work periods, a recommended model is to focus on building better self-esteem in these youths. It should be identified, first, which students are disruptive and use logistical regression testing to identify the catalyst of these behaviours before emotional instability becomes the classroom norm. Conclusion It would seem that in order to be fully fulfilled in life, and also develop the skills necessary to be successful adults, self-esteem is a priority teaching objective for many classrooms around the globe. Whether focusing on group work or independent work (as a path toward building student perceptions of autonomy) or recognising at risk students, positive self-concept will lead students toward healthy adulthood. Several models for improving primary/secondary student self-concept and self-esteem were identified, each with their own unique series of outcomes. Whatever model chosen by today’s educators, self-esteem development in the eight to 16-year-old age groups should be a paramount part of the entire course curriculum. References Barrow, G., Bradshaw, E. And Newton, T. 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