How Can a Teacher Foster Student Self-Esteem ?
How Can a Teacher Foster Student Self-Esteem ?
It is our duty as human beings to proceed as though the limits of our capabilities do not exist. – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. – Mahatma Gandhi
Promoting student self-esteem is a cornerstone of good teaching. Teachers play an important role in nurturing a student’s sense of dignity, empowerment, and self-worth; students who feel empowered and in control accomplish more when a nurturing environment is created from purposeful classroom instruction, fostering a sense of self-worth and dignity. Good teachers find ways to get students to care about quality achievement, by fostering self-esteem, motivation, and resilience.
Schindler (2010) quotes several studies, over four decades of research, to show a clear relationship between levels of self-esteem and academic achievement. Research about self-esteem and resilience highlights the significant influence of even one adult to help children with learning and attention problems become increasingly hopeful and successful. Segal (1987) called that one person a “charismatic adult,” noting this was an adult with whom children “identify and from whom they gather strength.” Segal also observed that, “… in a surprising number of cases that person turns out to be a teacher.”
Self-esteem could best be described as a set of beliefs about ourselves, formed over a lifetime, reflecting our perceptions of our abilities, our sense of worth to ourselves and others, and how we attribute causality for the events in our lives (Shindler, 2010). These unconscious self-perceptions have been imprinted deeply into our very being, and can only be altered by significant and repeated new experiences that recondition our hearts and minds.
Schindler (2010) describes three fundamental traits to further define self-esteem: first, one’s locus of control; second, one’s sense of belonging and acceptance; and third, one’s sense of competence or self-efficacy.
Bear (2004) and Brooks (1991) describe specific points of action in building self-esteem, shown below as separate points under Shindler’s three fundamental traits. Bear also warns against the misleading practice of merely telling students that they are wonderful in order to build self-esteem. Teachers should instead devote attention to these everyday classroom practices.
Brooks (1991) refers to his guidelines as “intervention” strategies to nurture self-esteem, and recommends that each educator use these strategies in a way that most successfully meets the particular needs of each student.
Locus of Control
An internal locus of control can be defined as the belief that one has the capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of one’s life, in contrast to seeing events as controlling, in which life “happens to us.” This sense of control comes from having a causal understanding of behavior and effect, from freely making choices and taking responsibility for the consequences, having a sense of power and responsibility, and learning from experience.
The following are practices that Shindler lists to promote students’ internal locus of control:
Assess the process and other student-owned behaviors. Students do not often have control over their ability, but they do have control over the degree to which they apply themselves.
Give students voice and ownership of classroom rules and consequences. Then when students break rules, follow through with consistently applied consequences ,while avoiding punishment.
Create an environment free of the need for excuses. Begin by never asking for them.
Teach problem-solving skills, and expect students to take responsibility for working through problems individually or in groups.
Give choices, and then expect accountability for those choices.
Use behavioral contracts with students who need an education in cause and effect.
Bear (2004) adds these points under Shindler’s locus of control:
Avoid public humiliation. When possible, handle discipline problems privately, and not publicly.
Apply only as much external regulation as necessary to bring about compliance. To help protect feelings of autonomy, and thus self-esteem, educators should use a minimum of external pressure to bring about compliance, without making students feel that they are being coerced. When external pressure is not obvious, students tend to believe that they perform a requisite behavior for reasons that are intrinsically motivated, and thus are more likely to engage in that behavior in the future.
Brooks (1991) adds these guidelines to allow students a sense of control:
Understand and de-mystify the learning problems: Help children understand their unique learning strengths and weaknesses, and make appropriate accommodations in their school programs. Ask the students what they see as their learning strengths and weaknesses, and let them articulate their profile, then figure out – together – the best ways for them to learn.
Make appropriate accommodations to maximize student success: If all children learn differently, then it makes inherent sense that we teach them in ways they learn best. All parties – students, teachers, and parents – understand a child’s strengths and weaknesses, arrive at common expectations and goals, and recognize what has to be done to reach these goals, such as untimed tests, or a maximum time spent on homework.
Teach children how to solve problems and make decisions: Brooks emphasizes that a basic feature of high self-esteem and resilience is the belief one has control over many areas of one’s life and can accurately define these areas, i.e., Shindler’s locus of control. This belief is tied to a feeling of ownership, a vital foundation for motivation. If we wish our children to develop this sense of control, it is essential we provide them with opportunities from an early age to learn and apply problem-solving and decision-making skills. Examples that Brooks uses include offering a choice of four out of six problems of varying complexity for homework.
A Sense of Belonging and Acceptance
A sense of belonging and acceptance is essential to a student’s mental health and ability to trust and take risks. Without the experience of acceptance and a feeling of belonging, the student is unable to love and accept him or herself. In an environment where there is emotional support and a minimum of destructive criticism, students feel empowered to take risks, express themselves, and persist in the face of difficulty.
The following are practices that Shindler lists to promote a sense of acceptance and belonging within a class:
Use cooperative structures where interdependence and inter-reliance are unavoidable.
Use assigned roles, assigned grouping, and rotation of grouping in your cooperative work. Students need to work with and rely on each member of the class, not just their friends.
Do not accept derogatory or demeaning language in any form, especially negative self-description.
Demand and model positive interactions and human respect.
Never put students in a position to compete for tangible rewards or approval (i.e., your love, grades, status, privileges, or any status rewards).
Appreciate differences and recognize the unique gifts of each of your student.
Be approachable, caring and validate student’s feelings.
Bear (2004) adds these points, related to providing a sense of belonging:
Demonstrate social support by showing personal interest in every student: Discover each student’s strengths, interests, favorite sports, hobbies, television shows, books, family background, etc., and refer to this information during daily discourse with the individual student and the class. Such information can be gathered by distributing a simple survey (e.g., What are your favorite hobbies? What do you enjoy doing the most?), by asking students to write about what they are most proud of or what they do best, by personally interviewing each student, or by having students interview one another and report their results to the class. Students also can be asked to develop an autobiography in which they profile their backgrounds, achievements, hobbies, and future goals.
Demonstrate sincere concern and strong support for students during times of need and hardship. Encourage students to do the same with their peers. One way to discover when students need emotional support is by requiring a journal in which students may (but are not required) to express emotional needs.
Consistently demonstrate respect, acceptance, and care toward all students, regardless of their backgrounds and past or present behavior. When addressing issues of conduct (not performance), the message should be that the student is always acceptable and worthwhile. Avoid attacks on the student’s character and instead focus your remarks on the student’s behavior (e.g., instead of “you’re irresponsible,” say “what you did was irresponsible”).
Draw a distinction between students’ feelings and their behaviors. Teach students that, “all feelings are okay but all behaviors are not okay.” Emphasize that it is “okay” for them to feel angry, but that it is “not okay” for them to express their anger in a way that could hurt themselves or others. One way that students can often express their feelings without hurting anyone is simply by telling someone how they feel.
Display a positive and optimistic attitude. Even when working with students with the most challenging behavior problems, demonstrate confidence that their behavior will improve. View mistakes of behavior as learning experiences, not failures. Use these mistakes as opportunities to teach students more responsible behavior. Effective classroom managers view every day “as a new day” and do not hold the past behaviors of students against them.
Avoid social comparisons (e.g., posting of grades): Encourage students to compare their performance (including behavior) to personal goals. Rather than “Why don’t you act like others in the class?” you should say “Your behavior is much better than last week when you shown that you can ignore others when they bother you.”
Garner social support from others, especially parents and peers, to help booster positive emotions and behavior: A two-minute phone call home, informing parents that their child could use some emotional support after experiencing an unexpected failure, is likely to be time well spent.
Brooks (1991) adds this point for creating a sense of belonging:
Reinforce responsibility by having children contribute: Self-esteem and resilience are nurtured when children are provided opportunities to contribute to their world and to the well-being of others. Make a list of your students and what each contributes to the school environment. When students feel they are making a positive difference in school, they are more motivated to do well and are more willing to take appropriate risks in learning. These acts of caring can easily be linked with academic tasks, such as students with learning problems can be asked to read to younger children.
Sense of Self-Efficacy
A sense of self-efficacy could be defined as one’s belief in his or her competence in a given domain. We know that when we feel competent we try harder and more readily trust ourselves in the process. Self-efficacy comes from evidence. Bandura (1977) speaks of self-efficacy as the degree of expectancy that one will successfully perform a desired task, and not from complements or being spared failure. When a young person obtains feedback that he or she succeeded in a given task or has demonstrated a talent, he or she will be confident in applying that ability in the future.
Shindler lists these practices that promote a sense of competence and self-efficacy in students:
Use a clear system of feedback providing “knowledge of their results.” Students need to know specifically what it is that they did well when they succeed and what they did incorrectly when they are struggling to succeed.
Assess what is most important. What you assess on a daily basis defines your classroom concept of “success.” Complete the following sentence, “If I could only assess _________ , I would have a better class.”
Assess using a clear criterion referenced system. Give students clear targets or purposeful outcomes to aim for, and that relate to their progress.
Have high expectations for your students and catch them being good. Do not accept low self-estimations, especially in the areas of effort and process.
Find ways to make the students the teacher (i.e., peer tutoring, writing partners, leadership of daily activities, jigsaw instruction, etc.).
Brooks’ (1991) adds this point for developing self-efficacy:
Teach them to learn from, rather than feeling defeated by, mistakes: All students are concerned about making mistakes and looking foolish, but those with learning problems experience more failure situations than peers who do not have these problems, so they feel even more vulnerable and fearful about failing. They feel especially “exposed” in school since it is an environment in which their learning problems are very evident.
Brooks suggests that teachers, at the beginning of the school year, ask “Who feels they are going to make a mistake and not understand something in class this year?” Before any of the students can respond, teachers can raise their own hands and discuss times when they were students and worried about making mistakes and how this interfered with their learning. They can then engage the class in a problem-solving discussion of what they can do as teachers and what the class can do to minimize the fear of failing and looking foolish. Rules can be established about how to call on students and how the teacher and other students should respond when a student does not know an answer.
Openly acknowledging the fear of failure renders it less potent and less destructive. Tying this to a discussion of how we all learn differently and have different strengths (islands of competence) and weaknesses sets the foundation for a class environment filled with respect and understanding. Such an environment is one in which students, no matter their abilities, will feel respected and their self-esteem, motivation, hope, and resilience will be nurtured.
One of the many lessons that teachers can provide students is to show them how to develop their self-dignity and resilience, to lead more satisfying, fulfilling, successful lives. By helping to build their self-esteem, teachers can become, as Segal (1987) refers to them, the “charismatic adults” in their lives.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review 84(2): pp. 191-215.
Bear, G. G., & Manning, M. A. (2004). Developing emotional competencies and self-discipline. In G. G. Bear, Ed., Developing self-discipline and preventing and correcting misbehavior. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Brooks, R. B. (1991). The self-esteem teacher. Loveland, OH: Treehaus Communications.
Segal, J. (1987). Winning life’s toughest battles: the roots of human resilience. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shindler, J. V. (2010). Transformative classroom management: positive strategies to engage all students and promote a psychology of success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Michael Lemon Portfolio 