Self - Esteem, Praise, Encouragement - The Key to Student Success?

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Self - Esteem, Praise, Encouragement - The Key to Student Success?

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Success in school life is thought by some, including some teachers; to depend on innate intelligence as measured by standard Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores (Rosenthal & Rubin, 1978; Canfield, 1976). This, however, is often not the case and it has been found in some studies that student self esteem is more highly correlated with student success than is IQ (Canfield, 1976). This is the good news, as there is little that teachers can do to change IQ (Davenport, 1992; Wood, 1988; Binet & Simon, 1916). However, there is much that teachers can do to raise student self esteem, significantly increasing the probability that the student will be successful in school (Lawrence, 1996).

Self-esteem (or self-regard), is an evaluative measure of our self-image, what Coopersmith (1967) terms:

"a personal judgement of worthiness, that is expressed in the attitudes the individual holds towards himself".

Or that Websters Dictionary (1986) refers to as 'Belief in oneself'. It is also a student's awareness that he or she is a person of worth or value simply because he is a human being. Self - esteem is recognising that because one is treated with respect by others, one is worthy of respect. Finally self esteem is also a sense of self-confidence resulting from successful completion of attempted tasks (Lawrence, 1996).

Already within schools there are those who are laying the foundations for reform and restructure that will ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed during school as they grow in self worth. The teacher of any student is in a powerful position to influence the self - esteem of their students, through the establishment of a caring relationship and the use of systematic activities (Adalsteinsdottir, 2004; Lawrence 1996)

This development is not without controversy though. In a commentary in US News & World Report (April 1990) there is a suggestion that self esteem enhancement is nothing more than 'fun and games', and valuable time expended in classrooms detracts from the real business of teaching and learning.

Additionally, there are some researchers who assert that self - esteem ratings are almost always based on what students say about themselves and how they wish to appear, and as such have an ambitious, aggressive or self aggrandising style of presenting themselves (Baumeister, Tice & Hutton, 1989). Doubt has also been raised into the 200+ instruments for measuring self - esteem as, according to Scheff, Retzinger & Ryan, (1989) and Handsford & Hattie, (1982), it is difficult to generalise about research findings of the 10,000+ studies completed as many of the studies have not been properly validated and hence are of questionable value.

What supporters of this philosophy maintain is that students who are classified as having low self - esteem are relative to other students; in absolute terms, the responses of these students put them somewhere in the middle range of possible scores, as students who fill in self - esteem questionnaires rarely wind up near the bottom of the scale. In other words, students classified as having low self - esteem are typically not so much down on themselves as simply 'neutral in their self descriptions' (Tice, 1993).

These though are common misunderstandings of the relationship between learning and self esteem. If, in fact, self - esteem 'lessons' are a separate curriculum taught in isolation from the rest of the curriculum, then this objection is well founded. If on the other hand, the whole classroom experience is used as a vehicle in which self - esteem is strengthened, then the conclusion is erroneous. During a recent conference held in the United States, several key speakers pointed out that because of the variety of problems students face at home and in their communities, lessons should help foster self esteem, not undermine it (Nave & Robert, 1998).

This study will examine the way self - esteem is encouraged in a special provision for children with autism and related learning difficulties. It will examine the approaches used to support learning and make recommendations based on these approaches. The study will also suggest methods of evaluation that can be used to report on the success or otherwise of using self - esteem to build success.

Conditions that affect Self Esteem in School

Certain situations or conditions that occur in or around a school setting can cause a negative impact on a student's self-esteem level, through no fault of their own. This is normally due to failure of fitting their peer-group's stereotype of what constitutes a fellow student (Trevarthen, Aitken, Papoudi & Robarts 1998). Children with Learning Difficulties are particularly vulnerable; if a teacher is aware of these conditions though they may be able to lessen their impact on the student.

Secondary school children have their own set of unique problems. Adolescence is surely the period of greatest challenge and confusion in any student's lifetime (Purbrick & Aird, 1994). Children at secondary school have to deal with a constant battle between the privileges and enjoyments of youth, and the responsibilities of adulthood. For children aged between 11 and 18 years, an identity crisis is occurring and will continue throughout their educational life. During this period adolescents' bodies are physically changing, while they are simultaneously trying to identify the position of their social status amongst a peer group. Added to this adolescents are striving for independence from their parents, and recognition of this is required in order to enhance their self-image with both their peer group and their parents. During adolescence the primary focus is on establishing a positive ego identity, peer group recognition and development of social skills all of which can impact on self esteem (Purbrick & Aird, 1994; Smith, Cowie and Blades, 2004).

Teachers of Children with Special Education Needs may notice the severity of impact on their students' self-esteem levels during adolescence are amplified, for two reasons;

. The placing of the student into a separate Special Needs, or lower ability class, takes them away from their adolescent peer group.

2. Special Needs students may have a tendency to over state their problems (i.e. even more than usually disruptive behaviour) in order to receive additional attention from their adult group of parents and teachers (Jordan, 1999; Seligman 1975)

Both these activities may alienate peers and result in social isolation. However low levels of academic self-concept can correlate with high levels of social self-concept dependent on the social peer group the individual moves in (Byrne, 1996).

A thorough search of the literature relating to self-esteem indicates there are many educational practices that are highly correlated with student self-esteem. However, the results from the search can be grouped into three main categories: (1) teacher attributes and attitudes, (2) classroom methods and techniques and (3) school environment.

Attitudes and Attributes of Teachers

We come to esteem ourselves as others esteem us (Beane & Lipka, 1984; Patterson, 1973). Therefore it is not surprising that teachers under whose tutelage student self-esteem increases accept students as individuals, as persons of infinite worth and value, as persons with absolute dignity as human beings and therefore worthy of the utmost respect. These teachers do not make judgments based on the student's race, socio-economic status, family origin, hairstyle or dress. Every student is accepted, respected and cared for. Teachers demonstrate this in two ways: (1) by making the time to reinforce the importance of a student's needs and (2) by positively, unconditionally and actively listening and having regard for each student and acknowledging his or her needs, dreams and problems (Rogers, 1961). Teachers and staff in the setting for this study in addition to the above, also place high expectations on each student. They believe that every student can learn and that every student will learn. They believe in their own ability to find the key to unlock each student's intrinsic motivation. Ultimately, the teachers assume what the literature calls 'the extended role of the teacher' (Lockwood, 1989). This means that the teacher is sensitive to any of the developmental needs of the student, becoming, as the student's needs might dictate: advocate, advisor, counsellor, friend, mentor or social worker (Weber & Seckler 1987).
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Students report that their experiences within the provision are markedly different from their previous schools. Many report that though they were not mistreated, they did feel as if they were invisible. They were not among those students who received continuous teacher attention; the academically gifted, the athletically inclined, the physically attractive or those from wealthy and influential families. Since students did not get such attention they felt unimportant, as if they did not exist. As the provision is one that encourages integration within the attached mainstream school it has been found that the students are in an ideal ...

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