Hi, I read the article and I have problems with it and on how the
question about self esteem was explored. The issue of self esteem is
hard to measure as an independent variable and compare it to another
controlled group. 

The concept of self esteem is historically rooted in the ideas of the
enlightenment and economic ideals of capitalism. Hume has defined us as
Homo-Economicus, as men whose worth is measured by wealth. This was a
shift from the idea that the worth of a man was inherited as it was
previously believed. 

In modern society there are markers that define the esteem of a person.
These are usually wealth, looks, possessions, titles, job status,
cultural capital, etc. These are things that we all use to measure our
value and based on these, we evaluate ourselves. 

Usually, our students are in the low end of the scale in terms of these
measures. There are other things that societies can consider in terms of
valuing a person's esteem. Unfortunately, ours has identified the above
markers. We need to recognize and struggle to challenge this. However,
if a study tells us that there are no self esteem problems among the
poor, the oppressed, or those with limited academic skills then we won't
need to challenge our cultural views on self esteem.

Problem with measuring self esteem as an empirically independent
variable that can be isolated, is that it is not an empirical or
observable variable that can be isolated. Self esteem is tied to our
habitus and as such, it needs to be understood and researched within the
context of our habitus. Moreover, a concept such as self esteem is not
an isolatable concept with life of its own. It is a contextual mental
construct that defines the mental state of a person within specific
social, cultural and historical contexts. Blah, blah, blah, blah.....

Andres    

-----Original Message-----
From: focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Julie McKinney
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 4:51 PM
To: focusonbasics at nifl.gov
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 477] Discussion Questions for "Low Self-Esteem:
Mythor Reality?"

Hi Everyone,

Our discussion on the FOB article "Low Self-Esteem: Myth or Reality?"
will be next week, September 25-29. See below for some questions to
think about. 

Link to the article (in Volume 8B)
http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=1105 

Discussion Questions for "Low Self-Esteem: Myth or Reality?

1.  How much do you and your programs presume low self-esteem among your
learners? 
2.  How do you think this presumption affects the delivery of education
to adult learners? 
3.  The findings of this study may conflict with some people's notions
of adult learners. How does this article affect your thoughts about the
self-esteem of learners in your program?
4.  How might you adjust your teaching or delivery of services if your
learners had a higher self-esteem than you thought?
5.  There was some discussion of science's ability to "understand the
human mind", and of the validity of research on a concept such as
self-esteem. It is a broad and variably-defined concept, which may be
affected by many external factors related to one's situation in life.
How do we, as consumers of research, handle this question? 

I hope you can join us!

Julie


Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org

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