I would argue that there is a difference in working with adults,
particularly those with traumatic histories.  

 

I work with women trapped in multi-generational poverty.  Most of them
come with a legacy of poor health, addiction, and violence.  Many have
been convinced of their inability to succeed through decades of being
called stupid and worthless, and existing in a society that confirms
their lack of self worth.  Largely, they have "become" their mistakes,
instead of being able to move forward in life.  I believe they are in
need of constant praise, whether it is for getting 100% on a math test
or simply showing up for school on a rainy day.  It takes a lot of
positive reinforcement to undo so many years of negativity.  

 

Dorrie Nord,

GED Coordinator

Julie's Family Learning Program

133 Dorchester Street

South Boston, MA

 

________________________________

From: focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Craig Alinder
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 7:37 AM
To: The Focus on Basics Discussion List
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 498] Re: Low Self-Esteem: Myth or
Reality?Somecomments

 

In my experience with Montessori education unqualified praise will
actually rob a child of their efforts and lead them to believe they
should not do things for their own worth, but solely for the external
praise. Personally, I believe the same applies to those educating
adults. Any attempt to falsely raise someone's self-esteem without any
effort or reason for the praise, will undercut any real attempt at
praise when something significant is accomplished. Praise loses its
worth when it is doled out constantly. It must be reserved for those
moments of success through effort, even if the successes are small ones.
I have a feeling there is probably a statistical bell curve of educators
based on what is considered a "successful moment" deserving praise. It
seems instincts and experience are the guides at this point.

 

What I feel is important to point out, is that the work that the
educator must carefully consider what level of work to give each
individual to ensure success is possible. In this sense, self-esteem is
taken into consideration, as the student must feel they have a chance of
success to even make an attempt at completing the task at hand. Those
are my thoughts on the subject.

 

Craig

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Craig Alinder
Escuela del Sol Montessori
1114 Seventh St. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87110
http://www.merchant-reviews.com 

	----- Original Message ----- 

	From: Anastasiya A. Lipnevich <mailto:ana at optimaltec.com>  

	To: The Focus on Basics Discussion List
<mailto:focusonbasics at nifl.gov>  

	Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 4:51 PM

	Subject: [FocusOnBasics 495] Re: Low Self-Esteem: Myth or
Reality? Somecomments

	 

	Hi Barb! You raised intriguing questions and I would love to
hear educators' thoughts on this matter. 
	>From my personal observations, informal conversations, and
formal interviews with adult literacy teachers, I noticed that educators
could be roughly split into two groups: those who believe that one of
the key concerns of adult literacy is to raise learners' self-esteem
because it's very low, and unless they do it, students cannot succeed,
and those who think that teachers need to teach students skills and
knowledge, and that self-esteem will naturally follow. If we look at
Bandura's research, he believed that the relationship between
self-efficacy (a concept, similar to self-esteem) and achievement
follows the latter pattern -- you learn to do something well and your
feeling of self-efficacy goes up, which, in turn, affects what you do in
the future. Years of research showed that attempts to artificially build
up students' self-esteem by praising every little thing they do (playing
a "cheerleaders' role", as Hal puts it) and such, are very unlikely to
lead to increas
	ed sense of competence and self-worth. Therefore, starting off
from the assumption about learners' low self-esteem would seem to be not
quite as beneficial to students as simply trying to help them learn. 
	 
	The study definitely needs replication -- we can't really
generalize our findings since only one adult learning center was used as
our research setting. I have been recently contacted by a GED instructor
from one of the Illinois colleges, who is interested in replicating my
study. I am really looking forward to hear about the findings. If they
are similar to mine, it will certainly make the case stronger. 
	Thank you for your comments!
	 
	Ana.
	 
	 
	 
	This discussion is rich and fascinating. 
	 
	I'm very taken with Anastasiya's research, particularly since
her findings resonate with much of my classroom experience. Of course,
it is only one study and certainly needs to be replicated with similar
and different populations to see how robust the findings are. 
	 
	In the meantime, I wonder how tied we are as teachers to the
idea that our students have low self esteem. What role does that idea
have in our views of ourselves as teachers?
	Barb Garner
	Editor, Focus on Basics
	
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