The students in Ana's study had been in the program various amounts 
of time.  Some were relatively new, some were old timers.  Most 
people are "nervous" when they undertake something new and 
difficult.  I suspect that everyone who reads this has experienced 
that kind of anxiety.  Indeed, as someone who teaches doctoral 
students, I know that even the most educated experience anxiety until 
they become familiar with the situation.  Initial anxiety is not the 
same as low self-esteem, however, as self-esteem is generally 
considered to be a relatively stable trait, not something that 
fluctuates.   Remember, the students in Ana's study were voluntary 
learners; they at least had enough self-confidence to 
participate.  Other research has shown that low-self esteem is a 
barrier to participation in adult literacy, so it may be that 
low-literate adults who lack self-esteem just don't enroll. I don't 
think the implication of Ana's work is that teachers should not be 
warm and supportive.  All adult educators, regardless of what and who 
they teach, should be supportive.  To me the implication is that 
beliefs that adult literacy students have abnormally low self-esteems 
because they have lived failed lives supports the stigma of adult 
literacy. In any case, Ana is out of the country now.  I hope that we 
can revisit this discussion when she returns.




At 11:40 AM 6/27/2006, you wrote:

>Andres,

>

>I too am skeptical about the findings in the article on Low Self Esteem

>because the findings go against what I witness in my day to day practice.

>

>When students attending our service were asked how they felt about returning

>to education many reported being nervous and fearful.  They cited meeting

>other students and feeling 'stupid' in class as their biggest fears.  The

>majority of students were ashamed of their literacy difficulty.  They had

>spent most of their lives hiding their literacy problems from their peers,

>their employers and even their families; especially their children.

>

>With time the students 'found their feet' in the class and enjoyed the

>support of the other students and generally felt comfortable in class.  I

>have found that a student may overcome many of his/her self-esteem issues,

>especially in relation to learning, after spending time in a positive

>learning environment.  I wonder, therefore, how long the students, in

>Lipnevich's  study, had been attending classes when they completed the

>study's questionnaire?

>

>Marie

>

>

>

> >From: "Muro, Andres" <amuro5 at epcc.edu>

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

> >To: <focusonbasics at nifl.gov>

> >Subject: [FocusOnBasics 357]  FOB article on self esteem

> >Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:14:42 -0600

> >

> >I just received and gave a cursory glace at the Low Self Esteem article

> >on FOB. I am skeptical of the results. I do not believe that our

> >students live lives of failure as the article suggests that some

> >teachers may believe. In fact I believe that they live lives of

> >incredible sacrifices, successes, triumphs, and overcoming tremendous

> >difficulties. However, society portraits them as failures though

> >different mechanisms, ie, low literacy, poverty, difficulty with

> >academic environments, domestic violence, lack of employment, blue

> >collar work, lack of citizenship or residency, racism, poor health, etc.

> >These are the tools that mainstream society uses to evaluate success or

> >failure of individuals.

> >

> >

> >

> >While most of our students are extremely hard working, passionate,

> >dedicated, excellent family providers, etc., they do not measure

> >themselves in terms of these, but in terms of the mainstream society

> >markers. The mainstream society markers have very detrimental effects in

> >our student self esteem.

> >

> >

> >

> >We have found that through a lot of motivation, creative writing, and

> >success in academic pursuits we are able to help students to see

> >themselves as they truly are instead of the mainstream societal markers

> >of success. As a result, we see our students,\' self esteem improve.

> >

> >

> >

> >In a society where the dominant media dictates that success is measured

> >primarily by wealth, possessions, intellectual entitlements and looks,

> >the poor, the dispossessed, those without degrees and those who don't

> >meet the standard look will have poor self esteem. Fortunately, there

> >are alternatives to the media that can validate people based on other

> >things. However, the competition against the mainstream media is tough.

> >

> >

> >

> >Years ago, FOB published an article by Steve Reader that found no

> >resistance among ABE students contradicting what Quigley and others have

> >previously founds. This article finds no lack of self esteem among ABE

> >students. These two articles contradict the obvious. To me, this means

> >that the testing the statistical analysis, the questions asked, the

> >understanding of the theory or other elements of the testing instrument

> >are flawed.

> >

> >

> >

> >Add to this the fact that self esteem and resistance are very hard to

> >understand and assess concepts and often unconscious. Asking questions

> >such as: Do you resist? Or: Do you have a low self-esteem? May not be

> >accurate ways to assess self-esteem.

> >

> >

> >

> >Opinions, discussion?

> >

> >

> >

> >Andres

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

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