STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP SELF CONCEPT AND SELF ESTEEM ON LEARNERS

STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP SELF CONCEPT AND SELF ESTEEM ON LEARNERS

INTRODUCTION

                          Self is a reference by an individual to the same individual person. This reference is necessarily subjective and it follows that self is a reference by a subject to the same subject. The philosophy of self seeks to describe essential qualities that constitute a person’s uniqueness or essential being. There have been various approaches to defining these qualities . The self can be considered that being which is the source of consciousness ,the agent responsible for an individual’s thoughts and actions , or the substantial nature of a person which endures and unifies consciousness over time.

                           One’s self concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself that includes elements such as academic performance , gender roles , sexuality and racial identity . Generally self concept embodies the answer to “ Who am I ? ”. Self concept is distinguishable from self awareness , which refers to the extend to which self knowledge is defined , consistent, and currently applicable to one’s attitude and disposition . Self concept is also differs from self esteem : self concept is a cognitive or descriptive components of one’s self, while self esteem is evaluative and opinionated . Self concept is made up of one’s self schemas , and interacts with self esteem , self knowledge , and the social self to form the self as whole.

                        Self esteem refers to generate feelings of self worth or self value. Self esteem is not identical to self concept though the two are often confused . Self esteem , refers to one’s evaluation of one’s own qualities.

STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP A HEALTHY SELF CONCEPT

                      One’s self concept is how the view themselves . How they view their self determine how they will experience life . If you see yourselves in a positive and healthy light , your life experiences will be free of challenges and adversity , just that you will have a healthier approach to dealing with them . In order to possess a positive or healthy self concept you must

·         Know yourself

·         Love yourself

·         Be true to yourself

Healthy self concept constituted  by

Ø  The ability  to know yourself ; to be able to assess your strengths , weaknesses, talent and potential.

Ø  The ability to be honest with yourself and be true to who you are and what you value.

Ø  The ability to take responsibility for your choices and actions.

Ø  The ability to love and accept yourself as you are, knowing that you can improve and develop any aspects of yourself that you choose.

                      Developing a healthy self concept takes deliberate planning and concentrated effort. It takes acknowledging your intrinsic value as a human being, and then working to acquire the skills needed to confront the many challenges and adversities we encounter in life.

STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP A POSITIVE SELF ESTEEM

                        Crises of self esteem are a part of the human experience when you feel troubled by low self esteem , can follow the suggestions given below ,

v  Free yourself from “should’s”

                    Live your life on the basis of what is possible for you and what feels right to you instead of what you or others think you “should do .” “ Should’s” distract us from identifying and fulfilling our own needs , abilities, interests and personal goals.

v  Respect your own needs

                     Recognize and take care of your own needs and wants first. Identify what really fulfills you not immediate gratifications. Respecting your deeper needs will increase your sense of worth and well being.

v  Set achieve goals

                      Establish goals on the basis of what you can realistically achieve, and then work step by step to develop your potential.

v  Talk to yourself positively

                       Stop listening to your “cruel inner critic” , when you notice that you are doubting or judging yourself, replace such thoughts with self accepting thoughts.

v  Test your reality   

                     Separate your emotional reactions , your fears and bad feelings from the reality of your current situation.

v  Experience success

                     Seek out and put yourself in situations in which the probability of success is high.

v  Take chance

                     New experiences are learning experiences which can build self confidence . Feel good about trying something new , making progress and increasing your competence.

v  Solve problems

                     Don’t avoid problems , face them , and identify ways to solve them or cope with them . If you run away from problems you can solve, you threaten your self confidence.

v  Make decisions

                      Practice making and implementing positive decisions flexibly but firmly and trust yourself to deal with the consequences.

v  Develop your skills

                      Know what you can do and can’t do . Assess the skills you need; learn and practice those.

v  Emphasize your strengths

                      Focus on what you can do rather than what you can not . Accept current limitations and live comfortably within them .

    

                       We are not born with any certain level of self esteem or confidence . What we believe and feel about ourselves is instead developed early in life as we are presented with numerous messages from family, friends, media, and culture that begin to shape the way we view ourselves and the world around us. We may have been criticized , ignored, or we may have been lucky and experienced success, and received praise and respect. Either way, we must learn to be comfortable with whom we are and the best we have within us in order to have any self worth.

CONCLUSION

                             If we can accept that we change our beliefs , values, moods and attitudes then we can change ourselves. Two psychological terms that are very commonly used interchangeably are self concept and self esteem. They are reflective process . They can be influenced not only by observing one’s own self and behavior objectively but also by observing the reactions that other people have to you and your behavior , or imagining what other people might think of you . In addition self confidence , self concept and self esteem can be developed through comparing oneself to those around you, and that is a big reason that self esteem is raised or lowered.

REFERENCES

http:// en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/self

http:// en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/self-concept

youhaveacalling.com/personal-success/6-strategies-to-build-exceptional-self-esteem

www.cbr.ns.ca/sstudies/links/learn/1914.html

www.doorway-to-self-esteem.com