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Instead of purchasing programs to enhance self-esteem, principals should focus on helping students develop their strengths in a supportive environment.
Deena had repeated 6th grade and was in danger of failing 9th grade. She was tall for her age and often bullied her younger, smaller classmates. The school counselor placed Deena in a self-esteem group and taught lessons from a popular self-esteem curriculum.
When the counselor noticed Deena's behavior becoming progressively worse, she consulted with the school psychologist, who suggested that the school support team review Deena's academic and social needs to determine what skill deficits might be contributing to her behavior, rather than assuming that her self-esteem was the primary problem.
Although Deena did not have a learning disability, she did struggle with reading. The team determined that Deena's self-esteem was adequate but that her reading difficulties contributed to a low academic self-concept. They recommended that the reading specialist provide corrective reading strategies. Two months later, Deena was passing two of her four core classes and her discipline referrals had decreased by 40%.
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem
Teachers, administrators, and parents commonly voice concerns about students' self-esteem. Its significance is often exaggerated to the extent that low selfesteem is viewed as the cause of all evil and high self-esteem as the cause of all good (Manning, Bear, & Minke, 2006). Promoting high self-concept is important because it relates to academic and life success, but before investing significant time, money, and effort on packaged programs, principals should understand why such endeavors have failed and what schools can do to effectively foster students' self-esteem and self-concept.
Although the terms self-concept and self-esteem are often used interchangeably, they represent different but related constructs. Self-concept refers to a student's perceptions of competence or adequacy in academic and nonacademic (e.g., social, behavioral, and athletic) domains and is best represented by a profile of self-perceptions across domains. Self-esteem is a student's overall evaluation of him- or herself, including feelings of general happiness and satisfaction (Harter, 1999). Schools are most likely to support students' positive self-esteem by implementing strategies that promote their self-concept.
Development of Self-Concept
Students frequently display a decline in self-concept during elementary school and the transition to middle level. This decrease represents an adaptive reaction to the...