Tim Conroy-Stocker Senior Educational Psychologist

What do we mean by self and self esteem?

Who am I?
Think about responses to the question Who am I?

Who am I?
Physical Self
Social Self Spiritual self Now what about the question Who do I want to be?

Self Concept
Self-concept
Self-image Self-esteem Ideal-self

The way we see ourselves

The value we put on ourselves

The way we would like to be

From Lawrence (1996) Enhancing Self Esteem in the Classroom

Multiple self esteems

Academic
Social Physical Technological? Artistic?

Factors affecting teen self esteem?

The views of others Cooley The looking Glass Self Multiple self esteems? Social identity Psychosocial stages The desire to be aware of trends! The pressure to succeed Resilience Mastery Relationships Emotional Reactivity

Our picture of ourselves is not derived by sitting

in isolation but is generated by our engagement with others.

Bannister and Fransella (1980) The Psychology of Personal Constructs

Eriksons stages
Age infant -18 months 18 month-3 years Virtues

Psycho Social Crisis

Trust vs. Mistrust Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt Initiative vs. Guilt

Significant Relationship
Mother

Existential Question

Examples

Hopes

Can I Trust The Feeding, World? Abandonment Is It Ok To Be Me? Is It Ok For Me To Do, Move and Act? Can I Make It In The World Of People And Things? Who Am I? What Can I Be? Toilet Training, Clothing Themselves Exploring, Using Tools or Making Art

Will

Parents

3-5 years

Purpose

Family

5-13 years

Competence

Industry vs. Inferiority

Neighbors, School

School, Sports

13-21years

Fidelity

Identity vs. Peers, Role Role Confusion Model

Social Relationships

Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence, 13 to 21 years)

The adolescent is newly concerned with how they appear to

others. As they make the transition from childhood to adulthood, adolescents ponder the roles they will play in the adult world. Initially, they are apt to experience some role confusion- mixed ideas and feelings about the specific ways in which they will fit into society- and may experiment with a variety of behaviors and activities (e.g. tinkering with cars, baby-sitting for neighbors, affiliating with certain political or religious groups). Eventually, Erikson proposed, most adolescents achieve a sense of identity regarding who they are and where their lives are headed.

Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence, 13 to 21 years)

Adolescents "are confronted by the need to re-establish

[boundaries] for themselves and to do this in the face of an often potentially hostile world. "This is often challenging since commitments are being asked for before particular identity roles have formed. At this point, one is in a state of 'identity confusion No matter how one has been raised, ones personal ideologies are now chosen for oneself. Oftentimes, this leads to conflict with adults over religious and political orientations. Another area where teenagers are deciding for themselves is their career choice, and oftentimes parents want to have a decisive say in that role. If this is too insistent, the teenager will acquiesce to external wishes, effectively forcing him or her to foreclose on experimentation and, therefore, true self-discovery.

Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence, 13 to 21 years)

Erikson does note that the time of Identity crisis for

persons of genius is frequently prolonged. He further notes that in our industrial society, identity formation tends to be long, because it takes us so long to gain the skills needed for adulthoods tasks in our technological world. So we do not have an exact time span in which to find ourselves. It doesn't happen automatically at eighteen or at twenty-one. A very approximate rule of thumb for our society would put the end somewhere in one's twenties

It was different in my day

Everything that's already in the world when you're

born is just normal. Anything created between birth and the age of 30 is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it. But whatever is invented after you've turned 30 is against the natural order of things and is the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it's been around for about 10 years, when it gradually turns out to be all right really. Douglas Adams (1999)

Do you suffer from Trendfear?

Do you ever get a nagging fear that trends are passing you by? What is Pinterest? And is it important what it is? And will Summly have a big year in 2012? And does that matter? If you're a school Principal and you don't understand the implications of the rise of location-based websites and apps like Foursquare, you might one day regret it. How much dual screening do you get involved in?

Do your children suffer from Trendfear?

Combine this with the focus on the role of others in

shaping your identity. From peers the need to be aware of the:

Latest music Latest games on iphone/android/ PS3/ xbox360/Wii Latest books/movies What hairstyle/weight/ exercise regime

Which social groups are popular in school and what do

they think/believe in. Subjects to choose at GCSE/post 16

The pressure to succeed

Im Stressed
Where does the pressure come from? Aspiration Internalised parent Fear of failure Negative or positive goal state

Resilience: Mastery and control

How optimistic is the young person?
How self efficacious do they feel? How adaptable are they

Resilience: Relationships
What degree of trust do they have in others?
How supported do they feel by those around them? What degree of comfort can they take from the

support of others? How tolerant are they of those around them?

Resilience: Emotional Reactivity

How sensitive are they to being upset/ receiving

criticism? How quickly do they recover from being upset? How clear is their thinking when they are upset? Can they laugh at themselves? Can they roll with the punches?

Resilience
The more mastery they feel and feeling very related to

others gives students lots of resources and makes them more resilient. If they are highly emotionally reactive and have low levels of resources then they will be more vulnerable and less resilient

Motivating and helping teenagers

Motivating and helping teenagers: Fostering resilience

Tell them to work harder!
Working backwards in steps from a goal state Exception finding with negative or low mood states Scaling questions to identify preferred futures and

next steps. Healthy food Good amount of sleep Good Mental health 5 a day

Anxiety and depression

Help students to recognise the physical signs of

anxiety Help them to reframe negative thoughts Dont accept catastrophic self statements! Break down overwhelming tasks for them Normalise anxiety and stress

The good news!

Most teenagers with support from their parents, peers

and teachers navigate adolescence effectively! There are lots of things we can do to foster resilience in children and young people Teenage anxiety and stress is not a new thing! New technology provides new areas of support as well as stress!