Self-efficacy reflectsconfidence in the ability

to exert control overone’s own motivation,behaviour and social

environment.

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➜ SPOTLIGHT

he concept of self iscomplex, with varyingstrands to consider whenapplying potential waysto utilise developmentof self in children.According to Carl Rogers,

self-concept is an overarching construct,with self-esteem featuring as one of thecomponents (McLeod, 2008).

The education sector tends to leantoward increasing self-esteem as there isa correlation with improved academicachievement and, in addition, we are allaware of the need to support mental healthand emotional wellbeing.

Teachers and SENCOs gravitatetowards it as a potential fix for childrenpresenting with a low sense of wellbeing.

THowever, the spotlight on self-esteem couldbe distracting us from the more subtle andnuanced aspects of sense of self that maybe the key to opening the door to a betterdeveloped emotional literacy, vocabulary,and understanding of self-concept.

SELF-ESTEEM ANDSELF-EFFICACYSelf-esteem and self-efficacy are similarconcepts that influence and correlate witheach other. For example, a child who haslow levels in one is likely to have low levelsin the other. However, it is possible to havelow self-esteem and still have high self-efficacy. This is often seen in perfectionistswho are highly critical of themselves but arecapable in specific situations. This may leadus to question which area would be the mosteffective to develop for the best outcomes.

A varietyyty of factors influence your self-esteem and are based on how much

you value yourself. Those with lowself-esteem often have a more negative

view of themselves and their abilities.William James, the pioneer of the self-esteemmovement, designed a formula for definingself-esteem: self-esteem = success divided byour pretensions (goals, values, and beliefsabout our potential) (Hewitt, 2005). If ourlevel of success exceeds our expectations,then we might view ourselves as successfuland feel good about ourselves, which raisesour self-esteem. On the other hand, if ourachievements are low but our expectationsare high, then we may see ourselves as afailure. We often attribute these expectationsof self to the child’s decision to likethemselves and therefore increase our praiseand provide opportunities within school toraise their perception of their abilities.

However, this can often backfire,unintentionally reinforcing their beliefs ofwho they are; it has been theorised that theframework of self is often solidified by theage of seven.

Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s beliefin their capacityyty to execute behavioursnecessary to produce specific performanceattainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997).Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the abilityytyto exert control over one’s own motivation,behaviour, and social environment.Self-efficacy is often attributed to similarconstructs such as self-worth, self-identityyty,self-confidence, self-awareness and mostcommonly self-esteem and self-concept.

We form and regulate our self-conceptas we grow, based on the knowledgewe have about ourselves. However, wemay think that it is only when the childenters the world of education and school

Laura Purser asks: Why we are focusing on self-esteem whenself-efficacy could be the key to developing emotional literacy?

Exploringconcepts of self

Self-esteem is apopular and easy

theme and arguablyless abstract than

efficacy.

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that the need to draw on efficacyand therefore esteem, comes to theforefront. Children begin to considerthemselves and the perception of howothers view them, in a place wheresocial currency comes into full force andinstitutional expectations become higher.

PRACTICE TO SUPPORTDEVELOPMENT OFSELF-ESTEEMSelf-esteem is a popular and easy themeand is arguably less abstract than efficacy.Pre-constructed schemes, along withextensive research over time, have pointedtowards using self-esteem as a tool. Self-efficacy may be harder for teachers to getto grips with regarding the implementationof strategies and as an intervention.There is often confusion and ambiguityytysurrounding the self-concept constructs.

Teachers often feel more comfortablegeneralising its application across all areasof emotional literacy, with the intention offacilitating positive outcomes in children’swellbeing. However, if we can be more

specific and bespoke in ourchoice of self-concept constructthen we may better meet the needs ofthe child and therefore touch on moreeffective outcomes.

If we focus on increasing self-esteem tocombat child mental health issues, we may bemissing fundamental and important pieces ofthe puzzzzzle. Going beyond the usual rhetoricaround self-esteem can be challenging butalso exciting as it provides glimpses intoareas of psychology that we may not ventureinto when sticking to the tried and testedapproaches that do work but thatcan be self-limiting.

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HOW CANWEPRACTICALLYIMPLEMENTCHANGES TOSUPPORT SELF-CONCEPT?RReesseaarrcchh iinto tthhiiss

aarreaa ooff sseelf haass lleeddmmee ttoo ccoonncluddee tthhaatt

yyoou can’’tt havee aa sseennsseeooff self-esteeemm wwiitthhoouutt aa

sseennssee ooff sseellff.. TThheerreeffoorree,, itstanddss ttoo rreeaassoonn tthhaatt aa sseennse ooff

sseellff iiss tthhee outcomme we aarre lloookkiinngg ffoorr.PPrraaccttiiccaallllyy,, wwee ccaann llooookk iinnttoo iimmpplleemmeennting

a variietyyytty ooff aaccttiivvitiess tthhaatt eemmbbeedd aannddccoommpplleementt ourr tooppicc-based teeaacchhiinngg.. WWeeccaann llooookk aatt aaddjjuussttiinngg oorr,, iinn mmaannyy ccaasseessiinnccreaassinng,, tthhee pprroovviissiioonn ooff cciirccle time annddPPSSHHE lleessssoonns oonn seellff-esteeemm aanndd bbrrooaddeenntthheemm ttoo iinncclluuddee sseellff-eeffffiiccaaccyy,, ccoonncceepptt,, iiddentittyyyyttyaanndd emotionall rreggulaattiioonn iinn rreellation tocchhiillddrreenn kknnoowwiinngg tthheemmsseellvveess..

Specciiaalliisstt iinntteerrvveennttiioonnss ccann iinncclluudde smallllggrroouupp wwoorkk oor oonnee-ttoo-oonnee sessssiioonnss tthhaatt gguuiiddeemapppiinngg oouutt aanndd vviissuuaalliissiinngg ffuuttuurree ggooaallsaanndd collaabboorativveelyy wwoorkingg bbaackwwaarrddssoonn tthhee sstteeppss ttoo aacchhieevviinngg tthheemm;; tthhiiss iiss ooffttenvviissuuaalliisseed aass thee steppppingg stonneess ttoowwaarrddtthhee bbeelliieeff tthhaatt tthheeyy ccaann aacchhiieevvee aa lloonngg--tteerrmmggooaall.. TThheessee iinntteerraaccttiionnss eennssuure tthhaatt tthheeoowwnneerrsshhiipp ooff llaanngguuaaggee ccoommeess ffrroomm tthhee chhilddthheemselves aandd allthough addults providdeessttrruuccttuurreess aanndd ssuuggggeesstiioonss,, tthhee ggooaallss ccoommeeffrroomm aann iinntteerrnnaalisseedd mmoottiivaattiioonn raatthheerr thhaann aanniimmppoosseedd aassssuummppttiioonn..

DDiiffffeerreenntt aaggee ggrroouuppss ccaann aacccceessssuunnddeerrstaannddiinngg aatt ddiifffeereenntt leevveellss,, uussiinnggmmeettaaccooggnniittiioonn sskkiillllss ttoo ssuuppppoorrtt tthhiinnkkiinngg aabboouuttwwhhoo tthheeyy aarree anndd hhooww tthheeyy ccaann eeffffeeccttiivveellyycchhaannggee aanndd ggrrooww aass aann iinnddiivviidduuaall. UUttiillissiinngDDwweecckk’ss ((22000088)) ggroowwtthh minnddssett aapppprrooaacchhmayy hhelpp ttoo ssuupppportt uunnddeerrssttaannddiinngg anddaccessing KKuypers’ (20111) Zones oofRReegguulaattion, aann eevvideennccee-based ffrraameewwoorkk,ccaann hheellpp ssuuppppoorrtt iinnddeeppeenddenntt rreegguullaattiioonn aass iittllookks aatt unnddeerrllyyiinngg ddeeffiicits iinn emmootionall andsseennssoorryy rreegguullaattiioonn,, eexxeeccuuttiivvee ffuunnccttiioonniinngg,,

aanndd ssoocciial ccooggnniittiionn ((wwhhiicchh arree bbeenneeficciiaall ffoorchilddrreenn aattemmppttiinngg to aarrttiiccuullate tthheeiirr feeliinnggssaand uunnddeerrssttannddiinngg oof wwhhoo tthheeyy aarree))..

VVissuuaall eemmojiss ccaann eexxpaanndd eemmottiioonnaallvvooccabuullaarryy ttoo suuppppoorrtt iidennttiiffyyyyfyfyiinngg emmoottiioonaallssttaattees aanndd wwaays ttoo aacccceept oouurrsseelveess,, eevventthhee ssiddeess wwee aare eeaaggeerr to rreejjeecctt beeccaauusse offddiissccomffoorrtt oorr ppeerrcceeiivveedd unaacccceeptaabbiilliittyyyytyty.. Itiiss rreeccommmmeennddeed tthhaatt aassppiirriinngg aand eexxiissttiinnggSSENCOOss aarree ttrraaiinneedd ttoo reeccooggnnisee tthheeddifferreenncceess bbeettwwwwtwtweeeenn tthhe ccoonnssttrruuccttss aanndd hoowwtheeyy ccaann effffeeccttiivveelyy iimpplleemmeentt proovviissiioontoo aaffffeecctt ppoossiittiivvee oouutcommeess ffor ssoocciiaall anddeemmoottiioonnal ddiiffffiiccuullttiies.

WHAT ARE POTENTIALFUTURE APPLICATIONS?NNoo oonne coonnssttrruucctt of sseellff iiss mmore iimmpportaanntttthhaan annootthheerr;; tthheeyy aarree ccompplleemmeennttarryy aannddunlloocckkiinngg oone caann ffaaccilliitaatte ootthhers,, lliikkee tthheeddoommiinnoo eefffeecctt.. IIff wwee ffoccuuss oonn onnee aatt tthheeeexcllusion ooff aannoothheerr oorr cchhoossee ttoo ffoorrggooaann aarreeaa,, wwee sshhoouulldd bbee suurree tthhaatt wwee aarreecclleeaarr abouutt tthhee oouuttccoommee wwee aare sttrriivviinnggto aacchhiieevvee.. AAss thee SSEENN CCooddee ooff PPrraacticcee((22001155)) ffreqquueennttllyy hhiigghhlligghhttss,, wwee shoouullddppromoottee ppoossiittiivvee oouuttccoommeess ffor cchhiillddrreenn aannddyyoouunngg ppeeooppllee wwiitthh SSEENNDD; wwee nneeeedd ttoo kknnoowwwwhhaat tthheessee oouuttccoommes aaree wwhheenn ttaarrggeettiinnggddeevveellooppmmeenntt off seellff.

RReeseaarrch iilllluussttrraatteess thhee iimmppoorrttaannccee ooffallloowwiinngg ssttrreennggtthhss aanndd ccaappaacciittiieess ttoo sshhiinneetthhrroouugghh wweeaakknneesssseess oorr vvuullnneerraabiillittiieess((SSeelliiggmmaann && CCssiikksszzeennttmmiihhalyyii 22000000))..TThheerreeffoorree,, iitt sseeeemmss thhaat hhiigghh sseellff--eesstteeeemm issaann aassppecctt oof sseellff wwee ccaann uuttiilliissee ttoo pprroomootteetthhe coonnddiittiioonnss ooff ooppttiimmaall hhuummaann fuunnccttiioonniingaanndd aacchhiieevveemmenntt rraatthheerr thhaann sseeeeiinngg iitaass tthhee mmoosstt immppoorrttaannt ffaccttoor ttoo hhighligghht.DDeevveellooppiinngg aa sseennssee ooff sellf--cconcept coullddbbe tthhee aapppplliiccationn of how tteeaacchheers aannddSSEENCOs support childrreenn’’s unnddeerrssttaanndiingof thheir own ssttrreenngthhss anndd uunniiqquuenesss,, ttooaalllow ttheiirr wweellllbbeeiinngg ttoo thrivee,, ttoo vvaalluuetthheemmsseellvveess aass cciittiizzens wwiitthhiinn ssooccieettyyyytty aannddttoo aachieve lliiffeelloonngg lleeaarniinngg ggooaallss,, ffiirrmmllyyddeevveellooppiinngg tthheeirr sseennssee ooff sseellff--wwoorrtthh aannddggiivviinngg tthheemm aa sseennssee ooff ppllaaccee iinn tthhee wwoorrlldd..

LAURA PURSERLaura is the Head ofPrimary, Prep and EYFS,Teacher Training, andalso leads on SEN andInclusion, and MentalHealth and Wellbeingat The University ofBuckingham. She hasdesigned and leads themaster’s level NASENCOcourse, training SENCOsfor accreditation.(bit.ly/33CPoO9). Lauraaspires to ensure thatall teacher and SENCOtraining develops qualityinclusive practitionerswho are person-centredto ensure positiveoutcomes for bothlearning and positivemental health andwellbeing.https://bit.ly/2WIhxl8

BIO

HOW CANWE