The Impact of the Self-Esteem Movement in Students

Dependency on others is something I see often in our students, taking little responsibility for their actions also stands out for me. The low self esteem movement really resonated with me, the expectation that you need praise often and everyone should get an award, is so relevant in schools.

Students are often passive and need to be given more responsibility for their own outputs. Also they are desensitised from too much gaming and need to get more real life experiences.

Working in the early years sector, I see a lot of students who are very dependent on their parents, especially at the beginning of the year. Most of the time I feel like I am teaching the parents how to let go and trust that their children can pack their bag independently, or unpack it and find their own belongings. By the end of the year we see huge amounts of growth from our students. I love to see how independent they are and sometimes I hear that they are now doing these things at home too. I believe their… Read more »

I think another unintended consequence of the Self-Esteem Movement is that younger people can have a distrust of positive feedback… they think, well everyone gets told they are great (everyone gets a ribbon) so how can I trust you when you’re telling me I’m doing well?

And I think that this can make people more anxious.

I think the emphasis on competitiveness and the need to be validated by winning or receiving a reward has limited a students ability to learn for learning sake. However I don’t see this solely as a result of the self esteem movement because our society very much encourages this in many other facets of our lives including , school , business and sports. Positivity has its role in the right context but like many things its real benefit can be lost in its abuse.

I am seeing the impact of the Self-Esteem Movement in the students that I teach through their unwillingness to learn from mistakes and their unwillingness to strive to work beyond what is expected.

There are a huge amount of students who need to ask questions for every step of their learning to ensure that they feel they are completing the task correctly. The level of students who are not willing to take a risk and make a mistake to learn is massive.

Many students have to constantly check in to stay motivated and on task. They very much need to know that what they have already done is good before they are willing to put in more effort.

Many of the students with whom I work are shocked that my teaching/grading/assessing doesn’t involve use of rewards such as stickers or Dojos etc.

It has been a big realisation that I am a product of the 79’ers self-esteem movement. I recognise many of the techniques of constant praise and “everyone gets a certificate” from my own schooling. We as teachers should be very aware that we now teach the students whose parents were brought up in this environment, reinforcing these behaviours. It will be an education to these parents as well as their kids. We are challenging both the students and their parents to recognise this behaviour and try something new.

The impact of the self-esteem movement so evident in some students but not all. Michael said that flattery does not build self-esteem therefore the decade of promoting self-esteem did not build stronger more resilient and successful people than previous generations. A person’s nature as well as their early experiences of life need to also be taken into account. I have been teaching for a long time and see so much good in all the kids I have taught. Yes there were the indulged students where mum and dad believed they could do no wrong but there have also been wonderful… Read more »

Having spent a large part of my life working in challenging communities, I have been intrigued by the differences between the ways that kids will approach the same issue. Some will engage with the problem as a challenge and others will throw the towel in really quickly. It is always an interesting investigation to consider the childhood trauma influence on kids responses, and their ability to respond.

As a teacher of the early years I have noticed that the self-esteem movement is evident from a very young age. I assume it is a combination of nature and nurture that allows students to be able to express themselves and their needs. I have noticed an increasing number of students who require constant positive feedback and encouragement in order to continue to try new and challenging activities. Whilst other students are challenging themselves by embracing opportunities and learning from failure. As a teacher, we need to tap into these moments and explicitly demonstrate how they can deal with success… Read more »

I think for many of our non-academic students who prefer hands on pursuits, these seem to show the greater ratio of students with a fixed mindset. They have given up on academics, thinking they just can’t, rather than thinking “if I try harder or get someone to explain things in a different way I could do this”. Maybe it’s due to an overloaded curriculum, maybe it’s due to a lack of community raising children instead of parent raising child. If a parent has literacy issues, this is bound to carry across to the next generation unless support measures or interventions… Read more »

Increasingly within the classroom we see students with a fixed mindset. These students like to be given direction every step of the way and are reluctant to work in an environment where they are challenged or where self – direction is required. In my teaching area, which is practical, all students have the opportunity to succeed however it is the students with a growth mindset who thrive and challenge/extend themselves who get the most out of the work and who can learn from experiences that d o not go as planned and adapt with the next challenge.

I have experienced the changing mindset of my students over many years when I first started teaching students did not need constant reassurance or validation. Witnessing this change since 1979 has proved to be challenging because as a child of the earlier generation I found it difficult to see the value of continually praising mediocrity. In many ways I was dragged into this new way of building self esteem and I have often reflected on its validity. Since working at a selective high school I saw the ever increasing problem of students who lacked the resilience to take on the… Read more »

The Self-Esteem movement is evident in children from a young age but I believe this can be used in a positive manner. I teach practical subjects and it is pretty clear when students “fail”. The use of evaluation, challenges and “stretch” thinking is used daily and engages students to be inquiry based learners. This gives self esteem that the students have to earn while also learning that we are not all good at everything.

The young children i am teaching are the product of parents of this mindset. Some of the parents are vey quick to insist all children are praised equally, that they are not held to be responsible for their actions. The students are keen to try everything and have a go, however, I think the older hey get, the more fixed they can become through peer pressure. I teach that we all learn through our mistakes and if you are not making mistakes you are not stretching. We all praise mistakes and discussion is often around what we can learn from… Read more »

The self-esteem movement is evident from a very young age, whether it’s nature or nurture students are able to express themselves and their needs. Whilst there are some students that need support and guidance in assisting them to develop some skills to fully develop their potential, other students are challenging themselves by embracing opportunities and learning from failure. There are still some students who need to be rewarded and told they are doing a good job, students are developing and managing their performance to better themselves. As a teacher, we need to tap into these moments and explicitly demonstrate how… Read more »

The difference in academic and social abilities between students with a growth mindset to students with a fixed mindset is evident in each classroom. Call it good parenting, maturity or resilience, the benefits are positive to the individual and those in their social circles. It is challenging to stretch those students who resist to participate outside their comfort zone. However they challenge my quality teaching practice that makes myself constantly reflect and adapt to engage to their learning and capacity to grow.

With a changing self-efficacy amongst our learners our tasks as teachers has also changed from delivering scripted content to resilience building and ensuring all our students are known and valued. With an increase in self esteem their learning flourishes, as long as were extending their personal progression with challenge and guidance.

I teach a subject and the majority of my students have a set mindset. Recently teaching coding to a group of students the majority gave up saying it was too hard and about 10% of the class embraced the concept and thrived even when they failed. The failure made these 10 % try even harder which was interesting.

I have had discussions with staff over the years about the students becoming less interested and motivated. This video answers some of the questions in other ways of thinking about why some students feel entitled.

The clearest examples of the impact in my opinion is that most students’ fear of failure means they don’t even try in the first place. Like an old quote from Homer Simpson along the lines of: ‘the first step to failure is trying’ The need for praise is very apparent, and usually I save my praise for when I mean it, people are usually able to tell if you’re genuine or not, but I always give them support, I guess it is all within reason. Like give them support and a casual ‘well done’ when they do the basic, but… Read more »

I think its definitely easy to see a lot of these detrimental qualities in students today, particularly in terms of their constant need for praise and often their inability to take critical feedback for what it is instead of a personal attack. I feel, however, that its unfair to blame students for this as so many of the factors that have led to it are out of their control. Schools (at least in Australia) are essentially impossible to fail, so students never have to extend themselves to get through (although thankfully a lot of them do). i also feel that… Read more »

I actually LOVE that he he quoted Plato, because anytime someone starts a conversation with “Kids these days_____________” I tend to tune out. I often spend time questioning how people who started their lives with an iPhone in their hands (or their parents constantly posting their lives on social media) deal with rejection and praise differently than those of us who didn’t. For instance, I never had to deal with the idea that I only had a dozen friends on Facebook or Snapchat, whereas I can SEE how many friends and likes and how much more popular everyone else is.… Read more »

I know that students do respond well to praise (so I tend to give it to them. ;/ ) I also know how difficult it is to get them to take risks in activities which are self directed. They would rather be given the answer than risk getting it wrong. I guess I’ve tended to feel partly responsible for their lack of willingness to get it wrong, because I haven’t provided an environment which encourages talking risks. I feel good now. It’s not me, it’s them 🙂

At the beginning of every school year I supply (from my own personal monetary funds) my Stage 4/5 students with a ‘go to ‘ exercise book and some equipment – my faculty colleagues and faculty budget also spends some funds on this. This equipment is kept in the classroom – many of my kids are between Mum / Dad / Carers’ houses some nights which adds another layer of complexity to children being ready for school each day. In classroom discussion, I try to phrase my student’s feedback in positive terms as much as I can. I am a Gen… Read more »

The students I teach have never experienced failure in the school system. Because they are promoted to the next year at school regardless of their level of achievement. That’s why we have so many kids in high school without basic literacy skills.

I feel that the students I am working with, the majority like to receive reassurance whilst working. They love to show you how they are going before they continue on with their activity.
Many (not all) are usually proud of their work if asked to show others.
Personally, I am very against ‘every child gets a prize’. As a PDHPE teacher and volunteer club sports coach I have witnesses the negative impact on this movement.

Students in classes I teach often seek approval for minor successes, and give up easily when they experience failure the first time they do something. “I can’t do it”, “i don’t know how” and “i’m no good at this” are fixed mindset statements I hear often from students. “Why should I?” (as in, “what’s in it for me?”) is another classic example.

Students I have engaged with in my class this year often expect gratitude for minor things that should be done without appraisal. Children are faced with all sorts of things each day that desensitise them – the media is a prime example.

Children are also use to accessing pretty much anything they want at a touch of a button or a flick of a switch. Their independence is then compromised and it deters them from building their problem solving and decision-making skills.

I feel we are trying to address the “every child wins a prize” attitude towards our millennials. Through the provision of explicit/meaningful feedback of performance and giving licence for students to have a voice and choice in their learning, they are feeling more comfortable to take a risk…or stretch themselves. I agree that students do not need constant warm and fuzzy comments as this can lead to a false sense of their performance…so if they fail, they are less likely to try in the future.

Students are often not willing to stretch if they do not get constant feedback and constant reassurance. However ‘gen y’ or millennial is not quite right- some millenniasl are 35 years old now- they are some of our school leaders! Regardless the main issue is dependence

I think young people, older people, and everyone in between are a combination of fixed and growth mindsets depending on the circumstances at the time. I don’t think we can say a student – or any person – is one or the other. It fluctuates constantly. I do, however, think that an understanding of the brain as a muscle, an understanding of these concepts, and regular explicit teaching in this area, can build a more self-directed, confident, resilient learner – whatever their age!

Students need constant reassurance and praise. They receive it constantly at home and the expectation is that we too will provide this, even when it is not warranted. The helicopter parent who then has to monitor that their child is receiving nothing but positives can be frustrating. Realistic feedback and ways to improve has to be key.

A fixed mindset is definitely a predominate characteristic in the students I teach. It is not uncommon for students to go out of their way, both in the classroom and on the playground, to point out the small task they have completed, all the while expecting some form of reward for their ‘efforts’.

I think there is a fear of failure in many students – especially in high school students who are much more influenced by friends and social media than what their teacher is asking of them. Challenging themselves and thinking creatively can mean they will stand out and potentially fail. Fear of failure makes them apathetic and they don’t bother trying or just do the bare minimum required. I’m really interested in how we change this fixed mindset in our students. I’d love Australian kids to realise the resources they have at their disposal and embrace them!

Performance is identity is definitely an issue. Children will give up easily, or even be destructive, when they believe their work isn’t going to be a high enough standard. Low threat relationships can also be seen when a child is having a challenge in a friendship and calling ‘bully’ when it is really ‘conflict’.

Fear is the key! Shaping generations of students who have the intrinsic motivation and the ability to understand their own self efficacy will lead to students who are not afraid to fail and can shift from the fixed mindset. Encouragement of this to our students can facilitate that shift from the fixed to the growth mindset as well as showing the students that we who come from a different generations to them are trying to enhance our own mindsets as well.

I believe that a student’s mindset changes throughout the years of schooling. When students are younger, they rely on teacher praise rather than feedback. However, they also are likely to embrace challenges and work on future goals. Whereas, when students get older they often avoid pushing themselves or attempting new challenges as it is seen ‘too much of a risk’ or ‘a set up to fail’. This impacts these students self-esteem.

Low self-esteem can create a huge impact on learning for younger students. I strongly believe that successful learning promotes further learning. As a result, students will see the value of the content they are covering a develop a stronger growth mindset towards future learning and content. An intrinsic level of motivation will reduce the desensitisation and dependence within students.

Over the years of teaching I have seen more and more students in the fixed mindset when it comes to learning. It is a challenge as a teacher to work with them and work towards growth as a learner. This is critical for future life in an ever and rapidly changing world, made doubling challenging when not always supported at home in the same way.

I believe that students rely on teacher praise rather than their own goals or ambitions. In the classroom they often seek praise for every task they undertake rather than how to better their work or learn from their mistakes. Students need to be encouraged to develop a growth mindset and learn the skills to be able to extend themselves.

Students are certainly showing dependence throughout many different aspects of their schooling and even at home life. They are definitely used to receiving praise and in younger students, at school entry level, they struggle with hearing the word “no”. Many, not all, don’t seem to display ambition in wanting to do their best, rather the work that they complete is the bare minimum. With external validation, better results can occur. With older students, they seek for instant praise, especially with the influence of social media and the amount of ‘likes’ they get on a post.

I believe there is often an expectation for a reward/ praise/ recognition even for completing the smallest of tasks. With many students, I notice that they need to be provided with something physical, whether it be a sticker or prize, to feel that they have achieved success in their work. I think it is very important to emphasis that mistakes are part of the learning process and that, with added effort, anyone can improve.

I find students are more extrinsically motivated than intrinsically. Students are more likely to work hard to gain rewards such as Dojo points rather than gaining the satisfaction of persevering and succeeding in a challenging task. Many students require lots of praise and encouragement to complete challenging task and many are afraid to take risks in their learning. I sometimes find that the more capable students are sometimes quite competitive, though they often don’t like challenging themselves.

In my students I have seen an increase in a dependence on external validation and parents who push for me as the teacher to provide more of this validation. There are certainly many students who express disinterest when they “fail” at a task.

I find that students sometimes have difficulty in starting tasks as they have a fear of making mistakes. I notice that most students find working on their own a challenge. They are not risk takers. They want you to essentially ‘spoon feed them’ with each step and often want praise for getting it correct. They can often switch off if they don’t get it or get it wrong, feeling defeated. I think this comes from the fear of failing. They would rather give up and not do work if you are unable to assist them. However when these students get… Read more »

In my experience I have found that the mindsets of students change throughout their time at school. Students who are younger who have less inhibition or feelings of being judged, are more likely to embrace challenges. Whereas, as they progress in their learning, they become less willing to take risks and expect praise on all efforts and achievements.