The Impact of the Self-Esteem Movement in Students

I have viewed this session with interest but I am not entirely comfortable with the statement that ‘follow your passion’ drives a person into a fixed mindset. People are born with capabilities they are naturally drawn to. That does not mean there are no obstacles to overcome but nourishing that passion is something that should not be ignored.

I find that many of the students that I teach need to be constantly told/reassured to complete tasks as there is no self direction and if not prompted in a positive they just throw in the hat. We need to be showing our students that internal validation and making mistakes are as important as recieving praise and that working hard and achieveing for ones own goals is as important as making others happy.

I find that a lot of students are afraid to try unless they are absolutely sure of their answers before engaging in discussion or the content of the lesson. I also have students who feign disenterest as a way of avoiding ‘failure’. They all measure themselves against each other and quickly identify the ‘clever’ ones and generally leave them to answer or provide input and then just agree. Telling the students that ‘failure is good’ doesn’t really resonate, not when they have never ‘failed’ before.

Many years ago, I taught small children. It was very fashionable at the time to promote self-esteem. years later, I’m teaching in another era and I see the consequences of prized, protected and special students.

Interesting differences between the fixed mind set and the growth mind set. I can relate this to my teaching practices and identify which students fit where?

Teaching learners in the VET area is very challenging.
The young learners are easily distracted and very hard to keep on track.
They constantly wait to be given the answers rather than thinking about it themselves.
The older learners may not be so confidant in themselves but do not need motivation.

I teach ESOL to adults, and many of the older students lack confidence and need a lot of reassurance, but ultimately take responsibility for their learning. To generalise, many of the younger ones want things to be easier and enjoy a much faster pace of learning. They get easily bored if we linger too long on one topic.

The students I engage with generally do not have much confidence in their work as they place so little effort in their submissions and are very needy in guidance and they easily give up. There isn’t much care given to the feedback provided to improve their work and therefore, they do not accomplish what they set out to do in the first place – learn and acquire a qualification one would think. Perhaps it also linked to their self-image when their first attempt is not good enough and they might feel that I cannot let others see/ know this so… Read more »

It varies. I teach VET so generation, culture and previous education play a big part. However, I have noticed comparing older to younger students that the younger students are more easily distracted and less self motivated compared to older students. They want the the teacher to give them answers rather than thinking about it themselves first. Older students can lack confidence but have greater motivation.

The increase in online bullying could be partly attributed to the desensitisation of children growing up during the self-esteem movement. Boosting their own flagging confidence through pulling down others seems to be a common and cruel practice that causes long-term damage to students who do not always have the resilience to effectively deal with it.

The students I work with often do not have confidence in their own ability or judgement – needing guidance or direction before trying the task/activity themselves first.

I have had issues with younger students where I constantly need to encourage them to attempt and complete tasks. They show no initiative and do not take responsibility for their own learning, constantly needing encouragement. I encourage my students to undertake self-reflection after completing tasks.

The evidence of the self esteem movement is shown by students who seemingly cannot think beyond the basic instructions or perhaps are too lazy/cautious/unmotivated and need teacher assistance just to get started.

I can see students who are always waiting for direction from the teacher. However I am also seeing students who can take a class plan and work through it independently. There is a change happening.

In order to encourage life long learning, I prefer to develop “Growth mindset characteristics” in my classroom. It is the best way to walk with students when they come across challenges and I find my teachable moments for individual groups. It’s the best way for learners to embrace failure as a learning opportunity. I find the unconditional positive regards in the Self-Esteem Movement is “empty praise”. Sooner or later, students give up when the “reward ” is not as they expected. Such students depend on external validation and tend to stay in their comfort zone.

I see the over-exposure to external validation as coming from the ubiquitous devices glued to nearly every young person’s hand as much as their parents. Games and apps, just like the pokies in clubs across Australia, constantly reward and stimulate whilst gathering profit for the developers and their backers. This constant exposure leads young people to develop a fragile sense of self-worth and a reluctance to risk failure.

I’m surprised by the fixed mindset being competitive. I always assumed a bit of competitiveness was a sign of wanting to grow and be better but I can see that it’s a way of getting self validation that you are already good so there is no need to try harder. Very interesting.

Interesting topic and I can clearly see the difference. Being a trade teacher, I did assume it was more about what takes place in the workplace v’s at the RTO!
Reading though everyone’s comments has definitely helped as has the session by Michael.
In my world their is always room for growth and learning, I do my absolute best to demonstrate a path of long life learning to my students! Its vital within my industry.

I believe that self confidence give students that resilience to bounce back when faced with obstacles. These are the students who know failures are part of learning. It is however hard for those who are growing up with constant praises that they can do anything. I see some of my students having a breakdown over low mark because of the high expectations they have set on themselves.

We regularly have students watch video stories showing a growth mindset and fixed mindset. The students can identify both scenarios and use the language in the classroom and in discussions. Unfortunately not all students rise above apathy and dependence. At school assemblies we ask those receiving rewards “What did you do to help you get to where you are today eg: Best in Show – riding, wool; best athlete – run/swim/sporting team. We’re looking for the stories of effort, failure is a learning opportunity etc. If their peers can communicate their growth mindset, we hope others can use that learning.… Read more »

I see unintended results of the self-esteem movement in students in post-schools environments where there are some students (not all) that require constant encouragement and close supervision in order to complete learning tasks. They value external validation and do not always seem internally motivated to engage with the learning materials or course. There is also a considerable variation that I see that appears to be associated with the age, experiences etc.

In the classroom environment a student’s self-esteem has a significant impact on almost everything they do, how they enter the classroom,how they engage with ineractive activities, deal with social challenges, and interact with others in the classroom . Self-esteem also can have a marked effects on academic performance how they accept feedback, how they accept classroom guidance and assistance required. Low self-esteem can lessen a student’s desire to learn, their ability to focus, and willingness to take risks.

In the post-school environment, I can clearly see the difference in the mindsets of the students in my class. I have older students who have a fixed-mindset too, likely due to disadvantage and past experiences. The ones who have a growth mindset are ‘up for the challenge’ and are a lot more willing to engage in new tasks and learning. I have a quiet giggle to myself when a student is astounded when I confirm that they will actually need to participate and complete assessments to be able to obtain their qualifications, that being enrolled is not enough for them… Read more »

I have an issue with a few students where I need to constantly encourage them to complete learning tasks. They are unable to take initiative and be responsible for their own learning without my constant encouragement. I am trying to foster a growth mindset by encouraging all my students to undertake self assessment and relfection of their tasks to help them take more responsibility for their own learning.

I see pleasing results when I encourage my students, as opposed to focusing on their weaknesses and negative comments during a lesson.

This session, and all the comments, have really helped me to understand the differences in the students in my class. Although I definitely see a massive increase in fixed-mindset students post schooling. I suppose the growth mindset people are being recognised and getting the jobs (or progressing to higher level study) and the rest are in beginner certificate courses, and not by choice either – they don’t really want to be there.

Interestingly, because I largely teach older students (migrants and refugees), I see in them a mostly determined, internal-validation mindset. They work hard, they try to master new things even when they appear overwhelmingly difficult, and they accept criticism well. This in comparison to my peers – I’m in my 30s – where I know many who cannot handle workplace failures or criticisms and are consumed by the idea of their public image. I really enjoyed hearing about the difference between the Fixed and Growth Mindsets and identifying where I thought my strengths and weaknesses were.

The need to have students be responsible for their own learning directions is difficult depending on their confidence and resilience to understand making a mistake is part of learning and not a failure. Students need to be able to give and take constructive feedback and see it as a positive challenge.

I can relate to the self-Esteem movement in my student, and this presentation has confirmed what i have noticed and have been dealing with throughout my teaching career. although this does not reflect onto all students but surely we can notice the fixed mindset vs the growth mindset, it is imperative to be able to understand this notion (learner and non learner) and act accordingly keeping in mind the student welfare . giving constructive feedback to the student is very important to their learning, unconditional positive feedback is a false statement that can do more harm then good as there… Read more »

I can see now have the fixed vs growth mindset is reflected in the students I teach. The idea that they can grow with ‘intentional effort’ seems a foreign concept to some and requires extra effort on my part to ensure assessments are completed!

I see this in my students and it is perfectly explained. The reason of self direction and motivation is perfectly categorized by the two mind set Characteristics Fixed and Growth. I now understand how this movement has effected the behavior of this generation. I am extremely curious about narrowing this gap and help me to become a better teacher

I teach in hospaitality sector, commercial cookery. I have different students from different backgrounds and walks of life. I can see within a day of first meeting these students where they sit in regards to the effort they will put in. When they receive feedback that is not what they want to hear they become frustrated and I get the but why? This is with prac classes. Then there is the theory side. I had students ask me for the answers and to why we cant do the workbooks together. I said that a bit of research/reading and learning is… Read more »

I teach in the tourism and hospitality sector teaching patisserie, I do cohort of students of different age groups, and the difference of receiving constructive feedback is taken so very differently , the students who have the fixed mind set take it with such disbelief that that did not get the positive feedback such as “well done” even though they may served a raw product, but my reflection on this topic is I have learnt that the fixed generation can be changed and begin to understand the positive impact that helps them learn better

I have two distinct groups of students: those that work independently with little direction and those that need a lot of direction. Those that need guidance, tend not to take a risk, require affirmation at each stage or just want to know what the correct answer is (rather than be guided towards coming to the answer on their own). They take criticism personally and lose motivation quickly. Those that are independent learners tend to have specific questions and don’t waste time; they can be critical of the information presented (and even challenge the information). I think some of the characteristics… Read more »

I see positive outcomes when I encourage my students, rather than trying to focus on their negative behaviours and comments during a lesson.

I think one thing that really impacts me in this session is how we can bridge the GAP between Gen Y in our teaching deliver

Some students need to be spoon fed information and how to do things where as other students seem able to persist and investigate when they hit a road block.

As a teacher, I can see an improvement in their engagement when given praise and encouragement – work on developing their self esteem skills. Praising students provides motivation and continuation in their learning journey.

I think that students are all different and it is clear which have a fixed and those that have a growth mindset. We will need to focus on moving them all towards having an open growth mindset at least while they are learning to prepare them for their futures.

I find the high school classes to be a mix of both fixed and growth mindsets. But I have noticed that all the students need external feedback constantly and individually. They don’t want to be praised as a whole class, but one by one. If this praise is not offered voluntarily the students will persist until they receive an individual feedback.

Most of my students have low self esteem and learning difficulties.

We have classes across all age groups and the younger generations tend to be the first to ask what is the minimum I have to do to pass – they are not interested in the learning journey but in a quick outcome with as little input as possible. When the students are engaged they do need constant reassurance that they are doing an activity correctly this can be very draining if you have a large class group that all require constant praise

The majority of my learners fall into the fixed mindset. They avoid risks and challenges and seek external validation and guidance to ensure they are correct before giving things a go. They give up easily, set the benchmark low and are quick to blame when the going gets tough.

I cringe when i hear uni students say “P’s mean degrees”! This to me is laziness not a self-esteem issue. Just doing what you need to do to pass rather than giving it your best effort.
I’m lucky that my cohort of students attend their ESL classes because they believe it will truly help with their everyday life in Australia no matter how difficult the class may seem to them. Do they seem to lack confidence? Yes at times they do.

With the introduction to new work, questions start – what do I need to pass? how many tries can I have? where would I find the answers? Students want to do as little as possible to complete the work. Not really interested in the learning just the end result – PASS, and what is the easiest way to do achieve that. Any submission means work is correct and achieved.

Students ask for the marking guide for the assessments and choose the amount of effort required based on the predicted outcomes. IE Minimal effort to pass. The trend in vocational education is “Competent or Not Yet Competent” there is no failure status that actually provides value to the student that they are not coping with the work, just a false sense of “I’m almost there…”

We must be careful with the praise we give students, too much can be detrimental to their progress. Its best to encourage them to work harder to find the answer themselves. A bit of gentle prompting can be helpful. .

Many students expect the answers to be given them. Some ask for assistance before even attempting to work out the answer. This could be because of low self esteem,

Many students have low self esteem. Many are from low economic communities and are not always able to buy their text books. I will often give a copy of the text book to the student or enable them to have the library hold the books for them. I feel that if, as a teacher, I can show interest in the student and encourage them to gain further education, they either enrol in other courses or email me telling me of their intended course. Sometimes they email to say they have found employment. This feedback from students makes me feel that… Read more »

Some students do not appear to have self esteem in the classroom. They do however, have a strong sense of “I’m a leader and my friends will follow”. External validation from their teachers is not desired but want their friends to know ‘they are important’ to others.