The Impact of the Self-Esteem Movement in Students

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.

They believe rules are not for them and so social media is ever present in the classroom, always wanting to share their work with others or their daily experiences. In essence ‘work can wait’ as getting in touch with my peers is foremost on my mind.

Students are wanting direction before giving the task too much effort. When directed to work alone, many of the students seek to have their work viewed by the teacher before submitting it for assessment. They are all part of the same pack and it is not in their nature to submit and take the consequences without checking with their pals.

I’ve observed that, ironically, as students grow up they tend to develop characteristics of a ‘fixed mindset’ and lose the tendencies of a ‘growth mindset’. They consider performance as identity and are always concerned about how others perceive them. They become competitive, but want to achieve things without trying or working for it. They tend to complain about everything and require constant recognition of their performance. They look for easy ways to gain popularity and don’t even want to attempt things that they think they have a remote chance of success. They lack the tenacity and resilience that is expected… Read more »

A definite impact in my students, students who are bright and could really push themselves to achieve are quick to dish up any work so they can tick and flick. I’m done, no care for quality or challenge. Others require constant reassurance they have done “what you want”

The biggest impact I see is the level of complaints when you provide honest feedback that is not sandwiched with enough praise and the time that is wasted by dealing with the complaints because they feel “wronged” that they haven’t demonstrated a competency and you have asked them to do more research/learning into it.

Students need encouragement to build up their confidence to take further challenges. Accordingly, praising students on what they have achieved can help them develop cognitively and socially. However, encouragement or praising must be genuine. Overpraising will only create a negative effect. Students will not believe the teacher or take any further challenge. They will wait for solutions to be told. They don’t accept failure.

The Students I am engaging with are extremely needy. They do not want to work hard for anything, cannot handle constructive criticism and want to be handed the answers to all of the assessments.

They ALL have mental health issues and hide behind this. They use Mental Health to manipulate the system and want to be handed the Qualification.
It is only a matter of time before they are Using COVID 19 as an excuse as why NOT to complete their studies

I have seen all the three impacts in the cohorts I have come across but dependence exists everywhere in every class room. I see very few students trying a problem rather most of them waiting for the solution to come on the board. That’s where I think we as Teachers need to use various motivational techniques to get them to try solving the problem. I always try to tell students that’s what they have to learn to experience to use it in their day to day life. They need to first try and not give up or wait for solutions,

I see these characteristics daily in my classroom and it is the most discussed problem amongst my colleagues. As a Montessori educator I aim to develop independence and self motivation however parents use a self esteem approach at home. Parents are constantly contacting me about little issues that the children can work out for themselves and being “curling” parents. Issues can be about forgetting a snack or social problems. Parents do not give their children the responsibility for themselves so children are dependant on others.

Students want the answers given to them. If they don’t know the answer, instead of trying to work something out for themselves, they seek out help prematurely.

I find that students are less inclined to research and do further reading to extend their own understanding, but want the answers provided by the teacher.
When challenged, they can very easily become unproductive and wait for someone else to do the thinking for them….. or give up.

With the students I have taught, I have noticed the impacts that are made by teachers and myself are we tend to overpraise to get a desired outcome or behaviour. Too much praise eventually loses its effectiveness (desensitization). I find if I give constructive feedback rather than praise is more effective to get students to become more motivated to continue their learning and progress.

I find that the students are extremely impatient. If they try something new and the can’t master it straight away, and thus receive the positive response or praise they desire and that makes them feel good about themselves, then they give up. They are unwilling to put in the hard yards to learn how to accomplish a task and simply tell themselves the task is outside their skills set.

It can result in students requiring constant feedback and validation.

All of us have been challenged by the lunacy of the covid lockdown and the effects on both our own work, and on how we teach. The result has been increased stress for students due to lack of face to contact. Zoom meetings, despite the hype, do no cut it. Research has shown that people get stressed in remote video conferencing due to the fact that they are unable to pick up on subtle facial expressions. Moreover, the notion of the ‘digital natives’ has not, in my experience, been proven to be correct. Most young people approach technology as a… Read more »

My students have been challenged by a variety of remote learning platforms, but they have embraced the opportunity to learn a huge array of new skills. They did this even though they have difficulties with English.

With COVID-19, I have found it very difficult to engage some students in the process of online learning, no matter what extra lengths are offered. These particular students all have a variety of needs – steming from self-esteem issues.

I see students with a lack of motivation or desire to challenge themselves. Students are often very dependant wanting assistance before they undertake tasks so that they can check that they are right, scared of failure.

As many of our students have English as a second language, it is not always easy to assess whether their reticence to participate is from lack of understanding some of the language used (which often includes technical words) and/or being embarrassed to talk in front of others and/or just feeling overwhelmed and then withdrawing.

Students reach critical periods of submitting assessments and it gets ‘too much’ and they withdraw from the course.