People with very high self-esteem are still
shaken and uprooted by distressing events – they do not have super powers. But
they are resilient.

They can be
positive and get over bad times because self-esteem gives you resilience; which
can be live saving.

 

If you have
resilience you can get through anything. It doesn’t mean nothing hurts, breaks
or bruises you, it just means that you always end up brushing yourself off and
getting back up again.

 

If you have
self-esteem and its subsequent resilience, a lot more opportunities are open to
you as you intrinsically know that if everything goes wrong as a result of
trying something, that you’ll eventually get over it.  It therefore makes learning, relationships,
work and every choice you face a lot less terrifying than for non-resilient
people.

 

People with
low self-esteem in the classroom tend to do less well in their studies.  They are also more likely to get negative
attention as they tend to complain, refrain from participating, or disengage
through their fear of failure and low efficacy. 

The negative
feedback they receive simply adds to their ‘evidence’ pile that they are
useless, not worthy and all the other self-concepts they have that negatively
impacts their already low esteem further. (Sarah Cordiner calls this The
Efficacy Effect).

They deal
with life by withdrawing and not taking risks or new tasks, or by developing
challenging or helpless behaviour that deflects attention away from their area
of weakness.

 

Either way
this means that negative messages and further reinforcement of their low
self-esteem.

 

Self-esteem
is changeable for the good or for the bad (Cooper Smith, Rosenberg and
Brandon).

In The
Efficacy Effect, anything that influences self-efficacy is called an ‘Interceptor’
or an ‘Efficacy Effector’. 

Our gender,
socio economic status, appearance, peer acceptance and personal life events can
all influence and effect our self-esteem and efficacy; as well as other people,
the media and the observation of other’s successes and failures.

 

With
knowledge and understanding, we can minimise the social conditioning and
personal disappointments faced by ourselves, the people we guide, love and
teach. 

We can teach
people how to reframe their experiences, to have wider or differently angled perspectives,
and that their value does not lie under conformity, social pressures or
successes.

 

If we are
willing and open to learn from our students and reflect on our practices
continuously via ongoing feedback and assessment of our approaches, techniques
and outcomes; We are more likely to make a positive impact on our students, and
become positive ‘Efficacy Effectors’ in the classroom.

 

We must be
aware that all learners have different motivations and different past experiences
and may not all receive our training in the same way. 

When you
think you’re being kind, you could unwittingly be received as patronising and
offensive.  You must be aware that the
past experiences of adult learners follow them into the classroom and infect
anything, or anyone that they perceive as familiar with their preconceptions,
attitudes and even reactive behaviours. 
Therefore, we must be sensitive in the classroom to ensure we are
harvesting only increased self-esteem and self-efficacy.

 

7 Tips for Increasing Self-Esteem and
Efficacy in the Adult Classroom:

 

 

Sarah’s 3 A’s of Adult Learning: