Self-esteem: A Slippery Slope


Three building blocks of self-esteem are described in Chapter 2 of Sucess for Kids in Active Games by Henkel (2010). Worthiness is defined as a person's inherent value, and is often mistakenly influenced by physical characteristics. A sense of belonging has to do with a person's acceptance by others, i.e. the degree to which an individual feels she is part of a group. Competence has to do with successful achievement, or how well someone performs. One's self-esteem is known to be cyclical in the following manner:

(1) Low self-esteem

(2) Avoid practicing

(3) Little or no improvement

(4) Little positive reinforcement


Each scenario below depicts a problem with an individual’s self-esteem. Select a given scenario to reflect about the building blocks of self-esteem and ways in which teachers may respond to the problem.

Scenarios

 

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