Teacher perceptions regarding enhancing self-esteem in young children

Abstract

The research hypothesis for this study was that teachers are sensitive to students because they believe it will improve their achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe how primary teachers (K-3) from rural and city schools in west central Wisconsin think self-esteem should be incorporated into the curriculum as measured by a researcher-developed scale. The study focused on the six main objectives which were to: (1) determine the demographic characteristics of early childhood teachers in Wisconsin, (2) determine if teachers do or do not teach self-esteem, (3) determine the five most common reasons for teaching self-esteem, (4) determine what training teachers have had for teaching self-esteem, (5) determine the five most common teaching strategies used to enhance self-esteem in primary students, and (6) determine the percentage of teachers who think self-esteem influences academic achievement. The researcher-developed scale for this study was divided into four sections. Section I contained questions pertaining to demographic data. Section II consisted of questions regarding teacher attitudes toward self-esteem. Section III consisted of questions related to teaching strategies used in the classroom. Section IV asked respondents to identify reasons for teaching self-esteem. Surveys were sent to 150 kindergarten, first, second, and third grade teachers. Data was collected from 71 completed surveys that the researcher received. The responses from the 71 participants were analyzed by the researcher and personnel in the University of Wisconsin-Stout Academic Computing Center. The major findings were: (1) the majority of the respondents were female, 95.8%; (2) sixty-two percent of the respondents had earned a Bachelor’s Degree as their highest level of education; (3) most of the respondents, 84.5%, read professional literature on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; (4) one hundred percent of the respondents indicated they either frequently or almost always enhance their students’ self-esteem; (5) the highest ranked reason for teaching self-esteem, with a mean of 4.37, was “I want children to feel good about themselves;” (6) the majority of the respondents received training for teaching self-esteem through workshops, 66.2%, and inservices, 56.9%; (7) the highest ranked strategy for teaching self-esteem, with a mean of 4.80, was to hold children accountable for their own actions; (8) the least commonly used strategy, with a mean of 1.73, was to use locally or commercially prepared programs to teach self-esteem; (9) ninety-eight point six percent of the respondents agreed, or strongly agreed, that self-esteem influences achievement; and (10) ninety-eight point six percent agreed, or strongly agreed, that achieving goals raises self-esteem.