Self Concept
Self concept, simply put, is what you think of yourself. This could be your physical characteristics, or your personality. As children get older, their self concept changes. For example, infants are very egocentric. They are very focused on themselves. You will find many toddlers saying "me me me!" and "mine!". It's almost as if they are very proud of their self discovery and don't want to worry about anything else. As they move to preschool year, they are able to share their description of themselves with others. Often times, it will be a combination of physical characteristics as well as possessions and feeling. In school age children, their description of themselves are more complex. They are now able to give the receiver of the information details to back up each statement. For example, a school age child may say something like "I get scared when there are thunderstorms outside" as opposed to a preschool saying "I get scared sometimes". As the children adolescence, the idea of self concept becomes even more complex (as if teenage years aren't tough enough!). They have different problems like role confusion which comes from trying to please peers and parents. Conflicts occur and it just leads to confusion and stress. Teens are usually known to be happier if their self concept is positive and they are very happy with their personal identity.
You can piece together why the self concept may change by reevaluating Erikson's stages of development on his information page here.
Self Esteem
Self esteem is defined as how people feel about characteristics they associate with themselves (Levine and Munsch 389).
During Childhood-
Many children display odd amounts of optimism and positivism of their own self during this age. To some people this is odd, but if you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Children at this age are very competitive. They will not admit to be lessor than someone people it would show failure and weakness (also shown in Erikson's stages). They are constantly comparing themselves to each other because they want to be the best. This is dangerous. A child can't always be the best in everything and it could lead to low self esteem as a result of their "failure". To avoid this low self esteem, many schools are starting self-esteem movements, which are school-based programs designed to boost the student's self-esteem. Their eventual goal is to improve academic performance (Levine & Munsch 391)
During Adolescence
As children move into adolescence, the battle with self-esteem only gets harder. Not only are they still comparing themselves to other, they now are throwing the awkwardness of puberty into the mix. With change in appearance, and dealing with other life transitions, self-esteem takes a steep drop. However, this is still hope. Research shows that after that swoop down in self-esteem (around puberty) self-esteem starts to slowly become higher as adolescence progresses. As teens get older they gain a better understanding of themselves, thus resulting in higher self-esteem.
Social Cognition
Social cognition is defined as how we think about and understand interactions between people.
Parents
For most of us, our first social interactions are with are parents. Because of this, it is a very important part of our social development. Though we can't talk early on, there are many different non-verbal communication skills one gains as an infant and toddler. Parents are also they first to teach their children about manners, and other things that shape children behave appropriately in society. As the children grow into school age and adolescence parental relationships can also be the cause of stress which can lead to emotional health problems or relationship problems later in life.
Peers
Relationships with peers can start as early as infant and toddler years. Early on, children usually just play near others, or imitate them, but it's still social interaction. As they get older (around preschool) they start to develop friendships. This is the time that play dates start. By the time children reach school age they usually have a best friend, but there are other problems that start to develop. As they approach adolescence, things like cliques, social status, and bullying start to come about. A problem that is reoccurring is bullying.
Bullying- being exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of peers, including physical bullying, verbal bullying, and/or emotional bullying (Levine & Munsch 446).
Bullying is a problem that has been going on for years in each of our schools. It is a huge problem that isn't always recognized. In the video below, students and educators alike help shape their minds by building their character. In a world full of bullying, teaching students to positively interact with each other is a very important part of making sure they feel safe and comfortable in their learning environment. If the basic need of safety (emotional and physical) is not met, the student will care less about their education.
Self concept, simply put, is what you think of yourself. This could be your physical characteristics, or your personality. As children get older, their self concept changes. For example, infants are very egocentric. They are very focused on themselves. You will find many toddlers saying "me me me!" and "mine!". It's almost as if they are very proud of their self discovery and don't want to worry about anything else. As they move to preschool year, they are able to share their description of themselves with others. Often times, it will be a combination of physical characteristics as well as possessions and feeling. In school age children, their description of themselves are more complex. They are now able to give the receiver of the information details to back up each statement. For example, a school age child may say something like "I get scared when there are thunderstorms outside" as opposed to a preschool saying "I get scared sometimes". As the children adolescence, the idea of self concept becomes even more complex (as if teenage years aren't tough enough!). They have different problems like role confusion which comes from trying to please peers and parents. Conflicts occur and it just leads to confusion and stress. Teens are usually known to be happier if their self concept is positive and they are very happy with their personal identity.
You can piece together why the self concept may change by reevaluating Erikson's stages of development on his information page here.
Self Esteem
Self esteem is defined as how people feel about characteristics they associate with themselves (Levine and Munsch 389).
During Childhood-
Many children display odd amounts of optimism and positivism of their own self during this age. To some people this is odd, but if you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Children at this age are very competitive. They will not admit to be lessor than someone people it would show failure and weakness (also shown in Erikson's stages). They are constantly comparing themselves to each other because they want to be the best. This is dangerous. A child can't always be the best in everything and it could lead to low self esteem as a result of their "failure". To avoid this low self esteem, many schools are starting self-esteem movements, which are school-based programs designed to boost the student's self-esteem. Their eventual goal is to improve academic performance (Levine & Munsch 391)
During Adolescence
As children move into adolescence, the battle with self-esteem only gets harder. Not only are they still comparing themselves to other, they now are throwing the awkwardness of puberty into the mix. With change in appearance, and dealing with other life transitions, self-esteem takes a steep drop. However, this is still hope. Research shows that after that swoop down in self-esteem (around puberty) self-esteem starts to slowly become higher as adolescence progresses. As teens get older they gain a better understanding of themselves, thus resulting in higher self-esteem.
Social Cognition
Social cognition is defined as how we think about and understand interactions between people.
Parents
For most of us, our first social interactions are with are parents. Because of this, it is a very important part of our social development. Though we can't talk early on, there are many different non-verbal communication skills one gains as an infant and toddler. Parents are also they first to teach their children about manners, and other things that shape children behave appropriately in society. As the children grow into school age and adolescence parental relationships can also be the cause of stress which can lead to emotional health problems or relationship problems later in life.
Peers
Relationships with peers can start as early as infant and toddler years. Early on, children usually just play near others, or imitate them, but it's still social interaction. As they get older (around preschool) they start to develop friendships. This is the time that play dates start. By the time children reach school age they usually have a best friend, but there are other problems that start to develop. As they approach adolescence, things like cliques, social status, and bullying start to come about. A problem that is reoccurring is bullying.
Bullying- being exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of peers, including physical bullying, verbal bullying, and/or emotional bullying (Levine & Munsch 446).
Bullying is a problem that has been going on for years in each of our schools. It is a huge problem that isn't always recognized. In the video below, students and educators alike help shape their minds by building their character. In a world full of bullying, teaching students to positively interact with each other is a very important part of making sure they feel safe and comfortable in their learning environment. If the basic need of safety (emotional and physical) is not met, the student will care less about their education.