Students' self-perceptions related to school subject matter affect their learning and performance in the classroom. Imagine you have several students with extremely low self-esteem regarding their ability to perform in your class. Simply giving them encouragement—for example, "You can do it if you try!"—may not be especially effective. Keeping in mind the factors that affect students' sense

Question

of self, describe three different strategies that you might use to enhance your students' confidence that they can succeed in school. Describe each of these strategies in terms of specific things that you might do in the classroom.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Strategies for enhancing self-concept and self-esteem include the following (the response should identify at least one concrete strategy related to three of them):
• Promote success in school tasks (e.g., gear assignments to students' current knowledge and ability levels).
• Scaffold students' efforts on challenging tasks.
• Focus students' attention on their improvements over time.
• Minimize opportunities for students to judge themselves unfavorably in comparison with peers