Assessment Tools for Measuring Self Esteem
In a classroom the children who do best as learners are the ones with sound self esteem. Children with really high, over the top self esteem do not do as well as the ones with what we call ’sound’ self esteem. Neither do children with low esteem who have little belief in themselves.
The children who have sky-high self esteem tend to be very poor at evaluating their own state of readiness or aptitude for a task. They think they are marvellous at everything and cant make a judgement about their work in comparison to another child’s. This super-esteeming child needs to learn how to place themselves more accurately on a continuum of success and still feel good about themselves. In a strange way their self esteem is actually as low as one who scores low on any assessment - it is just that they cover it up differently.
The child with sound self esteem is stable in their beliefs about themselves. They are able to judge themselves in comparison to others and not fall apart if they come out as less good or able than another. They still believe in themselves and can either accept that this is something that they will not improve at much more as it isn’t their interest or talent. Or they will believe that they can improve if they practise the skill. Either way they still feel OK about themselves.
Using tools to measure self esteem can be very useful as it gives a starting point for classroom interventions that will improve the levels of low self esteem (even if it is covered by high esteem type activity) and also maintain sound levels in those who already feel good about themselves. Assessment tools enable us to take baseline measures which can then be used to track and monitor changes in self esteem levels for the class as a whole or for individuals.
People have different definitions of self esteem and the assessment tools that are available tend to reflect the different definitions however in Insights we have found that it is useful to divide self esteem into three components; sense of self, sense of belonging and self of personal power. With these three areas of focus it becomes easier to see which component of self esteem a child is already stronger in. With this information it is possible to design an intervention for the child or the class that promotes the existing strength even more. For example, a child may have a relatively strong sense of belonging and if this is strengthened even further by encouragement and the use of many friendship making activities the child is likely to begin knowing and accepting themselves a little more, or feeling a better sense of their own ability to make a difference and be powerful. It is always better to focus first on the strengths and only later on the weaker areas.
Self esteem assessment tools are useful in many ways as low self esteem is a common issue for children in schools and the tools give a teacher or behaviour support worker a starting point to design the programmes and activities that will most benefit the child or even a group of children. It can also just be helpful to think of the children whom you suspect of having low self esteem - whatever their behaviour, and think about whether you sense it is more to do with their sense of self, sense of belonging or sense of personal power. Even without a test you have something to go on when you are working out how to help the child. However don’t forget to think about which one they appear strongest in - as that is the one you will begin working with on any intervention you set up.
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