Teacher Dispositions Affecting Self-Esteem and Student Performance

Written By: Sam Savage

Published Date: June 9, 2007 Last Edited: June 9, 2007

By Helm, Carroll

Keywords: academic achievement, social status, teacher qualities We have all seen her. She is the little girl in the pink frilly dress, big blond curls and a large pink bow in her hair, lace socks, and black, patent-leather shoes. She carries a designer purse over her shoulder; she holds a box, with her Crayola-brand sharpened crayons, scissors, pencils, and all the other supplies requested by the teacher, gently in her hands. Her name is Samantha, and she is perfectly prepared for school. Behind her enters a skinny little boy wearing a torn t-shirt and large brown shorts that are held up by an oversized black belt. The belt is pulled tight so that the oversized shorts will not fall down. His face is dirty; his knees are scraped; his hands are black; and his nose is snotty and dirt crusted. Looking down, I notice that his shoes are at least two sizes too big. He is smiling, but his big smile reveals several cavities in his front teeth. His name is Joey. He looks around the room, and many of the other students are smiling at him but others seem to take no notice of the fact that he has entered the room. His parents were sent the same letter as Samantha’s parents, but they could not, or would not, get the supplies the teacher requested.

This is the typical first day of school in classrooms across the country. I like to refer to what you read above as the haves and the have-nots. This day is the beginning of what many students experience; for some, constant praise and encouragement whereas others begin with a feeling that they do not belong. It will not take Joey long to discover that he does not have many of the things that the other children have and to realize that he is different. On the first day of school, Joey’s self-esteem was lowered a little more. Joey’s parents have always told him that he is dumb and cannot read; this illiteracy must be labeled by the school system so that they can get an extra $540 a month from welfare. Has Joey’s fate been sealed, or can the school system do something to reverse this cycle and make him believe that he is somebody?

In fact, something can be done by the school system. Many options are available to school systems, and it is important that they do them, or the little Joeys of the world will just become additional at-risk statistics. Wealth and social status are major factors in determining who learns in our schools (Cole 1990), but they are not the only factors. Dedicated teachers, who possess the right dispositions, can be the keys to reach students who do not come from wealth or privilege. Bridgett Harme and Robert Pianta (2001) found that students with significant behavior problems in their early years are less likely to have problems later in school if their teachers are sensitive to their needs and provide frequent, consistent, and positive feedback.

Harme and Pianta (2001) followed 179 students in a small school district who entered kindergarten the same year and continued in the school district through eighth grade. Even when the researchers accounted for the gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings of a student, the student’s relationship with their teacher still predicted aspects of school success. Sanders and Rivers (1996) found that having several effective teachers, in consecutive years, could affect standardized scores by as much as 50 percentile points.

Darling-Hammond (2000) indicated that the quality of teachers, as measured by whether the teachers were fully certified and had a major in their teaching field, was related to student performance. Measures of teacher preparation and certification were the strongest predictors of student achievement in reading and mathematics-both before and after controlling for student poverty and English language proficiency. Proper training and certification, matched with the identification and assessment of proper teacher dispositions, both have a significant impact on student learning. Ready, as reported in Woolfolk (2004, 21), listed the following indicators of excellent teaching:

1. Love children.

2. Respect all children and parents in all circumstances.

3. See potential in all children.

4. Motivate children to reach their highest potential.

5. Be a spontaneous and creative educator who is able to see teachable moments and seizes them.

6. Have a sense of humor.

In a study, Davies and Brember (1999) found that feelings of worth or unworthiness could affect mathematics and reading performance of individuals forming their self-image while receiving feedback from others. According to Dole and McMahan (2005), many students with learning and behavior problems have poor social skills and low self-esteem in addition to low academic achievement. El- Anzi (2005) stated that self-esteem relates to academic achievement and physical, emotional, and social areas. In another study, Legum and Hoare (2004) linked academic performance and self-esteem by giving the students counseling and support to make better educational and career preparation choices. In the study, all participants saw an increase in academic performance. That nine- week intervention program for at-risk middle school students showed a significant increase in student grade point averages (Legum and Hoare 2004). Keverne (2004) suggested that being aware of sensitive times in the brain’s development that affect emotional development may help guide teachers to set high self-esteem levels in children at a young age.

What does this mean for the Joeys of the world? Children who begin their educational journey without wealth or privilege and without positive family support can succeed at higher academic levels if teachers are willing to invest themselves in those young children. Teachers must possess and exhibit the disposition of caring, have a positive work ethic, and be able to think critically to begin to deal with most of the have-nots. After all, the individual teacher is the most important element in whether the Joeys of the world develop positive self-esteem and make positive academic gains.

Research supports several factors related to student success. This article has broached a few. I have not explored pupil-teacher ratios and higher funding for education here, but evidence exists that these affect student performance. If a model could be developed to guarantee student success, it would most assuredly include a teacher who: (a) is highly qualified, (b) possesses the proper teaching license for their area, (c) possesses the dispositions of caring and empathy, (d) has a strong work ethic and critical thinking ability, (e) has supportive classroom parents, (f) has an eighteen to one pupil-teacher ratio, and (g) has adequate funding. If all of those qualities and support systems cannot be present at the same time, I would take strong, positive teacher dispositions every time. We all expect the teacher to be able to teach his or her subject and have good content knowledge, but more important, those teachers should be willing to teach the child first. That child, Joey, will thank us for this when he grows up and becomes successful.

REFERENCES

Cole, R. 1990. Teachers who make a difference. Instructor 110:58- 59.

Darling-Hammond, L. 2000. Teacher quality and student achieve- ment: A review of state policy evidence. Educational Policy Analysis Archives 8:1-48. http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n1/ (accessed January 20, 2002).

Davies, J. and I. Brember. 1999. Self-esteem and national tests in years two and six. Educational Psychology 19 (3): 337-45.

Dole, S., and J. McMahan. 2005. Using video therapy to help adolescents cope with social and emotional problems. Intervention in School and Clinic 40 (3): 151-55.

El-Anzi, F. 2005. Academic achievement and its relationship with anxiety self-esteem, optimism and pessimism in Kuwaiti students. Social Behavior and Personality 33 (1): 95-104.

Harme, B. K., and R. C. Pianta. 2001. Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children’s school outcomes through eighth grade. Child Development 72:625-38.

Keverne, E. 2004. Understanding well-being in evolutionary context of brain development. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 359 (1449): 1349-59.

Legum, H., and C. Hoare. 2004. Impact of a career intervention on at-risk middle school student’s career maturity levels, academic achievement, and self-esteem. Professional School Counseling (110): 148-56.

Sanders, W. L., and J. C. Rivers. 1996. Cumulative and residual effects of teachers on student academic achievement. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center.

Woolfolk, A. 2004. Educational Psychology. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

Comments

comments