The importance of working students' self-esteem

«Many children grow through adolescence with no ripples whatever and land smoothly and predictably in the adult world with both feet on the ground. Some who have stumbled and bumbled through childhood suddenly burst into bloom. Most shake, steady themselves, zigzag, fight, retreat, pick up, take new bearings, and finally find their own true balance.»

Stella Chess,

The notion that children have of themselves is just the reflection of the opinions that others make and spread about them. Therefore, to appreciate oneself is essential to have the love and support of some adult during the ups and downs of childhood. So, the worst the circumstances of a child are, the more they need these emotional ties

If we say of a child: "Is very naughty" “Is an imp” “He/she does not sit still”… When that boy or girl think about who he or she is, all these adjectives will come to his/her mind, and will assume this as true. And the same thing will happen if we say: “Is very intelligent”, “is very responsible”. So we have to be very careful making judgments in front of children, as it will influence their opinion of themselves and, therefore, their future.

I have checked personally how the opinion of the teacher about a child influences drastically his/her way of acting. The first day, when I arrived to the 1^st course classroom, there was a boy who was sitting in front of the blackboard, apart from his classmates. I thought that it was because maybe he had vision problems, so he needed to be near the blackboard to see better, as I didn’t detect any behavioral problems. After two days, he didn’t show any signs of misbehavior, so I asked the teacher why was he sitting there. She answered me in front of him that he was a very nervous guy, and that he was always disturbing his classmates. From this moment, his behavior suddenly changed. Maybe he saw in me the opportunity of changing his public opinion, but once he realized that my vision of him was already influenced by the teacher, he started to play his habitual role. Some students also told me while he was listening, that he was a bad and troubled guy. I tried to convince them that he was not bad, that everybody is different and we all have good and bad things, and that we must look for the good things in everybody. But my opinion was not enough, because the rest of the teachers didn’t defend this same idea.  

Most of the times, helping students not to be typecast in one role doesn’t depend only on us, since children come with these “labels” from their home. So, schools must become in a scenario that brings them the opportunity to show a different version themselves.

There’s a Chinese proverb that says: "...Every crisis carries two elements, danger and opportunity. No matter the difficulty of the circumstances, no matter how dangerous the situation is...at the heart of each crisis lies a tremendous opportunity. Great blessings lie ahead for the one who knows the secret of finding the opportunity within each crisis.” But to have this opportunity, children need to find in some moment the unconditional love and support of someone, and we, as teachers, have the chance to be their lifesavers.