Self Esteem in Adult Learners

One of the biggest battles we have in teaching adult learners is dealing with negative self-images. Students may feel so rotten about themselves that, even when they succeed they are not comfortable with themselves. Often, from grade school on, our students have seen that their peers are able to recognize letters or read comfortably, while they cannot. Subsequent defeats and failures intensify this sense of inadequacy. Students may develop an all-pervasive feeling of not being on the same level as their peers. They may feel that they are "stupid" and "dumb." The image we have of ourselves as children often affects how we feel about ourselves as adults. Children who feel like failures may turn into adults obsessed with failing - even when they are successful. Failure can become a pattern or a habit. Students who have experienced failure in an academic environment can come to think and act in ways that are self-defeating. They may believe they are going to fail no matter how hard they try. They may think of themselves as lazy or stupid. They can come to see their situation as hopeless. In short they may develop a negative attitude. In their wildest dreams, they can't imagine being successful in learning. Often it doesn't occur to them that they can learn.

To reverse failure patterns, students have to change their thoughts as well as their actions. They have to believe themselves capable of learning. They may have to get a whole new view of themselves that includes the possibility of success. They need to develop a positive attitude.

Developing a positive attitude requires more than academic achievement. Students must be able to recognize their own accomplishments and feel that they have earned them. A student must come to see himself or herself as a person who has the power to create success.

In this Issue of Words, tutors can find ideas to help their student improve his or her self-image. Look in our Tutor Tips section for these suggestions. Maybe one or more of these ideas can help you help your student!

--information taken from an article by Suzanne H. Stevens, author of "How to Rescue At-Risk Students" and from an article by Sally L. Smith in "Linkages," a publication of the National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center.