Let us consider these wise words from Nick Kenny,”If you have lost your faith in yourself, just go out and get acquainted with a small child. Win his love and your faith will come stealing back to you before you know it.”
The above adage, fully describes the importance of self-esteem that an individual must possess. Realizing this, a teacher must be aware that one of her primordial concerns is to help pupils develop their self-esteem.
Teachers fully know that every child is unique, that one pupil is different from the other. Let the pupils know how much they are cherished by their teachers, how much their existence in the classroom contribute to the well-being of the whole class. Make your pupils realize the sincerity in your words of encouragement whenever you ask them to participate or interact with the discussion, and let them feel your appreciation when they do this.
You can shower your pupils with love, this is a sure way to help children build their self-esteem at a very young age; for instance, when a pupil seems to be downhearted, cheer him/her up with encouraging words, and if you are the one who seems to be sad, and they also cheered you up, let them feel your appreciation whenever they do this. Respond through words of thanks. Their words and actions and your words and actions make an impact on the situation.
Another worthy thing to be done is sending or handing in a thank you note to a pupil who made a good deed. Make it personal, this will surely boost and enhance his/her faith in himself. especially, if it is handwritten by you. Your actions will be more appreciated by the recipient, realizing that it really comes from your heart. Be sincere with your pupils, for sincerity is a quality that any person would look for.
Everyday teachers are faced with different school and learners concerns, at the same time great effort should be accorded in teaching the lessons to her learners. In line with this, values worthy of emulation should be imparted to the children. They must always understand the human nature of the pupils. If a teacher is tempted to say a thing or two to humiliate a pupil or to deflate his/her ego, think twice or even thrice, since it is very hard to erase the wrong done to a pupil, so remember always the artful way of convincing them , at the end you will realize the beauty of such process. As Robert Stevenson says, “When you disagree, bean amicable adversary.”
Teachers must also impart to students the proper way of communication, so that everyone in the classroom may know that effective communication may ease up every thing.and may develop good relationships among them. Teachers must be gracious in communicating with the children. Avoid use of hurtful words. This will leave a deep wound in their hearts and minds; it will take a very long time before it heals. Self-esteem will be crashed down. Avoid too much empty talk, but be a teacher who combines his/ her talents, knowledge and skills with actions which can be conveyed easily to the pupils. Let us remember the words of the poet Roscommon, “ when you begin with so much pomp and show, the end will be so little and slow.”
Once the teacher have executed all of these reminders, he/she may yield pupils who are responsible and who have high self-esteem, only then that a teacher can really savor the impact of her good deeds to her pupils.
As FriedrichNeitszche puts it, “ the noble soul has reverence for itself.”
Reference:Corpuz, B. and Salandanan, G.,Principles of Teaching. 2006
By: Cheryl R. Garcia | Master Teacher II | Cabcaben Elementary School | Mariveles District
