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A student's beliefs about their identity as a learner.
Self-concept is about a person's sense of identity. However, in the educational context self-concept refers more specifically to our students view of themselves as a learner. In fact, self-concept can even be more specific because some students may see themselves as a good writer in English, but not as mathematician! Furthermore, it is this belief which a student holds about themselves which seems to be closely associated with a sense of competence and confidence (Guthrie, 2008). This association has a positive effect on achievement because when students view themselves as progressing and being competent at something they tend to try harder (Farrington et al., 2012).
Self-concept is also closely associated with a sense of belonging. Researchers have found that self-concept is developed when students believe that they belong at school and when they can claim full membership in a classroom community (Farrington et al., 2012). Teachers play a vital role in fostering their students academic self-concept by affirming their sense of belonging in the classroom and their identity as learners. Consequently, students who feel a legitimate sense of belonging in a learning community are more likely to express greater agency than those who do not (Ferguson et al., 2015).
Biblical principle
The Bible says that human beings are "...(made) in (his) image, in (his) likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Put another way, when Adam opened his eyes for the first time, he looked into the loving face of God, the Father, and saw who he was! This means that our identity is in Him. Moreover, we are not just made but we are "...fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). As Christians, we know that believing we are made fearfully and wonderfully in the image God helps build our self-concept.
It follows that because of our identity in him that we also belong to Him because he has created us to be part of his family. Paul speaks about this throughout the New Testament. For example, in Romans, he reiterates that they were "...called to belong to Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:6b). And he continues to teach the Romans that if they belong to Christ's family, that they "though many... belong to all the others." (Romans 12:5)
In our Kahui Ako, as a group of Special Character Schools, our identity comes from the Father who wants us as teachers and our students to belong to Jesus and to find a place in his family were we are accepted and loved. This builds self-concept!
Self-Concept Strategies
Strategy 1:
Identity Affirmation
Teachers can boost students' self-concept through caring. Caring involves cultivating an attentive and sensitive manner with our students which makes them feel like they belong to a learning community as learners (Ferguson et al., 2015).
At the heart of care is identity affirmation. Teachers can boost students' self-concept by affirming them as learners in specific learning contexts. Eg. "You are a great reader!"
Ultimately, care is about building trusting relationships which instil a sense of belonging (Dweck, Walton, and Cohen, 2011).
Strategy 2:
Conferencing
A second way to boost self-concept is through conferring. Teachers confer when they encourage and respect students' perspectives.
Specifically, teachers can do this when they hold one-on-one conferences with their students to discuss academic work.
Conferencing is believed to foster a student's self-concept because their sense of identity as a learner is boosted by a teacher's individual attention and coaching.
Conferencing is powerful when combined with student self-tracking because when teachers help their students to monitor their own learning progress their self-concept is further developed (Dweck, 2006).
Strategy 3:
Student Voice
Researchers believe that student - teacher feedback or student voice can be used to create an increased sense of belonging in the classroom environment. The mechanism seems to be that when teachers request and actively listen to feedback from their students, students in turn interpret the interaction as an acknowledgment of their identity as a participant in the learning process. This in turn affirms their identity as a learner and increases their motivation to learn.
Strategy 4:
Feedback
Self-concept is strongly linked to the feedback students receive both about their learning (learning feedback) and but more importantly themselves as learners (learner feedback) (Davis, 2018).
This can be attributed to the fact that feedback is believed to create a learning culture where students feel they belong and perceive success as possible.
Good quality feedback is regarded as being specific (focused on the lesson objective), synchronous (during the task) and sequential (gives the next steps).
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Self-Concept
Self-Efficacy
Self-Relevancy
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