Where does it come from?
It seems that the harder the task the greater the self esteem that results when we've cracked it.
Aiming at the right difficult of task is clearly important.
Watching televison and climbing Everest would clearly be two extreme points on a continuum.
Don't do anything . . . depression results!
However thinking can be doing.
So what kind of thinking leads to self esteem/depression
Greetings
9 years ago
2 comments:
When I used to teach this sort of stuff it was recognised that motivation (which, I think, must be related to self esteem) was closely linked to task difficulty. Tasks which are too easy result in low motivation and poor performance - "this is trivial, what is the point of trying?". Tasks which are too difficult result in even lower motivation and even poorer performance - "I will never be able to do this, there is no point in trying". Best performance, and greatest satisfaction, comes from tasks which are demanding but still seem achievable.
The balance must be right, but also there must be some reason for trying in the first place. Running a four minute mile is beyond me but, with a lot of training, I might manage seven minutes, but why would I want to bother?
Thanks Les,
From an education viewpoint, it would be important to have someone who knew us well to suggest tasks.
Each student would benefit from someone who knew them well and had time to give. Large classes don't fit this category.
How do you help raise the self esteem/motivation of adults - your colleagues?
This seems far more tricky!
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