To equip students with the critical skills they need to succeed socially and academically, it is important to focus on the whole student. Being able to identify with and gain an objective perspective from someone regarding who one is as a whole person is key for many students as they develop as learners and as individual human beings. This is part one of a discussion of how tutors can impact the whole student to foster self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-esteem in the students they serve.
Self-Awareness, Self-Confidence, And Self-Esteem: What’s the Difference?
Self-awareness is the conscious knowledge of one’s environment and his or her place in it, and an objective understanding of his or her personal character, feelings, motives, and desires as an individual. Self-confidence is the attitude one has regarding his or her skills and abilities; it is the acceptance of and feeling of trust in one’s own abilities, qualities, and personal judgment, and the strengths and weaknesses in those areas. Self-esteem is a sense of personal worth or value as a human being, based on a set of beliefs and perceptions one has about him- or herself. All three of these have an impact on students, both socially and academically. Low levels of each tend to impact students negatively, but a tutor can help students grow positively in each area.
The Self-Aware Student
Self-awareness is crucial for all levels of success. The ability to be aware of one’s thoughts and emotions, values and attitudes, strengths and challenges, etc., and how those things play into one’s choices and behaviors has a great impact on a student’s life. It is important to understand these aspects of one’s “inner life” both to improve learning and to develop meaningful interpersonal relationships. Self-awareness plays a critical role in improving learning because it helps students to focus on learning gaps—what they need to learn to progress. Further, it helps cultivate students’ abilities to monitor, reflect on, and evaluate the learning strategies they use and the efficiency and effectiveness of those strategies; students can use their sense of self-awareness to improve their ability to weigh and evaluate different choices or options in general. The self-reflection involved in being self-aware helps students to recognize their challenges and to build a plan to address them. In these ways, self-awareness helps students develop their overall productivity both academically and socio-emotionally.
Tutors can help develop self-awareness in students. They can help guide students to identify and analyze their feelings and emotions and recognize their strengths and weaknesses. By listening and serving as sounding boards, tutors can help students to develop an honest sense of self; they help with personal growth that gives students insight and motivation to achieve goals. This discussion will continue with a focus on how tutors can help instill greater self-confidence and self-esteem in their students, so those students can thrive and become even more successful.
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Tutoring provides many benefits for students. Tots ‘N Tutors is a professional mobile tutoring company that offers support to students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and college in all subject areas, by meeting with students individually or in small groups, in person or online. If you would like to discuss how Tots ‘N Tutors can help develop student self-awareness, don’t hesitate to contact a member of the caring and competent team online or by phone at 512-789-8949.