Senior Capstone ℅ 2018

5-24-18

Self- Esteem: An Autoethnography

Samantha Chavez
Los Angeles Leadership Academy High School, [email protected]
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Senior Capstone ℅ 2018

Self-Esteem: An Autoethnography

Abstract
The purpose of this research paper is to identify high school students with high self esteem have a high
chance to accomplish their academic skills or students with low self esteem don’t have a higher chance of
succeeding. ​Examining and measure the connection between self-esteem and academic accomplishment is
important for many reasons​. ​Most students within the field believed an individual is also hopelessly
uncoordinated once enjoying sport. Parent and Teacher relationships have a impact towards students as well
because they can help the self esteem of the students. The benefits from positive parent involvement in
students education embrace higher grades, check scores and graduation rates, higher school attending,
enhanced motivation.

Keywords
Self-esteem, High self esteem, Low self-esteem, High school students, Mental disabilities
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Self-Esteem: Autoethnography

Samantha Chavez
Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, Los Angeles, California, USA

The purpose of this research paper is to identify high school students with high self esteem have a high
chance to accomplish their academic skills or students with low self esteem don’t have a higher chance of
succeeding. ​Examining and measure the connection between self-esteem and academic accomplishment is
important for many reasons​. ​Most students within the field believed an individual is also hopelessly
uncoordinated once enjoying sport. Parent and Teacher relationships have a impact towards students as well
because they can help the self esteem of the students. The benefits from positive parent involvement in students
education embrace higher grades, check scores and graduation rates, higher school attending, enhanced
motivation.

The Incident
It was Spring of 2017 and it felt good to be outside in the bright, crisp sun. Additionally,

the afternoon breeze was brushing against my skin and was somewhat cooling, in combination

with the sunshine. I didn’t think the rays would be so strong during Spring, but it almost felt like

summer. ​Eventually, I went to go get the mail, I walked down the stairs anxiously because my

school report had just been delivered. I approached the rusty mailbox along with a rusty key. Due

to all the rust, it took a few attempts to open the mailbox until I was finally able to retrieve my

mail. Finally, I went running home and as I looked through the mail, I saw my report card in my

hand; I was ready to open it to see how I was doing in school. Opening the report card was a

hassle because I wasn’t gentle when opening up the mail nor did I follow the dotted line when it
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told me too.

Once opened, it felt like I was in the movie ​Kung Fu Panda, ​when Po was opening up

the dragon scroll making a glory noise. When I opened my report card, I saw B’s and A’s… I

was speechless. “I did it…” I continued whispered to myself; “I did it.” I was so amazed at what

I had done, it made me feel confident about myself. I remember coming to school and the

administration was taking students out of class if they had a 3.00 G.PA and above. I was one of

the students with a 3.00 GPA. “In honor roll with a 3.00 G.P.A is…” he stopped for a second,

“Samantha Chavez.” The crowd went wild, “AAHH!!” yelled Javi. Javier Navarro is one of my

best friends; he is tall with a big delightful smile, his laugh is contagious, and makes everyone's

day. At that moment, I felt jubilant because realized that I could succeed without bringing myself

down or letting my self esteem affect me negatively. Students who have low self esteem can

succeed without having high self esteem.

Analysis

Introduction
The topic I will be researching is about the impact of self esteem on academic success

and performances of high school students as someone who has low self esteem I can personally

relate to the topic, although having low self esteem doesn’t mean that I can’t do anything. Self

esteem doesn’t just affect success, it can also affect the mental of students. The image on the left

is me with an art piece. This art piece is representative of my low self esteem: negative thoughts,

fear of losing control, and not knowing what to do. The name of this

artwork is called “​Inflammatory Essay” ​and the artist’s name is Jenny

Holzer she made this art piece because she uses it to “keep people
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awake” and it’s about violence and the abuse of power. I take this art piece personal about the

abuse of power because my low self brings me down and the negatives thoughts I hear in my

head. I believe that low self esteem students can make it in completing their academic

achievements.

“DON’T TALK DOWN TO ME. DON'T BE POLITE TO ME. DON’T TRY TO MAKE ME

FEEL NICE. DON'T RELAX. I’LL CUT THE SMILE OFF YOUR FACE. YOU THINK I DON'T

KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. YOU THINK I’M AFRAID TO REACT. THE JOKE’S ON YOU.

I’M BIDING MY TIME, LOOKING FOR THE SPOT… DO YOU WANT TO FALL NOT EVER

KNOWING WHO TOOK YOU?(Jenny Holzer, 1979-1982).

Study of Focus

The standard way of thinking about self esteem has it that self-esteem is an important part

of human life; without it individuals would have little concern for his or her survival. individuals

with high self-esteem worth themselves extremely. This manifests in many ways, people may

even see themselves as extremely smart or engaging and want their life is significant and

probably helpful to society​(Reference, 2018). Doodman is a faculty of Economics and Social

Science, he worked with other two colleagues and they are Zadeh and Changizi. All three of

them made an article about a study between self esteem and academic achievement among high

school students. In other words, Doodman P, Zadeh MA, and Changizi B believes ​self-esteem is

a very important​ ​side​ of children’s performance and overall traction and it ​appears​ to be

interactive with ​alternative​ ​like​ ​psychological state​ and ​educational​ performance are ​joined​, ​this

suggests​ that ​vanity​ ​is​ a cause and a consequence of some ​quite​ ​function​ ​that happens​ in ​different

areas(Doodman P, Zadeh MA, Changizi B, 2017). Sheykhjan claims high school is that the time
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when most students are developing their sense of identity of being whom they are, through the

various pressures and discouraging responsibilities of being a student, one learns and

understands the importance of getting a high self-esteem within the school (​Sheykhjan, 2014)

rests upon the questionable assumption that from examining the effects of positive self concept,

academic achievement goals, and parent/teacher relationships on high school students, it is clear

that higher self-esteem results in exceeding academic achievement for students.

Parent/Teacher Relationships

In discussions of self esteem impacting high school students in academic achievement, a

controversial issue is whether ​affective qualities of student–teacher relationships are important

for adolescents development and well-being (Roorda, Koomen, Spilt, & Oort, 2011).While some

argue that particularly for students who are at risk of school failure, an emotionally supportive

relationship with a teacher can have positive outcomes (Hamre & Pianta, 2005), other contend

that higher levels of closeness predicted higher levels of student engagement in the classroom,

whereas higher levels of conflict predicted lower child engagement and less cooperative

participation and task involvement (​Laura McFarland​, ​Elizabeth Murray​, ​Sivanes Phillipson​, 2016).

Harter (1999) suggested that student’s relationships with their teachers can influence children’s

self-concept and explained that when teachers are affectionate, emotionally available, involved

and supportive, students will repeat and internalise these positive aspects of the relationship by

developing positive self-evaluations. However, when teachers are unresponsive, discouraging,

rejecting, punitive, or neglectful, students may be more likely to develop negative self images

and view themselves as unlovable, incompetent and unworthy (Harter, 2006).

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Although the parent–child relationship plays a large role in children’s social-emotional

competence in the years prior school (Ranson & Urichuk, 2008), after the start of formal

schooling, interpersonal relationships in the school setting influence children’s development,

particularly in relation to self-concept ​(​Pianta, Hamre, & Stuhlman, 2003), it should in fact

concern anyone who cares about students who have been struggling in high school and having

difficulties connecting with a teacher or a parent. The benefits from positive parent involvement

in students education include higher grades, test scores and graduation rates, better school

attendance, increased motivation, improved self-esteem, lower rates of suspension, decreased

student use of drugs and alcohol, fewer instances of violent behavior, and greater enrollment

rates in post-secondary education (Ingram, et al., 2007). Chen’s point is that “parent involvement

in a child’s school has been shown to improve student attendance, behavior, homework

completion, and grades.When schools have well-developed partnership programs, families

become involved and students become more positive about school and learning” (Chen, G.,

2018). ​On the other hand, parents who were less included reported they had more boundaries in

helping their child, counting expanded stress within the family. ​More students, particularly those

who are at risk of falling flat, need this kind of coordinated back so that they, too, have a higher,

stronger, improved, and better chance to succeed in school.

Personal Self Concept & Achievement Goals

Self-concept and self-esteem have a lot in common, mostly because they are reflective

processes. They can be influenced not only by observing one's own self and behavior objectively, but

also by observing the reactions that other people have towards students and their behavior, or

imagining what other people might think of them, or what people would think of themselves if
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students saw themselves from outside. ​In addition, self-concept and self-esteem can be developed

through comparing oneself to those around people, which could be a enormous reason that

self-esteem is raised or lowered. When you see that you just are way better at something than

someone else, at that point you will probably have higher self-esteem since you see and get it

your claim value (https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/media/Media,366009,en.pdf).

The modest correlations between self-esteem and school performance do not

indicate that high self-esteem leads to good performance. Instead, high self-esteem is

partly the result of good school performance. Efforts to boost the self-esteem of pupils

have not been shown to improve academic performance and may sometimes be

counterproductive”(​Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003).

Examining and measuring the relationship between self-esteem and scholarly

accomplishment is critical for a few reasons. In looking at youthful children, it has the possibility of

anticipating afterward school accomplishment (Bridgeman & Shipman, 1978) as well as recognizing

debilitated students with lower self-esteem who can be controlled absent from misconduct at an early

age (Rosenberg et al., 1989). Most scholars in the field believed​ an individual may be hopelessly

uncoordinated when playing sport; cognitively, that person may appraise his or her performance

and form a low self-concept for sportplaying capacity. However, if that person wasn't concerned

about sport, viewing it as an unimportant hobby, then the self-esteem of that individual may not

be affected. High self-esteem, according to Harter (1990), comes from our competence in the

things we value, while low self esteem is the outcome of negative judgements, when individuals
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focus on their weaknesses(​Ciarrochi, 2011).​ ​In some cases students are motivated to preserve the

level of performance in a school that is steady with the positive or negative judgment of students

capacity. Knowing what level students performing with may be a successful way to avoid them from

having lower desires which can lead to lower achievement levels.

​“Achievement goals orientation is another construct which its relationship with academic

performance has been a controversial area of educational researches. Achievement goals are

defined as the goals which motivate students in educational settings [15]. In the other words,

achievement goals means as a pattern of beliefs that presents the different ways of approaching,

engaging and responding to success situations [16]”(​Bahrami, D., & Bahrami, A.).

In this regard, some studies have shown a positive while some other studies have reported

a negative relationship between performance-approach goals and academic achievements [15,

16] (​Bahrami, D., & Bahrami, A.​)​. Bahrami, D and Bahrami, A. point is that so far many studies

are conducted to review the connection between self-esteem and academic make a precise

performance-avoidance. ​According to this view, performance-avoidance goals cultivate a

norm-based analysis of one's ability, and these goals focus the student's attention on the

avoidance or an indication of low ability relative thereto of others, moreover, the student is

attempting to avoid an undesirable outcome like obtaining grounded for failure. ​In short,

performance avoidance goal is conceptualized as associate evasion introduction grounded in

self-regulation agreeing to potential negative results(Kadhiravan,2012). This manner of control

brings out self-protective forms that interfere with or block ideal trip engagement (e.g., danger
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interpretation, sensitivity to failure-relevant knowledge, anxiety-based preoccupation with

self-presentational rather than assignment considerations ) and result in the defenseless set of

motivational reactions.​ (Andrew J. Elliot, Judith M. Harackiewicz, 1996).

Healthy Self Esteem vs. Low Self Esteem

Self-esteem tends to change over time, depending on the circumstances. It's typical to go

through times once students feel down about themselves and times once they feel great around

themselves. Essentially, however, self-esteem remains in a run that reflects how individuals are

feeling almost themselves in general, and increases somewhat with age (Mayo Clinic,

1998-2018). Low self esteem is putting less values on the opinions and ideas, negative thoughts,

and believing that others are more capable or successful. Unfortunately, those who experience

depression, anxiety, phobias, psychosis, or who have a disability (SAMHSA, 2002) keeps

students from enjoying life, doing the things what they love to do, and working into personal

goals. For individuals with low self-esteem, the internal voice gets to be a cruel critic, punishing

one's mistakes and putting down one's achievements. Generally, everything is connected with

having depression or any mental disabilities because it also affects the mind and how individuals

think in negative thoughts.

In addition, healthy self esteem means accepting self love, compliments, and accepting

the good opinions and the abilities but recognized the flaws. Students ​who have high self-esteem

come to value themselves and think of themselves as worthy partners and able issue solvers. They

create a solid adjust of enjoying who they are, but also recognizing that there are ways they can

proceed to develop and to create. With a healthy self-esteem, students feel that they have positive

characteristics and abilities they can offer to other individuals, and they too feel they are worthy of
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being cherished and acknowledged by others counting family and companions (Mental Help, ​1995-

2015). This isn't negative, individuals see that they are a brilliant individual who are capable of

awesome accomplishments, whereas making a few mistakes along the way. While it is true that

students with high self esteem have higher chances in succeeding, it does not necessarily follow

that students with low self esteem can succeed in pursuing their education.

Opinion

The aim is to conclude from these studies because of the inconsistency of the result that

students who have high self esteem have the chances to succeed yet students with low self

esteem are left behind and not paying more attention to those students. Ultimately, then, the goal

is to demonstrate that low self esteem students can accomplish, unfortunately, no one believes

that because low self esteem refers to the negative and no one would think that a student with

low self esteem can succeed. In the recent discussions of students with high self esteem

accomplishing their academic skills, a controversial issue has been whether low self esteem

students don't have any chance of succeeding or accomplishing anything in life. My own view

about this topic has my feelings on the this issue are mixed, though, I would disagree with the

studies about low self esteem because my own experience with having low self esteem yields a

point that I can succeed and accomplish while going through mental disabilities. Of course, many

will probably disagree on the grounds that students with mental disabilities can’t accomplish

their academic goals. Although not all individuals think alike, some of them will probably

dispute my claim that students with low self esteem and mental disabilities can’t make it as high

self esteem students.

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Conclusion

The impact of self esteem in high school students does affect their academic

achievements. Low self esteem affects high school students because they don’t have confidence

in themselves and have lack of self love, moreover, high self esteem have self love and self

confidence. In high school, there should be breathing classes, yoga, and talk about self love and

self growth for students with low self esteem. The relationship with parents and teacher can be a

big impact for the students with low self esteem because they would need to get some love from

their parents and giving them positive words. Students should give each other compliments and

giving positive vibes and learn about self growth; people in general should water their own roots

and not water other roots that are dead. Focusing in ourselves and loving our self is important

and its a key for us to know who we are.

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