As a one time educationist even though I am engineer, and been raised in a somewhat refined home of an teacher, I have found out that a lot of child has the tendency of having low a self-esteem, extreme shyness could be the cause of it and it is rampant in small school kids (toddlers in kindergarten) which could escalate if not approached. Therefore, it is one of the duties of a teacher to help combating it right from that very tender age as well as parents and guardians collectively doing their quotas alongside.
I take special interest in kids and students in Elementary and junior High school. I was a Physics and Mathematics teacher(not for so long), I teach basically students in the lower educational scheme. For some part of my life while growing up, I was home-schooled and I lagged behind in bonding with my mates when I resumed schooling. My educational path made me develop that special interest, and I really don’t have to be an old timer teacher or a nanny to know about basic things about grooming a child in the classroom as a grown adult.
One of the catalysts to my own special interest lies in the fact that, I was raised by one of the finest teachers the world has ever had, my late mom who was an Elementary school head teacher. She was a teacher in Grade school, I do help her back then as a teen with some home tutoring of some kids in her school that needs special and extra attention. What I have discovered is, these kids are not dumb, they are just suffering from intimidations that can't be pin pointed where it originated from.
Education is way beyond just academics; it involves psychological, physical, spiritual and emotional training of a child or group of kids. It is important to note that, to be a groomed and seasoned teacher, you have to master some act of being psychologically sound and prepared, physically fit, spiritually active and intellectually prepared to be able to spot and help kids with low self-esteem get out of that shell.
A good teacher should be able to identify a timid and shy child aside from a lazy and less hardworking one, some kids knows what is required of them but lacks the courage to present it both in speech and in action. It takes emotional intelligence on the path of a teacher to be able to discern a smart kid that is easily intimidated by crowd and maybe peers.
Identifying this trait is the hardest part and the most delicate duty of the teacher, once identified the task of a good trainer/tutor to be able to guide and help such a child gain enough confidence and not increase the fears of such a child. A lot of school kids have the tendency to be smarter and bolder but get easily intimidated by internal and external factors.
Family plays a major role in the esteem level of a child, psychologically, kids from broken or destabilized homes suffers more. They lose interest easily in things and are often more reclusive i.e. not wanting to mingle with their peers or take part in group sports because of their emotional state.
Confidence and security is what a child needs, and the fact is that; a child’s confidence is the duty of the parent, once that is missing, the duty of a teacher increases help build a child’s boldness. A lot of teachers and educationists focus more on intellectual activities rather than some other basic tools a child needs to function well in a social set up.
Some category of kids needs a little push before hitting the ground and running, coming out of that shell might be the hardest thing a child could do but once a child gets over this low self-esteem, they become child geniuses.
Not every kid will get that confidence needed to be active in classes or among their peers, just like some fully grown adults have low self-esteem and the courage to interact with people. If a child doesn’t get the right people to handle that aspect of his or her life at that young age, then it could be hard to ever get over it as an adult.
As I stated earlier, Daycare to kindergarten and to basic elementary education is a sensitive aspect of a child’s education, in fact a delicate part of a humans life and these cuts across all spheres of life. Perverts and serial killers developed that habit from there if not checked, it becomes a part of them as they grow once that window closes for a child.
Tackling low self-esteem is a sensitive task; only teachers with sound emotional intelligence could handle different kids with their varying peculiarities. Some teachers have low self-esteem, kids cannot do well under such teachers, which bring the education administrative to a focal point of how they screen (not just aptitude tests but emotional tests to see how teachers are psychologically prepared) teachers to be employed and train these kids.
It takes an extremely sensitive person to be cautious of the state or mind of others (students, kids in this context). Emotional smartness of teachers could help kids with low self-esteem, at least to some point in their lives where they are no more under a teacher’s guidance; it helps generally to determine the next move. What to do and how to relate with people around in some situations.
All in all,helping a child with low self-esteem to grow and become a responsible member of any social setup hangs on so many factors, yet, combating that timidness from a young age is an ice breaker. Furthermore, Teachers and parents tops the list of catalyst to fight low self esteem, they are the vital elements to help elevate the state of mind of such children in this category. Thanks for reading.