BOOK REVIEWS
Raising Self-Esteem :- 50 Activities A rich treasury bound in loose leaf format. The activities apply to all age groups covering communication and relationship building skills, self-knowledge and emotional awareness, risk taking and creativity, art, craft, drama and relaxation and guided imagery. The material is presented with verve and humour and meticulously laid out including notes and guidelines for verbal presentation and peppered with sobering quotes and comments. - Human Scale Education I am a facilitator in self growth and development teaching self-esteem. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Raising Self-Esteem is in fact a workshop in itself or it could be condensed into a smaller / shorter workshop too. Your material is copiable and I would like to teach it in part or perhaps as a workshop in itself run over a number of sessions. -Carol van der Berg, South Africa It contains a fascinating wide variety of activities, some supplemented by super worksheets, that have helped my children's esteem building enormously. It is well planned, was to use and has lots of valuable suggestions - Jeanette Carlyle, Fort Primary School, Edinburgh I used several of the activities with a group of PGCE students. They found them both enjoyable and useful and readily saw how they could be used with benefit with their pupils - Peter Lang, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Warwick Magic Circles: Building Self-Esteem through Circle Times Magic Circles is an important contribution to the quantum leap in awareness that many people are making. It is the most hopeful thing to happen in education in a long while. - Don Ferris I have read Magic Circles and Raising Self-Esteem; 50 activities. I love the way they are written. you have raised all the issues and put them across in a practical way. Excellent and thank you for providing such brilliant resources to support the hassled classroom teacher. - Elaine Delay, teacher, trainer, consultant Picture This: Guided Imagery for Circle Times This cassette provides a very clear developmental introduction to guided imagery. From the beginning of the first side Murray provides a "childspeak"' definition of what the imagination is and how it can be enjoyed. By gently introducing imagery skills such as relaxing and listening Murray quickly captures the confidence of the listener...... the stories take the listener through a number of journeys, building the complexity of each one. I would recommend this tape. - Devon Group Work I find your tape really useful. Even the most restless children are starting to use their imaginations. We all feel more positive, relaxed and happy after a session with your tape. -Christine Rees, Gransden Primary School, Cambridgeshire I am sure you will be happy to know that I am successfully using your tape and booklet on guided imagery with a young man in Diss. - Linda Talbot, Norfolk Psychological Service Your tape is wonderful. I am very much looking forward to using it with my friends and students. - Eva Hava Jonai, Budapest
	What's so silly about Self-Esteem From the Times Education Supplement (April 26 1996) Headteachers are said to be worried that if they respond to pupil violence with self-esteem programmes they will "invite ridicule" (TES March 8, 1996). In my view any ridicule that arises can only stem from ignorance of what self-esteem is and how crucial it is to a healthy life. It may, of course, have got a bad name from poor practice and from instances in schools where the theory has been inappropriately applied. That is unfortunate, and-not the fault of the self-esteem movement. Self-esteem is the experience of being able to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It has two components: self-efficacy - confidence in our ability to think, choose and make wise decisions - and self-respect - confidence in our right to be happy and a belief that success, friendship, respect, love and fulfilment can be ours. The basic challenges include such fundamentals as being able to take independent care of ourselves, sustaining relationships that are mostly satisfying, having the resilience to bounce back from setbacks and perseverance. Teachers often think that arrogance and bragging.are signs of over-developed self-esteem. In fact they are a clear indication of the lack of it, often brought about by a need to overcome insecurity. Self-esteem is not conceit. Sound approaches to self-esteem are based on realism, not inflated self-images. It is not the intention to promote groundless feelings of euphoria, but certainly to encourage an optimistic outlook. Self-esteem is concerned with children not merely feeling good about themselves, - but also about becoming more positive, taking pride in themselves, and consequently developing a sense of personal competence. If teachers examine the causes of bullying and other chronic misbehaviours - the showing off, the fighting and the failure which some children have adopted - they will discover that low self-esteem is at the root of it. These children behave as they do because of strong feelings of inadequacy and internal blame, a belief that they do not possess the ability or intelligence to succeed. Low self-esteem causes untold turmoil and misery. Studies have found links with low achievement, truancy, crime, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and suicide. Dr. Neil Smeizer, co-author of The Social Importance of Self-Esteem reviewed over 30,000 studies and concluded that low self-esteem was a root cause of many social problems. He believes that self-esteem is the central mechanism through which these problems can be mediated. A small scale investigation by members of Manchester University's School of Education which reported last year, found that levels of self-esteem decreased in children over a four year period from when they were in Year 2 (aged around six) to Year 6 (aged 11). Significantly too, the scores of the 11 year-olds were considerably lower than those of children the same age tested 13 years previously. If we consider the appalling rise in exclusions, the link between the increase in one and the decrease of the other is too obvious to be ignored. Self-esteem is essential to normal and healthy development. Teachers are in a powerful position to influence a child's esteem. Where schools adopt practices and policies which promote it (among staff as well as children), discipline problems and all the associated tensions and stresses diminish considerably. The consequences can be dramatic. When self-esteem is high, the ability to be successful in learning, human relationships, and all the productive and creative areas of life is unlimited. Given what we know about its effect, head teachers should not be deterred. Ridicule is a classic initial response to any new idea. I have seen it change, slowly to the trivial stage where hesitancy still remains. From there people will move, eventually, to acceptance when everyone understands its value and becomes champions of it. Eight years ago there was an article in The Lancet which said that doctors' surgeries were full of depressed people, that the nation was suffering from an epidemic of low self-esteem, and appealing to educationists to help. I would be delighted if I could write with confidence that the need had now been recognised in every school, for the of good of every child. Murray White April 26th 1996 [ Home ] [ Bio ] [ See This Now ] [ Circle Time ] [ Magic Circles ] [ Keynotes & Seminars ] [ Publications & Resources ] [ Workshops for Teachers, Advisors & Educational Psychologists ] [ Workshops for Parents & Carers ] [ Book Reviews ] [ Workshops for Individuals, Groups and Organisations ] [ E-Mail Murray ] [ Links ]