Psychology for Teachers by Scott Buckler & Paul Castle

Author:Scott Buckler & Paul Castle
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781446297322
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Published: 2014-11-17T05:00:00+00:00

In relation to education the most important aspect about the ‘I’ is that it is a subjective construct: we may perceive experience differently to others, similarly we may perceive ourselves differently to how other people see us. Of course, this is true of the learners we work with: what may work for one learner may not work for another. Learners may perceive aspects differently (as discussed in Chapter 6). Their perception of a learning experience may be different from that of other learners, or from what we originally planned.

In summary, developing an understanding the ‘self-as-I’ may help us to appreciate that we are all different, something that can be overlooked within the education system in the drive to ensure a standardised approach, where all learners are expected to behave the same way, learn the same way, achieve the same attainment levels and so on. Although the self as a unique component has been introduced, the other concept of self is that we operate in a society. Through such interactions, we develop a sense of self in relation to others which leads into the discussion of the ‘self-as-me’.

8.4 THE ‘SELF-AS-ME’

While the ‘self’ as ‘I’, relates to our unique subjective experience, the ‘self’ as ‘me’ relates to our interpersonal relationships with others. This is an aspect described by James (1890) whereby the ‘me’ is the object known to other people. According to Damian and Robins (2012), there are different levels on which the concept of ‘me’ operates (Figure 8.1). The first is similar to the ‘self-as-I’, which is the personal or individual self. On this level, our beliefs and values about our private self are formed. This is influenced through the second level, the relational self. At this level, we perceive ourselves as having different personal relationships with others, for example, I may perceive that I am different with friends than I am with colleagues. The social self is where we perceive ourselves in relation to general interpersonal contexts, for example, our social role as teachers and our reputation. The final level is that of the collective self, where our personal identities are considered in relation to a variety of groups, for example, nationality, ethnicity or how we are perceived as teachers. There is a parallel between the sense of ‘me’ and ‘ecological systems theory’, whereby the child is affected through various environmental systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).

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