Self-esteem

The term self-esteem literally refers to one’s evaluation of oneself according to a measurement standard. Research shows that self-esteem is composed of different factors connected to the parts that make up an individual:

• Cognitive elements: the set of references an individual gathers about themselves through their experiences, and the self-knowledge thus acquired;
• Affective elements: concern the individual’s willingness or not to open up emotionally and thus to direct and receive emotional expressions toward themselves and others;
• Social elements: include belonging to social groups and the possibility of having an influential role in the group, receiving approval from it.

From an educational perspective, the most important aspect of self-esteem is its highly subjective nature, as it is the product of the personal interpretation of one’s own experiences. William James (1842-1910), one of the founders of modern psychology, defined self-esteem as the product of the relationship between the ideal self and the perceived self. An individual’s level of self-esteem is determined by how closely their self-perception aligns with their ideal self.

In Pedagogy for the Third Millennium, Patrizio Paoletti defines a dynamic triangulation between the ideal self, the perceived self, and what Paoletti calls the “best me of me”. The “best me of me” represents the mediation point between the ideal self and the perceived self that the individual manages to transform into concrete action in daily life, freeing themselves from the constraints of an ideal often too distant from the usual self-perception.

“Self-esteem, cultivated like a garden that in spring expresses its full splendor, in a person is a cornerstone capable of sustaining and giving life to the relational fabric, the only tool for sharing one’s own experience.”

Patrizio Paoletti, Crescere nell’eccellenza