Students' self-concepts and the quality of learning in public schools and universities
pp. 131-156
in: Learning strategies and learning styles, Berlin, Springer, 1988Abstract
This chapter focuses on theory and research concerned with the role of the self in learning. It is based on the assumption that the self-concept is the most significant cognitive structure organizing an individual's experience, while self-esteem is the most influential affective evaluator of this experience. The self-concept organizes all that we think we are, what we think we can do, and how best we think we can do it, while self-esteem is the extent to which we are pleased by that concept, or feel worthy (Hamachek, 1978; Wylie, 1974). Together, they comprise the self-theory or model of experience that helps us explain our past behavior and predict our future behavior. Like any theory, a self-theory can be a differentiated and valid interpretation of reality, or a vague, invalid one. Thus, it can both facilitate and bias information processing (Kuiper & Derry, 1980). it can also affect the degree of stylistic consistency present in an individual's behavior, including preferences for certain learning strategies.