Relationship between Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement of Grade Six Pupils

Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Introduction
The term self-esteem comes from a Greek word meaning “reverence for self”, the “self” part of self-esteem pertains to the values, beliefs and attitudes that we hold about ourselves. The “esteem” part of self-esteem describes the value and worth that one gives oneself. Basically, self-esteem is the acceptance of ourselves for who and what we are at any given time in our lives (Page and Page, 1995). It can also be the the overall evaluation of oneself in either a positive or negative way. It focuses on the three aspects of life: self-confidence, self-worth, and self-efficiency (Ubayubay, 2004).
The self-esteem development of the students must be taken into consideration as they go along in the educational process. Students must identify their self-worth and self-efficacy so as to gain self-confidence, self-reliance and self-competence, and be able to act indepedently, assume responsibility, take pride in their accomplishment, tolerate frustration, attempt new task and negative emotions, and offer assistance to others. Otherwise, they will feel unwanted, unloved and indifferent, avoid trying new things, put down his talents and abilities, blame others for his own short-comings, unable to tolerate a normal level of frustration and be easily influenced (Lawrence, 2000). Solomon (1992) once stated that healthy self-esteem is an essential component for learning, and it facilitates or inhibits learning for an individual regardless of age. It is also recognized to be a major factor in learning outcomes
(Lawrence, 2000). Hence, it is not just enough that teachers perfect their professional and personal dealings with their students, for there is still a need to consider also the pupils who are the key participant, clientele and the patron of the educational process by knowing their diverse personalities.
Moreover, Gallozi gave his definition about self-esteem. He said that it is about how we see and feel ourselves. He also added that it is about the degree to which we value ourselves. Experiences that a student encounters really affect the self-esteem development. His interactions and academic performance bring forth impact on self-esteem, and, the other way around, that is, the self-esteem affects the academic ability. As cited by Robb and Letts (1995), “The wide range of experiences a student has while going through school - scholastic, athletic, social, emotional - all constitute input to his or her self-esteem development. Every success and failure with the reaction of peers, parents and teachers to these experiences will contribute significantly to the students’ self-worth, self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-competence”. One has the tendency to have high self-esteem if he/she is in an environment where he/she is nurtured to grow and develop,and, the other way around, if one would be in an environment where he is underestimated, unwanted and the like, he would likely have low self-esteem.
Self-esteem counts, especially in doing well in one’s academic performance as well as in social interaction. According to Ruggins (2001), “Students’ self-esteem acted as critical factor in the grades that they earn in school, in their relationship with their peers, and in later success in life. This is on account of the many early theories which suggested that self-esteem is a basic human need or motivation. Whenever one has high self-esteem or has positive regards towards oneself, he gets to develop his self-worth, self-confidence and self-efficiency which affect one’s academic perfomance and his role in the society. His drive to learn and do well, especially in the academe is developed and increased upon believing in his/her own strengths. However, if one has low-esteem, or has negative regards towards oneself, he does not have neither attributes of being such nor the motivation or the drive to learn. Thus, their performance, especially in academe is commonly low and their interactions are less.
In the development of the students’ self-esteem, pupils are not the only ones who are responsible for this. As a matter of fact, such development can be the result of parental dealings, as well as that of the teachers. Parents and teachers either maintain, damage or increase the self-esteem of the students by eliciting experiences which either destroy or build self-esteem. Aside from this, there are still numbers of factors which affect such development.
Therefore, this study attempts to determine the relationship of self-esteem and academic achievement of grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Conceptual Framework
This study was anchored on the concept of Ubayubay(2004) that the development of self-esteem of the pupils to academic performance has been considered an important area of research in the field of education. This is also for the purpose of seeking ways on how to develop self-esteem in the learner so as to increase their motivation and drive in learning and in achieving better performance and how to make learning something that would not, in any means, damage self-esteem. This is for the reason that in every aspect of this learning process, there is the potential to damage, maintain, or increase self-esteem (Loomans and Loomans, 2004).
Redenbach (1995) stated that self-esteem plays an important role in academic achievement. Self-esteem is the one key ingredient that affects the level of profficiency in all fields of endeavor. It has been correlated to different aspects which include school achievement, job success, and general happiness.
Furthermore, for people of all ages, the development of full human potential is developed through high self-esteem. High self-esteem can begin to develop when the acceptance of all individuals and their personal and group contributions are recognized, especially in a multi-culturally diversed world (Redenbach, 1995).
Self-esteem covers these three aspects: self-worth,self-efficiency and self-confidence (Ubayubay, 2004). Like many aspects of child development, it is a product of two forces often described as nature (biological strengths and weaknesses) and nurture (social environment) (Oswalt, 2010). These can be damaged or be enhanced depending on the interactions with family and social environment.
Self-efficiency is the pupils’ beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives. According to Bandura (1994), self-efficacy determines how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave. It produces those diverse effects through four major processes. They include cognitive, motivational, effective and selection process.
Moreover, Ormrod (2006) stated that self-efficacy has been defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a cetain manner to attain certain goals. Eduology focuses on factors that create a meaning for individuals. It is believed that our personalized ideas of self-efficacy affect our social interactions in almost every way. Understanding how to foster the development of self-efficay is a vitally important goal for positive psychology because it can lead to living more productive and happy life. On the other hand, self-worth as cited by Millman (1999), “refers to the overall sense of value, worth, goodness and deservedness”. He also stated that it is also associated with self-respect. It is how one sees and describes himself, either inferior or superior, worth it or not and the like. This is in consonance with what Stevens (2010) stated, “Self-worth is an overall measure of how much we value ourselves and give priority to our own needs and happiness. Our self-worth is a measure of our unconditional self-love. High self-worth means loving ourselves unconditionally in all situations and in all areas of our lives. To have a high degree of self-worth, we must still love ourselves even when we make mistakes or do dumb things--no matter how bad they were.” Habibollah (2009) also stated that self-worth is frequently based on one’s feelings of worth in terms of our skills, achievements, status, financial resources, or physical attributes. This kind of self-esteem often cultivates an independent and arrogant attitude. When we find ourselves not measuring up to society’s criteria for worth, we suffer serious consequences. Our self-worth depreciates dramatically. The illusion of being successful and admired gives way to disillusionment as our possessions and achievements that once nourished our souls fail to satisfy our appetites. Every individual experiences basic needs -- hunger, thirst, fatigue, etc. We are conditioned to satisfy these needs by getting something -- food, drink, or rest. Mistakenly, we conclude that by getting, we will achieve an acceptable self-worth/esteem.
To complete the three aspects of self-esteem, Erin, an editor of Pick the Brain (2007) gave his definition on self-confidence as the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. There is this believing, assurrance and trust towards one’s own ability especially in coping with challenging situations. He added that one's perception of oneself has an enormous impact on how others perceive an individual. Perception is reality- the more self-confidence one has, the more likely it is or it will likely succeed, although, many of the factors affecting self-confidence are beyond one's control.
Self-confidence emanates from within. No one can take it from you nor can it be installed by anyone except you. Lack of self-confidence can lead to timidness, greediness and other bad characteristics that are not acceptable in any public sphere like the office, school, meeting or parties (Hayes, 2010).
According to research it has been said that people who are confident are happier in life. It is also predicted through research that self-confidence can occur due to an abandonment of child’s feelings by parents. Over the course of time, the child grows up and develops certain behaviors like timidness. It is necessary for parents to read good books that provide guidance on how to gain self-confidence and achieve in their lives. Some examples like Ultimate Secrets of Total Self-Confidence written by Robert Anthony and Maximum Confidence by Jack Canfield will be quite helpful for those who want to gain self-esteem or confidence.
Moreover, profile of the students can also affect the self-esteem of the students. Profile refers to a set of characteristics or qualities that identify a type or category of person or thing (Boren, 2008). In this study, it includes the age, gender, and educational attainment of parents.
Age can affect the development of self-esteem. It is on account of their development and growth stages that the individual had gone through with respect to their age.
The gender or being male or female is an important basic human variable that affects the way of thinking, feeling and behaving (Kiss and Meryn, 2001). It is generally asserted to impact upon the growth, demonstration and manifestation of self-esteem (Habibollah, 2009).
Educational attainment refers to the highest educational level parents obtained or finished (Saguinhon, 2001). It has a connection to the socio-economic status. Generally, higher education tends to lead to better economic opportunities, while those who find themselves at a lower socio-economic status usually have a lower level of education and thus, a lower-paying occupation.
The aforementioned aspects of self-esteem as well as the profiles of the pupils can affect the pupils’ achievement because of the behaviors that are manifested due to the prevalence of the said aspects of self-esteem, which in turn affect the academic achievement of the pupils. According to Albuquerque (2008), “Academic achievement usually refers to the general average rating found in the child’s report card, Form 138, or in the pupil’s permanent record, Form 137-A.” Academic achievement is all about what students can actually do when they have finished a course of study. Degrees and programs list this information and call it "competencies". Competencies are measured as students graduate; the results are used to improve program and degree outcomes. Each degree or program publishes an annual report.
For a clear view of the study, a schematic diagram will be presented to show the interplay between the independent and dependent variables.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

l. Profile of the Pupils
• Age
• Gender
• Educational Attainment of Father • Educational Attainment of Mother II. Pupil’s Academic
Achievement

Aspects of self-esteem
• Self-confidence
• Self-efficiency
• Self-worth

Figure 1. The Schematic diagram of the study showing the interplay between independent and dependent variable.

Statement of the Problem
The study was conducted to determine the factors contributory to the development of self-esteem of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School, Tagoloan Misamis Oriental. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the pupils in terms of:
1.1 Age
1.2 Gender
1.3 Educational Attainment of Mother
1.4 Educational Attainment of Father?
2. How often do the grade six pupils manifest their self-esteem in terms of these aspects:
2.1 Self-Confidence
2.2 Self-Efficiency
2.3 Self-Worth?
3. What is the academic achievement of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the self-esteem and academic achievement of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School?
5. Is there a significant difference between the profile of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School and their self-esteem?

Null Hypotheses
On the basis of the preceding problems, the null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. : There was no significant relationship between the self-esteem and the academic achievement of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School. : There was no significant difference between the profile of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School and their self-esteem.
Significance of the Study
This study will give benefits to the following:
Community. Through this research, the community will be informed with the effects of pupils’ differences in terms of self-esteem as well as to their academic achievement which can also affect the role they play in the community. With this, they will be enlightened to either reverse or maintain these effects by providing them different opportunities that can help the learners in their knowledge acquisition, in their social interaction, and by supporting the educational process as well as the different programs of the curriculum being one of its stakeholders. Future Researchers. This will also provide avenues for further research with regards to the relationship of self-esteem and academic achievement of the pupils.
Parents. The result of the study will make them more aware of their children’s self-esteem, academic achievement, and of their role as partners in nurturing their children. They will also learn to promote the things or factors that are contributory to the development of their child’s/children’s positive regards to oneself, which in turn can help their child/children do better in their academic aspects, in the family as well as in the society where the child belongs.
Students. The findings of this study will give them ideas with the manifestation of their self-esteem. Moreover, they will learn whether or not it is affecting their academic achievement as well as their personal dealings with others.
Teachers. They will be enlightened on the effects that the pupils’ self-esteem has on their pupils’ academic achievement and vice versa. The principle about individual differences will be emphasized. Consequently, they will be aware of that strategies to be employed to improve or maintain the effects it has on their pupils’ self-esteem and academic achievement.
Scope and Limitaton of the Study The study was limited to the relationship of self-esteem and academic achievement of the grade six students of Tagoloan Central School, School Year 2010–2011. The independent variables were limited to the profile of the respondents which included age, gender, and educational attainment of father and mother, and the academic achievement of the grade six pupils of Tagoloan Central School during their first grading. The dependent variable was limited to the three aspects of self-esteem, namely: self-worth, self-confidence and self-efficiency.
Definition of Terms To have a better understanding of the terms used in the study, the following terms were operationally and conceptually defined:
Academic Achievement. It refers to the general average rating found in the child’s report card, form 138 or in the pupil’s permanent record, form 137-b (Albuquerque, 2008).
Age. It is the length of time that a person has lived (New Webster’s Dictionary, 2004).
Educational Attainment. It refers to the highest educational level parents obtained or finished (Saguinhon, 2001).
Gender. It is the psychological differences among different sexes (Kiss and Maryn, 2001).
Self-confidence. This refers to the reliance on one’s capacity (New Webster’s Dictionary, 2004).
Self-esteem. It refers to one’s good opinion of one’s dignity or worth (New Webster’s Dictionary, 2004). Self-efficacy. It is defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain goals (Ormrod, 2006). Self-worth. It refers to one’s overall sense of value, worth goodness and deservedness (Millan, 1999).

Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter presents discussion of related literature and previously conducted studies that have close bearing to the present study.
Related Literature Although self-esteem is developed, it is not measurable before the age of five or six because until this time the two functions of self-esteem, competence and worthiness, operate independently of each other (Mruk, 1995). Between the ages of five and eight, self-esteem becomes increasingly defined. Children begin to make adjustments about their self-worth and competence in five areas: physical appearance, social acceptance, scholastic ability, athletic and artistic skills and behavior ( Joseph, 1994). These areas make up the child’s global view of his/her self-esteem that emerges during childhood because the child is able to initiate behavior with competence, evaluate his or her accomplishments in terms of their worthiness and experience a process attitude between two (Mruk, 1995). As stated by Thompson, et al (1995), “Abraham Maslow, a noted psychologist, developed a list of human needs”. This human need is associated with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in which self-esteem is the fourth from the bottom. Thompson, et al (1995), further stated that self-esteem needs for feelings of self-worth grow out of confidence in abilities and the feeling of acceptance by others.
Several processes have been identified as important to the development of self-esteem: reflected appraisals, social compassions and self-attributions. Reflection appraisals process states that one comes to see oneself and to evaluate oneself as one thing others see and evaluate him/her. On the other hand, social comparison is the process in which individuals assess their own abilities and virtues by comparing them to those of others. Lastly, self-attributions refer to the tendency to make inferences about oneself from direct observation of one’s behaviors and its consequence (Bem, 1993). On this account, Gecas (2001) said that self-esteem is both a product of social and an agent in its development. Moreover, he said that although all these processes are important to the development and maintenance of self-esteem, at any one time, one may be more relevant to self-esteem than the others. Also, it is evident that the self does not passively respond to process that affects it. Rather, it creatively shapes influence these processes in the interest of protecting self-esteem and other self-motivations. Along the same views, Epstein (1995) has researched extensively those situations that most typically affect self-esteem. These are success, failure, experiences where individuals either deal successfully or unsuccessfully with a situation, and acceptance-rejection situation which are interpersonal in nature. More so, romantic relationship, peer relationships, and relationship with family members are typical contexts which can affect self-esteem. Praise and encouragement may be important for children’s self-esteem. Successful performance on activities that the children value may be more important because they constitute more credible evidence of competence and self-worth. In fact, Baumeister (2001) suggested that society is doing more of a disservice by not trying to praise performance and by doing out praise when it is not earned.
Furthermore, Oswalt (2001) also cited that the difficult and stressful early life experiences including childhood illness, stained hospitalization, household moves, family changes, death in the family and abuse can limit or overwhelm children’s development and affect the evolution of their beliefs and descriptions of themselves. He added that children’s early relationships and interactions with caregivers, peers and teachers also have a large effect on how children see themselves and how they cope with challenging situations.
Gallozi and Redenbach (1995) stressed that self-esteem is a major key to success in life. The development of the positive self-concept or healthy self-esteem is extremely important to the happiness and success of people. It affects how people perceive their value as humans, how they see and feel about themselves, and how they face with the stresses of life.
Self-esteem begins to affect behavior as the individual attempts to maintain and protect his sense of self-worth, as well as self-confidence and self- efficiency- against the challenges, problems and experiences in life. Self-esteem acts as filter through which we judge our performance. In this way, it determines how we approach future tasks.
Self-esteem, generally, is considered as the evaluative component of self-concept, a broader representation of the self that includes cognitive and behavioral aspect as well as evaluative or affective ones (Blassovish and Tomaka, 1995). In addition to this, it indicates the extent to which an individual believes himself or herself to be competent or worthy of living (Malbi and Reasoner, 2000).
The experiences that have positive effects on the self-esteem are: clear expectations, modeling, positive thinking, respect, and empowering children (Mruk, 1995). Pupils with high self-esteem tend to have high academic achievement. Consequently, they have positive evaluation and positive attitudes towards themselves (M. Alves-Martins. et al, 2002).
On the other hand, repeated negative evaluation by others, severe or repeated criticism, negative rumor putdown and barbed kidding, embarrassment, mistakes or failure sometimes yield negative effects on self-esteem (Van Ness, 1995). He also noted that students with low self-esteem exhibit more or all of these characteristics: learning problems, high absenteeism and frequent illness.
Loomans and Loomans (1994) cited the implication of self-esteem development for teachers. They said, “Learning process has the potential to damage, maintain or increase self-esteem. Self-esteem in most students mirrors the appraisals of others, in particular parents and teacher. The teachers’ view clearly affects learners’ achievements. Positive appraisal over an extended time tends to increase the level of learning. Prolonged or consistent negative appraisal tends to lower learning achievement. Student tends to perform in accordance with the teachers’ expectations and treatment- self- fulfilling prophecy”
Literature provides consistent evidence that self-esteem has the most important effect or relationship on academic achievement (Mirali, 2005). Research has consistently shown a positive correlation between how people value themselves and the level of their academic attainments. Lawrence (2000) said that those who feel confident, generally achieve more, while those who lack confidence in themselves achieve less. Students usually have no problem in talking to the tutor about their literacy difficulties. Thus, confident students learn more than those who are not.
Moreover, other studies regarding the development of self-esteem, Mruk (1995) stressed that in creating a classroom environment which nurtures and supports students’ self-esteem, teachers must realize that mistakes are part of the learning process for both children and adults. It is important to empower the students and asses their achievements in a productive manner. This will create autonomous learners. Students must be encouraged to develop support systems both within and outside of the classroom, so that they will feel confident to participate in the teaching- learning situation.
As suggested by Corpuz (2007), a classroom has to be conducive to learning not only in terms of physical aspect but also in psychological aspect. With this, healthy self-esteem among the students will be developed and learning experiences will become easier. As what Solomon (1994) stated, “Healthy self-esteem is an essential component for learning. Regardless of age, the self-esteem of a learner facilitates or inhibits learning.”
Related Studies
Several studies have been conducted concerning the development of self- esteem, a few of which are cited here to give insights to this present study. Ubayubay (2004) stated in his study on the development of self-esteem that concept of self is an important factor in guiding both his or her immediate and further development of his or her personality. It is also the central component of personality, and that self is an organization of perceptions about whom and what kind of person one is which is composed of a basic, instructive self-feeling that is then shaped and given specific content through interaction with important others (Asis, 2000). In addition to this, sense of self is more like a process than a fixed object; it is always developing as one interacts with others whose opinion of use are ever shifting.
Ubayubay (2004) further stressed that the foundations of self-esteem are laid early in life when infants develop attachment with the adults who are responsible for them. When adults readily respond to their cries and smiles, babies learn to feel loved and accepted by people they look up to.
Children do not acquire self-esteem at once nor do they always feel good about themselves in every situation (Ubayubay, 2004). In addition to this, the child will develop self-confidence and feeling of acceptance at home, but not around the neighborhood or in pre-school class. However, as children interact with their peers or learn to function in school, they may feel accepted and liked one moment and feel different the next time. Hence, it is also necessary that teachers use praise and smile to reinforce behavior, as well as healthy self-esteem (Gonzales, 1995). Also, a child’s sense of self-worth is more likely to deepen when adults respond to the child’s interest and efforts with appreciation rather to children’s feeling of belongingness to a group and being able to adequately function in their group (Ubayubay, 2004).
But there are times that these attributes turn low, especially when an individual who is slow or below average finds himself or herself an outsider with children of the same age; consequently, he or she feels inadequacy (Hurlock, 1994). The ideas that one has of himself or herself come from his or her imagining how he or she appears to other people, how one thinks people judge her or his appearance, and how one feels about all this (Asis, 2000). Hence, it can be said that an individual is chiefly a product of the society in which he or she lives. One’s personality is shaped more by social circumstances than by biological factors (Asis, 2000). Such claim is supported by the study conducted by Vergara (1996) that these circumstances were influenced by the environment and by the child himself.
The level of self-esteem is also affected by some factors other than people’s judgment and others that are provided by the biological factors and are shaped by the social circumstances, which in turn affect one’s academic achievement. These factors include age, gender, and educational attainment of parents. Cabarleja (1995), as cited by Saguinhon (2001), said that age level does a great difference in the mental, social, emotional physical development, and maturity of a child. The entrance of the children in school without considering their physical and mental preparedness has a great effect on their academic achievement (Saguinhon, 2001). There are children who are already ready to be in school depending on how mature they are in adapting their new environment.
Saguinhon (2001) related the observation of Debus (2000) that at earlier age levels, praises for effort to positive self-perception and higher levels of task engagement and persistence is highly motivating, while for older children, praise for effort rather than performance may be seen as confirming self-evaluations of low ability and may have an opposite effects on task engagement and persistence. According to Duiz (1994) as cited by Saguinhon (2001), “Gender stereotypes rigid ideas about capabilities, behavior and inherent questions and considered normal for each sex”. In the study of Saguinhon (2001), he presented the findings from the survey conducted by Hewitt and Seymour (1994) about the effects brought by gender differences. These are family and school, not peers, have the greatest impact on one’s self-esteem; there is a circular relationship between school subjects, especially Mathematics and Science, and self-esteem; young people experience a loss of self-esteem as they grow older; however, females show a dramatically greater loss, and declining self-esteem more strongly affects girls than it does with boys. Nonetheless, educational attainment of parents is another contributory factor in the performance of the child. The higher the educational attainment the parents have, the better is its effects on the child. This would enhance better follow-up teaching skills to the child (Labis, 1998). Wolfe (1996), as cited by Labis (1998), stressed that children from professional homes are more likely to be academically motivated than children from the laboring class homes. They were likely to make high scores on intelligence tests. Thus, the child’s academic performance or achievement was highly related to the level of parents’ education, and interest in their children. On the other hand, students whose parents had no schooling consistently had the lowest scores in all the four dimensions. A very high positive relationship was found between the performance and family income (Pabate, 1997). According to Boren, et.al (2008), Self esteem is the image we have of ourselves. In other words, how you think of yourself or your opinion of yourself. If you think of yourself as not good enough, or not good looking you have a low self esteem. On the other hand, if you think of yourself as good looking or deserving of the opportunities that come your way, you have a higher self-esteem. People who have a high self-esteem think of themselves as initiators of their success or anything they want. So, instead of sitting and waiting for someone to do something for them they go out and do it for themselves, and when they do this their self-esteem takes on a life of its own. Because the more you do something for yourself, the better you feel about yourself. So, building self-esteem is about doing something for your self because you are worth it and therefore deserve it.