CFD Psych

When teachers have good self-esteem and adequate amounts of self-love, they are able to engage in effective teamwork with their fellow teachers. Effective teamwork allows the teachers to be more effective with the children and it ripples down to help the children develop self-esteem themselves. Solid teamwork allows the teachers to have more power and influence in the classroom and it subtracts power from the students in a good way. We have all seen students who are intoxicated with power. In these cases there are hierarchical reversals where students are telling the adults what they will be doing. Effective executive functioning is absent. When this happens the self-esteems of both the students and the teachers will plummet.  All parties will feel discouraged.

The good news is that many teachers are able to give themselves good advice and cooperate as team players. This is at the core of self-esteem, giving ourselves loving and encouraging self-instruction and direction. To watch these teachers in action is to watch an artistic choreography. The teachers dovetail their teaching, leading, and helping of the children with their corrective, re-directing, and supervisory roles like two well reheased dancers. They enforce the rules consistently without yelling and screaming (which would result in them losing their power if they got pulled into that). These well-functioning teachers are supportive of each other and it's obvious to anyone who watches them in action. So, teacher self-esteem produces effective teamwork which in turn becomes positive self-esteem for the students. For help with child or adolescent misbehavior or parenting issues, call one of our child psychologists or family therapists for a consultation. Best wishes, Stephen Elliott, Ph.D., Family Therapist, Child and Family Development, Charlotte, NC