Managing and Caring for the

Self
Chapter III
• Knowing the self is not enough
• Ability to choose especially to be
better “you”
• Metacognition is commonly
defined as “thinking about
thinking”.
• Awareness of the scope and
limitations of your current
knowledge and skills
• Enables the person to adapt
their existing knowledge and
skills to approach a learning task,
seeking for the optimum result
of the learning experience.
• Ability to keep emotions and
motivations while learning in
check
• Some people learn when they
like the subject, some when they
are challenged by the subject.
• Some if they are being rewarded
after each time they finish a
task.
• The emotional state and the
motivation of a person then
should also be in the preferred
ideal state for that person in
order to further facilitate his or
her learning.
2 aspects of metacognition
1. self-appraisal- personal
knowledge on your
knowledge and capabilities
2. Self-management – mental
process employed using what
you have in planning and
adapting to successfully learn
or accomplish a certain task.
Elements of metacognition:
1. Metacognitive knowledge-
what you know about how you
think
2. Metacognition regulation- how
we adjust our thinking process
to help we learn better.
Variables that affect metacognition
1. Personal variable- evaluation
of strengths and weaknesses
in learning
2. Task variable- what we know
and what we think about the
nature of the task and the
strategies the task requires.
3. Strategy variable- refers to
what strategies or skills you
already have in dealing with
certain tasks.
• Should be honest about what we
know and capable of in order to
find ways to utilize our strengths
and improve our weaknesses.
Other skills to exercise metacognition
1. Know your limits- look at the
scope and limitations of
resources so that we can work
with what we have and look
for ways to cope with other
necessities.
2. Modifying your approach-
recognition that strategy is not
appropriate with the task
3. Skimming-browsing over a
material and keeping an eye on
keywords, phrases or sentences.
4. Rehearsing- repeatedly talking,
writing, and/ or doing what you
have learned
5. Self-test- testing how you
comprehend your learning
experience or the skills you have
acquired during learning.
“What strategies did I use?”
“How successful were my learning
strategies”?
“How can I further improve my
learning skills”?
Other methods:
• Self-reflection
• Finding a mentor or support
group
• Thinking out loud (be
considerate to others)
• Welcoming errors (be
responsible of the results)
• Positive attitude towards
mistakes
4 types of metacognitive learners
• 1. tacit learners- unaware of
their metacognitive processes
although they know the extent
of their knowledge
• 2. Aware- aware of their
metacognitive strategies but
they do not plan on how to use
these techniques
• 3. strategic learners- strategize
and plan their course of action
• toward a learning experience.
• 4. reflective learners- reflect on
their thinking while they are
using strategies and adapt
metacognitive skills depending
on their situation
• Goal of metacognition: for the
student to be a self-regulated
learner.
• Education should not be limited
by the capabilities of the
teacher, the content of school
textbooks, the four corners of
the classroom and the duration
of the academic year or courses.
Benefits of using metacognitive techniques
and strategies
• Have the capability to study
things on your own as well as
accurately evaluate your
progress.
• Compensation and development
of cognitive limitations of the
learner
• Also enables student to transfer
knowledge from one context
into another.
Study tips
1. Make an outline of the things
you want to learn, the things
you are reading or doing,
and/or the things you
remember.
2. Break down the task in smaller
and more manageable details
3. Integrate variation in your
schedule and learning
experience
• Change reading material every
hour and do not put similar
topics together (English/Math
not English/Filipino
• Include also physical activities in
your planning
4. Try to incubate your ideas
e.g. Writing research Paper.
5. Revise, summarize and take
down notes, then reread them to
help you minimize cramming in
the last minute especially when
you have a weakness in
memorizing facts and data.
• Motivated when deadline is very
close
• Way to energize brain by making
a final review of the things you
have already been studying a
week or so before
6. Engage what you have learned.
Highlight keywords and phrases,
write your opinion about the
matter in a separate notebook.
• Create a diagram or concept
map
• Look for other definitions then
compare or contrast material
Lesson 2: Do not Just Dream,
Make it Happen
“ By taking the time to stop and
appreciate who you are and what
you have achieved-and perhaps
learned through a few mistakes,
stumbles and losses- you actually
can enhance everything about
you”. -J. Canfield
“Self acknowledgement and
appreciation are what give you
insights and awareness to move
forward toward higher goals and
accomplishments”. -Brown 2016
Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy
• Social Learning Theory
• What people learn from
observing and interacting with
other people
• Social Cognitive Theory
• Each behaviour witnessed can
change a person's way of
thinking
• Self-Efficacy- belief that one can
successfully execute the
behavior required to produce
the outcomes.
High Assurance in their capabilities
1. Approach difficult tasks as
challenges to be mastered
2. Set challenging goals and
maintain strong commitment
to them
3. Heighten or sustain efforts in
the face of failures or setbacks
4. Attribute failure to insufficient
effort or deficient knowledge
and skills which are acquirable
5. Approach threatening
situations with assurance that
they can control over them
Those who doubt with their capabilities
1. Shy away from tasks they view
as personal threats
2. Have low aspirations and weak
commitment to goals they choose
to pursue
3. Dwell on personal deficiencies,
obstacles they will encounter, and
all kinds of adverse outcomes,
rather than concentrating on how
to perform successfully
4. Slacken their efforts and give up
quickly in the face of difficulties
5. Are slow to recover their sense
of efficacy following failure or
setbacks; and
6. Fall easy victim to stress and
depression
4 main sources of development and
maintenance of self-efficacy
• 1. Performance
accomplishments or mastery
experiences- most effective ways
to create a strong sense of
efficacy
• Successes build a robust belief in
one’s personal efficacy
2. Vicarious experience- observing
social models
• degree of similarity between the
observer and the model
• The greater the assumed
similarity, the more persuasive is
the model’s successes and
failures
3. Verbal or social persuasion-
strengthening people’s beliefs
that they have what it takes to
succeed.
• Provides temporary boost in
perceived ability
• When it is effective in mobilizing
a person to action, and their
actions lead to success, the
enhanced self-efficacy may
become more permanent
• “ People who are persuaded
verbally, that they possess the
capabilities to master given
activities, are likely to mobilize
greater effort and sustain it in
• if they harbor self-doubts and
dwell on personal deficiencies
when problems arise.
• This increases the chances of
success
• It is more difficult to instill high
beliefs of personal efficacy by
social persuasion alone than to
undermine it since unrealistic
boosts in efficacy are quickly
disconfirmed by disappointing
results of one’s efforts.
• Stress and tension are
interpreted as signs of
vulnerability to poor
performance.
• Fatigue, aches and pains and
mood also affect perception of
ability
• People with high sense of self-
efficacy may perceive affective
arousal as an energizing
facilitator of performance
• whereas those who are beset by
self-doubts regard their arousal
as debilitator.
• Expectation alone will not
produce desired performance if
the component capabilities are
lacking.
• “If efficacy beliefs always
reflected only what people can
do routinely, they would rarely
fail but they would not set
aspirations beyond their
immediate reach nor amount
the extra effort needed to
surpass their ordinary
performances”.
• Self-belief does not necessarily
ensure success, but self-disbelief
assured spawns failure.
• By sticking it out through tough
times, people emerge from
adversity with a stronger sense
of efficacy.
• People who have a sense of self-
efficacy bounce back from
failure; they approach things in
• terms of how to handle them
rather than worrying about what
can go wrong”.
Carol S. Dweck’s Fixed and Growth Mindset
Theory
• Leading researchers in the field
of motivation
• Focused on why people succeed
and how to foster success
• Author of the book entitled
Mindset: The New Psychology of
Success
2 types of mindset
1. Fixed mindset- people who
believe that success is based
on their innate abilities; fixed
theory of intelligence
2. Growth mindset- people who
believe that success is based
on hard work, learning,
training and perseverance
• May not be aware of the
mindset but can be discerned
based on behavior.
• Evident during failure
• Fixed mindset individuals dread
failure because it is a negative
statement on their basic abilities
• Growth mindset individuals do
not mind or fear failure
• as much as they realize their
performance can be improved
and learning comes from failure.
• It allows a person to live a
stressful and more successful
life.
• Fixed mindset students believe
that their basic abilities, their
intelligence and talents are fixed
traits
• Their goal is to look smart all the
time and never look dumb
• In the growth mindset, students
understand that their talents
and abilities can be developed
through effort, good teaching
and persistence
• They do not necessarily think
everyone is the same or
everyone can be Einstein, but
they believe everyone can get
smarter if they work for it.
• They are more likely to continue
working hard despite setbacks
while individuals with fixed
mindset can be affected by
subtle environmental cues.
• You are smart
• Good job, you worked very hard
• Encourage them to think about
learning in a certain when fail
Edwin A. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory
• Known for his research on goal
setting
• Theory based on Aristotle
concept of final causality- action
caused by a purpose.
Goal Attributes
• Internal and external factors
• Internal factors- ideas or desired
ends, guides action to attain the
object
• External factors- object or
condition sought (a job, a scale ,
a certain performance level)
2 attributes of goals
1. Content- actual object sought,
whatever the person is seeking
2 attributes
a. Difficulty
b. specificity
1. Intensity- scope, focus and
complexity
Research Findings
1. The more difficult the goal, the
greater the achievement
2. The more specific or explicit
the goal, the more precisely
performance is regulated.
High goal specificity- achieved
mainly through quantification
(e.g. increase sales by 10%) or
enumeration (e.g. list of tasks to
be accomplished
• It reduces variance in
performance
3. Goals that are both specific and
difficult lead to the highest
performance
Goal commitment- the degree to
which the person is genuinely
attached to and determined to
reach the goals.
4. Commitment to goals is most
critical when goals are specific and
difficult.
When goals are specific and hard,
the higher the commitment is
being required, which results to
better performance.
5. High commitment to goals is
attained when:
a. The individual is convinced
that the goal is important
b. The individual is convinced
that the goal is attainable
Factors that influence goal choice
• Provide for the objectives when
doing research
• Supervisors and managers can
use their authority to get
employees commitment.
• Support, recognition and
rewards
• Financial incentives may
facilitate commitment and
performance, except when
rewards are offered for attaining
impossible goals
• Participation by subordinates in
setting goals leads to higher
commitment than curtly telling
people what to do with no
explanation.
Commitment can be enhanced by effective
leadership
• Providing and communicating an
aspiring vision
• Acting as role model for the
employees
• Expecting outstanding
performance
• Promoting employees who
embrace the vision and
dismissing those who reject it
• Delegating responsibility
(ownership) for key tasks;
• Goal setting itself can be
delegated for capable,
responsible employees.
• Expressing (genuine) confidence
in employee capabilities.
• Enhancing capabilities through
training;
• Asking for commitment in public
• Ways to increase self-efficacy in
the workplace:
• Providing people with needed
experience and training
• Selecting people based on their
skills and abilities
• Persuasion serves as not only
verbal confidence but also giving
people information regarding
what task strategies to use.
6. Influences of Self-efficacy
a. Difficulty level of the goal
chosen or accepted
b. Commitment to goals
c. The response to negative
feedback or failure and
d. Choice of task strategies
• People with high self-efficacy are
more likely to set high goals, to
respond with renewed efforts to
setbacks and to discover
successful task strategies.
7. Goal setting is most effective
when there is feedback that
shows progress in relation to goal
8. Goal setting mediates the effect
of knowledge of past performance
on subsequent performance.
• Negative performance feedback
leads to doubts on their ability
• Ability sustain efficacy when
under pressure, maintains or
raises their subsequent goals.
• Those who lose confidence will
tend to lower their goals,
decrease their efforts and lessen
the intensity and effectiveness
of their strategy search
9. Goals affect direction of action,
the degree of effort exerted, and
the persistence of action over
time.
10. Goals stimulate planning in
general.
11. When people strive for goals
on complex tasks, they are least
effective in discovering suitable
task strategies if:
a. No prior experience or training
on the task
b. There is high pressure to
perform well.
c. There is high time pressure.
Lesson 3: Less Stress, More Care
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you
should be able to:
1. Explain the effects of stress in
one’s health
2. Examine cultural dimension of
stress and coping;
3. Design a self-care plan
What is Stress?
• Described as a feeling of being
overwhelmed, worried, or run
down
• Affect people of all ages, genders
and circumstances and can lead to
both physical and psychological
health issues
• Any uncomfortable ‘emotional
experience accompanied by
predictable biochemical,
physiological and behavioral
changes
• Some stress provides the drive
and energy to help people get
through situations like exams or
work deadlines.
• Extreme amount of stress can
have health consequences and
adversely affect the immune,
cardiovascular, neuroendocrine
and central nervous systems.
• Inevitable; stress coping
2 types of stress
1. Distress- stress in daily life that
has negative connotations
such as divorce, punishment,
injury, negative feelings,
financial problems and work
difficulties
2. Eustress- stress in daily life
that has negative connotations
such as divorce, punishment,
injury, negative feelings,
financial problems and work
difficulties.
• Eustress causes much less
damage than distress
• General adaptation or stress
syndrome
1. Alarm Stage- mobilization of
body’s defensive forces.
• Fight or flight syndrome
• Amount of hormones and
chemicals excreted at high levels
as well as an increase in heart
rate, blood pressure,
perspiration and respiration rate
2. Resistance- body adaptation
and resistance
• Resistance depends on the
reserved adaptation energy and
intensity of stressor.
3. Exhaustion Stage- body dies as
it used up resources for
adaptation.
• Few people experience this
stage
• Stress diseases- disorders caused
principally by errors in the
body’s general adaptation
process.
• Absolute excess, deficiency or
disequilibrium in the amount of
adaptive hormones
Chronic Stress- environmental
(work deadlines), psychological,
worrying about losing a job.
Biological changes
• Increase heart rate
• Muscle tension
• Sweating
Techniques to Counter Chronic Stress
1. Relaxation response- deep
abdominal breathing, focus on a
soothing word (peace or calm),
visualization or tranquil scenes,
repetitive prayer, yoga and taichi.
2. Physical Activity- exercise stifle
the build up of stress
• Brisk walk helps deepen breathing
and relieves muscle tension, yoga
with deep breathing and mental
focus
Self-Care Therapy
1. Stop, breathe and tell yourself:
“This is hard and I will get
through this one step at a time”.
• Write down your priorities
• Focus on each step one at a time
• If we look at everything we have to
do, we will become overwhelmed.
• We can only do one thing at a time
and focus exclusively on that one
thing.
2. Acknowledge to yourself what
you are feeling
• All feelings are normal
• Once you recognize your
feelings, accept it and you feel
less out of control.
• Own your feeling during anger
and sadness (grieving) and not
to hurt yourself or lash out at
someone else.
3. Find someone who listens and
is accepting. You do not need
advice. You need to be heard.
Sharing our story shows
acceptance and letting go of
frustrations by talking about our
feelings and beliefs
4. Maintain your normal routine
as much as possible
• Avoid making decisions based on
the stress you encounter
5. Allow plenty of time for a task
• Accept how much you are able
to do right now and recognize it
will not be this way forever.
• Give yourself extra time to
return concentration after
extreme stress or crisis.
• Be gentle and accepting of
yourself and what you can do.
6. Take good care of yourself
a. Get enough rest and sleep
• At least six hours and not more
than nine hours
• Listen to peaceful or slow music
or do progressive relaxation
b. Eat regularly and make healthy
choices
• Skipping meals particularly
breakfast, contributes to fatigue,
mood swings, and poor
concentration.
C. Know your limits and when you
need to let go
Do not fix unfixable, or control the
uncontrollable.
D. Identify or create a nurturing
place in your home.
Rocking chair, a nice view, and a
soothing music
Music and nature sounds nurture
our being and lifts our spirit
E. Practice relaxation or
meditation.
Meditation and prayer
F. Escape for a while through
meditation, reading a book,
watching a movie or taking a short
trip.
Self-Compassion Therapy
• Being warm and understanding
toward ourselves when we
suffer, fail or feel inadequate
rather than punishing ourselves
with self-criticism.
• Imperfection and life difficulties
are inevitable
• Acceptance and self-kindness
• Feel less desolate and isolated
during when we are in pain.
Self-compassion phrases
1. This is the moment of
suffering
- Being mindful of emotions
2. Suffering is part of life.
- Everyone suffers, reduces the
tendency to feel ashamed and
isolated during difficulties
3. May I be kind to myself?
- Not self-criticism
4. May I give myself the
compassion that I need
- We both need and deserve
compassion in difficult times.
Self-Compassion and Well-Being
• The greater self-compassion is
linked to less anxiety and
depression
• Lack of self-criticism
• Associated with greater wisdom
and emotional intelligence and
greater emotional coping skills
• Protects against anxiety,
depression by controlling self-
criticism and negative affect.
Self-compassion, Motivation and Health
- Enhances motivation
- Knows that they cannot always
reach their goals
- Associated to greater personal
initiative- the desire to reach
one’s full potential
- Does not procrastinate
- Motivated not for social
approval
Self-Compassion versus Self-Esteem
• Moderately associated with trait
levels of self-esteem
• Predicts greater happiness and
optimism as well as less
depression and anxiety when
controlling for self-esteem.
• Self-compassion
• No association with narcissism
• Less focus on evaluating
themselves, feeling superior to
others, worrying about whether or
not others are evaluating them,
defending thief viewpoints or
angrily reacting to those who
disagree with them
• Enhances feelings of safety and
interconnectedness
• Self Esteem
• Robust association with narcissism
• Thought to be an evaluation of
superiority/inferiority that helps to
establish social rank stability and is
related to alerting, energizing
impulses and dopamine activation
• Positions the self in competition
with others and amplifies feelings
of distinctness and separation
• Love and care for ourselves
more and more each day
through self-care and self-
compassion.