How to Develop Children’s Sense of Self-Efficacy?
As parents, we naturally hope that our children will achieve good results and develop well in the future, but sometimes our behavior is like saying to our children: If you can’t get into the good university we expect, or can’t find a Good people if you work, you have no future. One of the important factors for a child’s success is not over-help, over-protection, over-guidance, or over-care from teachers or parents, but the establishment of self-efficacy.
What Is Self-Efficacy?
Self-efficacy is an important concept in psychology. It was first proposed by the American psychologist Bandura and refers to an individual’s perception of their ability to effectively perform tasks. Simply put, people with high self-efficacy believe that they can handle various things well and will be more positive and proactive in life.
Self-efficacy theory believes that cognitive processes can lead to behavioral changes, and cognitive changes are most easily achieved through successful experiences. Specifically, when a child discovers that he has achieved good results by studying hard, his self-efficacy will be established and he will be more proactive in studying hard in the future. In this process, what is important is that the child achieves a successful outcome through action.
However, not all cognitive changes lead to behavioral changes. If we don’t believe we can perform the behavior effectively, it will be difficult for the behavior to occur. For example, a child knows that reading every day will improve his literary literacy, but if the child is not confident that he can continue to read, he is unlikely to do it. This is what we often call performance expectations. Efficacy expectancy is defined as an individual’s belief that he or she can successfully perform the behaviors required to produce desired results.
In addition, people with high self-efficacy tend to choose more challenging tasks. Once they start taking action, they work harder, persist longer, and recover quickly when they encounter setbacks. People with low self-efficacy are more likely to stop trying prematurely and further believe they cannot achieve their goals.
How Important Is Self-Efficacy?
Self-efficacy affects all aspects of our study, life, and work.
Academic Achievement
Self-efficacy affects our academic performance. Some studies have found that high levels of self-efficacy can improve academic performance. The role of self-efficacy continues even after graduation: People with high academic self-efficacy tend to have a wider range of career options.
Life Satisfaction
Self-efficacy also affects our satisfaction with life. Research by Wang Yemei and other scholars found that self-efficacy helps to adjust our attitude towards life, improves our satisfaction with life and enthusiasm for participating in social activities, and is very important to us in life. Happiness in life was also significantly predictive.
Work Performance
As a positive psychological state, self-efficacy can effectively relieve our physical and mental fatigue at work and improve our concentration at work. Moreover, individuals with high career self-efficacy tend to have successful careers.
How to Develop Children’s Sense of Self-Efficacy?
The establishment of self-efficacy can start from three levels: family, school and individual.
Adopt a Positive and Warm Parenting Style
The way parents raise their children will, to a large extent, affect their children’s self-perception and thus the establishment of their self-efficacy. Some studies have found that children’s self-efficacy is positively correlated with positive parenting styles such as parental emotional warmth and understanding, while children with relatively negative parenting styles such as rejection, denial, and severe punishment have relatively low self-efficacy. Therefore, a positive and warm parenting style is crucial to cultivating children’s self-efficacy.
Create a Good School Atmosphere
A good school climate can positively predict self-efficacy and indirectly affect learning engagement. Lin Qing’s research found that the more junior high school students feel a sense of belonging in school, the easier it is to integrate into school learning and life, and they are more confident in their learning abilities, thus establishing a higher sense of self-efficacy. In addition, classroom praise can also increase students’ self-efficacy in learning. In other words, teachers can praise children more in class, care about their school lives, create a good class atmosphere, and improve their sense of belonging in school.
Increase Personal Physical Activity
Physical exercise can not only improve children’s health status, but also help relieve negative emotions in the body and improve interpersonal relationships, thereby maintaining a positive and optimistic mood, and ultimately promoting the improvement of self-efficacy. Parents can engage in physical exercise with their children in their daily lives. Jogging for half an hour every day, jumping rope for 20 minutes, etc. are all good choices.
Conclusion
Overall, if children are to develop self-efficacy, they need to do more thinking, planning, decision-making, action, expectations, coping, and trial and error for their own lives, and to dream and experience their own lives.
If we define children in our way and require them to develop in a certain direction (for example, thinking that success can only be considered successful if they get into the ideal university or find the ideal job), then this may cause the children to lose the opportunity to choose and develop themselves. It may also cost them long-term self-perception.
Children are not potted plants. The task of parents is to provide an environment for growth. Through love, they can become strong, love others, and accept love. College, major, and job should all be decided by themselves. If children grow up with love and trust and can choose the future they want based on their own decisions and desires, then no matter what path they choose, they will be ready to make a big splash there.