EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION

AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

Present situation of some students

The demand for college graduates is high and persons with high school qualifications

are being gradually replaced in the workplace. Employers are now looking for college

graduates, as they have seen by the employers to have manifested consistency and reliability

during their school years. These are the important traits every employer is looking for. With

the advent of increasing number of State Universities and Colleges with free education, it is

ideal for students to continue their senior high school journey and finish it.

Consistency and reliability are the two traits which a student may choose to adapt to

himself during his stay in school in any grade level. But hindrances and distractions are often

more powerful than their dreams to finish their school.

One of the most difficult challenges learners face today is family dysfunction. In some

way every family has dysfunction, but there are indicators in which such dysfunction disturbs

and distracts learners.

Most families normally experience stressful circumstances, such as, death in the

family, a parent's serious illness, separation, loss of household income, violent parental

conflict and prolonged substance abuse by a parent. Healthy families tend to return to normal

functioning after the crisis passes. Smith (2016) defines a dysfunctional family as a family in

which conflicts among parents or other members of the family exist that negatively affect the

children which lead to neglect and abuse. Problems in dysfunctional families are often chronic

and permanently damaging.

Kansas State University in its Counseling Services (n.d) has stated that even though

there are some bickering and yelling happening inside a family. Healthy families become
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
normal again after disagreements and disputes. Emotional expression is allowed and

accepted. They can need and want attention and give it to others (Kansas, n.d).

As I entered the public school system, I noticed a lot of times the unwillingness of the

parents to participate and involve themselves in children’s school activities. When I held PTA

meeting on July, only 3 mothers out of supposedly 40 parents only came to meet me. One

could give benefit of the doubt as work and other matters may have come during that meeting,

but it seems that most of them try to avoid these things as much as possible, knowing that

they are Grade 12 students and this is their last academic year in a public school system.

However, since 5 students of my advisory class are already fathers themselves, it feels

alarming to know that all of them came from dysfunctional families based on my short

interviews with them.

The cause of it all

Because of family dysfunction, learners often tend to blame themselves because of

their set up. One student of mine has revealed that the cause of his absenteeism is he was

blaming himself and saw the future as bleak and hopeless for him and his teenage partner.

Sámano et al. (2017) revealed that often, family dysfunction is the cause of teenage

pregnancy and drop-out rates in school.

Berk (2001) explains that the emotional, cognitive, and relational changes that occur

during adolescence often cause tension and dispute between adolescents and their parents,

and in result their teachers. Teenagers start to gain a deeper sense of the complexity of their

world. This is seen through teenagers’ use of hypothetical-deductive reasoning, in which many
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
possibilities are assessed and the most appropriate choice is determined through comparison

(Berk, 2001).

The complexity of a rapid change within the body resulting to increased relational

tension with the cause of activated hormones often leave adolescents with rapid and dramatic

mood swings. Mood swings, along with the other stresses of adolescence which are the

majority age of senior high school students, put this age group at higher risk for mental health

issues, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy (Keyes, 2006; Se´guin, Lynch, Labelle, &

Gagnon, 2004; Wilson, 2010).

This is why often parents are called to the School Guidance to give help to their

children through parental concentration but is often hindered by diverse economic and time

constraints. Time constraints are a primary obstacle for parents whose work does not allow

them the autonomy and flexibility to attend their children’ needs.

Meaning of Academic Resilience and Self-Esteem

Academic resilience means students achieving good educational outcomes despite

adversity (Youngminds.org, n.d.). Building resilience involves doing a whole bundle of things

that don’t always happen in the classroom. We know from years of research that supporting

pupils to build resilience improves their academic results.

Academic resilience may also be elaborated as the ability to bounce back and solve a

crisis, and handle stress or pressure in the academic setting. Although numerous studies have

been found to focus on general or life resilience, there has been little research into the issue

of academic resilience.
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
Self-esteem may pertain to the attitude of the individual about his or her sense of value

of his or her own worth. Stated in Positive Psychology.com (2019), “It can be considered a

sort of measure of how much a person “values, approves of, appreciates, prizes, or likes him

or herself” (Adler & Stewart, 2004).”

These are important traits that Externalization of Voices may help students to cultivate.

When a student becomes academically resilient, he or she will likely study hard and identify

his or her weaknesses after learning he experienced an academic setback. Self-esteem will

always be the basis on how the student present himself or herself to the world as if he or she

likes herself, it will radiate to the people or the community surrounding him or her.

The purpose of this action research

The main aim of this action research is to help the students help themselves. What will

be oriented to students is a Cognitive Behavioral Tool called Externalization of Voices

Technique created by Dr. David Burns. As a person who experienced before, this technique

helped me overcome negative thoughts about myself to avoid personal misjudgments and

poor decision skills.

This is what I hope for students to gain after the proposed intervention.

In difficult times, it can be hard to stay positive and find our balance. Being resilient

enables us to protect ourselves from getting too overwhelmed by stress, predicts well-being,

and can protect us from developing mental health difficulties (Mak et al., 2011).

Self-efficacy and emotional self-awareness are also other components of resilience.

This means believing of one’s control over one’s life. That a student can grow, can improve in

his or her abilities, succeed in tasks he set for himself or herself and learn from mistakes. This
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
puts them in a position to bounce back and recover from a challenging period after becoming

aware of one’s self and needs.

II. ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) What is the status of the resilience and self-esteem of senior high school students

with dysfunctional families?

2) Will Externalization of Voices Technique (EVOT) Strategy for senior high school

students with dysfunctional families develop the students’ to gain academic resilience and

self-esteem?

3) What are the class behaviors of the respondents before and after the intervention

in terms of:

a) Class attendance, b) Class participation, c) Class compliance, d) Class behavior

III. PROPOSED INNOVATION, INTERVENTION, AND STRATEGY

Specifics of the Intervention

The intervention I would like to propose is the Externalization of Voices Technique

created and developed by Dr. David Burns. It is one of the role-playing techniques he conducts

in his training sessions of his own group of professional therapists and coaches. David Burns

has explained before in his interviews that he began developing role-playing techniques in the

early days of cognitive therapy because many of the Beckian techniques, such as Examine

the Evidence and the Socratic Technique–while sometimes very helpful, were sometimes a

bit dry, and he wanted to include punchier and more powerful and dynamic techniques in his
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
therapeutic toolkit. These role-playing techniques are just one part of what sets TEAM-CBT

apart from traditional, Beckian CBT.

Administering the Externalization of Voices and teaching it to student respondents is

easy, which is always combined with the Self-Defense Paradigm and the Acceptance

Paradox.

DAILY MOOD POSITIVE AND DAILY MOOD

LOG NEGATIVE LOG
PERSONA THRU
EVOT

NEGATIVE EXAMINED
THOUGHTS
THOUGHTS

In this intervention, the student will be bring his or her completed Daily Mood Log also

created by Dr. David Burns.

Then with the help and administration of a guidance counselor, I will explain how

Externalization of Voices Technique works and what it aims. Two personas will be introduced:

Negative and Positive. The “Negative Persona” of the student attacks the Positive Persona

with the Negative Thought the student wrote in his or her Daily Mood Log. As the administrator

of the EVOT, I will act as the negative persona while she plays the role of her own positive

persona to defend herself from my negative attacks. The attacks that I will make against her

are the negative thoughts she recorded which kept recurring in her mind.

As he or she learns to battle those negative thoughts, put them in a rational

perspective, see the reality surrounding those thoughts and how distorted they are, the

student is expected to gain resilience and self-esteem through acceptance and highlighting

one’s realistic positive traits that will outweigh the negative.

 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
The purpose of defending oneself to negative thoughts is examination of the rationality

of those thoughts and questioning them on their face value.

The Daily Mood Log and Externalization of Voices Technique has been widely

popularized in the public by Dr. David Burns through his Feeling Good Podcast on the Apple

Podcast. If this action research is approved, I will seek to ask his approval to use his tools in

this action research and the purpose of this action research: to develop academically resilient

students.

Significance and Clarity of the Proposed Intervention

The significance of this proposed intervention to the Education community is high. This

is because it is one of the prevalent concerns today but still remain unaddressed. If this

becomes implemented, students are expected to be well-equipped in handling their emotions

and behavior.

Programs designed to significantly reduce harm related to adolescent sexual behavior

have also found that using CBT strategies contribute to the overall effectiveness of their

program. These programs are designed to address emotional and physical needs and protect

adolescents from harmful sexual behavior. The emphasis of those programs is on reducing a

range of behaviors that include unprotected intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases, and

unintended pregnancy.

Limitations of the Proposed Intervention

 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
School guidance counselors may not be well-equipped with this CBT method. It is

important that they may be introduced to David Burns works first to be able to explain and be

knowledgeable of the significance of this method first.

In addition, the length of time of the endurance of the resilience these students will

have gained after the session cannot be determined, as Dr. David Burns himself said that

patients’ resilience and self-esteem may vary as time went by. What they could only do is to

repeat the techniques and do the writing exercises as required to implement the intervention

fully.

The negative thoughts which will be attacked by the student respondents will only

concern themselves upon the difficulties in achieving academic resilience and self-esteem. It

will not delve upon traumas, severe depressive experiences, and other life-threatening

information.

Manageability of the Proposed Intervention

Externalization of Voices Technique is so easy to learn. As a fan of Dr. David Burns, I

have downloaded its podcast episode on how to conduct this technique.

Experience of the Proponent to the Intervention

As a person who experienced confusion, and being overwhelmed by day-to-day tasks

of life before, I used Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to recover from my negative thoughts. They

clarified my mind in many ways that I use rationality between my actions. The result of using

this proposed intervention in my life was it improved my interpersonal relationships, my

 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
academics, and other private accomplishments such as learning French and Spanish. Having

a peaceful and decluttered mind set me up for productivity and optimism.

I think in many ways, this will help senior high school students, as when they are able

to fight their negative thoughts, they will be primed for focus and completion of their school

activities and increase their attendance to this school.

IV. ACTION RESEARCH METHODS

This action research is a Qualitative Research to delve deeply into the issues and

doubts of the at-risk students who would like to help themselves recover from academic

setbacks. This may include frustration, inability to catch up with the lessons, perception of

oneself in relation to his or her classmates’ perception, etc.

a) Participants and/or other Sources of Data and Information

It is perceived that this research will gather data from students who happened to have

bad records previously such as absenteeism, tardiness, disturbance in the classroom, etc. In

addition, if there are existing records, students who reported themselves in the guidance office

to be having difficulty in adapting to the school environment, they may be part of this action

research as well because even though they may not be showing deviances in school

premises, they may experience self-doubt and discouragement to continue their study. They

will be invited to be taught with EVOT Intervention. If they are willing, a preliminary interview

with open-ended questions will be asked about himself or herself in relation to his or her

performance in the class. If based on the interview, with the consultation of his or her adviser,
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
he or she qualifies to be taught with the intervention, a letter of permission will be sent out to

his or her parent for him or her to be a case study of this action research.

There will be 10 respondents in this research which will be divided into two groups:

male and female, regardless of their sexual preferences. This is because the focus of this

research is the overall impact of Externalization of Voices on the total academic resilience and

self-esteem of the students, not how EVOT addresses each his or her gender needs. Despite

that, the sampling technique which will be employed in this study will be Homogenous

Purposive Sampling, as the shared characteristic among the respondents are their past

records in the guidance office.

The respondents’ Daily Mood Log results will also be used to describe and compare

the impact of the intervention to them.

b) Data Gathering Methods

There will be two types of data gathering procedures which will be employed in this

action research: one is case study, and the other is focused group discussion. These data

gathering procedures will be held before and after the intervention.

Case study research, through reports of past studies, allows the exploration and

understanding of complex issues (Zainal, 2007). It can be considered a robust research

method particularly when a holistic, in-depth investigation is required.

c) Data Analysis Plan

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a methodology that enables the analysis of

multiple cases in complex situations (Intrac.org, n.d.). It can help explain why change happens
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
in some cases but not others. QCA is designed for use with an intermediate number of cases,

typically between 10 and 50. Since this action research’s main data will revolve around case

studies and be studied in counter with focused group discussion, comparative analysis of

situations involved per case will be applied to determine the common difficulties experienced

by the students, and to what extent Externalization of Voices Technique can help them.

Selecting a Topic First week of July 2019

Research and Idea-Making for Context and First to third week of July 2019
Rationale and the Proposed Innovation and
Strategy
Crafting the action research proposal Second to fifth week of July 2019
Seeking for title approval July 18, and July 22, 2019
Completion of the context and rationale First week of August 2019
Formulation of Action Research Questions Third week of August 2019
Drafting and the Proposed Innovation and Fourth week of August 2019
Strategy
Drafting and Finalization of Research Fifth week of August 2019
Methodology
Drafting and Finalization of Action
Research
Convention of Papers in SRC First week of September 2019
District Research Committee Submission September 5 or 6, 2019
Revision from the comments and Duration until September 30, 2019
suggestions of District Research
Committee
 EXTERNALIZATION OF VOICES TECHNIQUE (EVOT) STRATEGY FOR SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES TO PREVENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
AND INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
REFERENCES:

https://positivepsychology.com/self-esteem/

https://www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/relationships/dysfunc.html

https://youngminds.org.uk/media/1465/what-is-academic-resilience.pdf

https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Qualitative-comparative-

analysis.pdf

Berk, L. (2001). Development through the lifespan. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Keyes, C.L. (2006). Mental health in adolescence: Is america’s youth flourishing? American

Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 395–405. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.76.3.395.

Mak, W. W. S., Ng, I. S. W., & Wong, C. C. Y. (2011). Resilience: Enhancing well-being

through the positive cognitive triad. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 610-617.

Sámano et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2017) 17:382 DOI 10.1186/s12884-017-1570-

Smith VC, Wilson CR, AAP COMMITTEE ON SUBSTANCE USE AND PREVENTION.

Families Affected by Parental Substance Use. Pediatrics. 2016; 138(2): e20161575

Se´guin, M., Lynch, J., Labelle, R., & Gagnon, A. (2004). Personal and family risk factors for

adolescent suicidal ideation and attempts. Archives of Suicide Research, 8, 227–238.

doi: 10.1080=13811110490444379.

Zainal, Zaidah. (2007). Case study as a research method. Jurnal Kemanusiaan. 9.