Republic of the Philippines

LEYTE NORMAL UNIVERSITY

Tacloban,City

Managing and Caring for the Self:

a. Learning
b. Goal Setting
c. Managing Stress

Submitted by:

Aika Nim
Leslie Papistol
Fiona Redona
Marc Jalen Relador

Tuesday and Friday

2:30 PM-4:00PM

Submitted to:
Ms. Fatima Grace D. Fabillar
Social Science Faculty
TOPIC TO BE DISCUSSED:
A. Learning
1. How Learning Happens in the Human Brain
2. Metacognition
3. Types of Learning Strategies and Support: Metacognitive
4. Study Strategies

B. Setting Goals for Success/Goal Setting

1. The Importance of Goals
2. Albert Bandura’s Self Efficacy:
 The 4 Main Sources of Efficacy Beliefs
3. Carol Dweck’s Mindset
4. Goal Setting Theory
5. Five Principles of Goal Setting

C. Taking Care of One’s Health/Managing Stress

1. Stressors and Responses
2. Sources of Coping
3. The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Stress
4. Taking Care of the Self: The Need for Self-Care and Compassion

A. Learning

 Learning is the process of acquiring new, or modifying existing, knowledge,

behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. (Wikipedia)
 Knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study. (Merriam Webster)

1. How Learning Happens in the Brain

(Ford 2011) states that learning happens through a network of neuron
where sensory information is transmitted by synapses along the neutral pathway
and stored temporarily in a short-term memory, a volatile region of the brain that
acts like receiving center for flood of sensory information we encounter in our
daily lives.
As an example, when students commute or when employees get to
workplaces, they don’t really need to think consciously about of how to arrive at
their destinations. It becomes effortless because the trip had taken many times
already that the brain gets used to the usual scenario every time it happens.
During emotional reaction to fear, anger, laughter, love, to name a few the
emotion becomes part of the memory and strengthens it dramatically. Learning
fundamentally requires the acquisition of new information even from the moment
a person is born. Stevens (2014) emphasized that changes in the brain allow for
faster, stronger signaling between neurons as the brain gain new skills, but the
 best way to speed up those signals is slowly introducing new information to the
head.

2. Metacognition

 Perras (2014) has mentioned these descriptions of the word

metacognition: According to Pierre Paul Gagne’ et al. (2009):
“Metacognition enables students to be more active in their learning, ie., to
mobilize all of their resources in order to have a successful learning experiences.
In order to do this, they must know how they learn and be aware of the steps that
are followed and the means that are used to acquire knowledge, solve problems
and perform tasks.” [Unofficial translation]

 According to LD Online Glossary (2014), “Metacognition is the process of

“thinking about thinking”. Metacognition is the understanding and
awareness of one’s own mental or cognitive process.
Examples of Metacognition:
1. A student learns about what things help him or her to remember facts,
names, and events.
2. A student learns about his or her own style of learning.
3. A student learns about which strategies are most effective for solving
problems.

 Edgar Morin (2014), metacognition involves thinking, during and after a learning
task. Metacognition starts when students think about the strategies, they will use
to perform a tasks. Metacognition happens when they choose the most effective
strategies and decide for themselves whether the outcome of these strategies
meet the standard. The time taken to teach a variety of strategies is very
important because students must choose strategies for each task they perform.

Metacognitive strategies that are appropriate for use in the classroom including:
1. Think-Alouds- For reading comprehension and problem solving.
2. Organizational tools- Such as checklists, rubrics, etc. for solving word
problems.
3. Expicit Teacher Modelling- For math instruction.

Types of Learning Strategies and Supports: Cognitive

Cognitive Strategies

STRATEGY DEFINITION BENEFIT

Rehearsal Reciting items to be Believed to

learned in a list. influence the
attention and
coding process. It
does not seem to
help students
connect current
 information with
prior knowledge.

Believed to improve
student’s ability to
store information
into the long term
memory by building
internal
Summarizing and
connections
Elaboration paraphrasing
between items to
be learned and
assisting with the
integration of new
information with
prior knowledge.

Helps learners
select appropriate
information and
Organization Outlining
make connections
to be learned.

Assists students
with applying
previous
Problem-solving, knowledge to new
Analyzing critical thinking situations in order
to solve problems
and/or reach
decisions.

3. Types of Learning Strategies and Supports: Metacognitive

The following are some basic metacognitive aids or strategies:

a. Connecting new information to existing knowledge.
b. Selecting, thinking strategies deliberately.
c. Planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes.
Strategies to develop metacognition include:
a. Share and model self-monitoring processes (e.g. proofreading).
b. Explain and provide handouts regarding particular strategies that may be helpful.
c. Clarify and model when particular strategies are appropriate.
d. Clarify why particular strategies are appropriate.

4. Study Strategies
 The following are popular study strategies and learning techniques based
on a meta study evaluated by Dunlosky et al. (2013).

1. Practice over time. Practice testing refers to any forms of testing for learning
which a student can do on his or her own. More is better. Multiple practice tests
are more beneficial when they are spaced in time rather than crowded in one
after another. Examples of this technique are practicing recall through flash cards
or completing practice problems or tests.

2. Questioning and explanation. Elaborative interrogation is a complex name for

a simple concept– asking oneself why something is the way it is, or a particular
concept or fact is true, and providing the answer. Self-explanation is also the
same, the explanation might take the form of answering why but also other
questions, as well as relating new information to information which is already
known.

3. Producing summaries of texts. This is likely to involve the reading and

comprehension of a text, as well as the ability to identify the most important
information within it and to encapsulate it briefly in one’s own words.

4. Highlighting and underlining portions of texts. This is also includes

rereading. Highlighting tended to work better for students who more adept at
identifying the crucial-to-be-remembered aspects of a text.

B. SETTING GOALS FOR SUCCESS/GOAL SETTING

1. The Importance of Goals

Ryan (1970) as cited by Locke & Latham (2002), premised that conscious
goals affect action, thus, a goal is the object or aim of the aim of an action. Goals
affect performance through four mechanisms (Locke,2002):
First, goals serve a directive function; they direct attention and effort
toward goal-relevant activities.
Second, goals have an energizing function. High goals are lead to great
effort than low goals.
Third, goals affect persistence. When participants are allowed to control
the time, they spend on a task, hard goals prolong effort. Faced with a difficult
goal, it is possible to work faster and more intensely for a short period of tor to
work more slowly and less intensely for a long period.
Fourth, goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discover,
and/or use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies.

2. Albert Bandura’s Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy was developed by Albert Bandura as part of a larger theory,
the Social Learning Theory ( Ashford & LeCroy,2010), which progressed into
Social Cognitive Theory (Levin, Culkin,& Perrotto,2001). Self-efficacy, as
Bandura explains, refers to the belief one’s capabilities to organize and execute
the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.

4 Mains Sources of Efficacy Beliefs (Bandura,1997)

1. Mastery Experiences also known as personal performance accomplishments;
are the most effective way to create a strong sense of efficacy.

Positive Example: If an individual performed well in a previous job

assignment, then they are more likely to feel confident and have high self-
efficacy in performing the task when the manager assigns them the similar tasks.
Since he or she has a high self-efficacy, he or she is more likely to try harder and
complete the task with much better results.

Negative Example: If an individual experience a failure, he/she will most

likely experience a reduction in self-efficacy. However, if these failures are later
overcome by conviction, it can serve as to increase self-motivated persistence
when the situation is viewed as an achievable challenge.

2. Vicarious Experiences. These are done through observance of social models

that also influence one’s perception of self-efficacy.
Increase in self-efficacy example: Mentoring programs, where an
individual is paired with someone on a similar career path who will be successful
at raising the individual’s self-efficacy beliefs. This is even further strengthened if
both have similar skill set, so a person can see first-hand what they can achieve.
Decrease in self-efficacy example: Smoking cessation program, in
which, individuals witnessing several people’s failure to quit, may worry about
their own chances of success, leading to low self-efficacy for quitting; or a
weight-loss program in which others do not achieve the results you are hoping
for.

3. Verbal or Social Persuasion. It is a “way of strengthening people’s beliefs

that they have what it takes to succeed”.
Positive Example: A teacher telling a student: “You can do it. I have
confidence in you.” Using verbal persuasion in a positive light generally leads
individuals to put forth more effort; therefore, they have a greater chance at
succeeding.
Negative Example: A teacher saying to a student; “This is
unacceptable! I thought you could handle these tasks”, can lead to doubts
about oneself resulting in lower chances of success.

4. Emotional and Physiological States. The state a person is in will influence how
he or she judges self-efficacy. Stress reactions or tension are interpreted as
signs of vulnerability to poor performance whereas positive emotion can boost
confidence in skills. It is important to note that if one is more at ease with the task
at hand, he/she will feel more capable and higher beliefs of self-efficacy.

3. Carol Dweck’s Mindset

 Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University

psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success.

 Mindsets are beliefs, beliefs about one’s self and one’s most basic qualities.

 People with fixed mindset believe that their traits are just given. They have a
certain amount of brains and talents and nothing can change that. People in this
 mindset worry about their traits and how adequate they are. They have
something to themselves and others. Believing that their qualities are carved out
in stone, creates an urgency to prove themselves over and over (Dweck,2006).
 People with growth mindset see their qualities as things that can be developed
through their dedication and effort. They are brainy and talented, but that is just
the starting point. They understand that no one has ever accomplished great
things without years of passionate practice and learning. This based on the belief
that their basic qualities are things they can cultivate through their efforts
(Dweck,2006).

 Mindsets frame the running account that’s taking people’s heads. They guide the
whole interpretation process. The fixed mindset creates an internal monologue
that is focused on judging: “This means I’m a loser”. People with growth mindset
are also constantly monitoring what’s going on, but their internal monologue is
not just about judging themselves and others in a way. They’re sensitive to
positive and negative information. They are attuned to the questions: “What can I
learn from this?” (Dweck,2006).

4 Simple Steps to Begin Changing Mindset

1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice”.

2. Recognize that you have a choice.
3. Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
4. Take growth mindset action.

4. Goal-Setting Theory

Goal setting is something most people recognized as necessary for

success. In 1990, Dr. Edwin Locke and Dr. Gary Latham published their seminal
work, “A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance.” They reinforced the
need to set specific and difficult goals.

5. Five Principles of Goal Setting

To motivate, goals must have:

1. Clarity. Clear goals are measurable and unambiguous. When a goal is clear
and specific, with a specific, with a definite time set for completion, there is less
misunderstanding about what behaviors will be rewarded.

2. Challenge. One of the most important characteristics of goals is the level of

challenge. People are often motivated by achievement, and they’ll judge a goal
based on the significance of the anticipated accomplishment. When one knows
that what he or she does will be well received, there is a natural motivation to do
a good job. When setting goals, make each goal a challenge. If an assignment is
easy and not viewed as very important, then the effort may not be impressive.

3. Commitment. Goals must be understood and agreed upon if they are to be

effective. It means that goals should be consistent and in line with previous
expectations. The harder the goal, the more commitment is required. If a goal is
easy, there’s no need for a lot of commitment to get it done. Working on a difficult
 assignment means more likely to encounter challenges that require a deeper
source of inspiration and incentive.

4. Feedback. This provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust goal,

difficulty, and gain recognition. It is important to provide benchmark opportunities
or targets, so individuals can determine for themselves how they are doing.

5. Task Complexity. For goals or assignments that are highly complex, take
special care to ensure that the work doesn't become too overwhelming. People
who work in complicated and demanding roles probably have a high level of
motivation already. However, they can push themselves too hard if measures are
not built into the goal expectations to account for the complexity of task. It is
therefore important to do the following:

• Give the person sufficient time to meet the goal or improve performance.
• Provide enough time for the person to practice or learn what is expected and
required for success.
The whole idea of goal setting is to facilitate a person’s success. It has to
be made sure that the surrounding conditions inspire and allow people to
accomplish their objectives.

C. TAKING CARE OF ONE’S HEALTH/MANAGING STRESS

1. Stressors and Responses

Humprey, Yow & Bowen (2000) described stress as any factor that
makes adaption to an environment difficult for the individual to maintain a state
equilibrium between himself and the external environment. It includes a physical
and mental purpose to meet the demands of the stressful event(Richlin-Klonsky
& Hoe, 2003). These events or condition that put a strain on the individual are
called stressors (Santrock,2003).
There are two broad categories of stressors, according to the
Center for Studies on Human Stress (2017): physiological (or physical)
stressors and psychological stressors.
Physiological stress are those put strain on the body. (i.e., very cold/hot
temperatures, injury, illness, or pain.)
Psychological stress are events, situations, individuals, comments or
anything we interpret as negative and threatening (i.e., not being able to review
your notes for the exam as you are taking care of your sick parent in the
hospital).
Absolute stressors- those to which everyone is exposed would interpret
as being stressful. These are objective that are universal (i.e.: earthquakes and
tsunami).
Relative stressors are those to which only some persons exposed would
interpret as being stressful. These are subjective stressors that cause different
reaction in different people (i.e.: time pressure at work and school traffic, paying
taxes or bills, writing or talking an exam).
The moment we think we are in danger; the body triggers a stress
response. The stress response causes the body to secrete stress hormones
( adrenaline, cortisol, norepinephrine, and others) into the bloodstream whey they
travel to targeted spots in the body to bring about specific physiological,
 psychological, and emotional changes that enhance the body’s ability to deal with
the threat, to either fight with or flee from it (Folk,2017)

2. Sources of Coping

The term, coping, according to Lazarus & Folkman (1984), is the process of
attempting to manage the demands created by stressful events that are
appraised as taxing or exceeding a person’s resources. Among the coping
resources to improve the ability to manage stressful events and better health
outcomes include optimism, psychological control or mastery, self-esteem
and social support.

Optimism refers to the outcome expectancies that good things rather than bad
things will happen to the self. (Scheier et.al 1994).

Personal control or mastery refers to whether a person feels able to control or

influence outcomes (Thompson,1981).

Self-esteem, that is positive and high, is also protective against adverse mental
and physical health outcomes, thereby contributing to better psychological well-
being. Self-esteem is often defined as an individual’s self-perception of his/her
abilities, skills, and overall qualities that guides and/or motivates specific
cognitive processes and behaviors (McCrae & Costa, 1988).

Social Support is defined as the perception or experience that one is loved and
cared by others, esteemed and valued, and part of social network of mutual
assistance and obligations (Wills,1991).

3. The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Stress

 Dr. Michael Tan, a Filipino medical anthropologist has an article entitled, “Stress
and the Filipino”. (Tan,2006). It talks about the social and cultural dimensions of
stress experienced by Filipinos.
 Filipinos do face many resources of stress, around work and livelihood mainly.
Farmers worry about drought and typhoons; urbanites go berserk with tyrannical
bosses and vicious gossipy officemates. Rural or urban, we all face the stresses
of family; extended Filipino family can be stressful too, with all its obligations.
 “Pagsasaya” is a social camaraderie, it’s making cheer and quite often we do it
precisely because there have been unhappy events, stressful events. The best
example can be that of death – our wakes are notorious for its merry making, but
that, precisely, is a part of our stress coping mechanism.
 “Dalamhati” is graphic, describing an inner sadness (from the Malay “dalam”,
inside and “hati” the heart or the liver, believed to be seats of our emotions) that
slowly consumes the person.
 Filipino women are actually more prone to dealing with stressful situation “tiis”
(endurance) and “kimkim” (repression).
 Culturally, too people may attach labels that don’t quite reflect the actual part of
the that’s affected, as when they are suffering from “nerbyos” or nerves.
Nerbyos dosen’t necessarily mean being nervous; it’s often hypertension or high
blood pressure, for example, and a health professional or caregiver may miss the
problem.
  The intriguing “bangungot”, those sudden deaths, usually at night, associated
with nightmares. The term itself is derive from “bangon” to rise, and “ungol”, to
moan.
 “Namamahay” or means missing home. To describe a range of symptoms, from
insomnia to constipation that plagues us when we are away from home.
 The “manghihilot” can be “reinvented” so his or her skills with therapeutic
massage can be applied not just for sprains, but also broken hearts and weary
spirits.
 What we see today around us magnifies the reality of Dr. Tan’s work. How
Filipinos deal with stress is a trademark orientation they had with the social
world, dictated by the stringent cultural compliance they were exposed to while
growing up. In the end, Filipnos are still proud of how unique these manners of
coping are; what makes them ultimately happy in the end is the one that matters
much.

4. Taking Care of the Self: The Need for Self-Care and Compassion

Self-care is engaging in activities and behaviors that have a positive effect on one’s
mental and physical health (Greene,2017). She adds that there’s a bit of “reverse
golden rule” aspect to the practice; that is to treat yourself as compassionately as you
treat others.
Reasons why self-care is necessary:
a. It increases sense of self love, allowing the appreciation and acceptance of who
a person is.
b. It promotes feelings of calm and relaxation, serving as a way to refocus and
come back to daily life refreshed and ready to take on anything.
c. It improves both physical and mental health by reducing the effects of prolonged
stress on mind and body.

Ways to engage in self-care:

a. Physical self-care: Eating well, exercising regularly, prioritizing sleep and
taking care of health.
b. Emotional self-care: Managing anxiety, anger, sadness, and other emotions.
Setting boundaries with people who are not positive or supportive. Spending time
alone to rest and recharge. Maintaining a bullet journal.
c. Spiritual self-care: Volunteering, connecting with nature, meditation,
mindfulness.

Compassion is wishing for that person to be from suffering (Germer,2009).

Compassion literally means “to suffer together”. Compassion is also defined as
the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel
motivated to relieve that suffering (Greater Good Science Center, 2017).

There are various forms of compassion and why they are so important. Paul
Ekman (2010) enumerates:

a. Familial Compassion is the seed of compassion, planted through the caregiver-

offspring bond. It raises very interesting questions about people who were
brought up without a single caregiver or were brought up with a parent who had a
 very distant attachment. What is their capacity for compassion? Without the
seed, the flower doesn’t grow.

b. Global Compassion was exemplified by the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami. People around the world extended assistance to the strangers, or
different races and skin colors.

c. Sentient Compassion is when one extends feelings of compassion towards

cockroaches, toward any living being. When people got sentient, they also got
global; sentient is the highest moral virtue.

d. Heroic Compassion is like altruism with a risk. It has two forms: Immediate
Heroic Compassion is when, without thought, one jumps onto MRT tracks to
rescue someone. It is impulsive. Considered Heroic Compassion isn’t done
impulsively; it is done with thought, and it can be maintained for many years.

The most significant contribution of self-compassion is the attention given to the

“self”, which is always associated with the body, and the bodies are built for
survival. Self is needed to make progress on the path of self-compassion. People
can cultivate a kind, gentle attitude, not rejecting, not overly prizing, toward the
self no longer suffers and has no reason to assert itself. The more compassion
one gives to the suffering “self”, the more flexible it becomes. Compassion from
others or from within oneself helps him/her accept himself in his/her discomfort
(Germer,2009).

“LOVE THE LIFE GIVEN BY GOD TO YOU. BE COMPASSIONATE TO

YOURSELF AND OTHERS! MAY YOU HAVE A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY OF
LIFE. GOD BLESS!”
References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learning